When I took on this particular Book Club project, I underestimated how difficult it would be. It’s not hard in that the show itself is somehow impenetrable – I definitely have thoughts on it and it’s not like I’ve been going in cold to this viewing. I’ve had literally years to think about and interpret these stories. It’s a series that hits on a lot of tough subjects, though. The older I get the more I assume that I have guts of steel and can withstand the act of being made to experience or be reminded of upsetting things. I think to some extent that’s true, but there are still times when I’m caught off-guard. For various reasons this past couple of weeks have been rough for me. I won’t elaborate on it too much, but if you’ve been keeping up on United States news you probably have some idea. I only have a certain amount of energy to deal with that kind of material, and when I’m at my emotional limit I’m not inclined to then go watch a very intense anime series in addition to that.
That said, there are also times where I find that my emotions are likely to spill over, and focusing them on anime analysis is just what I need to turn my anger into power. It can be difficult to know where that balance is and sometimes I make mistakes – overdoing it when I should be resting, staying in bed when I should be up and fighting. It’s hard to know just when to do what and how best to honor my boundaries when I’ve also volunteered myself to speak out about difficult topics. Perhaps I’m not as experienced as I like to think I am. Whatever the case may be, I suppose the best thing I can do is to keep trying and learning and improving.
I secretly hope that with each one of these very simple writing prompts I’ll manage to come up with a straightforward answer that gets to the heart of my appreciation for anime. Unfortunately, this one has probably managed to drum up some of the most complicated feelings I’ve had thus far. The question itself has more depth than it might seem on the surface; it delves to the heart of what causes shame and how we often question our own feelings about the things that we love.
My brief, contrarian answer is that I try not to be ashamed of anything that I watch. I’ve definitely come to the end of an anime series and felt that I could have better spent my time, but for the most part I knowingly choose the anime I consume and whatever the outcome, I’m not hesitant to talk about it with others. I don’t hide the fact that I’ve watched and enjoyed anime that other fans have disliked, sometimes intensely. One example that I’ve mentioned several times before is The Perfect Insider, which I found to be philosophically compelling and emotionally affecting. Many other fans were quite vocally unimpressed by one aspect of the series or another. The Lost Village is another recent example; it was goofy in a but had an underlying message that spoke to me. I’m not ashamed of having enjoyed these anime series, but I am disappointed in my inability to convince other fans that they’re worthwhile and have some amount of merit.
How in the world are we bumped up against October already? As usual, due to my real-life commitments and day job, I’m left playing catch-up with this past season’s anime. But I suppose that doesn’t mean I can’t look ahead towards the anime I’ll be catching up with in another three months or so! These posts are meant to be all in fun; while I usually have some ideas about what I’m likely to enjoy, I’m almost always surprised in one way or another. Last season I was pleasantly caught off-guard by Planet With, for example – a show that I had very little awareness of prior to the beginning of the season.
This post should not be taken as a blanket endorsement of the anime series listed below; each and every one of them has the potential to misrepresent itself in ways that only become evident upon actual viewing. It’s really fun to get excited, though! I think we always need reminders that anime is worth getting excited about, and there’s always something good to watch.
Note: I’m using the current Western titles of these series to the best of my ability and as they appear in various anime news and information outlets, in the hopes that they’ll be easy to find when the simulcast info comes out. That doesn’t mean the official titles won’t be somewhat different than listed.
In 2050 engineer Derrida Yvain is famous for his contribution to “Autonomous Machine DZ,” at his father’s company, Rebuild. But when he and his colleague Nathan discover a dangerous flaw in their creation, their warnings go ignored. The next day after Nathan’s daughter Mage’s birthday party, the group barely escapes an attack by unknown forces, leading to Derrida’s unwitting captivity in cryogenic stasis. Ten years later, he emerges in a world at war with the mechanical lifeforms he helped create. Now, he fights to survive his nightmare future to make good his promise to “Take care of Mage.” – Crunchyroll
Episode Summary: Derrida Yvain is a scientist working on a team developing “automata,” service robots that have insinuated themselves into many aspects of people’s lives. They’ve recently shipped the DZ model which are considered to be top quality new tech, but Derrida and Nathan, his friend and co-developer, have discovered a bug in the DZ programming that, if activated, could cause the model to go out of control. They beg Hans Andrei, project leader, to recall the units that have already been shipped so that they can patch them, but for whatever reason that plan is a no-go. Derrida will have to meet with his father, Jacques, the original developer, to hopefully work something out. That issue takes a back seat, however, to Nathan’s daughter’s birthday.
