Category — Spring 2008

If I’m ever watching an anime series I’m destined to love, there is always that one moment, typically unexpected, of almost transcendental catharsis that pushes me over the edge. It’s what happens when a story goes from being just another mecha anime I might enjoy, like Gundam 00, to a story that’s suddenly exploding with life, ambition, emotion. If you hadn’t guessed already, I’m talking about Macross Frontier, episode the third.

Looking out over hazy-blue clouds, Alto throws his paper plane into the sky above. The flimsy wings falter against the wind, but it’s flying, gliding high and swooping low. It’s a metaphorical moment we can grasp because, after all, most of us dream of doing something important with our lives, but for all those grand intentions, we’re still just paper planes relying on the wind; weak, fragile, hanging by a thread of hope, waiting for that breeze to carry us away. Sometimes it’s best to take a risk and jump, to chase what you desire with every ounce of your being. Rise or fall, that’s a really inspiring sentiment, right? And that’s why I watch anime. Also, as my blogging is a transient sequence of ‘wrongs’ and ‘rights’, I was wrong, on this evidence, to slightly criticize Yoko Kanno’s musical efforts for Frontier because Ranka’s heart-felt accapella turn in this episode was, in a word, beautiful. High up on a hill, singing to yourself, it’s kind of like blogging, really.

Earlier this evening, I took in the first episodes of Library Wars, Real Drive, Nabari no Ou and Soul Eater. This means, to my immense relief, that I’m finally finished with my spring previews. To be honest, I’m not sure I want watch as many first episodes ever again. Jumping from series to series like this isn’t recommended at all, as right now, I’m feeling like some used-up old vagrant with no place to rest.

1. Soul Eater was the pick of tonight’s bunch, but with me being a known shonen action fan-boy and all, that’s hardly a big surprise, right? The best thing is that, much like Kaiba, Soul Eater adores the fact that it’s a cartoon. In this post-TTGL era, it’s suddenly fine to be as hot-blooded and colourful as possible. Also, I know the gothic Tim Burton comparisons have been done to death elsewhere, but I’ve got a few of my own too. Soul Eater is what happens when Phillip Pullman writes Teletubbies. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, dear reader.
2. Library War (Toshokan Sensou) was much more conventional, but what’s not to like about a protagonist (Kasahara) ready to go to jail for her favourite book? This is basically love at first sight. Also, it’s worth nothing that the characters are all adults; in a season eaten up by chinless 16 year-old Machiavellis, it’s nice to see some honest to good grown-ups every now and then too.
3. My feelings about Real Drive and Nabari no Ou are slightly conflicted. The ninja-filled latter had some fluid action choreography and beautiful landscape art, but lacked much in the way of coherent direction, seemingly happy to waste a lot of time hinting at yaoi fantasies. The former was rather interesting, but rather dull too. Being yet another Masamune Shirow anime to boast a high concept science fiction premise, Real Drive was both confusing and fascinating, but at the first episode’s conclusion, I was still searching for that Ghost Hound-esque human element to drag me through the next couple of installments.

As if you couldn’t tell already, I have a fairly contrarian nature. I’ll start off on the opposite side to popular opinion just because I hate walking in-line with all the other otaku. Sometimes that’s justified, other times, not so much. I was wrong to doubt Macross Frontier. The first episode was exciting, well-animated and intriguing. In particular, the surprise attack on Frontier reminded me why I love space opera, it felt epic. That’s an over-used word these days, but it was that kind of thrilling. Big, sweeping, grand, destiny, bravery, love, death; themes of great consequence. Also, I liked a lot of Yoko Kanno’s soundtrack, but I wish she didn’t go the cliche-JPop route with Sheryl. The way she crafted Sharon Apple’s personality for Macross Plus felt so much more lively and authentic; she was the believable idol of a distant future, beautiful yet alien. In comparison, Sheryl could be any number of contemporary female pop-stars, just a little too same-y for my tastes. I guess it’s a little unfair to compare Frontier to Plus, considering the latter is a golden-age classic and it had Kanno in-collaboration with Bebop’s Shinichiro Watanabe, but I have some high standards for my dearest musician.

There’s not much to say about Itazura na Kiss that hasn’t already been said, ad nauseum, elsewhere. At this point, it’s generic shojo, vintage 1990; kind of like Fruits Basket, but not as immediately endearing. I’m two episodes in and the characters have yet to evolve beyond their archetypal roles. We have this unlikely pair, the stuck-up boy (Naoki) and the clumsy girl (Kotoko), set for an unlikely romance.

Kotoko is a nice person and I can’t help but cheer her on. I guess I have a weakness for this brand of shojo, as, in many ways, it’s fairly dull (the colours are washed out and there’s no obvious fan-pandering), yet, almost immediately, I’m into the characters. I think it’s that they try to hide their fallibility, or insecurity, and I find that blatant in-perfection hard to resist. That said, I’m not sure I would be bothering with this if I wasn’t aware that rather simply ending once Naoki and Kotoko inevitably hook-up, the story forges ahead, beyond high school and into marriage. Though, at this point, it’s admittedly familiar stuff, the idea of exploring the ups and downs of a relationship over years, possibly even decades, is quite fascinating.

I know, I’m way behind the loop on this one, but, for all my lag, I just wanted to say that the first two episodes of Kure-nai were outstanding. Having read wave after wave of praise for this series since its April debut, I was anxious to get it out of the way, but, for only the second time this season (after Kaiba, naturally), I absolutely wanted to devour its second episode right after the first.

