Tag: from RPG.net

Hunter x Hunter

(at least 45 episodes… welcome to endless shounen hell !)

What’s it about ?

In a world with various big monsters roaming around and hidden treasures, the big thing to be is a Hunter, whose job is to deal with those. But there are lots of hopefuls and not many who actually manage to pass the tests…

This manga already got an anime adaptation 10 years ago, but from what I gather it never got to the end (the manga is still ongoing). This is a full-blown remake ; hopefully they’ll manage to make a proper ending this time around.

Characters

Gon, our spiky-haired protagonist. His father abandoned him at birth because of his Hunter’s job, so he’s convinced being a Hunter must be AWESOME! for Daddy to do that (/facepalm).

Mito, his aunt (although that’s never actually stated anywhere in the episode), was quite opposed to him leaving the nest, but he’s talented and wilful enough to overcome her objection before the mid-episode mark. Presumably we’ll barely ever see her again.

On the boat to the test center, Gon meets two other characters of note who are obviously going to tag along : Kurapika, the sullen last member of the Kurta tribe, who wants to become a Hunter to track down the culprits (I lay at least 50/50 odds that’s actually a girl) ; and Leorio, a tall lecherous dude who’s in it for the money.

A fourth team member is shown in the credits, but hasn’t appeared yet.

Production Values

Perfectly okay for an action shounen show. For comparison purposes, I checked out the first episode of the original series ; the new version is much brighter and slightly more stylised, at the cost of some atmosphere ; also, it seems to move quite a bit quicker than the original (which barely had Gon leaving the nest by the end of the first episode, but made it much clearer what the family situation was).

What did I think of it ?

Hello, generic shounen action show ! There’s nothing particularly original here, so it falls down to the worldbuilding (nothing much of interest yet) and the character dynamic to make it watcheable. And, well, while I’m all for Miyuki Sawashiro and Keiji Fujiwara deliciously snarking at each other, I’m not sure I want to sign up for 45+ episodes of it.

I’m not dropping it yet, but it’s definitely a candidate for the chopping block if too many other shows I want to keep watching are released on Sundays (which is a very probable scenario).

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011.

Fate/Zero

(25 episodes ; 1st episode is double-length)

What’s it about ?

It’s a prequel to Fate/stay night, but hopefully you don’t need to know anything about that one to follow it. Actually, previous knowledge of the franchise might kill the suspense a bit, given how it made it quite clear how things are supposed to end here.

Anyway : every few decades there’s a big fight between 7 champions (representing the major Mage families) around the Holy Grail, which can supposedly grant any one wish. Each “Master”, besides his own magical abilities, can summon a Servant (basically a ghost of a mythical figure) to help them out.

Characters

Kiritsugu Emiya, an elite anti-Mage assassin. Nobody’s quite sure why he’s in the game (his résumé makes him look quite suicidal), but he certainly sounds like a major contender. He’s quietly supported by his wife, who frankly looks like a dead woman walking. He summons a Saber Servant who’s supposed to be King Arthur… despite being quite obviously a woman.

Tokiomi Tohsaka, heir of one of the major Mage family, who decided to cheat by allying himself with (1) the Church (who are supposed to be neutral referees), and (2) Kirei Kotomine, a promising mage/priest who he got into the game somehow.

Kariya Matou was the black sheep of his family, but he stepped in to become one of the player to avoid that fate for his new adopted sister (who happens to be Tohsaka’s second daughter, in a bizarre bit of political play). His grandfather’s sadistical training (bugs under his skin ? Eww…) have left him drained, but hey, he only has to last until the end of the game…

Kayneth Archibald El-Me… oh, who cares about this dude and his improbably long name. He comes from one of England’s most prominent Mage families and holds tenure in the London Magical University, but he barely gets two minutes of insufferably smug screentime. Instead, we follow…

Waver Velvet, one upstart student of his who stumbles into his Holy Grail-related documentation and artefacts and decides to have a go at it. The little shit is obviously going to fail spectacularly given the heavyweights around, but I can’t entirely fault him for trying.

That’s (at most) six Masters ; the 7th one stays conspicuously absent throughout the episode (although I do have my suspicions).