Mage, Nathan’s daughter, is a bright girl with an interest in her father’s work. She looks up to Derrida and seems downtrodden when he declines an invitation to join in Nathan’s upcoming research. As Derrida is leaving their home, she asks him one last time to reconsider, and though he’s noncommittal he hands Mage an electronic key to pass along to Nathan. Derrida meets with his father, Jacques, the next day and the meeting goes poorly; Derrida accuses Jacques of caring more about the DZ than the well-being of his own son. He learns soon enough that Hans has a hit out on Nathan and himself for “knowing too much” about the flawed DZ programming, and having “taken care” of Jacques Yvain earlier, intends to kill Derrida and Nathan and frame it as a murder-suicide to the media. Nathan comes out on the bad end of the situation, but Derrida manages to escape into the woods where in his pained delirium he begins to see strange visions of Mage appearing and disappearing as if phasing in and out of reality. The vision leads him to an underground cryogenic facility, where Derrida’s final act is to seal himself away in one of the pods. But what will he find when he awakens?
Impressions:This review contains some minor spoilers for the first 4 episodes of the show.
Though I would have liked to have gone into this viewing session clean, I happened to read the ANN preview of the first few episodes that was posted following the recent Crunchyroll Expo convention. The article certainly gave the impression that the story was a muddled mess and the technical aspects of the show were disappointing, so my expectations were definitely tempered somewhat. To be honest, when I discovered that Crunchyroll posted the first four episodes yesterday, I looked at it as an opportunity to get this first impression “over with” so that it would be out of the way by the time the Autumn anime started in earnest. I’m not sure if it was the effect of lowering my expectations or whether I’m just not as harsh a critic, but having seen the first episode I’m kind of questioning the rude audience reactions I read about in ANN’s article. The episode certainly has its share of aesthetic problems and some of the dialog absolutely has issues with emotional realism, but while it’s mediocre it’s certainly not an unmitigated disaster.
Mage and her friend Yui enjoy the birthday party.
My suspicion is that many anime fans saw the name “Yoshitoshi Abe” attached to the series and became saddled with a set of expectations that the series could never hope to achieve. For those who are unfamiliar, Abe is an artist and writer who loaned his particular style to several well-known and influential series during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. The most famous and well-regarded of these are Haibane Renmei, which is based on one of his own self-published manga, and Serial Experiments Lain, to which he provided very iconic character designs. He also created the NieA_7 manga, another doujinshi effort that was later adapted into an anime, though despite being fairly charming doesn’t seem to be quite as famous. In any case, to many of us who came into our own as fans around that time period, Abe’s name brings with it a certain feeling of nostalgia and admiration; it’s not surprising that the fact of his involvement would drum up some expectations about the type of story and its quality level, no matter how small his actual contribution was.
The fact is, Abe’s rich, textured art style isn’t represented well in the series; if I hadn’t been told multiple times that he was involved, I wouldn’t have guessed it on my own. The character designs as they appear in the show itself are very generic, which isn’t necessarily a problem in-and-of-itself, but it does beg the question – why employ the services of a fairly famous character artist and not go to some effort to preserve the charm of their designs? Obviously anime production is more complicated than that, as anyone who’s seen Shirobakowill attest. It’s not a system that allows the time or resources necessary for people to do their best work; we just happen to be lucky enough to get some great results some of the time anyway. Geek Toys, the animation production company for this series, is brand new, and with that newness comes many challenges. I can’t entirely fault a studio for simplifying some designs more in favor of ones that could be more easily animated. That said, the fact that there are a lot of off-model shots in the first episode doesn’t exactly bode well for how the rest of the series is going to look.
Derrida sees visions of Mage in the woods.
