Winter 2020 First Impressions – Shorts: Room Camp, Natsunagu, and Breakers

Well, the outside world has been a bit of a dumpster fire lately, but at least there’s still anime to watch! In all seriousness, I’m not really someone who sees anime as “escapist” entertainment; for me, it’s something I actively engage with and not just so I can “turn my brain off” or feel good (though no hate to anyone who consumes their anime for those reasons). But sometimes things happen in real life that make you want to just step back for a little while and indulge in something that’s expected and predictable, and no matter what anime series I’m watching, the familiar cadence of the exaggerated Japanese language style and colorful characters are comfort food for me.

One thing to note about this post is that neither Breakers or Natsunagu are available on any official streaming platform in the US, so I went about obtaining them the “old-fashioned” way. If that bothers you, those reviews are the second and third ones in this post so they are easy to skip.

Room Camp

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12 (3 minutes apiece)

Source: Manga (spin-off of Laid-Back Camp)

Episode Summary: Note: This covers episodes 1-4.

The members of the outdoor activities club discover that Nadeshiko isn’t familiar with many of the things that make living in Yamanashi Prefecture interesting, so they encourage her to participate in the kids “Stamp Rally,” where one can travel to many major destinations and fill out a stamp card for each one. This proves to be a golden opportunity for the club members to learn about Mount Fuji and indulge in some good food.

Rin enjoys hearing about the details of Nadeshiko’s adventures, but has her own preferred way of spending her time – solo camping. After enduring the chill of the outside world, though, it’s always nice to come home to some hot pot.

Impressions: I recently re-watched the original Laid-Back Camp anime series in the anime club I attend, and it was such a wonderful opportunity to visit with familiar characters and just chill-out for a while (we were also watching Dororo and Black Lagoon, so the chill-out time was definitely needed). That’s really the essence of this off-shoot series; each short is a brief, comforting glimpse into the lives of characters we’ve grown to appreciate over 12 full-length episodes.

My understanding of this series was that it would simply be banter between the club members in their tiny club room, so seeing that they get an opportunity to go out into the world and experience the outdoors is a nice treat. Over the course of these early episodes we learn about the various “local Fujis” (similar-looking peaks located around Japan) as well as an alternate use for old tuna cans (home-made oil lamps!). The show retains all the charm of the original series, just in a smaller package.

While obviously I’d prefer a new full-length series to get my fix of camp cooking and natural beauty, this is definitely a nice interlude and a good reminder of how exceedingly pleasant anime can be.

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Pros: It’s great to see these characters again! Mildly-educational.

Cons: It would be nice to have longer episodes.

Content Warnings: None

Grade: B+

Breakers

Streaming: TBA

Episodes: TBA (episodes are 9 minutes long)

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Note: This covers episodes 1-3

It’s Kai’s dream to be a basketball player like his older brother Shun. But Kai has prosthetic legs which bars him from following in his brother’s footsteps. Dr. Narita is a scientist from a family of bodybuilders who has a deep interest in the potential of the human body, and sees something special in Kai. Though Kai may not be allowed on the traditional basketball team, Dr. Narita thinks that with his strong core muscles and drive to succeed he might be a great candidate to play wheelchair basketball.

Kai joins the local wheelchair basketball squad, but soon discovers that he has a lot to learn about wheelchair handling. When his teammate Yuuki hassles him for being slow, he vows to train hard so that he can win a speed race, thus allowing him to become a more active player. After a month of sweat and hard work, Kai eventually pulls out ahead. But speed isn’t the only factor in wheelchair basketball; now Kai’s ball-handling skills will be put to the test.

Impressions: With the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon it’s no surprise that the anime tie-ins have already begun. This series, which airs on NHK (basically Japan’s public television service), tells the story of several young para-athletes as they discover their skills and train to become world-class stars in their respective sports. I was interested in this series before the season started, if only because anime with disabled characters is uncommon and the concept seemed pretty grounded in reality to me. However, there wasn’t (and still isn’t) much information available about the series, so I elected to leave it out of my seasonal preview.

The actual show is sort of a mish-mash of different elements; it’s got a sports anime mentality that’s complicated by a goofy sci-fi premise and a central character whose presence feels wholly unnecessary. These first three episodes feature Kai, a young wheelchair basketball player who’s just learning the ropes and building on his skills. The parts of the show that focus on him and his story are pretty solid and as compelling as a typical sports anime series. There are personal challenges, rivalries that transform into friendships, and inklings of bigger and better things to come. However, the element that ties all this together is Dr. Narita, a researcher who has a special interest in the workings of the human body. He’s vaguely sort of an asshole, and at times comes across as extremely creepy; there’s one scene where he grabs Kai and starts examining his abdominal muscles without permission, which makes him come out looking like a groper. Most of the time Dr. Narita watches Kai from the background using a special view screen, and provides running commentary on his efforts. In addition to feeling somewhat voyeuristic, there’s a judgmental tone to a lot of what he says that rubbed me the wrong way.

