Thursday, December 29, 2011

Fall 2011 Anime Review - Part II

Now it’s time for Part 2 of the Fall 2011 Anime Review. And it’s the last column before the new year? What’s in stock for next year? Hell if I know. I don’t really plan these things more than one week in advance. Nonetheless! Here is Part 2.

Again, all plot summaries are taken from Anime News Network.

Chiyahafuru

Plot Summary: Chihaya Ayase is a frank and ebullient girl who becomes fascinated by the obscure world of competitive karuta, a card game based on Japanese poetry. Introduced to the aggressive style of the game by a quiet and thoughtful elementary school classmate named Arata Wataya, the two quickly become close friends. They start playing as a group with Taichi Mashima, Chihaya’s smart and athletic childhood friend, until they have to part ways during their middle school years due to several circumstances. As their high school life begins, they meet once again.

Chihayafuru is most certainly my favorite anime in this anime season. There are a lot of good ones. Like Future Dairy and Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter x Hunter (that’s the same guy who did YuYu Hakusho). But Chihayafuru trumps them.

The basic plot is it’s a show about karuta. But only people like me who love Japanese culture would keep watching it just for the karuta. It’s about Chihaya, Taichi, Kanada, Nikuman-kun, and Desktomaru-kun going through a growth.

Chihaya clearly still loves her childhood friend and karuta inspiration, Arata. And Taichi clearly loves Chihaya, who is oblivious. And it’s adorable. Not since Usagi Drop have I loved an anime this much. I watch the 24 minutes and it feels like 5 or 10 minutes have gone by. It’s one of those kinds of shows. [To put that in perspective for you, I’m painfully aware that Boardwalk Empire is 55 minutes, but I also acknowledge that I love the show. Comparatively, Dexter and Fringe speed by in what feels like 20 minutes or so to me.]

What does it for me is that it’s a combined huge Japanese culture information dump with great characters that you want to love. Even the antagonists have their redeeming qualities in the end. I mean, [SPOILERS] they just beat Hokou Academy and the two characters I really didn’t like (the white haired guy and Retro-kun), I liked by the end of the next episodes. Or at least didn’t hate as much. Because it turns out that the white haired guy is a 3rd year this year, so it’s his last chance at winning the nationals, and Retro-kun holds an emotional attachment to the trophy that’s been in their clubroom since he was in middle school. [END SPOILERS]

Basically, if you like cool characters and don’t mind learning a bit about Japanese culture (or sub-culture) on the way, check out Chihayafuru. Because it has blown my mind in how good it is.

Guilty Crown

Plot Summary: After the outbreak of the unidentified virus “Lost Christmas” in 2029, Japan has been under the control of a multi-nation organization called GHQ. Ohma Shu is a 17 year old boy who has a psychic power in his right hand. He can use the power “Ability of King” to extract tools or weapons from his friends. He has been avoiding making trouble for others but his life changes when he meets a girl Yuzuriha Inori, a member of a resistance guerrilla group called “Funeral Parlor,” whose members pilot mecha weapons to fight against the government.

For starters, when a show is being directed by the same guy who did the Death Note anime and written by the same guy who did Code Geass, it’s hard to pass up.

But Guilty Crown is the gateway anime of this season, I think. It’s only going to be two, 13 episode seasons (I think, give or take a few episodes). And it’s got pretty much everything you want out of an anime to start someone off with. Of course shows like Trigun, Bebop, and Evangelion are still going to be mainstays. But this has made its mark.

Through 11 episodes, one of the most stunning things about this is its music. The music in the series is pretty, if you’ll excuse the language, bitchin’. Again, not up to the level of Bebop, but it’s still good.

But the story itself interests me as well. Of course, Japan is in a state of unrest. And, of course, they’re the underdogs. So we have Funeral Parlor, who are a group of revolutionaries looking to change Japan for the better. And the main character, of course, joins them in their quest for righteousness.

What’s good is that it’s not just a rip off of Code Geass or Death Note. It certainly feels like it in the first few episodes that it’s copying Code Geass a little. But it gets over that and makes its own thing happen.

I feel like Shu’s ability is kind of a copout to give characterization to minor characters, or people who I feel are minor characters. But putting that aside, Shu’s conflict with doing the “right” thing is done in an entertaining enough way, and in a very cool setting, to make me want to keep watching. It’s certainly not the best show this season, but it has its moments where I was like, “Wow.”

Hunter x Hunter

Plot Summary: Gon Freecs’ father abandoned him as a baby in order to become a Hunter, an elite class with a license to go anywhere or do almost anything. Now 12 years old, Gon wishes to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a great Hunter. While Gon faces the unexpected challenges the Hunter Examination throws at him, he makes friends with three other candidates Kurapika, Leorio, and Killua.

Another show from Yoshihiro Togashi. He previously had YuYu Hakusho and Level E put into anime and, in fact, Hunter x Hunter had a previous anime incarnation. But this one starts at the very beginning and reworks everything (unlike Dragonball Kai which was just the Z footage remastered and with filler cut out significantly, I think). Being a huge YuYu Hakusho fan, I had to check this show out.

