Summer 2018 – Follow Up Part 1

It’s been a long journey making my way through the Summer anime season already, but the party’s not over! Getting a taste of so many anime has really only whet my appetite for some of them. Sometimes the first episode was so good that I’m dying to see more. Sometimes I’m somewhat intrigued and need some more information to make a final decision. And sometimes I feel like there might be a train-wreck brewing, and I need to sate my curiosity in some way. Whatever the reason is, I’ve put together a list of series I wouldn’t mind watching some more of, and I’ll be sharing my thoughts about them over a few different posts (one post would just be unwieldy). You can expect about four series per follow-up, in no particular order. It should go without saying, but below are spoilers for all the series covered (Mr. Tonegawa, Hanebado!, Harukana Receive, and Cells at Work!).

Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues

First Impression Review

Episodes Viewed: 2 and 3

Thoughts: In episode 2 of the series, Tonegawa finds his way over the hurdle of his subordinates’ similar names and faces, and works his way towards getting them to open-up during a brainstorming session. President Hyoudou shows up at the worst possible time spoils the mood, and Tonegawa is forced to contradict his team. This causes a great deal of damage to their relationship. Tonegawa attempts to make amends in the next episode by bringing the group on a weekend outing to the company’s lakeside villa. There are those among the men who don’t trust this as more than a false attempt at apology, but they’re won over by Kobe beef, expensive wines, beer, and Tonegawa’s apparent willingness to go out of the way with his time and money to make the outing a success.

Watching a couple more episodes helped me to get a better sense of the tone this series is trying to achieve. It’s been quite a while since I’ve watched Kaiji, but I remember it being fairly serious despite its over-the-top scenario. So far this series is definitely funnier; I wouldn’t necessarily call it “lighter” as there’s a sense of looming dread that’s present in many scenes (“Zawa zawa…” as is Fukumoto’s staple sound effect), but the bombastic narration and constant use of visual metaphor (once I “got it”) is actually pretty entertaining. This does cement in my mind, however, that it’s necessary to have seen at least the first season of Kaiji before watching this; there are some funny and some not-so-funny call-backs to that series (as well as Akagi, now that I’m thinking about it) that don’t mean much unless you’re already somewhat familiar with it.

Speaking as someone in a management role, some of Tonegawa’s anxieties are all-too-real to me, especially the desire to strike a balance between being a manager and being well-regarded by your team. There’s always something of an inner conflict between how much I’d like people to respect me as an authority figure (spoiler: that feels weird to me – I’d rather people seek me out for advice or guidance on things rather than expect me to tell them what to do all the time) and how much I want to have a cordial relationship with them. There’s something comforting about seeing those anxieties on the screen, however unrealistically they may be represented. One additional positive is that I still really like the opening and ending themes to the series. Normally I either skip those or stop paying attention to check my cell phone or what-not, but the OP to this series is very unique and has caught my attention each time.

Would I continue watching? – Yes, I’m kind of vaguely-invested in the show now. I’m beginning to remember the things I liked about the other Fukumoto-based anime series I’ve seen and understanding the rhythm of this one a little bit better.

Hanebado!

First Impression Review

Episodes viewed: 2 and 3

Thoughts: Episode 2 continues to tell Aragaki’s story as she struggles through her slump. She recalls upsetting memories of people talking about her behind her back, judging her for her height, and saying that she’s “basically a boy” due to her skill and the way she carries herself. These emotional stresses manifest in her attitude towards the other badminton club members as she takes on a tyrannical attitude with them. The coach finally intervenes in the situation, as Hanesaki is already on shaky ground in regards to remaining on the team and he doesn’t want Aragaki to make things worse. He challenges Aragaki to a match and identifies what she’s going through – he went through many of the same experiences as a tall player who practiced his heart out instead of relying on inherent talent. Aragaki apologizes to her teammates and things seem to smooth over for the time being.

