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Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2016 First Impressions – Sweetness and Lightning

Sweetness and Lightning CoverMath teacher Kōhei Inuzuka is a widower with a young daughter named Tsumugi. Inuzuka isn’t adept in the kitchen but with the help of his student Kotori Iida and his daughter, he embarks on a culinary adventure. – ANN

Streaming at: Crunchyroll

Number of Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Summary of Episode 1: Kyouhei Inuzuka is a high school teacher, but he’s also a single father to his young daughter, Tsumugi. It’s been six months since his wife died, and he’s just trying to take each day one day at a time and make sure he can take care of Tsumugi. Unfortunately, he’s often out late and more often than not resorts to grabbing convenience store bento for dinner. While out in the park flower-viewing, they happen upon a young lady weeping over her rice balls. She’s not sad, just moved to tears over the delicious food that her busy mother prepared. It just so happens that her mother owns a restaurant, and she passes along a business card. A couple of days later, Tsumugi is really feeling sad over the lack of home-cooked meals at their house, so Kyouhei does something impulsive – he races to the restaurant, daughter in tow, in order to provide something warm and nourishing. One problem – the owner is out and the restaurant is technically closed for the day, but Kotori, the owner’s daughter and coincidentally one of Kyouhei’s students, offers to cook up something simple. That night, they enjoy hot rice together, and Kotori asks that they join forces and learn to cook with one-another.

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Kyouhei pieces together Tsumugi’s lunch using store-bought pre-prepped side dishes.

Impressions: I have a major soft spot for stories that involve parenting and genuinely cute kids. Not because I have any of my own, but likely because it’s such a unique occurrence in anime. I remain a big fan of Bunny Drop (hey, it was a really excellent 11-episode anime and an equally good 4 volume manga!), enjoyed Kotetsu’s relationship with his daughter in Tiger & Bunny, and in general am impressed when the parental relationship is depicted as being substantial rather than as some afterthought in an anime full of teenagers (I don’t really have time to get into the related issue of dead moms in anime, but that’s certainly something to note). In any case, anime series that consider the parents’ point of view and depict that trials of trying to bring up a young person in an environment which makes that difficult are some of the anime I find appealing.

So far this show has a lot going for it in that regard. Kyouhei is depicted as a genuinely good person who has his daughter’s best interests at heart. It’s the specifics of their situation, as well as perhaps some residual depression following the death of his wife, that creates a lot of challenges for him to try to overcome. For the most part, Kyouhei seems fairly on top of everyday life; he makes plans to do the laundry with Tsumugi that weekend, they get out of the house to spend time together, he gets her dressed and out the door in the morning and generally arrives in time to pick her up from daycare. In short, he’s loving and competent, and while obviously any single parent situation is difficult to manage, there’s a decent amount of realism in his ability to juggle all these things and it’s clear that Tsumugi is grateful.

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A cell phone shot of Tsumugi during her first (and only) experience with dad’s cooking.

What left an impression on me after the first episode, though, is its (and by extension, the show’s) focus on food and meals as they relate to family life. In flashback, we learn that Kyouhei’s late wife Tae was quite the experimental chef, and her meals were beloved in the household. Because of the food lifestyle I (mostly) adhere to, I’m used to hearing the refrain that “food is fuel” and that we should strive to remove the emotional aspect from it (as in, try to stop emotional eating and listen to your body’s hunger signals instead). That’s fine on a logical level, but for me in particular food and meals have always served the purpose of showing love to those I care about and bringing together friends and family around a shared table. Tsumugi is a generally happy, bubbly youngster, but her sadness at eating convenience store bento boxes while her dad catches up on his classroom work is obvious. To her, meals are something that she wants to share with family, and a home-cooked meal trumps anything from the microwave (though her dad’s early attempts at home cooking so far have left a little to be desired, judging by her reported reaction).

I think this episode does a good job of explaining (without explicitly doing so) why Kyouhei hasn’t taken up cooking, and in fact has outright avoided the task. Aside from the fact that he doesn’t have much cooking experience and his first attempt was a major bomb (seriously, that photo of Tsumugi making a disgusted face is hilarious), it becomes clear that the subject of cooking is too strong a reminder of what’s missing now that his wife is gone. Trying to do something that was so closely associated with someone who’s now gone has got to be incredibly painful; each dish, whether successful or a failure, is just another way of pointing out the empty space left behind. It wouldn’t be unusual for Kyouhei to avoid cooking out of respect for his wife’s memory and a desire to keep from feeling as though he were trying to replace her. All of this is interpreted from what’s written between the lines; unlike a lot of anime, this one so far is a little bit more “show” and a little less “tell,” which in itself is nice.

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Kotori crying while eating in the park.

Lest everyone think this is a show all about doom and gloom and death, let me mention that I found the first episode to be incredibly cute and also pretty funny. Tsumugi is at that particular age where emotions are still shared right out in the open, and social norms don’t necessarily play a large factor in everyday interactions. She says what’s on her mind and expresses her feelings without worrying what others might think, and that’s one of the things I find cutest about little kids (well, until their emotions go into overdrive and devolve into tantrums; then I’m quick to leave the area). I enjoyed how she declares her love for her dad, and also how she had no qualms about approaching Kotori (at that time a total stranger) in the park to comfort her and ask why she was crying. There’s just something really heartwarming about the earnestness of children that gives me that warmhearted feeling.

I’m guessing that any “concerns” about the direction of this show that one might have would be due to the fact that one of the three main characters is a high school student of Kyouhei’s. Maybe it’s my cynicism talking, or maybe it’s just anime’s propensity for being willing to go in distasteful directions, but I’m wary of the fact that Kotori is likely going to be spending a lot of time with Kyouhei and possibly filling part of the role that Kyouhei’s wife used to and of the fact that the Wikipedia entry references Kotori’s possible crush on her teacher. The anime seems fairly cute and innocent so far, and Kotori’s attitude seems innocent enough, but I’ve been burned in the past and just don’t want such a cute series to go down that dark road.

I’ve been feeling kind of crappy the last few days (bad allergies are keeping me medicated-up and I’m having a hard time staying awake and focusing on anything), so it was nice to take a moment to sit down with something that’s very cute and heartwarming while trying to unwind. For now, rather than worry about what direction it will take, I’m going to accept the show at face value and just appreciate the fact that anime is a medium with so much variety in story and character and that there are still series that are made to appeal to people my age. I was impressed with the first episode’s ability to demonstrate its cuteness without being overly saccharine, as well as how well I gained a window into the protagonist’s feelings. I’m calling it – “feel-good anime of the season.”

Pros: Kyouhei’s life and choices are explained well through the narrative. The episode is genuinely cute and heartwarming.

Cons: Kotori’s “crush” on Kyouhei, though mostly unexplored thus far, has me feeling wary.