And unfortunately, as encouraging as some of the people in Kai’s life are, there’s an undercurrent of discouragement that really started to frustrate me. When Kai is having some difficulties dealing with Yuuki and talks about it over dinner with his brother and mother, his mother immediately tells him that if it’s too difficult for him he should just quit. Not only does this run counter to the theme of pretty much every other sports anime out there, the fact that she’s so quick to jump in in light of Kai’s physical differences weirded me out. I don’t know, maybe I’m making something of nothing, but I feel like a series about para-athletes maybe shouldn’t be so quick to say “maybe you should just give up.” Dr. Narita also makes some weird comparisons between Kai, who has good core strength, to other people who use wheelchairs who might have some spinal injury that makes things more difficult for them. It feels as though he’s making a value judgment on those individuals versus Kai, who “only” wears prosthetic legs. I’d be interested to hear from any disabled anime critics who have some insight into this.

Besides that, the episodes are fairly entertaining. They’re about 9 minutes long, so not necessarily long enough to delve into anything too meaty, but longer than a lot of other short-form anime. The animation style is interesting as well, trading smoothness for more textural, thick line work that fits the sports action pretty well. I wish the entire production were a bit more solid, but it did make me think about how cool an anime adaptation of Takehiko Inoue’s Real could be, if given to the right staff.

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Pros: Interesting visual style. Solid sports anime action.

Cons: Creepy Dr. character. Some weird missteps that feel more obvious due to the character’s disability.

Content Warnings: Unwanted abdominal groping. Bullying.

Grade: C+

Natsunagu!

Streaming: TBA

Episodes: 12 (episodes are 4 minutes long)

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Note: this covers episodes 1-3

One afternoon, Natsuna receives a message from her gaming friend, Itsuki. It’s the first time she’s heard from Itsuki in about four years, and they’re requesting a meetup. Unfortunately the game they played together has been shut down, and the only contact information Natsuna has is an old address. Natsuna travels to Kumamoto Prefecture and discovers that the address belongs to a house that no longer exists. She’s about to give up, but stops by the police station for help instead.

The police officer has concerns about giving out private information, as do individuals at city hall. It seems like finding Itsuki might be a lost cause. Natsuna is approached by a middle school student who offers to help her out. Though neither she or her friends have any idea where Itsuki might be, perhaps they might be able to help Natsuna out in some way.

Impressions: It wasn’t so long ago that anime’s intertwined relationship with certain places was a new and exciting novelty. Once Lucky Star popularized the anime pilgrimage, other anime series appeared in its wake which started to bring attention to various other locales. Anime has also been used to advertise different destinations and tourist features in more straightforward ways, although taking a medium meant for storytelling and utilizing it for commercial purposes can be a tough proposition. There’s a balance to be maintained, and this can be difficult.

Natsunagu, which to my understanding was produced by Kumamoto Prefecture to help demonstrate its recovery following a series of earthquakes in 2016, errs more on the side of telling a character-focused story than providing much specific information about the prefecture itself. Kumamoto is mentioned in the background chatter, reflected in the accents of the locals, and portrayed in the rural imagery that surrounds the protagonist. There’s also the ubiquitous appearance of Kumamon, the prefectural mascot who will likely be familiar to a lot of viewers even if his origin isn’t. Otherwise, this very much seems to be more a story of a young woman on a journey to find her long-lost friend.

And that’s really all there is to it. Natsuna encounters a few outgoing locals, tries a few local snacks, and takes in a bit of the scenery in the three episodes that I watched. This isn’t a very strong narrative, but the episodes were overall pleasant and I enjoyed them. I did appreciate the visual style, which features detailed character line-work without shadows. It’s a fascinating way to render characters, since the portrayal of depth can be a lot more difficult without being able to rely on cast shadows. It also emphasizes how hot the temperature appears to be, since everything seems brighter and sun-beaten. In any case, this is the type of series I might watch the rest of once all the episodes are available. It’s slow-moving and doesn’t have much of a plot, but that’s sometimes not so bad.

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Pros: Pleasant and lackadaisical. Interesting visual style.

Cons: Can feel aimless.

Content Warnings: None.

Grade: B-