Episode 3 switches to Hanesaki as the focal character and we learn a bit about her past, including the sudden and emotional abandonment by her mother. Hanesaki’s mother was a ten-time national badminton champ and trained her daughter in the sport, but left after Hanesaki lost a match (due to illness and her opponent’s cheating more than anything). Coming face-to-face with the competitor who defeated her that time sends Hanesaki into a funk and she vows to quit badminton again. Some encouragement from Elena, her long-time friend (and team manager) and Aragaki helps bring her back to the present.

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about this series in that it focuses a lot on the tumultuous emotions of its young cast and not quite as much on the sports aspect of the story. I kind of understand that, but watching these couple of episodes I can’t really agree with that as a criticism in and of itself. I find that the inner lives of teenagers is rarely portrayed in a realistic way; anime tends to trope-ify high school and all the relationships to be found there, and characters always seem to fall into certain archetypes. While this series isn’t necessarily all that realistic either, I think it does a much better job of conveying how events and past wrongs, despite how “serious” (or not) they might be in the grand scheme of things, can throw a young person into a funk or seem to them to be an insurmountable emotional hurdle. Though I’m more than double the age of these characters I still have memories about how quickly my mood could and would change as an adolescent and how often some relatively minor issue made me feel as though my life was over. I kind of like that.

Of course, this series being so serious makes certain parts of it stand out. I was really unimpressed by Kaoruko’s introduction; she feels like a cartoon character from an entirely different sports anime. Her personality is unrealistic (she’s an ojou-sama without the benefit of an all-girls school and floral motif, at least when she visits our main cast) and she’s downright mean in a way that I feel few people actually are. In a flashback, she ties Hanesaki up and coughs in her face to pass on her illness, with the intention of being able to give her a handicap in their upcoming match. Gross. The coach also continues to have a personal-space issue, though that “gag” diminishes to nothing by the third episode. It bothers me that it was there in the first place, because the coach seems like an interesting character too, but it’s difficult to see past his hand-grabbing and creeper antics.

Would I continue watching? – At this point I think my opinion is improved enough that I would watch more. I think this series has a few problems maintaining its tone, mainly that it tries to crack jokes that aren’t actually funny or worthwhile when it ought to be just focusing on its compelling character drama. I’m starting to be invested in the characters’ stories, though, and I’m interested to see if Hanesaki’s family situation gets resolved or if maybe it’s some kind of misunderstanding. This is definitely the type of sports anime I prefer to watch (as opposed to more “sports-focused” action-y ones).

Harukana Receive

First Impression Review

Episodes Viewed: 2 and 3

Thoughts: In episode 2, Haruka trains in the essentials of beach volleyball so that she and her cousin Kanata can take on Narumi and Ayasa in a rematch a week from that time. Kanata becomes Haruka’s “demon coach” and puts her through her paces, helping her to run effectively in the sand and gain some basic skills. Since they have such a short amount of time, Kanata chooses to teach Haruka a special cross-court spike that the other team will likely not be anticipating from a newbie. When the fateful day arrives the makeshift team once again finds themselves outmatched, but Haruka’s endless encouragement and quick thinking help to kick Kanata out of her funk, and they manage to score a point against Narumi and Ayasa (their condition for winning).

In episode 3, it’s back to school for the characters. While Haruka registers, Kanata finds herself in the clutches of Emily and Claire, two members of the school’s beach volleyball club. They obviously would like for her to join back up with the team, but Kanata still has some lingering apprehensions about her return to the sport. The four end up on the beach and start a pickup match for practice, and it’s there that Kanata’s feelings become more evident; she wants to spike and be a power-player because that’s how she identifies, and doesn’t want to use a technique called a “pokey” (using two bent fingers to pop the ball up over a defender) despite how it might help her overcome her small stature. Once again Haruka comes to the rescue, reminding Kanata that “a point is a point” no matter how it’s achieved. This allows Kanata to re-frame her way of thinking and utilize the helpful technique. That evening Haruka asks Kanata to officially pair up with her as a team.