Grade: B+

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Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2016 First Impressions – The Morose Mononokean

ImononokeanCovern a certain tea shop there lives a man called the Mononokean. This morose looking man gained his name for his ability to work with yōkai, guiding the ones that wander in our world into the next. – ANN

Streaming at: Crunchyroll

Number of Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Summary of Episode 1: Ashiya Hanae is the son of an overly-enthusiastic flower-shop owner. He’s really looking forward to starting high school. The evening before his first day in class, he encounters what he believes to be a stuffed animal laying on the ground. It is, however, a very-much-alive ball of fluff that only Ashiya can see and which takes an instant liking to him. And then starts to suck out his life force, bit-by-bit. Soon his school days are spent recuperating in the nurse’s office, and it’s only by extreme chance and desperation that Ashiya notices an advertisement for someone looking for part-time help and who seems like he might possibly know how to exorcise this very fluffy demon. Ashiya meets Abeno, a curmudgeonly young man dressed in vintage style clothing, in a very shady tea room that appears to exist outside of normal time and space. Abeno can help him, absolutely… but only for a very steep price. And of course, circumstances play out which indebt Ashiya to Abeno. There’s no chance of escaping, either, since Abeno shows up in Ashiya’s class the next day.

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Ashiya gains a new… friend?

First Impressions: As an anime fan and also someone with an interest in Japan in general, Japanese myth and folklore has always intrigued me. Anime and manga are rich with tales that draw upon these sources, from the library of late, great yokai-master Shigeru Mizuki himself to more contemporary titles like Natsume’s Book of Friends and Mononoke. Even sci-fi series like the recently-released-on-disc Dennou Coil incorporate elements of this kind of mythology to establish a particular kind of Japan-centric supernatural undercurrent to excellent effect. So you could say that I’m on the look out for this sort of thing when I’m browsing around in anticipation of a new anime season. The trailers for this show had me pretty excited – Cute creatures, attractive male characters, bright colors… not necessarily masterpiece material, but definitely a lot of things that scratch my itch if you know what I mean. And, of course, there was the promise of Japanese mythological references and the inclusion of familiar yokai. On paper it definitely seems like a winner. My feelings about the first episode are very mixed, however. There are a lot of elements that I enjoyed about the first episode, including the general tone and the look of the less-human mononoke (primarily suggested by imagery in the opening and closing animation and the preview), but there’s something about the way it all falls into place that ends up feeling sort of flat.

In most cases I prefer not to jump right to criticizing animation quality, because I genuinely don’t believe that even in a storytelling medium that’s just a style of animation, the quality of animation is the be-all-end-all defining aspect. This puts me in opposition to a lot of anime fans, and I’ve made peace with that; many of you out there feel (for good reason) that something animated should look good and appear to have some base level of quality, and I respect that. I’ve just seen too many series that fall outside the accepted aesthetic (I love you, Masaaki Yuasa!) and which have affected me strongly enough that I don’t consider weirdness, off-model animation, or a high level of still frames or talking heads to remove a series from the discussion by default (if I were a “Chopped” judge I’d probably be pretty forgiving anytime a contestant forgot a basket ingredient, too). I do, however, think that the first episode of an anime should be an example of the staff putting their best foot forward in order to captivate and impress the audience, and this first episode just doesn’t demonstrate a lot of finesse that’s often evident even when you can tell a show doesn’t have a lot of budget to work with.

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Ashiya begs Abeno-san for help.

The yokai in this series (at least from what I can tell) are brought to life utilizing CG imagery. You all know by now that this isn’t my favorite thing by any stretch of the imagination, but I think “Fluffy” as he’s affectionately named by the protagonist, doesn’t demonstrate a lot of the weird qualities that make CG clash with traditional 2D animation. I think the issue I have is that the hand-drawn animation feels very flat and lifeless in comparison and just in general. The lines are a little too thick, the character coloration feels thickly-applied and lacking in detail, and there are character facial inconsistencies that make this feel like an episode 6 or 7 (past a mid-cour climax but not quite into the final rising action) rather than a striking opening entry. The background art is very lacking in texture and richness. Abeno’s tea room feels flat and lifeless, not like a place that exists outside the real world. It’s definitely not a deal breaker, but also not the strong sort of fantasy aesthetic I was hoping for based on the promotional images. As this episode takes place primarily on the mortal plane, there’s obviously still time for the underworld to make its debut. But I wish it had made its appearance sooner, to give things more of a “Dorothy entering OZ” effect.

There are things about the episode that hit me more positively, though. While I think a lot of the humor is too much along the lines of the “incredulous characters yelling in exasperation” variety, it’s actually some of the cornier, cliche moments that triggered me more positively. The montage of Ashiya’s daily belabored walk to school (and his eventual collapse closer and closer to the door) was pretty funny in the sense that it escalated well. I also liked the fact that Abeno is revealed to be Ashiya’s classmate. That “twist” was 100% predictable as soon as Ashiya started his introduction to the class at the end, but I definitely chuckled. And considering the fact that Ashiya’s indebtedness situation is drawn directly from xxxHolic, it still manages to be kind of funny (even if a bit mean-spirited). I do also think a lot of the characters that show up in the opening and will likely feature in future episodes are pretty cute. It’s obviously not the main criteria for a good show, but it’s definitely a contributor.

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Ultimately, all Fluffy wants is someone to play with.

I think ultimately what spoiled me here was that I just really have a strong hankering for another season of Natsume’s Book of Friends (I can’t wait until the Autumn season!) and was hoping for something to keep me going until then. This series seems like it will be fun enough, but so far it’s really lacking in the lovable charm and humanity that makes Natsume so appealing. I’m thankful for the opportunity to get a glimpse of the world of Japanese yokai again, and I’ll probably check in with this series from time to time just for that reason. But I’m still wary of adding it to my already lengthy watch list based just on episode 1.

Pros: The element of humor comes across well enough to provide some entertaining moments. The yokai featured in this episode is also quite cute.

Cons: The first episode has an overall feeling of being made on the cheap, with kind of dull aesthetics and some uninspired background artwork.

Grade: C+

 

Categories
Fashion Personal Product Reviews Reviews Special Features

Review – Bodyline S532 Violin Boots

Obligatory disclaimer – this is a review of items I purchased with my own hard-earned money. I did not receive incentive or compensation from the company to write this review (not that anyone would honestly consider that a possibility, but still…)

I’ve somehow amassed quite a few violin-related Lolita Fashion items over the last couple of years. Two Innocent World violin dresses, a couple of violin-themed bags… one would probably think that I have some experience playing the violin. The joke’s on you all, I’ve never even touched a violin. I would have no idea what to even do with it. But I find violin motifs strangely appealing for some reason. At some point in the past, I noticed that Bodyline was planning to release a pair of boots with a violin-inspired design (it was the winner in one of their clothing design contests). I thought that sounded pretty awesome, but as the days went by and the boots didn’t show up on their website, I kind of forgot about it.

Because I often get a lot of my basics from Bodyline (especially shoes… I have large feet and just can’t cram them into brand shoes no matter how hard I might wish to do so), I generally poke around the website every couple of months to see if anything new has been added. Lo and behold… violin boots! And they weren’t expensive! I tossed them into my cart and a couple of days later, they arrived at my doorstep.

Bodyline Stock PhotoThe boots come in several different colorways, the majority of which seem to skew more towards classic lolita styling. I purchased the “brw-dbrw” (or “Brown and Dark Brown” as translated from Bodyline’s color language) since I thought those would be most likely to match with other items in my wardrobe. I do also like the wine colorway, though, and if I had more items to match I might have gone for that one instead.