Production Values

NicoNico’s tiny broadcast doesn’t help to judge, but this looks quite good indeed. There’s no action sequence whatsoever yet, though, so we’ll have to wait a bit to see what the series can do there. (The OP – shown at the end – does display some nice animation, but that never means anything.)

What did I think of it ?

Do you like exposition ? I hope so, because this is 45 whole minutes of it. This is a series of flashbacks fleshing out all the main players, while explaining the premise ; there’s even a ridiculous scene that has Emiya & Kotomine thumbing through each other’s résumés at the same time. It isn’t too clunky, but it does mean that not a lot happens besides talking heads. As said above, there isn’t a single action sequence in sight, and we barely get through to the first few summons (in consequence, we don’t really get a sense of the Servants’ personalities, if they have any).

What we see of the characters, though, is somewhat interesting ; I especially like Waver’s scenes, as he looks like he’ll be fun to follow. Most of the other players are adults who seem quite adept at scheming, so there’s potential for compelling intrigues there. Which is needed, given how the ending is a foregone conclusion ; fortunately, it looks like the show isn’t even pretending to hide this will lead to a Emiya/Kotomine final showdown.

Overall, this wasn’t a dazzling start, but there’s some potential. Hopefully it won’t have the same problems as the original work… well, at least got rid of the supremely annoying protagonist, which is a step into the right direction.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011.

Busou Shinki Moon Angel ONA

(5-minute episodes)

What’s it about ?

10-centimeter-tall mecha-musume fighting each other.

Characters

This series doesn’t even bother naming its main characters. I know screentime’s at a premium, but come on !

Anyway, our protagonist is a white-clad living action figure who escapes from a lab (and from the pursuit of a black-clad counterpart). Wounded, she’s eventually discovered by a loner grade-school kid.

Production Values

I was pleasantly surprised. Those 5-minute web-thingies are usually on the lower end of budget ranges, but this actually looks quite good. The fight scenes are very well animated, and much lower on fanservice than you’d expect.

What did I think of it ?

Well, it’s the first 5-minute webseries from the last couple of years that I’m considering watching on the strength of its first episode. (Fireball Charming doesn’t count.) I’m especially impressed by the pacing : none of it feels rushed, in many ways this feels like a proper anime series… but it’s still a complete chunk of story despite its short length.

It’s not particularly original, but it seems to have the potential to be fun, without outstaying its welcome. I’m cautiously optimistic about this one.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011.

Fantastic Children

(26 episodes, 2004-2005)

My previous exposure

Suggested in this thread.

What’s it about ?

Random young children all of the same age have pulled a disappearing act, suddenly turning albino and deciding to wear creepy dark cloaks. And it’s not the first time this happened, as similar disappearances happened every few decades for several centuries… and the children always look the same. Detective Cooks, officially in charge of investigating one of them (but really following up on his journalist grandfather’s investigations a century ago), follows their trace and discovers a mysterious government conspiracy that has figured out the kids are periodically reincarnating themselves, and is now trying to reproduce their death-defying technology. Said conspiracy is of course headed by yet another albino young man…

Meanwhile, the purported protagonist of the series, an athletic boy called Thoma, helps a young girl named Helga escape from her orphanage, and they loiter around on an island for a while. The link between this and the main plot is that the “fantastic children” are looking for Helga (actually another reincarnating-through-the-ages person), but they do such a crap job of it that it takes half the series for both threads to rejoin together.

And then we get the actual explanation for all this : all the reincarnating people are actually aliens, with the “fantastic children” being a team of scientists who sent the princess into Earth’s afterlife in a bid to save her after an assassination attempt, and are now trying to get her back to their princess. The albino dude masterminding the government conspiracy really works with the alien king’s evil brother. And so on.

What did I think of it ?

Oh, dear. How did this series manage to go so horribly wrong ?

Actually, no, I don’t think it went wrong. The problems are so deeply ingrained into the plot that it must have been planned that way from the start. Which boggles the mind, but it happens.

Let’s start with the positive : it’s a gorgeous series, with some spectacular work on the settings and very fluid animation. There are also nuggets of fascinating characterization for the “fantastic children”, struggling between the memories of their century-long mission and their latest upbringing as normal children. (Although having them fight actual monsters from the afterlife whenever their resolution falters is a bit too heavy-handed a metaphor.)