Above all else, this show is extremely good-natured and cute. While it definitely doesn’t ignore the sporting aspect of the story, the fundamental arc of each episode seems more focused on Kanata overcoming her past through Haruka’s encouragement and kindness. Haruka is the kind of character who doesn’t seem to get frustrated by anything and doesn’t really get angry at others, which is a good counterpart to Kanata who is consistently self-sabotaging and doesn’t seem to have much self-esteem. I tend to really enjoy anime series where the characters choose kindness over violence or cruelty, so this aspect of the series is very appealing.

I’m still struggling with the fact that the camera angles seem so enamored with the characters’ breasts and butts. Considering that beach volleyball is played in bikinis it’s not that I didn’t expect the characters to be in their swimsuits for a good portion of the time, but there are an uncomfortable amount of shots that are taken up primarily by butts and bouncing breasts without their attached faces and bodies, which is squicky to me for reasons that I’ve stated in the past. There’s also some mild yuri content which doesn’t bother me but for the fact that the two main characters are cousins; there’s a scene in the second episode where Kanata is making heart-shaped-eyes at Haruka’s butt and complimenting how cute it is. Haruka also ends up in bed with Kanata at one point. It’s mild enough that there’s some plausible deniability but incest is a criminal act and even playfully suggesting it without following-through is borderline in my eyes.

Would I continue watching? – I’m really very torn on this one. I actually got teary-eyed near the end of the second episode because I could feel that Kanata had overcome a personal obstacle and it was moving to me. However, the show continues to self-sabotage itself with some poor content and visual choices; while others might not have such a severe viewpoint on the material, I personally have some problems with it that put the show in “only if I have some free time” territory.

Cells at Work!

First Impression Review

Episodes Viewed: Episodes 2 and 3

Thoughts: In Episode 2, the body that houses all of our favorite cells experiences an abrasion that breaks the skin. What this means for the cells is that a giant hole opens up in their world. Red Blood Cell is out doing her duties and getting lost as usual when she’s caught in the path of the abrasion/explosion. As one might expect, several bacteria and other infecting agents take advantage of this opening and begin an invasion. White Blood Cell (the same one that Red encountered earlier) happens to be in the area and saves her and some of her comrades from being swept into the wound, and then starts a counterattack. Soon he and his troops are outnumbered and the situation starts to look grim. Enter the platelets who arrive just in time to close off the wound and prevent any other bacteria from getting in.

In episode 3, the body is invaded by a zombie-like influenza strain. A Naive T-Cell (one which hasn’t encountered the contagion before) finds himself overwhelmed by the onslaught despite help from Macrophage, White Blood Cell and his own T-Cell senpai group. He runs from battle feeling sorry for himself as the invasion rages on, but his true powers are activated through the intervention of a Dendritic Cell with some timely information. Now much more powerful, the Activated T-Cell and his comrades eradicate the infection (with help from B-Cell and his antibodies). There appears to just be one influenza carrier left, but this one is of a craftier and deadlier Influenza A strain.

As silly as this series is, it’s hard for me not to love it. It’s a show where essentially all of the characters are mascot characters and their trope-y traits are necessary and by design. The two episodes I watched did a great job of escalating the bodily threats a typical human being might encounter from time-to-time, while imagining what those events might look like to microscopic cells going about their functions. Surprising absolutely no one, I think my favorite cells are the platelets; I’m not entirely sure why they’ve been personified as the cutest little children in the known universe (I would have expected them to be more like adult construction workers, but perhaps there’s some other aspect of their functionality that makes kindergartners a more appropriate representation), but I love it. My second favorite character is Macrophage, an amalgamation of elegance and horrific power and a juxtaposition of traits that tickles me. If I were a cosplayer I’d definitely make her my next project.

I imagine that there are even more in-jokes to be found in this show if you’re someone in the medical field or who has a background in human biology. Facts and functions are presented in a digestible way in the show but I feel like there are some laughs I’m missing out on just due to my very basic biological knowledge. That’s really a minor complaint about a show that’s otherwise something I’m going to look forward to catching up on.

Will I continue watching? – This is really a no-brainer, but I was looking forward to this series prior to the season, loved the first episode, and have continued to enjoy subsequent ones. I’m a fan of quirky educational programming, and this definitely scratches that itch.