Some of the writing and dialog leaves a bit to be desired. I actually mistook this for a direct time-travel story; thus far the only confirmed “time travel” is Derrida’s missing ten-year gap. I make it a personal policy to look past all but the most glaring plot holes when timey-wimey stuff is involved, but judging by the first episode, time travel and its resultant paradoxes aren’t a major factor (though based on what I’ve heard that stands to change at some point). Some of the character dialog, however, feels very melodramatic, and in the “bad” (meaning: not entertaining) way. I think the best example of this occurs when Derrida confronts his father with the information about the DZ’s flawed operating system; when Jacques doesn’t give Derrida the answer that he’s seeking, the situation goes from “zero” to “you never loved me, dad!” in a matter of seconds. While I can accept the fact that Derrida and his father might have some issues to work out, introducing those issues when we know very little about either character to begin with feels more like a ploy to wring some quick, cheap drama out of an under-developed situation. I could have managed with less time spent at Mage’s birthday party if instead there would have been a few more moments spent establishing the main character’s personalty and the clearly important and probably complicated relationship he had with his genius father.
Still, I’m not ready to entirely discount the series yet, and this episode was actually fairly entertaining in spite of its flaws. At the very least, it manages to do what so few stories can; it warns us of the consequences of inaction and then, thanks to time manipulation (of a sort), proves those consequences to have been genuine.
***
Because they were available (and I decided it would be a better use of my time to watch the episodes now rather than pick them back up later), I decided to go ahead and watch episodes 2-4 of the show. It’s not my regular practice, but it’s difficult to pass on an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. In the subsequent few episodes, Derrida awakens from cryo-sleep to find that his fears have come true and that the DZ robots have gone rogue, causing mass destruction (which of course seems to benefit the wealthy Rebuild shareholders and other upper-class types, including Hans. Derrida joins up with an older man and his young daughter – two people who have the tools and survival instincts to navigate the unfriendly robot-riddled terrain. They travel to find Mage’s whereabouts, learns that she’s dead (from her friend Yuri), then learns that that was a lie. Mage is, in fact, missing. Derrida’s new goal is to obtain a copy of the software patch so that he can nullify the DZ troops and save humankind, but they learn that the robots’ malfunction was not so much a bug as it was completely intentional and entirely by design. This unsettling corruption appears to run deep and Derrida must trudge through it to find the answers that he seeks.
These episodes continue much in the same vein as the first; the show is basically competent in most respects and manages to maintain a modest amount of tension as Derrida and friends find themselves pursued by various factions (including a frighteningly-persistent female assassin who’s identity I assume is less of a secret than it first appears). Hans Andrei makes for an ineffectual villain; rather than proving to be a real danger to the protagonist, he’s mostly a bumbling rich guy who seems terrified of anything that might threaten his position. Derrida turns out to be kind of an unlikable protagonist, not because his goals aren’t sound but more because he lacks emotional range and maturity; it becomes exhausting to listen to him fly off the handle while simultaneously trying to convince (coerce?) those around him to give up their safety to help him achieve his goals.
Part of me would like to give this one a shiny “You Tried” award; I feel like this is a story someone really wanted to tell and there are definitely echoes of something bigger and better to be found within the show’s modest package. There are just a lot of aspects (visual and story-wise) that are holding it back, and as it stands it’s too much of a hard sell.
Pros: Seen from afar, the show is fairly competent, (if unimpressive).
Cons: The protagonist and antagonist are insufferable. There are many distracting aesthetic and quality-control issues.
One thing that kind of stinks about writing in this format is that, no matter how much prep work you do and how long you consider what you want to say, sometimes you just come up with a better idea later on. I don’t know that I’ve outright regretted anything that I’ve posted (aside from using language and slang then that I wouldn’t use now), but there have been times I’ve struggled with trying to interpret something, only to have “the answer”™ drop into my lap days or weeks later. This happened to me last week when I was writing my post for “Umibouzu;” despite the fact that I’ve watched those episodes many times and had a decade to ponder their meaning, it wasn’t until the middle of last week that I had half a thought about them that actually made sense. I sure wish that lightning had struck me on Sunday when I was writing the post! I won’t go into too much detail here; I’ll probably end up just posting an aside or addendum this week as I have time. I don’t want to steal the thunder from this week’s set of episodes, after all. I did, however, want to mention the situation because I know I struggle with knowing when a piece of writing is “finished.” I might spend hours editing, re-editing, and picking away at something without it ever being entirely where I want it to be. Finally cutting myself off can be painful, and I suspect there are others out there with the same issues. I just wanted to let you know you’re absolutely not alone!