But whatever ambiguity the series had managed to build up in its first few episodes is destroyed by the reveal of the very simplistic backstory (to say nothing of the suspension-of-disbelief-killing decision to make Helga a bomb for the main bad guy to fight over). This is a very black-and-white series (in the sense that it has irredeemable bad guys, and good guys making obviously-wrong decisions that come back to bite their ass later). You’d think the taboo scientific field of exploring the afterlife would provide interesting conflict, but it quickly becomes an afterthought, a plot device for people to fight over (or whine that they should never have become involved in it).

The confused structure of the first half of the series exemplifies what’s wrong with it. Thoma, our supposed protagonist, gets into wacky hijinks with the orphanage escape that seem transplanted from a much more carefree story, and are frankly quite boring. The “fantastic children” do nothing besides running around ineffectively (and it quickly becomes obvious that they’ve been doing so for centuries). Detective Cooks’s thread is by far the more interesting, but it’s mostly a vehicle for exposition and just stops abruptly at the mid-series mark (his few token scenes after it just emphasize how irrelevant he’s become).

Darn, the premise sounded really interesting, but this show clearly had a completely different (and much more boring) story to tell. Too bad.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 6.

Shion’s King (Shion no Ou)

(22 episodes, 2007-2008)

My previous exposure

None, besides having heard of the basic premise.

What’s it about ?

Eight years ago, the parents of Shion got brutally murdered in front of her eyes, leaving the poor little girl traumatized and mute. One of the only clues is a “King” shougi piece (apparently the murderer somehow decided to then play a game with the six-year-old). Now, Shion (who was adopted by her loving uncle, himself a pro shougi player) is a middle-schooler on the verge of entering the pro shougi circuit. She’d obviously rather forget all about her traumatic past, but the high-stakes tournament organized by the current champion’s brother is about to dredge all kinds of bad stuff back up to the surface…

Also quite important to the plot is Ayumi, a high-school dropout who crossdresses because he thinks it easier to make money fast on the female shougi circuit (since his mother is tremendously ill and the hospital bills need getting paid). Not at all important to the plot (despite being featured prominently in the OP) is Saori, another up-and-coming young female shougi player.

What did I think of it ?

First things first : the OP sequence is absolutely ridiculous, with every single cast member desperately trying to look badass or menacing. It’s completely different in tone from the actual show, which is way more sedate and less gritty (count all the sequences where Shion has hilariously exaggerated reactions !). I really wonder what the producers were thinking… although I did find it perversely entertaining enough not to fast-forward through it, so mission accomplished, I guess.

Also very misleading is that scene in the first episode where Saori looks like she’s actually a ruthless mafia daughter and orders minions to investigate her opponents’ backgrounds… but everything after that shows that she’s actually just a mostly nice girl (and her minions must be shit, because Ayumi hasn’t really thought his deception through). I wonder whether earlier drafts of the plot had Saori actually mattering to the plot…

Now, on any other series I wouldn’t be able to get past such bullshit plotting, but this one manages to strike a perfect balance between standard “tournament show” sequences and the convoluted mystery hovering on the edges of the plot. Separately, they wouldn’t be of much interest : the shougi matches are drowning in exposition, and the mystery is pretty crap (there aren’t many suspects, and the murderer’s motive only makes sense if you’re insane). But the prominence of the shougi competition allows the mystery to stay in the background so that its flaws aren’t too noticeable, while the mystery gives a lot of edge and suspense to the shougi matches.

There’s even some quite clever plotting, especially around the “sponsor” dude who has a vested interest in making the match-ups as dramatic as possible to generate maximum publicity. (And since he’s a complete neophyte to shougi, he’s helpful as someone to be exposited to.) I’ve grown quite fond of him ; Hiroshi Kamiya is very good at striking the right note between slight sliminess and just pure cluelessness. (Nice touch of having him voice the advert announcements !)

Overall, this is a fun, if heavily flawed, little series.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 6.