They’re available in sizes up to 260, which is what Bodyline calls 26cm (which is more standard that mm in Japan, at least judging by what I’ve seen while online shopping) and which roughly equates to a US women’s size 10 and a UK size 42. Some shoes on Bodyline’s site go up to size 270, but not these, unfortunately.

The price listed for these boots is $39.99, which doesn’t include shipping, so keep that in mind – EMS Shipping cost $13.80 at the time I purchased the boots. If you prefer to utilize Bodyline’s airmail option it will likely be cheaper, but then you’ll be poised to wait at least a month and I didn’t feel like doing that, partly because I’m wary of the postal system as it is (a dress of mine got lost in the mail one time, it was a huge bummer). As it stood, I got the boots in less than a week, not taking into account the amount of time it took me to be able to make it to my apartment’s office hours to pick it up (I understand why they’d want to be open regular business hours like any other regular business, but since I work those same hours and also have a bus commute it doesn’t work out very well for me a lot of the time.

The package arrived inside of the standard gray shipping plastic. The boots were shipped in their shoebox, which had gotten a little bit mooshed up in transit (not unexpected, it had a long way to travel). Sometimes Taobao shopping services will offer to ship your shoes sans the shoe box to save a little bit on shipping costs, but Bodyline doesn’t have this option, so just be aware that you’ll end up with a shoe box that’s probably going to be pretty useless by the time it gets to you. The boots arrived with plenty of packaging inside the foot portion to keep from getting mangled. They were in good condition when I opened them up, with no wrinkles, smudges, scuffs, scrapes or flaws.

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The color in the stock photograph seems to be pretty accurate for these boots; the primary portion of the details are a nice warm tan color, while the accent color is a deeper coffee brown. The violin details are printed on the body of the boot, and there are few visible printing flaws (at least until you get up very, very close, and I think they fall within the realm of acceptability). The material is a faux-leather like Bodyline’s other shoes, and definitely has a distinctly plastic-y feeling and smell to it. It’s also not particularly thick, but this gives leg portion some needed flexibility. There are some very cute scallop details along the length of the laces and around the toe of the boot, as well as along the top. The lace holes have eyelets/grommets and the boot laces included are long enough to allow for some loosening if the wearer has thicker calves. There is a size zipper for easy on/off.

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One thing to note (and this is true of all Bodyline shoes that I own), is that the sole of the shoe has about zero cushioning or support, so if you’re like me with feet that tend to get sore pretty quickly and which need some arch support, you’ll have to invest in some decent insoles. Aside from that, the heel is at a really nice height and feels sturdy. I don’t wear heeled shoes very often, so I prefer the type of wider heels that these boots have – they keep me from feeling like I could topple over at any moment.

The toe box is roomy like a lot of Bodyline shoes (and lolita shoes in general). I own a pair of their heeled oxfords (model number S272, they don’t appear to sell them anymore) and those have kind of a pinch-y toe (they’ve gained the nickname “those stupid shoes” because I wore them to a con where I ended up having to walk a whole lot and my feet were in bad shape in short order), but these strike a good balance between the elegance of a less-boxy toe area and keeping enough room in there so my toes don’t get mangled.

I put these boots on straight out of the box without making any adjustments to the tightness of the lacing, but there are a few centimeters of give if you’re larger than I am. In the photos below I’m wearing crew socks but nothing that goes too far past my ankle. If I were wearing tights or some of the OTK’s that I have, I might have to play around with the fit a little bit. Oh, and I totally didn’t just put on some frilly Innocent World shorts for the pictures, there’s totally a full coord going on up above my waist (spoiler: I was wearing an old T-shirt. Fight me). Also, we’ll pretend that those are patterns in the carpet, and not little fuzzy gifts from my very shedding long haired cat that haven’t yet been vacuumed.

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The Verdict: I really like these boots, and definitely think they’re worth the very nominal price they’re charging. I’d been looking around for a pair of taller lolita boots, and these I think will make a really great addition to my wardrobe.

Edited to Add: Attitude Lolita has a video unboxing/review of these up at her channel. Check it out for some more information on the boots (she ordered the gray ones).

Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2016 First Impressions – Orange

OrangeCoverNaho Takamiya is a timid 16-year-old girl. One day, she receives a letter from her future self detailing actions she must take to prevent Kakeru Naruse, the new transfer student, from sinking into depression and taking his own life. – ANN

Streaming at: Crunchyroll

Number of Episodes: 13

Source: Manga

Summary of Episode 1: Naho is a sweet, quiet girl who aims to be the type of person who doesn’t cause trouble for those around her. That usually means allowing others to have what they want while keeping her desires and discomforts private. This begins to change one day when Naho receives a mysterious letter in the mail; the writer claims to be Naho herself, only 10 years in the future. In the letter are written instructions for how to approach the events of the coming days, especially as they relate to a new transfer student. Naho doesn’t know whether to believe the letter or not until the events of her school day line up exactly with what is written. The Naho of 10 years from now seems to harbor several regrets about things that happened during high school. As the next several weeks unfold, Naho begins to strengthen her resolve. Is it only coincidence that her feelings for Kakeru, the new transfer student, begin to blossom into romantic feelings?

First Impressions: I’m admittedly not going into this anime with zero knowledge or expectations. A few months ago I overheard a friend of mine talking about the Orange manga, and since it’s available in full on Crunchyroll (if you’re a subscriber), I decided to give it a look. The fact that I read the entire series in one go over the period of a couple hours should do enough to express how compelling I thought the story was. Needless to say, when I found out that an anime adaptation was in the works, I was pretty jazzed. I’ve been excitedly anticipating this premiere since then.

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Kakeru, the new transfer student, is conveniently assigned to sit next to Naho.

So what is it that makes this series more interesting than the glut of melodramatic shoujo manga adaptations that are floating around out in anime land? Speaking from the perspective of a manga reader (though hopefully without spoiling anything), I think there are quite a few interesting things at play in this story. For one thing, this isn’t really just a shoujo-style romance played straight. It’s got some unique cross-demographic origins that were a little bit surprising to me when I learned of them – the story was serialized in both a shojo (girls’) magazine, then later in a seinen (adult men’s) one. There’s also a very subtle sci-fi mechanic as far as Naho’s “letter from the future” is concerned, and the story is able to maintain its own internal logic well enough to keep that bit from being too goofy (time travel is rarely done well in fiction and I’m personally fine with that, but this series does well by not getting overly explanatory with the concept). What I think is most important, though, and very evident already from this episode of the anime, is that, even though the story ends up becoming an ensemble piece, a very large part of the story is Naho’s growth as a human being. That to me is way more engrossing than a bunch of dry sci-fi concepts with some characters pasted over the top.