Tanisu’s parents are mad scientists who live outside of normal society. They locked up their own children up on an isolated island and did experiments on them in secret, turning Tanisu’s older brother and three older sisters into strange creatures. One day, their parents were arrested, and the siblings were moved to another island by the welfare office. The trouble is that none of the siblings except Tanisu know how to interact in modern day society… – Crunchyroll
Episode Summary: Tanisu’s older siblings are all the result of their mad scientist parents’ experimentation. They have special forms and abilities that distinguish them from normal humans, but they know very little about how to interact with society. Tanisu’s distinguishing factor is that he’s smart and kind, and he wants for his family to be able to live among others. As the only sibling without mutant abilities, he takes it upon himself to reintegrate them all while their parents are serving time for turning them all into scientific guinea pigs.
When the ingredients for their dinner are ruined, Tanisu suggests that they all go out to eat; a big deal when most of the family is unfamiliar with common social etiquette and can’t always agree on what to have for dinner in the first place. As they sit down to dim-sum, their various alterations are on full display. Transformation, photosynthesis, predatory tendencies… these things don’t mesh well with the polite restaurant atmosphere. The other patrons begin to chatter and make remarks and Tanisu becomes more and more upset with his family. It’s only after he has an outburst that his siblings realize how important being out in public is to Tanisu, and they work to use chopsticks, clean up their table manners, and keep their abilities in check. Integrating into society might be an uphill battle, but they are beginning to take the first steps.
Impressions: This series technically debuted in the Spring (outside the US) and it’s getting pretty close to the Autumn anime debut season, so I split the difference and decided to lump it in with the Summer anime. While I think many anime fans have some complaints about anime not being simulcast in a timely manner, personally I appreciate the fact that Crunchyroll (and other services) will continue to add to their catalog as they can. And really, do you actually have time to watch 30-60 series week-by-week as they’re broadcast? Speaking for myself, that answer is “no.”
I’ve written before about the rising popularity of international anime co-productions; I can say with complete authority that I know very little about the ins-and-outs, reasons, and mechanisms of these productions, but the fact that they’re becoming more prevalent likely speaks to several different factors in animation production. While I highly doubt there’s any shortage of Japanese manga or light novels to adapt into animated form, there are definitely some overused storytelling trends among them and I suppose production committees start to see diminished returns by the time they hit isekai series number 127. I’ve actually noticed this phenomenon in another of my hobbies – lolita fashion.
Aisley has a predatory side.
As the fashion became popular in the West over the span of many years, Japanese brand dress releases were always the most coveted. They were expensive, often difficult-to-get, and featured quality materials and construction. I always felt that there was an element of copycat-ism to Japanese releases, though. If one brand released a certain print motif (chocolate, for example), variations on that became a trend for a while. Cutlery prints were popular, there have always been a lot of floral prints, and “old school” styles (solid colors with contrasting details and lace) continue to feature in brand releases to this day. There are always sailor-themed lolita dresses released in the summer time. It’s not that these prints were or are bad, but they do start to blend together after a while. The last several years, though, have shown a rise in the variety and availability of lolita fashion from worldwide indie brands, and brands from places like China, Hong-Kong, and Korea. They’ve taken the shape and general aesthetic of lolita fashion from Japan and incorporated many new and fresh ideas, from prints that feature unusual items or themes (jellyfish, bread, and I even own a Chinese dress that incorporated Egyptian iconography) to sub-styles that mimic traditional Chinese clothing. This isn’t to disparage the Japanese brands – they continue to do good work and their output was and is foundational to the fashion. But sometimes a fresh perspective is required to inject some vitality into an art form that has gotten a bit stuck in its ways.
In the case of Frankenstein Family, the typical Japanese anime format and style has been coupled with a setting that has a distinct Taiwanese flavor, thanks to its primarily Taiwanese (I think?) production staff. The character designs and animation style are all what one would expect from a Japanese anime; it’s in the small details, like the architecture, foods, and customs (such as when Tanisu taps his first two fingers on the table when his waiter is pouring the tea), that the series reveals its origins.
Content-wise, I think this first episode is an intriguing and somewhat uncomfortable (not in the bad way) blend of tones. Because the siblings are all socially-untested and display a wide array of different abilities and traits that distinguish them from typical humans, there are lots of opportunities to demonstrate just how atypical their situation is. I think my favorite character is Snow, the older brother who can transform himself into a dog. The results are as you would expect – he’s comically food-motivated, and he’s very much a lovable, clumsy ding-dong with a good heart. Spider-sis Aisley is constantly on the prowl for prey. Ashise is half-plant and would rather bask in the sun than eat human food. And nothing is a surprise to Suishi, who has psychic powers. This odd blend of characters provides many comedic moments throughout the episode, but there’s always an undercurrent of sadness and it crops up fairly often and unexpectedly.