While you clearly have Yusuke as Gon, Kurapika as Kurama, Leorio as Kuwabara, and Killua as Hiei, it still entertains me greatly (Togashi has typecasted these four in The Five-Man Band the same way he did YuYu Hakusho, so it’s to be expected that they’re similar).

Despite this obvious similarity, I love Hunter x Hunter. I was looking for a shonen action series to take up the spot of Naruto and BLEACH because I dropped both of those. Fairy Tail is a mainstay, I picked up One Piece post time skip, and now I have Hunter x Hunter, which is sure to last a while.

Having only gotten 13 episodes into the series, I haven’t had much to look at in terms of characters beyond their general archtypes (I mean, come on, this is a shonen action series. We aren’t looking for character stuff until at least episode 15). But the action itself has excited me greatly. And if anyone can do that, it’s Yoshihiro Togashi, the man who did it second (Akira Toriyama FTW?).

Check it out if you’re looking for another shonen action series. It won’t disappoint, I’m sure. But if you want more, look to Chihayafuru or something.

You and Me (Kimi to Boku.)

Plot Summary: 4 friends, twins Yuta and Yuki Asaba, the cute and girly Shun Matsuoka, and the class representative Kaname Tsukahara, have known each other since kindergarten. When a half-Japanese transfer student named Chizuru Tachibana joins their group, he brings a new dynamic to their friendship.

You and Me is a pleasant little story about four boys who have been friends since kindergarten and a fifth who made friends when they were around that age, but never went to school with them. It’s basically K-ON! with boys and without music.

So if you don’t really like the slice of life genre, then don’t bother with the show. But for those of you who enjoy a good slice of life, this show’s worth a look.

I do like slice of life and I thought this show was one of the best this season. Certainly not the best, but it entertained me from week to week.

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing

Plot Summary: Fam is part of the Sky Pirates, a group that assaults ships following the code of the First harpoon – the first to hit the target with a harpoon has the right to decide how to proceed on the assault. They target minor vessels and prosper on an isolated location, until one day they take off for a mission that will change their lives and for all Turan Kingdom citizens by rescuing their two princesses from Ades Federation betrayal.

This new Last Exile is just as visually stunning as the last. If you’re even remotely a fan of cyberpunk, or appreciate amazing designs, check out both Last Exile shows.

But this is really a show that I would prefer to watch big blocks of episodes at a time. It doesn’t take me much to get into the world of Last Exile, but the story itself is complex enough that it serves itself to a marathon rather than a week by week viewing. This is definitely a show that I’ll check out when it comes out on BD.

What draws me into this show more than the previous one is, true to Japan style, the cute characters. Fam and Gisey and Milia are all so cute. Of course, they all have their own great characters. And it’s great to see Tatiana, Alister, and Dio again.

The way the show is set up, it’s fine to just pick up this show. You’ll understand everything about it without having had seen the previous one. Having said that, I highly suggest watching the first Last Exile just because of the quality of both of these shows.

Majikoi – Oh! Samurai Girls!

Plot Summary: Kawakami City is famous for its strong dedication to its samurai ancestors. A healthy fighting spirit is always valued and it's even an important factor for success at school. Yamato, a second year student from Kawakami High school, is always with his close friends (4 boys and 3 girls). They have all known each other since they were young and have done many things together. While they have many other friends, this group of seven is a close-knit, inseparable group. They even have a secret base where they meet. With the new semester, they welcome two girls into their group and shortly after things begin to change…

If you thought to yourself, “Hey, I liked Baka and Test, but would like it even more in a feudal Japan-type setting.” then the first episode will not disappoint. But the next 11 episodes basically have nothing to do with that. In fact, I have no idea why “Class A” and “Class F” were fighting or what the differences between the classes are.

What Majikoi-Oh! did was give me 11 episodes of fanservice-y entertainment. In shonen fighting fashion. I could go on and on about the imperfections of this show and how it isn’t good. It would honestly take too long. And with a show like this, I don’t think it matters.

So all I’ll say is this: If you want to watch some cool fights while not at all being able to follow the plot (or at the very least, the reasons behind the plot), then check it out.

Mashiro-Iro Symphony – The color of lovers

Plot Summary: The traditional girls-only Yuihime Private Academy is considering the possibility of starting to accept both genders and has thus made an agreement with a neighboring school to receive some of its students as an experiment to see the reaction to this adaptation. Shingo Uryu is one of the many students transferred for a ten month experimental phase at Yuihime Academy. He, his sister, and his fellow relocated colleagues are impressed by the sophisticated campus, but even more by the resistance of many students who don’t want the boys over there.

This started out being my least favorite show of the season. As it went on, though, it sort of redeemed itself. It took a really long time to set up everything and nothing seemed to move until episode three or four, maybe.