The way Naho behaves in this episode, especially her inner monologue while she and her friends are deciding which kind of bread they want (Naho likes curry bread the best, but she defers to others when asked which kind she’d like to have), and also the way she tends to deny herself the experience of doing things she’d really like to do (because it might make her friends uncomfortable or draw too much attention to herself), cuts like a knife. Those types of feelings and emotions are so familiar to me that it immediately imbues this series with a type of realism that would otherwise be difficult to establish in so short a time. It’s fairly common practice to give shoujo manga heroines some sort of quirky trait in order to try and humanize them a bit – while I think the concept of a “Mary Sue” is terribly sexist since male characters often aren’t examined through the same critical lens, it’s also admittedly not very interesting to watch a character who is already powerful and completely capable with no flaws whatsoever (I’ve never been one for hero worship). So a heroine who is attractive and smart but also has some personality flaw or dirty little secret is pretty common. It also serves as an easy source of comic relief – think Yukino Miyazawa and her secretly-slobbish nature, or Haruhi Fujioka‘s plot-convenient gender fluidity. But Naho’s character flaw, her self-denial, is expressed with a lot of care and doesn’t manifest itself in an over-the-top way. It’s not a source of comedy, but instead serves to underscore the exact situation that the Naho-of-the-future hopes to avoid – the regretful experiences of her high-school life. It feels very genuine to me.

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Kakeru trades his curry bread for Naho’s melon bread.

Knowing that this is a story that relies a lot on its emotional content, I was really hoping that the first episode would start off on the right foot in that respect. For the most part I would say that it hits the right beats from the first few chapters of the manga, although there are a couple of aesthetic choices that I personally wouldn’t have made. The episode leans heavily on its use of visual montage to tell certain parts of the story, and while it gets done what it needs to do (showing a lot of action that takes place over a long period of time in a very short period of screen time, obviously), it adds an element of “wackiness” that seems a bit out of place. Knowing what I do about the general plot arc, this could be a ploy on the director’s part to throw off the audience, but it’s difficult for me to tell at this point. Likewise, the soundtrack tends to be a a bit goofy and overbearing in some scenes, which I think provides the wrong impression. While there are lighthearted moments, the most prominent mood I think should be conveyed is bitter-sweetness; uptempo, noisy music in the background takes away from my ability to feel that. On the other hand, there are a couple points in the episode where there are some really interesting visual filters in use (there’s a scene near the beginning where young Naho and adult Naho symbolically cross paths, and the image is given a hazy, over-saturated and otherworldly quality), and there’s some good use of framing that’s utilized to keep the focus on what’s important (namely, Naho herself). The visual composition of the series is clearly very competent and manages to use some flashy tricks in a more subtle and refined way. I like it.

It’s pretty rare for me to have read a manga before its anime adaptation is available (normally it’s the other way around since I’m primarily an anime fan with manga as a side interest), so to have so many concrete expectations for this adaptation is somewhat foreign. I can get a little disparaging towards manga fans when they get upset over anime adaptations that stray from their source material. It’s experiences like this which provide me with some much-needed perspective. People become critical of adaptations, not generally out of a need to complain  or poo-poo on others’ parades, but out of love for the source material itself. When a story grabs hold of your heart and remains rooted within you long after you’re finished experiencing it, an adaptation which falls far short of its source material can almost feel like a personal insult. But an adaptation is also someone else’s interpretation of a story, and it can really pay off to balance one’s own desires for how that story should play out with the requirements of a different medium and the strengths, weaknesses, and varying tastes and interpretations of the person doing the adapting. It’s definitely something that I’ll have to keep in mind as this story plays out. Luckily, the first episode gives the strong impression that this story is in good hands.

Pros: The story is one that should resonate with multiple demographics pretty easily, as its themes and multi-generational cast have mass appeal. The visuals are high-quality and there is good use of scene framing and modern animation effects.

Cons: Some of the music gets a little overbearing at times. There is a heavy use of montage in this episode which comes across as cheesy.

Grade: B+

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Categories
Anime Reviews First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2016 First Impressions – Berserk

BerserkCoverGuts, a man who calls himself “The Black Swordsman” looks upon his days serving as a member of a group of mercenaries, the Band of the Hawk, nicknamed “the Grim Reaper of the Battlefield.” Led by an ambitious, ruthless, and intelligent man named Griffith, together they battle their way into the royal court, and are forced into a fate that may change their entire lives. – ANN

Streaming At Crunchyroll

Episodes: TBA

Source: Manga

Summary of Episode 1: Following Griffith’s initiation of the Eclipse and transformation into the demonic God Hand Femto, Guts finds himself on the run from the evil forces that have been unleashed on the world. He’s a branded man – the insignia burned into his neck draws wicked spirits and the restless dead to him in unending waves, and it is with his gigantic sword, really just a crude, gigantic slab of metal, that he fights them off one-by-one. After a bar brawl, a young elf named Puck begins to follow Guts. He becomes a first-hand witness to the horrors that now define Guts’ life as a kindly monk and the young girl accompanying him become victims of the risen dead.

First Impressions: I want to start off by mentioning that the Berserk series in general needs a big giant content warning for violence, gore, war crimes, and rape. This series is the very definition of grim-and-gritty and bad things happen to both good and evil characters.

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The scars from Guts’ past are evident.

It might come as some surprise to those of you who only know me via the internet that I actually really, really enjoy Berserk. I count the original anime series among my favorites, and though I haven’t in any sense of the word caught up on the manga, I really like what I’ve read (part of that is Kentaro Miura’s incredible artwork, obviously). The story is certainly incredibly violent (not something I normally like) and the three main characters of the initial story arc are essentially defined by how non-consensual sexual situations have affected them (and these things are shown rather than suggested in most cases), but the story as a whole just holds a certain appeal to me. Perhaps its unflinching darkness hit me at the right time in my anime fandom to leave a mark. In any case, anyone who’s seen the original anime series knows that it leaves off on what’s basically a cliffhanger. The Eclipse happens, we see Guts obtain his sword, and that’s about it. The show is actually sort of circular – if you watch the first episode directly after the final one, you’ll see what I mean. But there’s so much more story to tell, and fans of the show, myself included, have been waiting a long, long time for more of it to be animated.  When the trilogy of new films that reanimated the “Golden Age” story arc (the one covered by the TV series) were released recently, I think many of us began to suspect that something might be in the works. Soon enough the speculation became reality, and here we are.

I’ll say, I definitely have some mixed feelings about this, and I think those of you who’ve watched the episode already will probably have some idea where I’m going. I really, really am not a fan of the way CG is used to animate the majority of this show. On the one hand, it allows more consistency and detail in the characters and backgrounds, and that in and of itself isn’t bad. One hallmark of Miura’s art is that it’s hopelessly detailed (there’s some speculation that one of the reasons that it takes so long for a new chapter of the manga to get finished is due to the detail in the artwork and the fact that he might not be utilizing the services of any assistants to keep things on pace). The original anime series just didn’t even try to animate to the artwork, and used a lot of still-frames and pans to tell the tale of Guts and company. It got the atmosphere down very well and really captured the grittiness of the story, but there just wasn’t a lot of actual animation to speak of. This episode is fully-animated, and we get a lot of cool camera angles and body parts flying, but the characters look like puppets because of the way their limbs move – it’s both too smooth and overly-clunky at the same time. Anime-style animation is all about dynamic character posing and bursts of energy in between static shots; Even though Guts is doing some cool stuff with his swords, the overall movement is too smooth and restrained. Puck’s chibi form is also so disastrously out-of-place when animated this way… yikes.

