This spring 2012 anime season has been the best since I’ve been really paying attention. Which, granted, has been about a year, so I hardly have the experience that the folks over at Anime News Network have. But I’ve been blown away by three out of these four shows and the fourth (tsuritama) has a crap ton of potential (which is not taking away from the quality of that show; the visuals are absolutely beautiful in tsuritama, possibly the best of the season).
But let’s look at the other shows I’ve chosen to pick up in this new season: Folktales from Japan, Recorder and Randsell, Saki Episode of Side A, Upotte!!, You and Me. Season 2, and the second season of Phi Brain. Out of those, Folktales from Japan is the standout and it doesn’t come anywhere close to the quality of Space Brothers, tsuritama, Kids on the Slope, and Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine.
First, Space Brothers. While reading Bamboo Dong’s review of the show, she pointed out something that I would never have noticed, at least not to the degree she did. And my trying to summarize it just wouldn’t do, so I’ll quote it:
“In a pivotal scene, Mutta trudges from firm to firm, getting rejected from every job interview for his headbutting incident. Suddenly, he stops and looks forlornly at a McDonald's, but instead of the series taking the turn one would expect, viewers find him wolfing down his problems via a Big Mac. And because he still has a shard of pride left, he darts his eyes around the room to make sure no one notices as he snatches up a stray fry crumb in a corner of his tray. That scene alone might have easily been my favorite scene from the entire episode, because it encompasses so much of what Mutta is going through and feeling, all in one furtive fry snatch.”
I, of course, can’t notice these subtleties, but I read the review before I watched the show and, when the scene came up, I absolutely felt Mutta’s struggles. I mean, I’m a senior in college, I’ve never had an internship to cushion my resume, and I graduate in the winter with no job prospects in sight. While this guy is in his 30s and, instead of recent college grad, he’s recently fired former company ace. But I sympathize with that, and I think most people in the world can sympathize with it. That kind of scene hits you hard, no matter what position you find yourself in currently. It’s the kind of scene that makes a good show a great show.
The scene itself doesn’t make the show, though. These characters, Mutta and his little brother, Hibito, are absolutely relatable. The elder wants to stay one step ahead of his little brother, but he finds himself fired and moving back home while his brother is about to be the first Japanese man to step on the moon. And that, again, is something extremely relatable to most anyone. We always want to be on top or get the good job or whatever. We want to be successful and, really, that’s all Mutta wants.
And to keep the show interesting, Mutta wants to go to Mars. This is a relatable, slice-of-life story about a man who wants to go to Mars. But, if this show is to remain good, it won’t let him go to Mars for a long time (and I believe it will do that, given the acceptance process to the program to train Mutta to go to Mars isn’t over yet as of the second episode). I have lots of confidence in this show and I quickly shot to the top of my list of the spring 2012 anime season shows. Until…
tsuritama came out. It was the next show that I picked up after Space Brothers after reading the high regard that a few of the ANN folks gave tsuritama. I had nothing to lose and I felt that I didn’t have enough shows under my belt anyway (I’m currently watching 16 shows that are currently airing; 14 before I picked up tsuritama and Lupin III).
One thing I will say about tsuritama is that it is, and will probably remain, the only thing in the world that will make me want to go fishing. At least it will be while I’m still on the south side of 50 or so. To me, fishing is an extremely boring activity where you sit around for long periods of time and do nothing. I’d rather be watching an anime about fishing. Like tsuritama. Which is actually a bit of a stretch. tsuritama is disctinctively not about fishing, but there are a lot of fishing things going on. Example one: Haru, the self-proclaimed alien that has some magical squirt gun and carries around a fishing pole. He makes friends with Yuki, the series protagonist, that is pretty anti-social and moves around a lot because of his grandmother’s work. Well, Haru doesn’t make friends as much as he invites himself to live in their house. Which Yuki’s grandmother is totally ok with. But getting past that!
This show’s visuals are absolutely stunning. It reminds me of Ponyo with the water elements and Paprika with the colors and psychedelic-y stuff that’s going on. I want to keep watching based solely on just how visually stunning this show is. I want to see more of how these animators envision the world and fantasy that these characters find themselves in.