Then it went into a typical love story, like that in a visual novel. Because, guess what, it was originally a visual novel. This one doesn’t really set itself apart from the other adaptations I’ve seen (Shuffle, Kanon, etc.) but it has its own charms to it. If you’ve seen one, you’ve really seen them all.

The characters themselves didn’t stand out to me much either. Shingo, the main boy who of course has the love of all the ladies, was just your ordinary, average guy. He didn’t really have that “change the world” quality that a lot of the other protagonists in this type of show has. He also has a little sister. And I commend Japan on not exploiting a love affair between the two in this show.

[For those of you who don’t know, it’s a common-ish thing in the eroge to have a brother-sister sexual relationship. Of course, it’s frowned upon in most situations in real life, but the allure of forbidden love is enticing enough for the pervy teenagers of Akihabara. And by in most situations, I mean if they aren’t blood related. As in the son’s biological mother and the daughter’s biological father got married after their respective biological father and mother died or something. You get the point?]

What was creative-ish was the Nuko Club. A club that’s made to help injured animals and return them to the wild. But that’s about the shows only redeeming quality. So if you like a sappy love story, go ahead and watch it. If that’s not your thing, skip it and move on to the next show.

The Future Dairy (Mirai Nikki)

Plot Summary: Yukiteru Amano (Yuki) is a loner who never really interacts with people and prefers writing a diary on his cell phone with his only companion being an imaginary friend named Deus Ex Machina, the God of Time and Space. However, Yuki soon learns that Deus is not a figment of his imagination but real when Deus makes him a participant in a battle royale with eleven others. Within this “Diary Game,” the contestants are given special diaries that can predict the future with each diary having unique features that gives them both advantages and disadvantages.

What’s so great about Future Dairy is its amazing concept and execution of said concept. Horizon did the first one, Future Dairy did the second one.

The one thing that bugs me is that it’s really unrealistic, even within the scope of itself. But it has an answer to that! A character, who is the God of Time and Space, literally named Deus Ex Machina, is making it happen.

What really bugs me are the characters. None of them seem to have any redeeming qualities besides, “I don’t want to die.” As of the latest episode, I’m starting to like Uryu Minene (or Ninth) the best just because she’s at least stayed consistent. Well, I guess Yukiteru and Yuno have as well, but I kind of hate them.

But I keep watching because this is literally a fight for your life against twelve other people with “future dairies.” As you might imagine, they tell you the future. Yukiteru has the Discriminate Diary, which tells him the future x days (I don’t remember how many) in advance of everything but his future. Because it’s other name is the Observation Diary. Because it’s everything he could be perceiving.

Then Yuno has the Love Diary, which conveniently tells her in a VERY stalker sort of way, everything that Yukiteru will be doing in x days.

Other diaries include the Breeder’s Diary, the Escape Diary, the Case Diary, the Hyper Vision Diary, the Murder Diary, the Clairvoyance Diary, and the Justice Diary.

It’s one of the best thriller anime I’ve ever seen. Twists and turns around every corner and definitely something to show the family. [Don’t actually show this to your family.]

Squid Girl!?

Plot Summary: The nefarious Squid Girl is back to continue her self-appointed mission to invade the surface world. Or that’s what she would do, if she could just stop getting distracted by squidding movies, reading squidly manga, and making friends as only a squid could make them. Squid Girl must overcome not only danger found at every turn, but her own squidly good nature as well.

Squid Girl continues to be a hilarious and pleasant show week by week. It’s the kind of show that I would actually prefer to watch week by week. While Squid Girl’s antics are cute and funny, it’s a little too much to take in more than one episode at a time.

As it is a comedy show at its core, you have to be interested in a certain level of Japanese-style comedy. Most people who watch anime are, so that should be no problem. But if you get into it, it’s going to be good.

What’s really good about this show is the shorts that it has sometimes with a little, itty bitty Squid Girl going on some random adventure for about 6 minutes. The one in the first season was most definitely the highlight of that season. Absolutely no dialogue and I loved every minute of it. In fact, that short is the reason I picked up the rest of the show.

While there are some parts of the show that I just didn’t find funny, it’s worth picking up either season for a few laughs. I mean, you watch the first episode of the first season and you can pick pretty much everything else from there.

Wagnaria’!!

Plot Summary: Set in a family restaurant in Hokkaido, the northern prefecture of Japan, 16-year-old high school student Takanashi Souta works part-time along with his strange co-workers: Taneshima Popura, a high school girl who's a year older than Souta who's easily mistaken for a elementary/middle schooler, and Shirafuji Kyoko, the 28-year-old store manager who doesn't bother to do any work at all.
Life goes on at the Wagnaria family restaurant as its peculiar employees try to provide a good service despite their individual eccentricities.

Wagnaria’!!, for those of you who don’t know, is a continuation of, you guessed it, Wagnaria!! Neither season really has an overarching plot, but that’s ok. It’s not really a show for an overarching plot. What it does is entertain the hell out of me with its amazing characters from week to week.

