Tag: manga adaptation

The Knight in the Area (Area no Kishi)

What’s it about ?

High-school soccer melodrama.

Characters

Kakeru, our protagonist. He used to be quite a good soccer player until he injured his left leg (the flashbacks are quick and vague), although since he’s running around without trouble most of the damage must be in his head. He’s switched to being the “manager” of his high-school soccer club (in the Japanese sense that he has no authority whatsoever and is a glorified go-fer). While he’s enthusiastic about it, he’s obviously in denial.

Suguru, his older brother, and the captain/star player of the club ; there’s a pre-credits scene of him marking for Japan against Brazil in the under-15 Cup, just to hammer the point. To say that Kakeru has an inferiority complex over him is an understatement. Suguru is getting annoyed at Kakeru’s denial and passive-aggressiveness, and frankly I’m with him. He pulls strings to get Kakeru back onto the team, which hopefully is going to get him out of his funk.

Nana (“Seven”), Kakeru’s tomboyish childhood friend. Her family had moved to the US for the last few years, but now she’s back. She claims to be making a move for the manager position, but I hope she gets to be on the team somehow, because she’s got spunk and she’s shown to have been quite good at it back in the day.

There’s a mysterious person (disguised as a grey, of all things) who surprises Kakeru as he was playing soccer alone in a park at night, and plays around with him for a bit. Kakeru thinks this may be either Suguru or one of the few other named players we’ve seen so far, but I’m not fooled for a second : this is obviously Nana.

We see a few of the other members of the soccer clubs, but because Kakeru seems to prefer associating with the underdogs, that means they’re the perpetual loser and the mandatory horny dude. Sigh.

Production Values

Quite low. It overuses still frames, and the animation’s nothing to write home about. I don’t really like the way how Suguru looks so much older than Kakeru despite them being stated to only be one year apart. Also, the score is laying the melodrama a bit thick.

Overall Impression

This is quite better than I expected at first. Kakeru is very annoying indeed, but I was pleasantly surprised that the series seems to agree that his attitude needs to change. I quite like the other characters (well, aside from the horndog), and I’m intrigued by the hints that Suguru may not survive the next couple of episodes.

I’m somewhat optimistic about this one, although I’m not sure how long I’ll keep with it (especially as I’m not sure for how long it’s going to run).

via [In which I review] New anime, Winter 2012 – Page 3.

Fall 2011 capsules

Just watched the first Chibi Devi! episode, although I don’t feel like making a full review. It’s yet another flash-animated 5-minute web-thingie. The premise : a bullied, lonely high-school girl suddenly gets a baby-devil dropped on her. Basically, Beelzebub without the delinquent angle… Frankly, there’s not much of interest there. The protagonist is boring, the jokes aren’t original (or funny), and it barely gets anywhere.

As skippable as any the recent similar stuff.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 9.

Future Diary (Mirai Nikki)

(26 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Twelve people receive on their cellphone an electronic diary of future events affecting them. (They can of course change events, causing everyone to get updates.) The goal of the game is to kill all the others (destroying their phone also works). Good luck !

Adapted from a manga ; there was a short OVA several months back that was basically a trailer testing the waters.

Characters

Yukiteru Amano, our loner misanthropic protagonist. Quite baffled and creeped out by the whole thing, obviously. He’s got a random talent for throwing darts (and always carries some), which of course comes handy before the episode even ends. He’s player “First”.

Deus Ex Machina, the Norio Wakamoto-voiced game-master. Yukiteru used to think of his as a figment of his imagination, an imaginary friend to talk with when he’s lonely, but there’s clearly something else at work here. He’s accompanied by a tiny sidekick, Murumuru, who does the hands-on stuff such as delivering the phone diaries. Whether either of them are “real” remains a mystery so far.

Yuno Gasai, the “Second” player, who happens to be an honor student in Yukiteru’s class. On the one hand, he’s lucky to have her to watch his back. On the other hand, her attachment to him is quite creeping indeed (he’s not far from the truth when he calls her a stalker). Either the diaries don’t all work the same, or she’s been able to hack hers a bit, because it shows events of Yukiteru’s life instead of hers.

“Third” (I’m not sure we’re given a name), a serial-killer who’s been on a rampage in a neighborhood. Him getting a diary is mostly unrelated to his killings (aside from the players all being sociopaths to some degree). He targets Yukiteru, who manages to destroy his phone (and thus kill him) with Yuno’s help.