The siblings have a long road ahead.
Honestly, the siblings’ situation is pretty horrific. Their mad scientist parents used them as experimental subjects, fiddling with their genetics to provide them with traits that make it incredibly difficult for them to get along in any sort of social context. They were kept isolated from others and then abandoned when the parents were (rightfully) sent to jail. Tanisu occupies an odd position in this mess, being the only child who wasn’t the target of his parent’s special brand of bad parenting, though it’s clear that he’s absolutely experiencing emotional after-effects of the experience. I think that’s one of the most effective parts of this episode; the sadness and horror creeps in unexpectedly, casting a pall over the characters’ everyday lives. I liken it to my experience of depression, which lurks in the background of my life until something seemingly innocuous (or, honestly, sometimes nothing at all) triggers it and it becomes a shadow that saps color from the world.
This is perhaps what’s special about the final scene, where the siblings walk together as the sun sets in a rainbow of colors. Life has been needlessly dark for them, and they had little to no choice in the matter (to some extent they don’t even seem to realize that what happened to them was wrong). But there’s some hope that, now that their situation has changed, perhaps there’s some new light to be found in the world. Many parts of the episode have a watercolor washed-out feel to them; most of these moments are asides or references to memories or past events. But this final scene in particular has a definite Makoto Shinkai influence, its magical-realism providing emphasis to what might be to come.
While the anime portion itself is actually pretty good, it comprises only one part of the episode’s run time. The rest is taken up by a couple of in-real-life voice actor segments that don’t really add much (I know there are some fans who enjoy that sort of thing, but they don’t really interest me). There’s also a really awkward part of the conversation during which one of the actresses insists multiple times that, if she could be anything she wanted, she would want to be a boy. I’m not sure if she’s genuinely indicating that she would want to change genders, or if it’s a sentiment that’s just kind of lost-in-translation, bu there’s a lot of time spent on it and I didn’t really know how I should react. I think the series would be better served by sticking to the in-anime segments and leaving the voice-actor stuff out, but I might be in the minority. I also didn’t watch another episode to see whether it carries through or not, so it might be a one-shot issue.
While this has all the hallmarks of a typical slice-of-life series with some fantasy elements sprinkled in for fun, it also has a certain freshness that I believe is due to its multi-cultural origins. These types of productions haven’t always been that successful, but I have noticed that they’re on the path to getting better and I think this series looks and feels fairly competent and distinct.
Pros: The show has a good visual style and uses color well. The blend of slice-of-life comedy and darker moments replicates the feeling of depression well.
Cons: The voice actor segments don’t add much to the episode.
Doing an “anime book club” on a series that I adore so much has certainly opened up a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand, it’s awesome to have the opportunity to watch something I love over again; as I’ve stated many times at this point, it’s not something I give myself a lot of time to do (it usually only happens if I manage to dupe my local anime club into watching some of the weird stuff that I like). On the other hand, I have this creeping fear that I’ll reach a point where I can’t manage to write anything that truly captures my feelings about the show. I have a difficult enough time already trying to make my writing convey the full nature of my thoughts, and that’s compounded by the fact that this is one of my favorite series and I want people to have the same love for it that I do. Sometimes it feels like there’s a weight on my shoulders, though of course this is burden I carry by choice!
This week’s story is told over the course of three episodes instead of two, so there’s a little bit more to take notes on and unpack. It also takes longer for the story to get to the root of its mononoke’s origin, though in my opinion this gives it some additional time to focus on setting and atmosphere. But I’ll leave my commentary for after the episode summaries.
I bet you thought I abandoned this little project of mine. Let’s just call it an extended break during which I did some first episode reviews 🙂
One of the aspects of anime that has always appealed to me is its tendency to feature women. Most anime have at least a few female characters among the cast, and there are many anime in which the main players are only women. That isn’t to say that anime series like this aren’t sometimes largely problematic in some way (*sigh*), since anime casts full of cute girls are often created by and for an assumed straight/male audience and don’t necessarily portray girls’ and women’s lives in a realistic way, but as an anime fan I’ve always felt that women in anime have been at least somewhat more variable in role and personality than a lot of the other Western cartoons and TV shows that I’d been watching as a kid and teen. And when your’e hungry for something, you tend to accept things that are flawed and tough to chew.