First you have our protagonist, Takanashi. He loves everything that’s tiny, like his sempai, Taneshima, who inspired him to get the job in the first episode of the first season, and water fleas. Yes, this boy loves the tiny little water fleas. But Takanashi and Taneshima didn’t know each other at the time. He just thought he would help out who he thought was an elementary school student. Turns out that she’s at least a full head shorter than Takanashi, and one year older.
Takanashi also has four sisters, one younger and three older. The eldest is a lawyer and divorced at an indeterminate amount of time before the beginning. The second is a novelist who finds it difficult to do anything but crawl and write. Otherwise she loses too much energy. The third is a aikido instructor who loves to drink and is frequently dumped, which leads to more drinking. And the youngest is a 6th grader who has a lot on her plate. She has to take care of basically her entire family alongside our protagonist.

Our next character would be Taneshima, who has a complex about being so short and has trouble saying Takanashi. Instead she calls him Katanashi, comically. Then there’s Sato-san who is the chain smoking cook of Wagnaria. He picks on Taneshima endlessly.

And the list keeps going on from an androphobic to a girl who wants so much to be normal, that it’s abnormal, a girl who carries a katana around everywhere, a man who blackmails you and smiles while doing it, and a girl who is called Yamada and no one really knows who she is.

This smorgasbord of characters keeps me wanting to watch every week just to see what kind of hilarious shenanigans they get into. Having never worked at a family restaurant, I can’t say whether the accounts of what go on is accurate. But I can say that I love watching it happen. It’s like a working version of Azumanga Daioh. Maybe that’s why it’s called Working!! in Japan.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Fall 2011 Anime Review - Part I

Now that I’ve washed the Blood-C out of my mouth and finals are over, I have time for what I really love: Skyrim. Well, before Skyrim I suppose I can give my review so far of the Fall 2011 anime season. In two parts! Because I’m lazy and haven’t finished yet because of work and life and stuff.

I have to say, this season has some shockingly good shows. This is the first time that I’ve gone out of my way to punish myself into watching all the shows that I can, but even when I was watching four or five last season and the one before that, it didn’t have as many stand out shows as this season does. But maybe that’s just because I wasn’t watching them all.

Regardless, I’ve listed them all out alphabetically (by their Japanese names) and put a plot summary courtesy of Anime News Network as with my previous reviews of shows. Except Horizon’s summary was from Wikipedia. But that’s moot. I’ve also assigned them a letter grade, because screw number grades. Here it is, the Fall 2011 anime review.

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

Plot Summary: In the far future, humans abandon a devastated Earth and traveled to outer space. However, due to unknown phenomenon that prevents them from traveling into space, humanity returns to Earth only to find it inhospitable except for Japan. To accommodate the entire human population, pocket dimensions are created around Japan to house in the populace. In order to find a way to return to outer space, the humans began reenacting human history according to the Holy book Testament. But in the year 1413 of the Testament Era, the nations of the pocket dimensions invade and conquer Japan, dividing the territory into feudal fiefdoms and forcing the original inhabitants of Japan to leave. It is now the year 1648 of the Testament Era, the refugees of Japan now live in the city ship Musashi, where it constantly travels around Japan while being watched by the Testament Union, the authority that runs the re-enactment of history. However, rumors of an apocalypse and war begins to spread when the Testament stops revealing what happens next after 1648. Taking advantage of this situation, Tori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's Supreme Federation and President of the student council, leads his fellow classmates to use this opportunity to regain their homeland.

I have to say that, out of all the shows this anime season, this probably has one of the most creative plots and worlds. I mean, they’re living through history again to figure out where they went wrong saving the earth? I don’t actually know what’s going on there because it’s addressed once in the first episode at the beginning.

The point of the show is really the conflict between Tori (and his friends) and Testament Union. And if it weren’t for the shows insistence on a fanservice show every other frame, it might actually be interesting. Because instead of figuring out how to display these females, they’d be writing plots and characters and stuff.

Really, there’s a laundry list of characters and I only know Tori. None of the others are given enough time to really show who they are. And unlike every other anime, their names are rarely addressed (it’s a thing in Japan to use the third person a lot apparently).

The good in this show does not outweigh the bad though. I keep watching every week because I’m wondering if I’ll understand more of what’s going on. Turns out, I don’t. But there are some pretty entertaining and exciting fight scenes. So watch it for that excitement if it pleases the crowd. Otherwise, it’s another one to throw out.

Maken-ki!

Plot Summary: Takeru Ohyama, a young normal yet perverted minded guy, got accepted and now goes to a school that, unknown to him, was where combat and magic is used. On the first day, he meets Haruko Amaya, his childhood friend, Inaho Kushiya, a girl who says she’s his fiance, and Kodama Himegami, a blonde who wants to kill him. Finding out that there are many girls there that just don’t like him, he is told that everyone there uses a special magic ability while using an item or weapon called a Maken. Later, he finds that no Maken is acceptable for him and doesn’t know what to do, since in this school the students get into duels that showcase their magic and combat power, of which he seemingly has none.