Shingu : Secret of the Stellar Wars (Gakuen Senki Muryo)

(26 episodes, 2001)

My previous exposure

It’s another of the many series from Spring 2001 I checked out in this previous post. The first episode was so bizarre I knew I had to view it in full eventually.

What’s it about ?

The year 2070. It turns out that a little Japanese town has been a hub of alien activity for thousands of years, with numerous “diplomats” (read : spies) lounging around conspicuously. The reason for this is Shingu, a huge mecha-like weapon of tremendous power hidden there, that obviously everyone and their mother would like to get their hands on (or at least not to fall into anyone else’s hands). The biggest faction around is the Galactic Alliance, who have made sure to keep Earth as a “primitive reserve” with no public alien presence for so long, although obviously that status quo won’t stand for much longer (especially after the big showy alien incursion defeated by Shingu in the first episode).

Our point of view character is Hajime, a middle-schooler whose family has been living in the small town for a few years (so he isn’t initially aware of the ancient conspiracy). Other major characters include the members of the Absurdly Powerful Student Council, who are not-so-coincidentally this generation’s Shingu controllers (the previous generation got wiped out 11 years ago in an incident nobody likes to talk about), and especially Nayuta, the tsundere vice-president who does the actual controlling.

Oh, and there’s this Muryo dude, who comes from another village with its own ancient alien conspiracy, is better than everyone at anything, seems to know a lot more than he should, and still remains annoyingly affable about it. I can’t fault people like Nayuta finding him unbearably frustrating. And his sister is even more annoying (I’ve never seen super-speed used more effectively to needle people on playfully).

There are basically two major parallel story threads interwoven together : the kids having a (nearly) normal school life and occasionally fighting stuff (also : angst ! but only for a few of them…), and the adults discussing stuff diplomatically and providing the required exposition about the context needed to understand the actual plot. They’re mostly disjointed from each other, mostly because the complex diplomacy stuff is way over the kids’ heads.

What did I think of it ?

This is a very bizarre series. Objectively we’ve got a complex and convoluted plot with tons of factions that don’t trust each other one bit, some very violent (and well-staged) fight scenes, some very high stakes indeed… but most of the screen time is shared between (1) inoffensive school hijinks and (2) people politely discussing the plot over a cup of tea. Indeed, most of the action sequences are preludes to bringing one or more parties to sit down and calmly discuss matters. (The exceptions are usually morons making a hasty attack and getting crushed for it.) As a result, the overall mood is very sedate indeed.

For once, I (mostly) approve of the complete name change by the US localization. This show is definitely completely about Shingu, while Muryo mostly stays on the edges of the story and barely ever contributes anything to the plot (the story may even work without him being there at all). And that’s a deliberate choice on his part in-story, too. This series is full of very powerful (and backstory-important) characters who prefer staying in the background so as to not wreck the carefully-established equilibrium, only stepping in when needed. It could be infuriating, but the show mostly pulls it off.

There’s definitely a charm to it, as one easily gets involved into the growing Hajime/Nayuta relationship (or even Kyoichi/Harumi – I’m a sucker for awkward characters voiced by Tomokazu Sugita). On the other hand, it’s hard to really get into the complex diplomatic talks, because so much of it happens off-screen and makes it impossible to guess exactly what’s happening (one particular very belligerant faction gets no explanation whatsoever – everyone’s puzzled as to who they might be, and they get obliterated too early in the climax to get relevant). Most of the characters play their hand very close to the vest, hiding whatever they’re up and whoever they’re really affiliated to under layers of deception. (The king of this being Ziltosh, the loud and affable Hawaian-shirt-wearing alien who seems to be working for everyone at once.) I sometimes felt like the show wasn’t really playing fair with this, as a lot of it consists of red herrings hiding the actual climax brewing.

So, does it work ? Not entirely. It certainly gets points for attempting something completely different with the “mecha fights off alien invasion” genre. The characterization work is impressive : most characters (including the aliens) feel very human indeed, with one glaring exception (Muryo, who stays an enigma throughout). But there are definite pacing problems, from awkward “did I miss an episode ? Ah, no, here’s a flashback to fill me on this pointless in media res opening scene” moments, to a not-so-successful handling of rising tension (which sometimes deflates far too quickly). And while a lot of it is quite funny, there are a good number of jokes that feel entirely alien. And I’m not convinced the ending really works.