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The Black Swordsman lives up to his name.

There are a few moments that are clearly hand-drawn, mostly close-ups of faces and some scenes from the opening theme (especially those that hearken back to the previous series), and those scenes are like reaching an oasis in a desert. It’s in those instances where the fine details really seem to come alive. I realize that hand-animating a series like this would require a lot of person-power and that using CG models allows the animators to maintain a consistent quality level without going overboard on labor, but considering how famous this series is, how much merchandise there is for it (it keeps being produced!), and the fact that it’s pretty much earned a place in the pantheon of anime classics, you’d think that perhaps some more resources and care would have been allotted to make this into a prestige piece. It’s like Sailor Moon Crystal all over again (except with more demons, decapitations and flying human entrails).

That being said, there will always be a certain amount of BS I’m willing to deal with in order to see a great story make its way to one of my favorite forms of media. Despite feeling a tad disappointed in some of the visual choices made, watching the first episode of this new chapter of the story feels a little bit like returning to the person I was in the early 2000’s when I first saw the original Berserk series. That is to say, very in awe of the sheer number of anime available in the world, most of which were still out there for me to discover. There really are not a lot of anime around today that really go all in with violence, gore, horror, or the darkness of human nature they way TV series and OVAs did in the 1990’s. I think part of that is just that tastes have changed and we as anime fans have become more accustomed to embracing life’s cuteness and not giving a damn about what non-weebs think of us for it. It also seems like, since the early 2000’s, the world’s real-life horrors have become so much more pronounced, and our escapism is more aimed at contrasting that with happiness and simplicity. Of course, this is also the age of Game of Thrones, where some of the worst aspects of human nature are put on display from week to week to the delight of millions of viewers (and yes, I’m one of those viewers, too). I suspect there is something in many of us that gets lit up when we feel powerless to help ourselves or to make real change in the world. Sometimes it’s just satisfying to see someone in a bad situation bust out and make heads roll, literally. It’s stories like Berserk that put a voice to that urge for me.

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Guts endures a flashback while asleep.

Content-wise, I don’t feel like there’s much for me to worry about. I don’t really question the strength of Berserk‘s underlying story, though I’m interested to see how well the anime adapts it and what sort of pace it will take (I’m unclear on how many episodes there are supposed to be and how much of the manga storyline they’re planning to tackle in this segment, so I’m not willing to start making any big predictions). One thing that might be frustrating for some people, though, is that this series pretty much picks up where the previous one left off. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll either have to watch the trilogy of recent films (pretty easy to do, but they’re not streaming anywhere that I know of so you’ll have to get a hold of the DVDs or Blu-Rays somehow) or dig up an old dusty copy of the original anime series (it’s waaay out of print at this point, though I hope maybe the remaster will get re-released someday or that Crunchyroll might add it to their back library now that the new show is coming out). It’s certainly worth your time to do so if you can handled the content. As a side note, I was interested in how they were going to account for Puck since he was cut out of the original series, but this episode did a pretty good job of plopping him right on in!

I really like Berserk and I’m still looking forward to watching this show despite the visual missteps. I think the first episode “feels” mostly correct to me, even if I still find it weird that a story that is so much of a certain time and place has dramatically succumbed to the realities of the modern anime industry. I’m looking forward to continuing the story this season.

Pros: I’ve been waiting a LONG time for more of this story to get animated! It’s quite different in tone than a lot of what’s popular in anime right now, which makes it feel fresh (even though it’s a story that’s been in the process of unfolding for a good 25 years at this point, in manga form).

Cons: Ugh, that CG. Someday we’ll get to a point where it looks almost as good as hand-drawn animation. We have not reached that point, yet. The content will also be too intense for some viewers, as it delves into some pretty violent and explicit territory.

Grade: B

Categories
Anime Reviews Reviews

Spring 2016: What I’ve Been Watching – Shorts

IconI moved into an apartment this past month, and while that’s been a pretty awesome change for me, my “office” area is still in a shambles and it’s made it really difficult for me to write anything (no desk, laptop is mainly used for video streaming to the TV, my desktop computer still doesn’t exist… I’m so very full of excuses right now). I wanted to try and squeeze in some time to talk about the stuff from this most recent season that I’ve been watching. Spoiler alert – it’s been a lot! One great thing about moving is that I’ve been able to commute by bus again, so that’s about 90 minutes per day that I can stream anime on my phone while going to and from work. It’s given me the freedom to devote time not just to the shows I truly love, but to some that I might not make time for otherwise – the goofy, dumpy, highly-flawed stuff that serves as a good reminder of how great the awesome stuff actually is. And heck – sometimes watching series with a lot of major issues helps develop critical thinking skills. Or so I will continue to believe as I fill my days with anime of varying quality levels.

In any case, I’ve noticed that the quality of short-form series has increased by quite a bit over the past year or so. In fact, here are some thoughts on the ones I’m watching right now!

Tonkatsu DJTonkatsu DJ Agetarou

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 7 released (as of this writing), total TBD

Source: Manga

Thoughts So Far: Agetarou is a young man who works at his family’s tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet – it’s delicious) restaurant. He doesn’t have a lot of passion for his job, but doesn’t really have any other direction in life. On a fateful night, he’s asked to deliver tonkatsu to an employee at a local dance club, and as thanks he’s granted free admission. It’s at the club that he experiences his first taste of dancing to a famous DJ’s beats, and he’s enthralled. It’s then that Agetarou starts walking the path of becoming a famous DJ.

Aesthetically, this series represents some of the things I don’t really like about the short-form “boom” in anime. It’s a stretch to call it “animated” at all most of the time, since the movement is extremely minimal. It’s more of a moving comic than an animated series, in my opinion. On the other hand, the show is extremely music-oriented, and though it uses a lot of the same tracks over and over again, they’re all very poppy, catchy, and fun to listen to. As goofy as the tale of Agetarou’s rise to fame can be at certain points, the music itself seems to have been taken seriously, and in that sense I think the resource expenditure was well-managed.

One criticism I have of the show is a beef I have with a lot of comedic anime series – a lot of the humor is based around the main character reacting incredulously to some situation and protesting loudly about it. I’ve never found that to be particularly humorous unless it’s done very well (Nichijou is probably the best example I can think of, and a lot of that is the accompanying animation and the great handle on escalation humor that that series has). I think the visual gags, namely the comparisons between DJ skills and tonkatsu-making, are much more successful. It’s silly enough to garner some genuine laughs while also upholding the main premise well.

One item worth noting is the weird, stereotypical language quirks applied to the series’ Black character, DJ Big Master Fry. In the first episode of the show, DJ Big Master Fry gives a monologue that’s audible in Japanese and visually-represented in some kind of heavily-accented written pidgin English on screen. I’m guessing the creators were trying to represent slang dialect, but it comes across as sounding like dialog from Huckleberry Finn. The Crunchyroll translation does a good job of smoothing this out, but there’s really no avoiding it and it comes across as ignorant on the part of the show’s (or the manga’s?) creators. It’s a weirdly uncomfortable moment in a show that’s otherwise very lighthearted and fun.