Ugh. Eleven episodes of this was eleven too long. But I watched them all anyway.

My big problem with this isn’t that nothing really changed by the end. My big problem was that you learned basically everything about the main character in the last episode. Since no one is going to watch this and spoilers don’t really matter (plus it’s good to know this when you start off watching), the main character, Takeru, watched his mother be defeated/killed (it’s never really clear in the anime) and now he wants to fight everyone to protect everyone and stop fighting.

Again, ugh.

If you want eleven episodes of relatively entertaining fanservice-y stuff, go ahead and watch it. If you want to use your time to do something productive, watch anything but this.

Phi Brain: Kami no Puzzle

Plot Summary: Kaito Daimon is a brilliant 16-year-old teenager who loves to solve puzzles. He acquires an enigmatic item called the Armband of Orpheus that allows him to fully utilize his brain, but that consequentially drains him completely. Currently attending Root Academy as an honor student, he is invited by the school principal to confront a secret organization named POG. They create deadly Sage Puzzles to protect invaluable treasures and challenge the select few individuals capable of facing them. Given the title of Einstein, Kaito battles against the mysterious group in order to keep a promise he made as a kid while at the same time he heads towards the ultimate test: the Divine Puzzle.

Phi Brain is most definitely the funnest show in this anime season. I mean, it’s about solving puzzles. And if you love puzzles, you’ll likely find yourself liking this show.

It does have some downfalls. Like the fact that everything has to be shrouded in mystery until later episodes. But I’ve gotten over that in order to enjoy more puzzle solving.

Oh, and it does have some really dumb lines. Like Kaito’s catch phrase seems to be “Puzzle time, start” (puzzle time hajimaruyo or however that’s actually spelled in phonetics).

But despite this, it’s really, really fun. It’s not exciting murder-y goodness like in Future Dairy. It’s not amazing character-y stuff like in Chihayafuru. It’s just fun. If you’re looking for something that’ll make you think a little, but not too much, check out Phi Brain.

Un-Go

Plot Summary: With the help of his strange assistant Inga, “defeated detective” Shinjūrō Yūki solves crimes in a near future Japan still suffering from the ravages of war. Problem is, the credit always ends up going to super detective Rinroku Kaishō.

Un-Go is another detective/mystery type show. And, as such, I’ll be inclined to like it because I’m a sucker for mysteries. But the first few episodes, while exciting and enticing mysteries, kind of have a cop out of Inga, the detective’s assistant, being all fantasy monster-y and asking her one question which the victim must always answer.

Despite that, I did enjoy the first group of episodes quite a bit. And in the final four or five episodes, it stopped doing that and really got into mysteries.

What really bugged me about this show was Kaishō Rinroku, the main character’s basically antagonist. But of course he doesn’t serve as a traditional antagonist. He just solves all the mysteries and then doesn’t receive the credit due because Rinroku takes all the credit.

Grr I say, grr.

But the first couple episodes are skippable if you don’t want to sit through some detective-y stuff that really just sets up who all the characters are. Despite those first couple episodes, it’s worth the watch, I think.

Its big shortcoming is that it’s only eleven episodes. Maken-ki doesn’t deserve its eleven episodes. Maybe one OVA. So give ten of those episodes to Un-Go and let me watch more. The show would have served well from two big, overarching plots.

Fairy Tail

Plot Summary: Lucy is a 17-year-old girl, who wants to be a full-fledged mage. One day when visiting Harujion Town, she meets Natsu, a young man who gets sick easily by any type of transportation. But Natsu isn’t just any ordinary kid, he’s a member of one of the world’s most infamous mage guilds: Fairy Tail.

This is actually from the Fall 2009 anime season, but it’s kept me entertained through 109 episodes and it’s going strong, so let’s review it anyway.

People talk about the Big 3 in shonen manga/anime. One Piece, Naruto, and BLEACH. I think we should be adding one more to that list: Fairy Tail. I picked up Fairy Tail on a whim when it first came out and was unimpressed with everything before Galuna Island. But then Reitei Lyon shows up and I’m like, “Oh this is good.” Then Phantom Lord attacks and I’m like, “Oh this is really good.”

It does have some of the stupid (super ugh) anime-y things that are typical in the shonen shows. But with a shonen, that’s what you’re going to get. You either get over it or you don’t.

But Fairy Tail is a show that keeps on escalating, and keeps my interest. One Piece is the only other of the Big 3 that’s done that for me. When it comes to “generic” shonen, go One Piece and Fairy Tail.

Star Driver

Plot Summary: On the remote Southern Cross island, a secret organization named Kiraboshi plans to reactivate giant mobile suits that have been sealed for ages. Known as cybodies, they can only be controlled by pilots identified as star drivers. To unleash their full power, the mysterious group must break the seals of the four shrine maidens that reside in the isle. Recently arrived outsider, Takuto Tsunashi, vows to stop Kiraboshi in order to protect Wako Agemaki, girl who saved his life and one of the four maidens. Wako is a lively young lady who has already been betrothed to Sugata Shindou, a rich and talented childhood friend. Despite being very close to Agemaki, Sugata quietly disapproves this engagement since it was forced on to them due to a family tradition. The melancholic couple becomes a radiant trio as Takuto becomes not only their friend, but protector of the seals since he is none other than the Ginga Bishonen, gifted star driver of Tauburn, the 22nd cybody.