There’s a lot to like here, but the show doesn’t manage to strike the perfect balance. Nice try, though.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 5.

Rune Soldier Louie

(24 episodes, 2001)

My previous exposure

It’s one of the various shows I tried out for my “Spring 2001 in review” thread. The first episode was fun, so I marked it down for further watching. (There’s at least one other such show coming up soon-ish.)

What’s it about ?

D&D-inspired fantasy comedy show. The all-female team of Melissa (not-that-uptight cleric), Genie (amazon fighter) and Merill (short thief) were looking for a magician to complete their adventuring party ; alas (and fortunately for our zygomaticus muscles), they can only get Louie, a definitely male (aside from that one episode) and burly magician… who ain’t even much good at magic (he often tends to run towards the enemy fists first).

It’s striking how tabletop-RPG their adventures are, down to the character of Louie’s maybe-girlfriend Ila, who hands out quests, rewards, plot hooks and exposition (while being completely useless in a fight) like the best of NPCs. (It makes me wonder whether Louie’s player was the GM’s boyfriend that she added to the table against her players’ will…)

This is a very episodic series, with just 4 episodes actually dealing with the “main” plot (although there’s obviously a lot of setup for it hidden in the other episodes).

What did I think of it ?

Well, it’s very funny indeed, although some of the running gags maybe have been a tiny bit overused (especially Melissa’s “against my will” catchphrase). My favourite character would be Merill, whose constant unashamed greed is a sight to behold (and the great, late Tomoko Kawakami really gets to show off her range in some of the later episodes). The rival team were always welcome, thanks to being actually somewhat competent and sympathetic (and the Melissa/Isabel rivalry led to consistently great interplay, although the punchline was obvious from the start).

So, it’s great fun. The problem is that there’s not much beyond the surface, I presume on purpose : neither the characters nor the setting show much depth, and the various attempts to give some of them a more serious backstory (I’m looking at you, Genie) just fall flat. The series is at its best when it relishes in its stupidity and how much the characters act like PCs. Which it fortunately does frequently.

There very little ambition here besides having fun with a tabletop-RPG setting. It works, but nothing more.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 5.

Haibane Renmei

(13 episodes, 2002)

My previous exposure

The second series I watched that was suggested by this thread ! And, er, that’s it : your descriptions didn’t give me much of an image of the show, and I tried to stay as unspoilt as possible anyway.

What’s it about ?

In what looks like a rural European city (but could really be anywhere), lives a small community of winged teenagers and kids (the titular Haibane, or “Grey Wings”) who hatch full-grown from eggs, get jobs helping around the villagers if they’re old enough, and eventually “fly off” when it’s time for them to move on.

The series follows the viewpoint of Rakka, the latest hatched Haibane, who thus gets to learn the strange customs and rules of the community and grow familiar with the other Haibane along with the audience.

What did I think of it ?

It’s been two weeks since I’ve watched this, and I’m still not sure what I thought of it.

Part of the problem comes from the initial episodes, where some of the Haibane’s customs (as well as the false impression that there are only female Haibane) leave a strong bad taste of Patriarchy. Now, further episodes makes it clear that’s not the case at all (there ARE male Haibane, who are treated exactly the same way ; and the few old men in charge of the system are all but stated to be failed Haibane who try and help the new ones), but that was still not the best first impression for a series to start off with.

Obviously, the series is a blatant metaphor for purgatory, what with the otherwise useless wings/aureolas that the Haibane have, and the general theme of moving beyond one’s past issues in order to go forward. Heck, the climax even deals with a Haibane who committed suicide in her previous life. The symbolism couldn’t be more obvious.

But I don’t particularly care about that. Fortunately, the show also works on a more prosaic level – a newcomer entering a community and progressively blending in, despite learning that she’ll have to go eventually. The slice of life episodes about each girl’s job are my favourite, as are the bits explaining how the community actually works. Who the Haibane were before and where they go after is mostly irrelevant (besides the way it affects their personalities), and I kinda get the feeling that the show agrees with me (what with never showing any of it, or the general message of “you need to get past it”).