The city state of Lisvalletta. Two suns rise above this city, and the people here live peaceful lives, but in the shadows crime and illegal drugs run rampant. Among them is the dangerous, highly lethal drug “Anthem” which casts a dark shadow over the city. The SEVEN-O Special Crime Investigation Unit specializes in cracking down on Anthem. This unit operates in two man “buddy” teams in what’s called the “Double Decker System” to tackle the problem. Doug Billingham is a seasoned investigator, and joining him is Kirill Vrubel, whose abilities are mysterious and unknown. – Crunchyroll
Episode Summary: Kirill Vrubel is an officer with the Lisvalletta police force who, while being a mediocre officer, dreams of becoming his city’s first real hero. He’s wanted to do so ever since he was young, but unfortunately such childish fantasies get in the way of his real-life responsibilities, so his boss has him on notice. What’s also unfortunate is that Kirill works alongside an officer named Jefferson who’s pretty much the peak of competency and a beloved family man to boot. Kirill is constantly overshadowed by Jefferson, and he’s started to get restless and annoyed.
On his day off, Kirill’s landlady sends him out in search of her missing cat. The feline pursuit brings Kirill to an empty warehouse where he ends up as witness to a violent hostage situation. The hostage in this case is none other than officer Jefferson. Worried about whether or not to get involved, Kirill is hailed by a strange man caught in a ventilation pipe. This man, named Doug Billingam, claims to be an operative for an organization called “Seven-O,” which investigates Anthem drug abuse. He promises Kirill rewards and promotions if he’ll help take down the hostage-taker. Kirill comes up with an unorthodox plan which ends up working (in a manner of speaking). Though his rashness gets him fired from the police force, he’s quickly hired by Seven-O and partnered with Doug as part of their “Double-Decker” buddy system. Though their boss has a fondness for weird nicknames, this job might be the pathway Kirill needs in order to become a full-fledged hero.
Impressions: The title Tiger & Bunny brings with it many lofty expectations; as a big fan of that series I’d been hoping for a sequel for a long time. My expectations were so high that it’s probably a good thing that this actually isn’t a direct sequel (as far as we know), but a series set in the same universe that incorporates similar aesthetics and odd-couple buddy-cop dynamic. Gone are the televised heroic antics, to be replaced by an eccentric underground investigative organization that seems content to keep itself out of the limelight. Imagine Section 9, though exponentially more colorful and filled with women who aren’t robots.
An Anthem user goes “Phase 3.”
That was actually one of the first things I noticed, both about the key art and then later about the cast make-up; there are a lot of women in the Seven-O organization. While the diversity in the characters seems to be limited to height and hair color (and perhaps also personal style), I’m pretty pleased with the ratio, at least. Obviously that’s just a first step and the series will actually have to utilize the characters in ways that are meaningful and aren’t demeaning, but the fact that the opportunity is there for it to do right is encouraging. All the characters seem to wear the same type of costume too – a trench coat with pants or something similar underneath. While I’d hesitate to call it a uniform since they’re all so diverse in color and style, it seems roughly universal and that’s kind of a nice change.
The tone of the episode is interesting; if I had to describe it, I’d say that it reminds me of the 1990’s Batman cartoon series. The city has some grit beneath its art-deco finishings, and it seems to have achieved an alternate technological future where interesting gadgetry and clothing style have superseded development of things we take for granted, like color television. Everyone seems to be fashionable in some way or another; even Kirill’s landlady seems especially put-together for the type of character she is. While the episode certainly isn’t without its share of action and excitement, there’s enough down time to take in a lot of these conscious visual decisions. While I remember noticing some of the same things about Tiger & Bunny back in the day, removing all the pomp and glamour that comes with the Hero TV framework gives us an opportunity to appreciate the subtler things about the setting.
Doug gets the upper hand.