This is actually from the Fall 2010 anime season, but I’m watching it week to week now, so let’s review it anyway.

Star Driver’s big weakness is that it’s a pretty episodic show that, as of episode 21, still hasn’t answered a lot of the questions I have. It feels like the writers came up with one big reveal and they’re saving it for the second to last episode. Of course, the last episode will be a big fight scene with lots of dialogue between the characters while fighting.

Despite this, Star Driver is a pretty good mecha show that keeps me wanting to watch to see the cool fights in zero time and to hear Wako or Marino sing. That is one thing it does really well. Its soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard in anime. It’s catchy, it’s pretty, and it’s pleasing to the ears.

Its 25 episodes long, so a little long for my tastes. But if you want 25 episodes of fun, check it out. Because despite its clear weaknesses, it keeps me entertained from week to week.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Finals Week Edition!

Before I start, I’m not going to be doing much research for these questions (if any at all) given I have finals, anime, and Skyrim. Nevertheless, I’ll do my best to answer the questions to the best of my ability.

1. What is the historical context for blue hair? Why does no one notice the brightly colored hair that everyone in anime seems to have? How do they get their hair to be all pointy?

There’s a cultural purpose for people with strangely colored and strangely shaped hair. And there’s also a lazy artistic reason.

First, the lazy artistic reason. It’s easier to distinguish characters with different hair colors and styles. I mean, who can’t recognize Goku with his hair going all woo and wee in all sorts of different directions? And who doesn’t remember that Botan from YuYu Hakusho has blue hair?

The cultural reason: People in Japan generally only have black hair, unless they’re part Japanese, part something else. As such, it’s extremely rare to find someone in Japan that doesn’t have black or brown hair. In fact, in some of the more strict schools in Japan, you can’t have your hair colored anything but black (it may have changed since I got that information though).

So the people of Japan want to stick out. On the weekends, they’ll dye their hair some different color and then change it for school on Monday. To stick out. The Japanese, I think, inherently want to be different, to look different, amongst themselves. So they give their characters these strange colored hair colors to compensate for their own inability to do so.

At least that’s my theory.

2. What is the most common theme in anime?

This will vary greatly depending on who you ask. There are three very well-known genres within anime: 1. Shonen (though it’s not known as that), 2. Magical girl, and 3. Hentai. Of course the only theme you’re going to find in hentai is trying to get pervy Japanese kids off. The shonen and magical girl genres have a little more.

I’d say that the most common theme in anime would just be shonen in general. I mean, that’s what was always on TV when us 20-somethings were kids. Dragonball Z, Pokémon, Digimon, YuYu Hakusho, all those I would consider shonen.

Then the most common thing in shonen is overcoming some “unbeatable” enemy. Piccolo, Raditz, Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, Buu, Gary, Rando, The Four Saint Beasts, Toguro, Sensui, Yomi, and more recently, Sasuke, Aizen, Aokiji, Akainu, Kizaru, Zeref, the Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart, and every other antagonist ever (it’s gone past the point where I’m just trying to show off my memory of names).

So the answer really is that there is no answer. It’s like asking what’s the most common theme in movies or what’s the most common theme in TV shows. There’s such a variety of movies, TV shows, and anime that it’s nigh on impossible to define one theme.

3. Why do the stores that sell anime decide to jack up the price?

This is an easy question. Right Stuf and Amazon, they don’t have to pay for a brick and mortars store. Borders, Barns and Noble, Best Buy, and everyone else, they have to pay for the store and the employees to interact with you and upkeep on anything inside it. For Right Stuf, they have to pay for a warehouse, some tech support, and the PR people since they also license things and go to conventions.

So because of that, Right Stuf and Amazon can afford to sell for much less than the MSRP compared to Best Buy and Barns and Noble. I mean, even when Borders was liquidating and had everything on sale, I could STILL find better deals on Right Stuf and Amazon for most of their stuff. I just bought a few things at Borders because I wouldn’t have to wait.

The way that a store that sells anime, or any store that doesn’t sell food or isn’t a franchise, has to do is they have to know their customers and they have to focus on selling things other than DVDs, blu-rays, and manga. I know if there was an anime shop near me, like really near me, I’d be a regular there. I probably still wouldn’t buy DVDs, blu-rays, and manga there, but I’d go there regularly because I like anime and I like talking about anime. I’d also pick up some general anime merchandise here and there. A figure or a plushie or basically anything that has the name K-ON! on it…

4. What happened to the series I like and why do they keep getting discontinued?

It’s a sad story with these. The reason is because they don’t sell. As much as you, or I, like them, not enough people do. It’s especially bad if they were licensed by a certain company named Tokyopop. Series like Fruits Basket are going to be picked up by someone else. I mean, ADV manga had Gunslinger Girl and Yotsuba& and both of those got picked up because they’re popular. But for the less popular things, the luck is running thin.