 

Space Patrol LulucoSpace Patrol Luluco

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Source: Original

Thoughts So Far: Luluco is a middle school student who just wants to live an ordinary life in an exceedingly extraordinary place – Ogikubo, a city where Earthlings and Aliens live alongside one-another. When her father, a member of the Space Patrol, gets into a pickle, Luluco is forced to take over his job and thus her life strays further and further from the ordinary.

When I think “Studio Trigger” what I’m really thinking of is animator/director Hiroyuki Imaishi, a creative voice who specializes in visual stylization and wacky vulgarity. After Trigger’s Kill la Kill, I found myself waiting around for something similarly accomplished to come from the studio. And while we did finally get a hold of Little Witch Academia 2 in the meantime, both When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace and Ninja Slayer From Animation were decidedly mediocre. My original enthusiasm for the company began to flag. Luckily, this season has been pretty good for Trigger, and while I’m still mostly undecided on how I feel about Kiznaiver about 5 episodes into it, I can already safely say that Luluco is living up to that Imaishi spirit.

The series is what I imagine the lovechild of Kill la Kill and Inferno Cop to be. It’s an apt comparison, too, since the show is pretty clearly drawing influence from both in its visual style and sense of humor. The show is not well-animated in the traditional sense, and this is a complaint that a lot of people have with Trigger’s productions. I think there’s something to be said, though, of being able to take one of Japanese animation’s common shortcomings – few frames and choppy animation – and morphing that into something stylistic in its own way. Luluco incorporates elements of Flash and web animation and puts a lot of emphasis on dynamic character poses rather than smooth in-between animation. It’s one of those things that bothers people and would cause a lot of them to call the show “cheap,” but I really like it as a style choice. I think it takes a lot of talent and an eye for composition to be successful with something like this. I love the character designs, too, which are cute, round, and drawn with thick, bold lines. I hope that they sell figures of the characters at some point!

The current story arc is an extended homage to some of Trigger’s other works, and that really tickles me. What some might see as blatant self-advertising, I see as having fun with some great properties. Of the short series I’m watching this season, this is probably my favorite.

 

Spring 2016Pan de Peace

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Source: 4-koma manga

Thoughts So Far: With episodes this short, it’s difficult to create something that’s too complicated. In this case, it’s simply about a group of four high school girls who are brought together by their love of bread. All of their (decidedly mundane) adventures revolve around bread (making it or obtaining it).

This is one of those shows that’s best described as “mostly inoffensive.” I say mostly, because it occupies a weird slice-of-life sub-genre that I’m still not sure what to do with. There are a lot of shows, both normal and short-form, that feature groups of girls doing this or that. It’s been popular in the last few years to go further, and suggest that the characters might or might not be gunning for some sort of lesbian romantic tension with one-another. Yuru-Yuri made it famous, but there have been several copycats. There’s something that makes me uncomfortable about fetishizing sexual orientation, and then not even being brave enough to follow-through with it.

For a show ostensibly involving bread, there’s unfortunately not a lot of focus on the bread. I kind of live for the last two or three seconds of each episode where there’s a luscious photograph of the type of bread in that episode (as someone who no longer eats bread on a regular basis, looking at pretty pictures of it is one way I continue to go on living without it). As a general rule, I’m congratulatory towards a series that focuses on its characters rather than its gimmick, but these episode are three minutes long and there’s not enough time to develop these characters beyond their stereotypes, so give me my damn food porn!

If you can’t tell, I’m very picky about my food-related anime.

Have you been enjoying any of this season’s short-form series? Let me know!

Categories
Fashion Reviews

Long Ears and Sharp Ears Studio – Spring Lucky Pack “The Dessert Kingdom” Review

LNSears Dessert Kingdom Lucky Pack

*Note: I’m in the process of getting ready for a convention and also moving, so that’s why things have been kind of sparse around here. I’m trying to get a few things posted that I’ve had sitting in the queue for a while. Thanks for understanding!*

It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m a huge fan of lolita fashion lucky packs. Not only do I like to get nice things at bargain prices, I also generally really like being surprised on gift-giving occasions by things I didn’t specifically ask for. Opening up a lucky pack is the best of two great situations – I get to be surprised, but I’m also fairly certain that I’ll end up liking what I receive (as long as it fits).

A while back I happened to see on Facebook that a brand I’d been eyeing, “Long Ears and Sharp Ears Studio,” was putting out a lucky pack/special set. The set was very sweet-centric and since I’ve been trying to add toned-down sweet items to my wardrobe, I decided to give it a try.

It’s worth mentioning that I was ever so slightly wary due to the price (meaning, it seemed really low) – $100 USD for a JSK, blouse, tights, bag, hair accessory and some small additional small bonus items. I was really worried that the quality might not be quite what I was looking for, that there might be major flaws, etc. Luckily for me, I think the price was more reflective of the relatively simple design and more standard materials than any sort of production flaws or major short cuts.

Packaging

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The items came packaged in a gray packing bag, as well as a shopping-style inner plastic bag with the brand’s logo on it. I’d like to make a note that I had previously thought that the brand’s name sounded a little bit sinister, especially the “Sharp Ears.” It was only after I finally got a good look at the logo that I realized “Long Ears” referred to a rabbit and “Sharp Ears” to a cat. Maybe not the best translation into English but it makes sense and fits with the brand’s cute aesthetic.

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Inside the plastic bag was a cute tote made out of cotton and quilted to make it thicker. The tote has a snap closure and an inner lining. It might not be quite as sturdy as some of the thicker canvas totes out there (including but not limited to those which I’ve purchased straight from Japanese brands), but it’s much better quality than I expected and it’s nice to have something that actually goes with the dress within. I’m getting ready to move to an apartment (finally!) and so I’ve been using the bag to store some of my accessories in preparation for the move.

Small Items

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The package came with a couple of nice bonus items that I actually didn’t quite expect – A set of stickers featuring cute characters who I assume are the brand mascots, as well as a small desk calendar featuring illustrations of several of the brand’s print series. I’ve been using the calendar on my bedside table since I got it and really love the cute drawings. I haven’t come up with a good use for the stickers yet (I’m not a big sticker person), but might give them away as a prize at a panel or something.

Accessories

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I’d originally thought that the lucky pack came with only two accessories, but that was before I noticed that, attached to the tote’s handle, was a bow that was just pinned-on. So technically there are three, which I think is a nice amount. In addition to the bow, there was also a separate head bow (attached to a headband) and a pair of tights. The head bow is nice because it’s something that matches with the set, and it’s not too big (I don’t think that my face can handle those big bows and I’m not into wearing the huge wigs needed to make them look decent. This one is a nice toned-down size that’s comfortable to wear.

The tights are thick and aren’t really see-through at all (I am an average size/weight for my height so it may be different if your legs are a bit thicker or you’re taller than me). I originally thought that they may not fit since, un-stretched, they looked really small, but they have a lot of give to them. I did wear them a couple of times, though, and got a small run in the toe area. I think this was more the shoes I was wearing, and since that time I’ve taken to wearing little slipper socks (the thin type that you’d wear with flats and wouldn’t show above the shoe) in between my foot and the tights, and this seems to have prevented my other tights from getting damaged. I like the design on the tights as they give a classic, slightly quirky feeling to what would otherwise be very plain leg wear.