Don’t mistake me, I’ve enjoyed watching this show ; I have a thing for slightly off-kilter slice-of-life/drama, Kana’s job pleased my tech geek side, and I enjoyed those characters’ company. But the heavy-handed symbolism didn’t quite click for me, which prevents the series from entering my hall of favourites. Still, I don’t regret buying that boxset sight unseen.

Now and Then, Here and There (Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku)

(13 episodes, 1999)

My previous exposure

This is the first review I’m doing because it’s been recommended in this thread. Beyond that, I don’t know much about the series, aside that (1) it’s grim, and (2) the main villain has been compared to Fractale‘s.

What’s it about ?

Shu, our protagonist, was just an ordinary middle-schooler until he met bizarre blue-haired girl Lala Ru. Before they can have a proper conversation, though, they’re transported into another world and captured by soldiers from Hellywood, the main baddies of the series.

To say that Hellywood is a hellhole is an understatement. This desert fortress is ruled by Hamdo, a raving madman, and ultra-professional yes-woman Abelia. They replenish their army by raiding the villages around them and enrolling the boys by force. (They also take the women and girls for, er, a more long-term approach.) They seek Lala Ru because she holds the power of creating water out of nowhere, which is obviously a hot commodity on this dying desert world.

Other major characters include Sarah, an American girl Abelia mistook for Lala Ru and captured before noticing her mistake ; and Nabuca, the kid leader of the brigade Shu is thrown into after interrogation.

Production Values

I had to double-check the date of production, as the artstyle and character design are something I associate much more with the early 90s or earlier than 1999 (it certainly doesn’t look like any other late-90s show I’ve ever watched). But then, that’s probably the point : it lures us into a false sense of security by looking like “safe” children’s entertainment before wheeling out the torture, mass-slaughter and rape. It takes some getting used to, but the animation is perfectly okay.

The soundtrack comes courtesy of my favourite composer, Taku Iwasaki (you should have told me !). While it’s way too early for him to be randomly inserting rap lyrics everywhere, he’s still very recognizable thanks to his reliance on big sweeping violins numbers and those weird water-y percussions that should be familiar to any watcher of Witch Hunter Robin or Read or Die. It’s sometimes a bit clumsy, but his brillance at establishing mood was already clearly in effect.

What did I think of it ?

Well, this is certainly a grim series. My DVDs include an interview with the director where he states he was inspired by documentaries about African child soldiers, and it certain shows. All of the ways Hellywood perpetuates itself and the cycle of violence are distressingly realistic, and the series doesn’t shy away from explaining the specifics, up to and including institutionalized rape (although it stops just short of depicting it graphically). No character escapes unscathed…

… With the exception of Shu, whose boundless optimism and energy staggers disbelief. (Climbing up ventilation shafts just after being tortured and shot twice ? Uh ?) I can’t complain too much, though ; without him around to protest about how horrible this world is, and actually trying to make things better, the series would fall into an inescapable pit of despair. (Lala Ru’s pretty much resigned herself after thousands of years of being fought over, and Sarah, while perfectly capable of saving herself on her own, was well on her way to join the circle of violence if Shu hadn’t stepped in.) His presence, however implausible his resilience, is the catalyst for change.

And this is where we hit the series’ weakness : while it’s very good at depicting this hellish world and characterizing how nearly everyone is part of the problem, it doesn’t offer much depth beyond that. The whole narrative is subservient to its “war is hell” message, and however good a rendition it is, it doesn’t manage to really rise above it. The issue may be with the characters, who remain mostly one-dimensional throughout.

This is certainly a show worth watching ; but its shortcomings prevent it from really winning a place among my favourites.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 5.

Honey & Clover

(1st season : 24 episodes + 2 specials, 2005 ; 2nd season : 12 episodes, 2006)

My previous exposure

None whatsoever, beside being aware that it’s an adaptation of a josei manga that aired on noitaminA. (And that there’s also been at least one live-action TV series of it.)