But the visuals aren’t the only thing that make this show have so much potential. Yuki is going through a rough and tumble however many years he’s been alive and Haru literally shows up on his doorstep and seems to help him through at least some of it. I’m exciting to see more of Haru’s antics and more of Yuki’s growth as the series moves along.
Plus I want Haru’s fantasy elements explained.
Comparatively, Kids on the Slope is as down to earth as you can get. It’s set in 1966 (which you only can know through reading the plot summary or paying really close attention to the setting of the series, which gives it away in amazingly subtle ways) and it’s about the new kid in town, Kaoru Nishimi. He quickly finds friends with class rep and nice girl, Ritsuko, and school punk and Ritsuko’s childhood friend, Sentaro. I’ve gone into the trope-y elements of those relationships, so I’ll spare myself having to repeat that here by skipping over them.
What’s great about this show is that it’s Shinichiro Watanabe’s latest work. What makes it even more great is Yoko Kanno’s involvement in the making of the soundtrack. The last time they teamed up, I believe it was called Samurai Champloo.
But really, I am a sucker for music anime. And a Yoko Kanno soundtrack makes the music all that much more exciting. I’m exciting to see Kaoru’s growth into a jazz pianist. I’m exciting to hear Sentaro drum more. I’m exciting to see what role Ritsuko will play in the show (here’s to hoping she’s more than “girl next door”). I go into more detail in my review of the show and I’m trying not to repeat myself here. But I am excited about this show.
What’s surprisingly exciting it the new Lupin III show. The last Lupin series I saw was the second one; the one that aired on Cartoon Network way back when. And I don’t remember much from that show except that it was absolutely entertaining. So coming into this new Lupin series is something very new for me, which I assume is the exact opposite for most American fans of the Lupin series, who have likely been watching it since it was coming out state-side.
What I love about this series is the first two episodes, while relatively similar in a lot of respects, still managed to stand out completely in my mind. The first one is about our heroine, Fujiko Mine, infiltrating a cult leader to steal his drug. The second episode is about Fujiko infiltrating a mob to steal Jigen’s gun.
By the title, I guess I naively expected the series to feature Arsene Lupin III more frequently. But I suppose I glazed over the subtitle of “The Woman Called Fujiko Mine.” From these episodes, I can only surmise that Fujiko, not Lupin, will be the protagonist of this series, with Lupin serving more as a Fujiko in terms of role in the series. Which is very interesting.
The second episode doesn’t even feature the master thief, Lupin, at all. It focuses on Fujiko doing her usual thing and Jigen going from cold-hearted, bodyguard that kills people to thief that might have some reservations to killing people. I can, again, only surmise that the third episode will focus on Goemon, the series’ fifth major character (after Fujiko, Lupin, Zenigata, and Jigen, who have been introduced by the second episode).
This show has done a lot in two episodes, though. It has delved into the introductions in the first episode, so newcomers to the Lupin franchise are beyond having to know who Lupin, Fujiko, Zenigata, and Jigen are in the second episode. And, given that Fujiko, Lupin, and Zenigata were already introduced, and that Lupin and Zenigata didn’t even make an appearance in the second episode, we were able to delve right into a study of Jigen and his motives. All the while, we got an exciting story of thievery, deceit, and betrayal.
All in all, I’m very exciting, perhaps the most about a show this season, to watch more Lupin. I’m especially exciting how it’s going to work once Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon are all together and their dynamic between Fujiko.
If I had to suggest one show to anyone, it would most definitely be Kids on the Slope. But if you like thieve-y, heist-y shows, check out Lupin. If you like slice-of-life, going to space shows, check out Space Brothers. If you like dazzling and amazing visuals with a very good story on the side, check out tsuritama. And if you liked Cowboy Bebop and/or Samurai Champloo at all, or enjoy Yoko Kanno’s music, check out Kids on the Slope. They’re all great, though. So, really, watch all of them.
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