It’s a notorious thing to happen with DVD prints, back when they released a 26 episode series in a 6 DVD set. They’d print say 100,000 copies of the first volume. But it only sold 75,000. So the second volume will print 75,000. But that only sold 60,000. So the third volume will print 60,000. And so on until you get to the sixth volume, which only printed 25,000 compared to the original 100,000 copies of the first volume. I have this problem with Darker Than Black. I have volumes 1-3 and 5. I need 4 and 6 and I can’t find 4 for less than $25 and I can’t even find 6.

So the answer is that it isn’t popular enough, so it’s not going to keep getting printed. Do you want Viz or Seven Seas to continue printing your favorite series? Them buy more! Tell your friends to buy three copies (one for yourself, one to loan, and one for the vault). It’s sadly the only way we get the word to the publishers that we like it. They look at sales, not visits on scanlation sites.

5. How many anime have video games? And how many video games were inspired by anime? (reverse?)

This is a tough question. There aren’t many video games that get turned into anime (like, say, Resident Evil and some other mediocre to bad video game movies here in the States). The exception is visual novels.

There are tons and tons of visual novels that get anime adaptations (and they don’t really deserve it unless they were made by Key). And even if they were made by Key, it’s still not a great reason to make it. Clannad is the exception to the rule, really. But all the anime that I’ve watched that are based off of visual novels aren’t that great. [I take that back, Amagami SS is great. Another exception.]

But there are lots of anime that get turned into video games. Or at least all the popular shonen anime get a fighting video game adaptation. Dragonball Z, Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and I’m pretty sure Fairy Tail have all gotten a video game adaptation. This excludes PSP and Japan exclusive games, though. Because there are tons of those that I don’t even know about.

6. Why do I always feel that an anime scene I'm watching is weirdly sexual?

Why do American’s have sex scenes in their movies? Why are people having sex on Game of Thrones? Why is that really awkward scene in Watchman? BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH IT! I have no idea why (probably because they’re horny, prepubescent teenagers), but they want to watch it in the middle of something good, or at least mediocre.

Despite yours or anyone’s hatred toward the style of doing things, it sells. People watch it, they eat it up, and they love it. Hell, the only extras on any Spice and Wolf DVD was the “Stretching with Holo” and “Learning from Holo” on Spice and Wolf II release. Why? PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH HOLO BE CUTE. As much as you find it weird or sexual, other people love it and other people find it cute.

Take K-ON! as an example. It’s a very cute show with a lot of “sexual” things going on. They aren’t actually sexual, but it’s just a fun story about four girls who want to make a band, be successful, and most importantly…have FUN. The author wanted to make something cute that boys could enjoy as much as girls. It worked, I think. If you don’t like how they do it, then stop watching it. Behind Spice and Wolf’s sexy parts, there’s a good story. Behind the Major’s sexual getup, there’s an amazing story.

Moving on to Hellsing. The easy answer is that Kouta Hirano is a perv (which he really, really is). I mean, a lot (a lot) of the characters in Hellsing were based off of former characters Hirano had created. In hentai manga. If that’s not enough for you, then because guess what? IT STILL SELLS. People still want to watch Seras be “boobylicious.” Or is it boobielicious? In any case, they still want to see that.

Besides, if you want to see freakishly huge boobs, watch One Piece. Because dear god, some of those characters. So Seras is normal when I think about it like that. Then I move on to ignoring it. Because there’s something else going on. He’s called Alucard and he’s amazing.

In the end, it’s all to sell more. And it’s working. K-ON! and Oreimo sells more than Wandering Son because it has cute things to sell, even though Wandering Son is one of the greatest shows out there.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Is the Quality of Anime Declining?

I was asked recently whether the quality of anime is going down, or whether he was just imagining it. He was referring to the animation itself, but I have been asked by others whether the plots are getting worse. We saw shows in the 90’s like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun, but it seems like not a lot of shows are as good now.

Well I disagree wholeheartedly.

This season’s Future Diary is one of the best shows I’ve seen in this past year, and it’s almost certainly the best show this season. Also from this season, Chiyahafuru and Guilty Crown are also really good.

But then we have shows like Onii-chan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki Janai Dakara ne, Kissxsis, and Maken-ki. And I’ve watched all of them. And trust me when I say they’re not that good.