Deus Ex Machina assembles a call conference between all the players at the end of the episode to explain the rules (er, shouldn’t he have done that a bit earlier), and so we get a quick glimpse at the 9 other players… although their appearances are scrambled and he takes care to only address them by codenames. (Yukiteru clearly recognizes Yuno, though ; the scrambling doesn’t look very efficient if you already know the player.) DEM names “First” as the lead competitor (what with having already killed Third), which is a nasty way of painting a target on his back.

Production Values

Perfectly okay. I quite like the CG design for Deus Ex Machina and the “imaginary world”, which both look properly otherworldly.

What did I think of it ?

Um. The storytelling is a bit choppy, but there’s a decent plot hook here. The premise obviously makes no sense whatsoever, but the series is self-aware enough to overcome this. (I especially like the post-ED scene that shows how Murumuru gave Third his diary ; it’s hilarious and has impeccable comedic timing.) It’s certainly got atmosphere, and I’m intrigued by how much of a sociopath Yuno is. If the show manages not to fall into a routine of each player attacking our protagonists in a row, and finds clever ways to abuse the diaries, it could be quite fun.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 7.

Maken-ki!

(12 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Fanservice harem series, combined with a panty-fighter plot.

Characters

Takeru, our perverted male lead. The big girls’ high school in his hometown has just turned co-ed (wait, again with that plot ?), so he enrolls thinking this is the perfect opportunity to score. The problem is that nobody told him this was actually an academy for magic fighters (cue impenetrable magibabble about “Maken” and “Elements”, whatever they are), and that things go a bit pear-shaped when he’s asked to participate in a demonstration during the entrance ceremony.

Haruko, Takeru’s childhood friend, vice-president of the student council and his dorm’s supervisor. Typical tsundere material, trying to maintain her composure and showing definite signs of jalousy when any other girl approaches Takeru.

Kodama, a girl who recognizes Takeru as her sworn enemy because he bears a weird tatoo (and not because she knows him or anything).

Inaho, another girl who rushes to save Takeru (before Haruko can intervene) and claims he’s her perfect partner. She then immediately moves into his room. Not to be left off, the other two immediately do the same. (It’s a big room.)

Production Values

Between the camera angles and the character designs, it’s physically impossible for the camera not to show any panties when it doesn’t focus on faces. Seriously, at least one shot in two features prominent panties. To say it’s gratuitous and distracting… would be completely missing the point of this series, really.

What did I think of it ?

Every season needs its terrible fanservice-fest, right ? Well this is Fall’s. The plot is stupid, the fight scenes don’t flow well because of the camera’s fixation on panties, and the characters range from the flat to the utterly loathsome (urgh, the main lead…). There’s nothing of interest whatsoever here, and the result is so contemptible it’s not even entertaining in its awfulness.

A strong contender for worst show of the season.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 5.

Chihayafuru

(25 episodes)

What’s it about ?

High-school romance, with a side helping of card games.

Characters

Chihaya, our tomboy-ish protagonist. Used to be on the track team, and her former teammates would love to keep her around. But now that she’s in high school, she wants to indulge in her passion, and set a club up for the “karuta” card game (which, from what I understand, involves a referee reciting poems in a random order, and the players rushing to pick the matching cards up). Nobody seems to be interested so far. Her older sister is a model.

Taichi, her childhood friend. He obviously still holds a candle for her (why else would he join the same high school despite having access to better ?), but the poor guy gets pitifully friendzoned when they finally meet again.

Arata, an outcast transfer student they both met in elementary school, who obviously impressed Chihaya enough to communicate her his love for karuta. Chihaya’s the only child in the class who befriends him ; all the others (including Taichi) bully him because he’s poor, speaks in a dialect, and keeps to himself.

To be clear, none of them went to the same middle schools ; and neither Taichi nor Chihaya have had any contact with Arata for at least a year (but it’s obvious Chihaya still cares for him).

Production Values

Quite good. I loved how Chihaya preempted any fanservice potential when she pins a poster to the board, by wearing her tracksuit pants under her skirt.

Some of the dramatic effects for the flashback karuta game are a bit overblown (Arata throwing the cards into the wall forcefully enough for them to stick ? I know the walls are crap because his family is poor, but still…), although we’re nowhere near Saki territory.

What did I think of it ?

I quite liked this. Chihaya is a fun protagonist, with way more personality than most romance female leads (you can tell this is josei and not shoujo). The card game itself seems to have very little potential (unless there are other rules I missed), but it’s mostly just an excuse to have the characters meet and interact. If this balance of focus is kept, this could be perfectly entertaining.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 3.