It’s appeal is, quite vitally, character-driven. Inside five or six minutes of that first episode, I’d already latched onto (in an emotional sense) the likable protagonists. It’s not just that the voice acting is uniformly raw and natural, or that intricate body language (and the mise en scène itself) portrays an intimate sense of insecurity and loneliness, it’s the sharp dialogue, the humor; it’s as dynamic and as tender as live action drama.

All that, and I haven’t even mentioned that Kure-nai, for all its slice of life, occasionally ripples with an action-packed, supernatural undercurrent. In many ways, you can recognise it’s crafted by the same creative team that worked on Red Garden, but their evolution here, if just that ability to portray the underrated, easy-going whimsy of every-day suburbia, is profoundly improved. Provided that warm spark of personality doesn’t fade into the shadow of a ridiculous conspiracy (as was the case with Red Garden), it may well become a masterpiece. The spring season starts now.

Until I’ve caught up with some of the other spring anime, I’m stalling on watching more of Kaiba, but for the sake of curiosity, I can’t stop myself from streaming an occasional clip on YouTube. The above excerpt (from episode 3) is wonderful. You don’t need to understand the dialogue to feel what’s happening, just listen to the music and check the facial expressions. A nostalgic, tired-looking grandma sits to play her piano, and with each sad note, another long-forgotten memory rings back into recollection. Her sister, her child, her husband, she suddenly realises all of what she’s lost, and now, life having passed her by, tears roll down her wrinkled cheeks. Full of regret, she remembers everything, she’s all alone. The music stops. You know, this is what great animation is capable of, sweeping, moving, sad, wonderful human feeling.

If manliness were a disease, it couldn’t get much worse than Golgo 13. The aptly named Duke Togo doesn’t do emotion, he does big guns, and his legendary aim is as precise with the hearts’ of fine ladies as when trained on the “meat-filled football” (Golgo’s words, not mine) of a terrorist. Being billed as Japan’s answer to James Bond, you should know what to expect. It’s low-budget, gratuitous entertainment, but where the James Bond character is charismatic, the forever grimacing Duke is just a big rock of nothing. I have some doubts as to how this formula can stretch for 50 episodes, but regardless, I’m quite determined to see whether that moody rock of manliness dares crack a smile. For now, it’s a novelty.

I expected Himitsu - The Revelation to be one of the better series of the spring season, but, on this evidence, it’s just another mediocre helping of bishonen homoeroticism destined to be contorted in the day-dreams of yaoi fan-girls. In some near future, a special unit of the Japanese police can remove the brains of murder victims to view their memories just prior to death; in truth, it’s a really interesting premise, but the abject animation quality and lack of personality is fatal.

Much like The Daughter of Twenty Faces, I went into Amatsuki with low expectations. It looks mediocre, in the sense that it’s overflowing with cliche bishonen character designs and therefore, blatant (almost Get Backers-esque) homo eroticism. The animation isn’t especially good, but again, the overall feeling wasn’t bad at all. Story is basically that modern, apathetic boy gets thrown back in time to Edo-era Japan. You know, that same period depicted in Rurouni Kenshin, Peacemaker and every other samurai anime. Yes, Amatsuki is set in a familiar place, but there are supernatural elements too. Next few episodes will be crucial in determining whether it’s merely pretending to be interesting.

The more anime I see, the more I find myself making comparisons between series. If you’ve seen Last Exile, it’s worth noting that new anime Allison and Lillia could be renamed (the adventures of) Lavie and Claus. It is kind of fun, albeit very sanitized, good honest fun. Flowing blond Allison is the spunky girl-pilot ready to take on the world, while her friend Will is the clever, yet timid male lead willing to be dragged along for the adventure. Their bright optimism and slow home lives, surrounded by colourful, open countryside, will be at odds with the (so far unforeseen) horrors of war. Again, this wasn’t an amazing episode of anime, but it was competent enough to be worth another look. Better than Amatsuki, at least.

I’m going through one of these phases at the moment where, no matter how much I want to write something (anything) productive, I’m just feeling low on inspiration. ‘Jaded and in need of a rest’ is a cliche I’m used to reading in Football Manager, but it’s a spot-on description of my current state. In particular, I’m really struggling with anime blogging. Almost every new post consumes an entire day, and even then, I’m rarely happy with the published article. It feels like a constant struggle with the English language as I’m tweaking every paragraph to (in)perfection, trying to live up to (imagined) expectations. Granted, it’s a great relief in the immediate aftermath of publishing, but often, I wish writing wasn’t so draining.

Another point is that, for someone whose seemingly forever pondering the stuff, I haven’t been watching nearly enough anime lately. Other than Code Geass R2 and Kaiba, I’ve not taken-in much of the spring season’s offerings yet, and of the 13 other series on that list, only The Daughter of Twenty Faces (Nijū-Mensō no Musume) has made it’s way into rotation. Thankfully, it was better than expected; a pulpy crime-caper that, for all it’s wise-crackin’ tomfoolery and harmless villainy, was emotionally stirring. The director has worked on a lot of Lupin anime, and it clearly shows. The episode revolved around a young girl who, living in a broken (albeit privileged) home, wants to slip into a life of fun, car-crashing thievery and tight, globe-trotting friendship. I really felt her desire to escape, so it’s definitely something I’ll be following.