But let’s turn back the pendulum (to take a page from Kubo). Let’s look at the Spring 1998 anime list and compare it to the Fall 2011 list. A short list of the shows that came out in Spring 1998: Ah! My Goddess: Chichaitte Koto wa Benri da ne, Alice SOS, Android Ana Maico 2010, Beast Wars Second Chou Seimeitai Transformers, Brain Powerd, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Cowboy Bebop, Cyberteam in Akihabara, DT Eightron, Eat-Man ’98, Fancy Lala, Futari Gurashi, Gandalla: The King of Burning Desert, Gasaraki, Generator Gawl, Ginga Hyouryu Vifam 13, Grander Musashi RV, Hatsumei Boy Kanipan, Himiko-Den, Initial D First Stage, Jikuu Tenshou Nazca, and Legend of Basara. Trust me, there’s more. But what do most of these shows probably have in common? They’re mediocre. Hell, even I haven’t heard of a lot of these. And Bebop and Gawl are the only ones I own. So I’ve only seen two out of these 20+ shows.

Compare this to this anime season (Fall 2011), where simulcasts have allowed me to watch as many new shows as I want. I’m currently watching: Chihayafuru, Fairy Tail, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, Hunter x Hunter, Majikoi Oh! Samurai Girls, Mashiroiro Symphony, Squid Girl, Un-Go, Wagnaria’!!, You and Me, Guilty Crown, Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing, Maken-ki, and The Future Dairy. Out of those, only Fairy Tail is a continuation from a previous season. And in my opinion, 7 have the potential to be good (Chiyahafuru, Un-Go, Guilty Crown, Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing, and The Future Dairy. Fairy Tail and Hunter x Hunter to a lesser degree). That’s 50%.

Of course that’s all subjective and I have no basis for saying those 1998 shows are going to be mediocre. But I will give critics this: there are a lot more fanservice shows. Maken-ki, thanks for being there when I need an unnecessary panty shot. Why do I continue watching shows like this? Because I’m a completionist. Why did I start a show like this? I have no clue.

What are the two big differences between the two seasons? 1. Fanservice, 2. Episode count. Most of those 1998 shows have 24+ episodes, most of these 2011 shows have 13 max. And why all the fanservice? Well, there is a legitimate response to that. One that critics will hate. The birth rate in Japan is falling. That’s right, that’s the reason for the fanservice shows being so prevalent.

See, without kids to watch the kids shows, the studios see no need in making shows that target kids. While there are tons of pervy teenagers in Japan that frequent Akihabara’s maid cafes and want some panty action in their anime. Because there are actually few casual anime viewers in Japan. Most of them either think that any anime fan is an otaku (which has very negative connotations in Japan compared to here) or that anime is a bad influence in general and will make you kill people, or something horrible.

We Americans know that’s not true. It’s also true that we Americans are what are keeping a lot of these anime in production (at least that was the case just two or three years ago). The Japanese studios didn’t have the funding to keep making the show, so they licensed the show to an American licensor and then, voila, funding for the rest of the show. But I digress.

My point here is that the quality of anime isn’t going down. It’s stayed about the same. There are always one or two really, really good shows per season. They might not all be of the quality of Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell or Samurai Champloo, but they’re damn near. Hell, Baccano!, Time of Eve, and Durarara!! came out in 2007, 2008, and 2010 respectively. And those are the really great shows of the past few years, at least the ones that I’ve seen. I guess your point is that the lower shows are worse or less worthy. But that’s ok, just don’t watch those. I’ll do it for you and tell you how bad they are.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Segregation of Anime

“Hero, second class. That is the designation given the artists of animated films. Their work receives the highest praise, yet at awards time they are deemed creatures of some cuter, smaller species.” That quote is from Time Magazine and I find it truer and truer every day.

Every time my friends and I go to watch a movie, I suggest something like Howl’s Moving Castle, Paprika, or Summer Wars. I think, hey, they like fantastical stories like Lord of the Rings, why not do something like this? But no. We end up watching some smut like Transporter or Contact. It should be noted that I like both of those movies for very different reasons, but the three aforementioned anime movies are better. Much, much better.

The reasoning I get for not wanting to watch anime movies is they would prefer to watch them by themselves with their headphones on, isolated from the world. That is ridiculous. These are movies, just like anything else. I’ll understand something like Tokyo Godfathers or Millennium Actress since those are subtitled, but to pass up Princess Mononoke or Ghost in the Shell is criminal. These are great movies in their own right, animated or not. I hear that you would rather watch these by yourself on a screen that’s not likely to be bigger than 25’ instead of enjoying the movie experience with friends on a screen that’s somewhere around 40-odd inches.

Don’t give me that bull. Tokyo Godfathers is quite likely the best movie I saw in 2011. And yet my friends seem to have an innate and unchangeable prejudice against anime (and prejudice is the right word here). I love watching anime. I love it more when I’m watching it with friends, especially if it’s new to all of us. But I’ll never truly get that experience because I’m either showing an anime to someone or watching it new by myself because no one else wants to.

I suppose what I’m asking is why do people have this innate prejudice against anime? And with my friends, it is just anime. Because we’ve seen movies like Wall-E and How to Train Your Dragon without hesitation. But not anime. Well, guess what people: Spirited Away won Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards and the growing trend is leaning toward anime. So get over yourselves and watch a little sometime.