You & Me (Kimi to Boku)

(13 episodes)

What’s it about ?

Four (soon five) high school boys’ slice of life adventures.

Characters

Kaname, the straight man of the group. Serious, and a bit annoyed by the others’ laid-back attitude.

Shun, the emotive, slightly childish dude.

Yuki, the younger of the two twins. Sullen and utterly apathetic. Feels the need to distinguish himself by not wearing the school blazer.

Yuta, the older of the two twins. mostly non-descript.

Production Values

Pastels. Also, lots of budget-mandated shortcuts, such as the characters often annoyingly facing away from the camera when they’re talking.

What did I think of it ?

This episode’s whole plot : Kaname tries to get Yuki to join a club, any club (+ a few flashbacks to elementary school). This complete absence of anything happening could work if the characters were fun to watch or had interesting chemistry, but they spend the whole episode bitching at each other or sulking. There’s no charm whatsoever, and the character don’t show any depth that’d make me care about them.

I just don’t care about these guys. Next show, please.

via [In which I review] New anime, Fall 2011 – Page 3.

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.

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.

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.

Bokurano

(26 episodes, 2007)

My previous exposure
None, besides the notion that it’s supposed to be a very depressing story. Well, they weren’t kidding…

What’s it about ?

15 children attending a summer camp get invited by a shady scientist dude to “play a game” that involves using a giant robot to fight similar-looking invaders. Except it’s not really a game at all, and the dude disappears right after the demo fight.

There’s a helpful little flying mascot called “Dung Beetle” who gives the kids some tips, if by “helpful” you mean “relentlessly abusing them verbally”, and by “tips”, “misdirection and outright lies”. Progressively, the ground rules become clearer : one kid at random (or is it ?) is selected for the next battle. If they lose, the Earth is destroyed. If they win, the kid dies because their mech used up their life energy. There are 15 enemies to fight in total, which makes it clear that the whole thing is a complete screwjob. (Oh, and that’s without counting several of the later plot twists that make it even more horrific.)

This being on the more deconstructive side of storytelling, the authorities do take notice of the events and move in to take matters in hand, with various degrees of helpfulness and usefulness.

What did I think of it ?

Finally this thread reaches a series I genuinely enjoyed watching throughout, with barely a few nitpicks here and there. (Although, technically, it’s the first one I finished watching – I saw it during my pause in the middle of Michiko e Hatchin.)

I like a lot of the visuals here, too. Particularly, the recurrent chair motif is very inspired indeed : it’s otherwordly, it offers quick insights into each kid’s character, and mostly it’s just darn creepy. The mecha fights are a lot of fun to watch too, as great care was put into showing the effect of the physics-defying mecha’s battles on the cityscapes they took place in. The scale and the absurdity of the conflict are sold very well, even before the stakes keep being raised.

The overarching plot may actually be the weakest part of the series. It’s well-paced and there are a lot of fun twists along the way, but the “political conspiracy” thread completely peters out after a point… to say nothing of the huge plot holes along the way. (To be blunt : despite the children being supervised by the military, they’re under ridiculously little oversight, especially after their handlers start going rogue.) But it doesn’t really matter, given than it’s a structural framework for what the series really is about : a set of character pieces about how kids from completely different backgrounds react to this blatantly absurd set up where they have to sacrifice themselves to save the world.

And on that level, it works perfectly. Oh, sure, it soon becomes obvious that when the focus fall on a particular kid, they’re doomed to die by the end of the episode : points to the writers for playing with it a bit, but mostly for making it the core of the show : it doesn’t matter when a kid is set to die, but how they cope with the advance knowledge of it. Do they go mad with the revelation ? Get overcome by denial ? Become plagued with apathy ? Try to do the “right” thing ? Make as much of their remaining time as possible ? Try and take advantage of their position ? Try to find a way to avoid their fate ? The whole gamut of possible reactions gets examined. It might strain disbelief a bit that nearly all the kids are crippled by personal and/or psychological issues, but then there are a few that seem mostly normal… and their own episodes are mostly opportunities to get the main plot moving.

This isn’t a happy series, and the ending is a pyrrhic victory as best (although cheers for what happens to Dung Beetle – that asshole deserved it), but I still got out of it with hope for mankind… And that’s key to why the series works so well.

via [LTTP/WIW] Various anime from the 00s and beyond – Page 3.