For those not aware, noitaminA is a well-reputed TV timeslot that’s known for airing (1) adaptations of josei (female adults) manga (which is quite rare in anime) and (2) ambitious and/or artsy series. Both of which are perfectly up my alley, so it might surprise you that the first noitaminA series I watched was… last year’s Kuragehime. Since then, I’ve made a point of at least checking out every new show of theirs, while also going through their back catalog. Hence me now watching the series that started it all… and there are more of them in my to-watch list (I’m open to suggestions).

So far, only one show has been particularly outstanding (Eden of the East), and there’s been some misfires (Fractale, [C], most probably No. 6), but even those were at least interesting to watch, and the baseline quality of what I’ve seen has been quite good indeed : noitaminA really deserves its reputation.

What’s it about ?

A group of students at an art college who share a low-rent house. There’s Takemoto, doormat supreme, our de facto point-of-view character ; Mayama, the neat-freak who’s slightly more mature than the others ; and Morita, the money-grubing asshole who shares his time between cartoony antics and being away on mysterious, well-payed but tiring jobs. Also part of the main cast are Hanamoto, a young teacher of theirs that they’ve become quite close to ; Hagumi, Hanamoto’s cousin who looks like a child ; and Yamada, a girl who pins for Mayama.

While there’s a lot of slapstick humour, the main focus is on the various romantic subplots : both Takemoto & Morita are pinning for Hagumi, but the former’s too shy and friend-zoned, while the latter doesn’t think he deserves her (and I kinda agree) ; meanwhile, Yamada’s love for Mayama is mostly one-sided, as he’s stalking Rika, a close friend of Hanamoto who never quite recovered from her husband’s death.

What may be surprising is that none of these subplots make much progress over the 38 episodes and 5 years the series spans ; sure, the characters grow up quite a bit, but none of those relationships really goes anywhere (aside from Rika partially accepting Mayama) ; and despite frequent rejections, the characters can’t really move on. (The ending scenes suggest they do move on a bit eventually, but not that much.)

I’m treating both seasons as one because they’re really the same show with a six-month hiatus two thirds in ; there’s no real point in separating them.

What did I think of it ?

Well, it’s certainly an interesting watch. The first impression is that nothing much happens, with none of the romantic subplots making much progress over the course of the series ; which is compounded by the show averaging 4 episodes per in-story year until it finally slows the heck down and devotes a third of the first season and all of the second one to the fifth and final year. As a result, it’s not a show about people slowly discovering their love for each other ; it’s a show about people in (one-sided) love getting bluntly and repeatedly rejected, and learning to come to terms with that. Only Mayama gets some level of success in his romantic pursuits, and even that’s debatable. But then, there’s something grounded and realistic in how those classic rom-com archetypes (Takemoto the Nice Guy, Morita the Charismatic Jerk, and Yamada the Violent Tsundere) fail and it’s the Creepy (But Handsome) Stalker who “wins”.

You’ll notice I’m not talking much about Hagumi. That’s because she’s mostly an object of desire for other characters. We barely ever get into her head, and our perception of her is mostly filtered through Takemoto, Hanamoto and Morita. (And I get the feeling that Morita doesn’t understand her.) Sure, we don’t get much into Morita’s head either, but he’s easier to get a handle on (especially as the second season develops his backstory), and he’s not objectified to the degree Hagumi is. I do think Morita’s a horrible human being who wrecks everything and everybody around him, but at least he mostly feels real. Hagumi doesn’t, and her way too youngful appearance doesn’t help ; the only time I manage to take her seriously is when the camera is framed to make it less obvious.

So, we’ve got a love triangle centered on a non-character, and meandering romantic subplots that never go anywhere for much of the series. Does that make the series a wash ? Well, no, because occasionally there’ll be absolutely brillant melancholic sequences that will just break your soul. Especially striking were Episode #1-05, where Takemoto’s uneasiness with his new stepfather hit way too close to home ; and #1-06, where Hanamoto explains Rika’s circumstances (but there are a lot of those throughout the series). Moreover, I’ve grown to really enjoy the company of those characters (well, mostly Yamada, Hanamoto & Mayama, however much I joke about the latter’s “creepy stalker” behavior). They do feel like a tightly-knit group of friends (plus Morita), and I’m going to miss watching them, however rote some of their slapstick and infuriating their hopeless romantic pursuits are.

There are worse ways to feel about a series, aren’t there ?

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 4.