Blouse

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The blouse is from the brand’s sister otome brand, Pink Up. It’s pink and made of sheer chiffon-like material with a flocked heart pattern. The rounded collar has cute frills along the border, and there’s a detachable ribbon pin that goes at the neck line. There are two parallel lines of elastic a few inches apart near the cuff, which is a really cute detail. At the time I got this I actually underestimated the amount of use that I would get out of this blouse, since it’s not a “safe” color like white or black. But in addition to it going really beautifully with the JSK in this set, I’ve also worn it with a couple other of my neutral-colored pieces and it adds a nice pop of color and works well even if I’m feeling more casual.

JSK

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There were four possible colorways for this set, and I was hoping for either the pink or yellow one since blue really isn’t my jam and I thought that the brown was too dark and saturated for my tastes. I received the yellow set which I was obviously very happy about. This JSK is extremely cute. It features the rabbit and cat characters in the border print among a magical field of cookies, doughnuts, candies, and other sweets. There are also some royal symbols like crowns and scepters. It is all very whimsical and cute. The bodice features three ribbons in the front and lace around the shoulder straps. There are detachable waist ties held in place with gold bow-shaped buttons. There is corset lacing up the back of the bodice that provides a nice amount of “give.” The corset ribbon is kind of thin and not particularly sturdy, but I don’t think the purpose is for the top to behave like an actual corset as the fabric overall is light and airy and there’s no boning to give it a particular shape. The fabric itself is slightly textured (I’m not sure if it’s really apparent from the photos but it has a raised dot pattern that’s very subtle). The dress itself is fully-lined and has a side zipper. As with all hidden zippers, I tend to have a bit of trouble getting it to go past the waist seam without snagging, even though the dress itself isn’t tight. I think they are just inherently flawed as a closure mechanism, though. The shoulder straps attach to the back of the bodice with buttons, and there are three button holes to help adjust the length (I have kind of a long torso so I’m really thankful for the ability to adjust that measurement!).

One bonus that I should mention is that the dress is a little bit longer than a lot of normal JSKs (it’s listed as 100cm, when I think the general “standard” is closer to 92cm total length), so it’s great for those of us who are slightly above average in height (I’m 5’6”/168cm tall).

The only construction issue that I noticed with this dress is that the top bow on the neckline of the bodice was sewn on a bit wonky and wouldn’t sit straight. This is something that’s definitely within my realm of ability to fix so it’s not a major issue. But it’s probably noticeable in some of the pictures and it bothered me.

Overall

Aside from shoes and other smaller accessories, it’s completely possible to build a coordinate from just the items in this lucky pack, and I really like that. Unlike some of the lucky packs I’ve received which are truly just a random assortment of leftover items, this is more of a “special set” feel with a fairly simple but really cute coord that’s wearable and not OTT. I’m pleased that I received a color that I don’t have much of yet; I’m both looking to expand the “sweet” part of my wardrobe and add some variance to the colors since I’ve been playing it safe with neutrals for a long time. The set can be easily matched with soft pinks, browns, and golds, so there are a lot of great ways that this dress could be coordinated.

I wore the items as-is in one of the photographs, and also tried it out with a few other accessories that I had on hand, including my biscuit hat and bag and the spoon and chocolate necklace I bought (on sale!) recently from Alice and the Pirates.

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Oh, and my fears about the low cost of the set? Almost totally unfounded. The quantity of items was obviously way more than I would have expected for $100 (plus shipping), but so was the quality. The design and materials weren’t at the same quality level as some of my favorite brand pieces, but I have some taobao pieces that were the same price just by themselves and I think this set beats at least some of them.

As of right now (Early April) I believe that there might still be some of these sets available for purchase, so if you’re reading this and are interested, I’d go snatch one up before they’re completely sold out.

Oh, and one thing I wanted to note – this brand has a design that I’m beating myself up about not getting in on sooner – it’s a print loosely based around Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders!

Have you ordered from Long Ears and Sharp Ears Studio? What are your thoughts on the brand? Let me know in the comments!

Categories
Anime Reviews Reviews

Anime Review – One Punch Man

One Punch Man“Saitama is a hero who only became a hero for fun. After three years of “special” training, though, he’s become so strong that he’s practically invincible. In fact, he’s too strong—even his mightiest opponents are taken out with a single punch, and it turns out that being devastatingly powerful is actually kind of a bore.
With his passion for being a hero lost along with his hair, yet still faced with new enemies every day, how much longer can he keep it going?” – Daisuki.net

Streaming at Daisuki , Hulu

Episodes: 12

Source: Webcomic/Manga

Review: I do a panel once a year at the Anime Detour anime convention focused on “Anime for Grown-Ups” – anime series that older anime fans might enjoy. I try to pull anime series, old and new, from several different genres that have aspects that might appeal to folks who are older, have a lot of life experience, and might not identify very closely with the typical anime protagonist (teenage male high school students, specifically). There are people who tend to misinterpret this as me saying that popular anime or anime aimed at younger audiences is “inferior” in some way to these shows and movies that I’m suggesting in this panel, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s just that, sometimes, it can be difficult being an older anime fan and never seeing yourself represented in the shows you like to watch, especially in the popular ones.

The upside is that, when the overlap between popularity and representation happens, it’s like striking gold a hundred times over. One Punch Man isn’t a complicated show and its action animation and humorous writing have made it really popular with the anime viewing masses. But the element of the series that resonated the most with me and which I think makes it more successful than anime with a similar focus is that its central character embodies a lot of the things that can make life as an adult an emotional struggle.

Let me just say, I really like being a grown-up. I like handling my finances, being able to hold down a job, and having the ability to decide what to do with my time. Driving a car is really great, and watching all the R-rated movies I like is pretty nice, also. But there are struggles, too. Navigating treatment for mental illness sucks, mortgages are complicated and scary, and even a good job can get really boring and tedious if you aren’t in a space where you feel like challenging yourself. Possibly one of the worst parts of coming into your adulthood is eventually gaining enough knowledge of the world to become cynical about it. If you’re careful and lucky this might be avoidable, but I think for most of us it’s easy to allow the gleam of adulthood’s privileges wear off, or perhaps you’re in a situation where you’ve never really even been allowed access to the things that others take for granted. Either way, arriving at the realization that “this is it” can be kind of sucky.

One Punch Man 01
Saitama dreams of a challenging encounter. Copyright Madhouse Inc.