I’m not entirely sold on the two protagonists just yet. Frankly, Doug isn’t a big enough part of the episode to really get a sense of his personality. He’s definitely the straight man of the duo, but beyond his seriousness and ability to do his job competently, the only sort of off-beat moment we get is when he gets stuck in a pipe. It’s in those brief moments that it seems he might have some good-humored appreciation of the ridiculousness of his predicament. Frankly, those are the kinds of things that I find memorable and I’d love to see more. Kirill is definitely an opposing force of personality, but he’s also the type of character I typically find really annoying – the kind that’s self-serving and gets into trouble by overestimating his own abilities. He’s very young and that affords him some leeway in my eyes, but he reminds me a little of the “know-it-all” type characters that are anything-but. Obviously it will all come down to the balance of personalities. Differences are certainly a potential source of conflict, and if that conflict remains perennially unresolved for the sake of cheap tension then I feel there’s no real purpose. But personality conflicts can also lead to growth on both sides, and I’m definitely hoping for that to manifest.
Visually this episode is impressive. I hate to keep making so many comparisons to Tiger & Bunny, but the two series unsurprisingly have similar animation aesthetics and a lot of technological improvement has happened in the seven years(!) since the predecessor premiered. Here the blend of CG character models seems more frequent and yet more subtle and well-realized. In T&B the hero suits and vehicles were the most identifiable use of CG, and there wasn’t as much blending between CG and 2D in the same shot. In this series the characters don’t really wear masks (so far), which necessitates that a lot of the close-up face shots make use of 2D animation (or suffer the uncanny weirdness of 3D anime-style character animation). I think the blend is done well. I’m not a huge fan of 3DCG that attempts to mimic 2D animation; I feel that each method has its own strengths and styles and trying to make one look like the other doesn’t do either any favors, but it’s definitely getting better and better every day. The characters have a lot of detail, their colors are bright and appealing, and overall this looks like a project into which went a lot of care and skill.
Cat-itude.
Beyond that, I’ll simply say I feel positive about this episode. To be honest, I hadn’t gotten into an anticipatory frame of mind for Autumn anime series yet, so when this episode dropped by surprise (thanks, Crunchyroll Expo!) I wasn’t exactly prepared to have composed thoughts about it. I have to say, though, that my curiosity about the series now has a little bit more structure. This episode worked very well as an introduction to the setting and characters, and it did so without being overly referential to the series to which it’s apparently related (honestly, if I weren’t already familiar with Tiger & Bunny I may not have even noticed the few minor and subtle connections that popped up). This definitely feels like its own entity, which ought to be welcoming to newcomers and possibly even to those who weren’t actually fans of T&B in the first place. If anything, you can go sneak a peek at your leisure, since the series won’t start in earnest until October.
Pros: The action animation and visual aesthetics are very appealing and have a strong sense of style. You don’t have to be familiar with the show’s predecessor to enjoy it. There seems to be a good gender balance.
Cons: It’s hard to get a good sense of the characters from this episode; Kirill seems especially irritating.
It’s interesting to make note of the rituals of ours that develop innocently out of tendencies and habits. Lately when I’ve been sitting down to write, I’ve lit a candle that I keep on my desk. It doesn’t really do all that much beyond creating a nice-smelling atmosphere and a friendly-glowing light, but I find that lighting the wick now puts me in a certain state of mind. It’s a signal to my brain that it’s time to think, focus, and use my words. Mononoke, and many other anime, are similarly ritualistic in nature; listening to the theme song allows me to focus on the story ahead, and the theater-like sliding screens and the clanking of wooden blocks puts me in a meditative state of mind. It’s definitely not the only reason why this series is so striking or memorable to me, but it definitely makes full use of itself as an art form.
This week marks the beginning of the series proper. While I would still encourage those of you with access to watch Bakeneko if you’re able, I don’t believe this series suffers much for not having seen it. I personally watched Mononoke before realizing that it was a spin off, and mostly just felt that finding Bakeneko was a welcome bonus. Luckily Mononoke is now available on Crunchyroll, so it’s much easier for those of you watching along to participate!
When I took on this particular Book Club project, I underestimated how difficult it would be. It’s not hard in that the show itself is somehow impenetrable – I definitely have thoughts on it and it’s not like I’ve been going in cold to this viewing. I’ve had literally years to think about and interpret these stories. It’s a series that hits on a lot of tough subjects, though. The older I get the more I assume that I have guts of steel and can withstand the act of being made to experience or be reminded of upsetting things. I think to some extent that’s true, but there are still times when I’m caught off-guard. For various reasons this past couple of weeks have been rough for me. I won’t elaborate on it too much, but if you’ve been keeping up on United States news you probably have some idea. I only have a certain amount of energy to deal with that kind of material, and when I’m at my emotional limit I’m not inclined to then go watch a very intense anime series in addition to that.