What I loved about this show is that this is exactly where we meet Saitama. Currently stronger than just about every monster, demon, or alien that shows up to harass the people of his city, Saitama’s internal desire to fight for justice and defend the citizenry is currently at a low simmer. He’s reached a point where life no longer holds any challenges, and waking up from a wonderful dream where he’s in an all-out fight for his life, only to realize that the hot-blooded danger he envisioned in his mind’s eye was all an illusion, is depressing. There’s actually some humor in this situation, but I think different audiences will laugh for vastly different reasons. Young people will likely giggle at the utter absurdity of Saitama’s battle power and how his low-key attitude about it all is so incredibly different from your typical bellowing shounen anime protagonist. But for those of us who have been around long enough to have come to the realization that, most of the time, you don’t end up in some career that uses all your talents and pays enough to allow you to live your dreams, and most of the time life isn’t an endless parade of doing whatever the hell you want with your time, the laughter definitely comes from a place of understanding. For a show about a guy who punches dudes through buildings and causes enemy bodies to explode, I’m starting to make it sound kind of depressing.

One of the things that saves this series from being entirely cynical is the relationship between Saitama and his eager student, the cyborg soldier Genos. It’s clear from the outset that Genos doesn’t really need anyone to train him since his robotic body affords him all sorts of power, so much so that he’s immediately recognized as one of the top-ranked heroes in Japan.  Even though he could survive well enough as a loner, he thrives when he looks to Saitama as his master.

There are a lot of times when I wonder why, at the age of 34, I still attend a college anime club. Most of the time when I’m there I get really irritated at the other attendees and their inability to settle down and watch the shows, or the fact that they might not appreciate the full scope of why some series are classic or important (not just older shows, but some really great newer ones, too). But I also get the experience of being around people who are plenty smart and full of real talent, and for some reason some of them want to talk to and get to know me, too. It’s easy to look at anime fandom and think, as an “older” fan, “there’s nothing left for me here.” Fandom keeps getting younger while I stay the same, or at least it seems that way sometimes. But when I see my younger friends’ artwork or hear about the new cosplay they’re working on, or if they want to talk to me about lolita fashion, there’s something about those interactions that remind me that there isn’t such a wide gulf between myself and these people, and being around them helps remind me that I don’t have to let go of all the shiny things in life just because life itself isn’t a constant stream of shinies and rainbows. I like to think (and have interpreted the situation as such), that Saitama gains a little bit of the same perspective being around Genos, whose earnestness helps to offset Saitama’s ennui very well.

One Punch Man 02
Saitama (unwillingly) takes on a protege. Copyright Madhouse Inc.

The other aspect of the series  that reflects its underlying youthful joy is the way that this show was animated. As much as I would love to be an expert on key animators and the animation process in Japan, it’s just not a sense that I’ve had time to develop and so I leave it to the experts. There’s an excellent article over at Anime News Network written by contributor Kevin Cirugeda regarding what makes One Punch Man‘s animation so special, complete with commentary and some informative gifs that should give you a pretty good idea of what has gone into making this show look the way that it does. The biggest takeaway I had, though, and what I think is especially relevant to the spirit of this series, is that the production team for this anime wasn’t working with some extravagant animation budget or an abundance of time in which to draw it all. What it is, according to the chief animation director, is simply the work of passionate animators doing their best. Knowing anything about the Japanese animation industry, with its ability to work its animators to the bone and pay them salaries that keep them in a state of poverty, it seems almost impossible to think that there are animators left with the ability and drive to push their art to the limit. But once again I think that’s one of the lessons worth learning from this series – it’s easy to be cynical (and sometimes grossed-out) once you know how the sausage is made, but it bears repeating that there are many people who, either because of their young age or some magical ability of theirs to keep from becoming completely jaded, truly exemplify why there are things worth caring about.

If I had to levy a complaint against this anime, it would probably be that it gets bogged-down by introducing a lot of side characters and “plot” (defined very loosely) in the second half that drag the show down a bit. With a title like One Punch Man expecting high art would be stupid, and the show appropriately spends most of its time being, how to say, “dumb as hell.” That’s fine and doesn’t bother me. Even with a paper thin plot I still managed to somehow draw a lot of personal meaning from the show. But once the series achieved “dumb as hell and full of other dummies, too” by introducing a slew of other hero characters in the latter several episodes, I started to get a little annoyed. Some of the characters are interesting – I especially liked Silver Fang, the old man with high level martial art powers. But some of them are downright irritating, namely Tatsumaki, the green-haired esper with a bad attitude who spends most of her screen time being snotty for no reason. In any case, because the anime is so brief I felt like there really wasn’t time to utilize the large cast of characters very well, and if there had been a good way to keep things simple (at least for this season of the show, as there will surely be more to come later on) and focus on Saitama and Genos for a while, I would have preferred that. Because the final confrontation is so purely focused on Saitama, specifically him finding someone with whom he can have a (nearly) fair fight, I think this would have been do-able with a little tweaking. But surely that would have upset fans of the source material, so it’s just another no-win anime adaptation situation.

One Punch Man 03
The aftermath of one of Saitama’s encounters. Copyright Madhouse Inc.

Being an adult is complicated, and it doesn’t always feel that great. For every awesome splurge, there’s also an accompanying bill to be paid. The ability to do the fun things you want to do is coupled with the lack of energy that keeps you from doing it. You can buy any anime DVD you want, but there might not be a lot around that you want to own anymore (not my personal problem, but then again I’m a hopeless weeb 4 lyfe up in here). In some cases, it can feel a little bit like there’s not much point to going through the motions every day. I think it’s great, then, to have a reminder that there are still thrilling experiences to uncover (even if you have to wait until you’re discovered by a disgruntled space alien with a penchant for violence… yeah, sometimes anime isn’t all that realistic).  I wouldn’t have expected that reminder to show up in the form of an incredibly popular shounen series, but it serves as a great reminder that there are plenty of younger people out there with valuable things to teach us, and that listening to them might just keep us young.

Pros: The show, possibly somewhat by accident, is sort of insightful about the struggles of adulthood. Dat animation.

Cons: It gets bogged down with too many characters (some of whom are very irritating) in the second half.

Grade: A-

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Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 7 Simulcast Review

Shouwa7x1Now that Kikuhiko has begun to find his voice, both he and Sukeroku are in high demand. They’re even getting radio play now, which is something that Kikuhiko wouldn’t have imagined for himself just a short time ago. Behind the scenes, though, there’s a fair bit of tension between the two performers. Sukeroku has never been one to take things seriously, including his time commitments and dedication to practicing his art. He overreaches by attempting Rakugo stories that are typically outside the purview of a futatsume, and it’s Kikuhiko that has to cover for him by adjusting for time, and asking for forgiveness from their superiors. To Sukeroku, who virtually lives off of alcohol and the laughter of his audiences, things like “saving money” and “dressing properly” just don’t matter. Between acting like a parent to a man who is ostensibly like a brother to him, and working to perfect his art, Kiku is finding less and less time to devote to Miyokichi.

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Anime Reviews Reviews Simulcast Reviews

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju – Episode 6 Simulcast Review

Shouwa6x2Following his successful night in the theater, Kikuhiko becomes introspective about his childhood and some of the defining experiences of his life. As a youngster and child of a geisha, young Bon trained in traditional dance out of proximity more than in preparation for a future career. After all, a boy cannot become a geisha, right? Overhearing the whispered ridicule from the other women tore at his confidence, and attempting to learn the craft of Rakugo only seemed to make him more uncomfortable with himself. These memories cause Kikuhiko to wonder once again where he might begin to uncover “his”
rakugo – a performance style all his own.

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