Anime

Four episodes on, I still cannot stop thinking about Mutsumi and Nyamu’s relationship, as it was in episode four, just before everything came crashing down for Ave Mujica:

I’ve been trying to write about Mutsumi and Nyamu for ages, ever since the first episode of Ave Mujica came out. Mutsumi has fascinated me ever since Mygo; the little we saw of her there reminded me so much of Tomori. They seemed to share the same sort of awkwardness, the same sort of differences fitting in with other people and reading social cues. There’s a scene early in that series where Mutsumi is greeted by a class mate and it takes her a few seconds to react, that first gave me that idea that she’s like Tomori. The present she gave in episode ten to congratulate Mygo!!!!! on their ‘reunion’ concert was another big hint for me. Here’s somebody who’s portrayed as being neurodivergent, not exactly the same as Tomori, but similar. If we can draw parallels between MyGo!!!!! and Ave Mujica, she’s clearly the latter’s version of Tomori.

Does that make Nyamu Ave Mujica’s Anon?

There certainly are similarities. Like Anon she’s a newcomer to the established relationship between Sakiko, Mutsumi and Uika (does that make Umiri the Raana equivalent) and like Anon did to Tomori, she latches on to Mutsumi for her personal gain. What she’s lacking so far is Anon’s innate kindness. Anon wasn’t above using Tomori or Soyo to increase her own popularity, but her selfishness has limits; she doesn’t want her actions to hurt them.

Not something Nyamu seemed to care about with regards to Mutsumi.

Anon found something in Tomori that she lacked herself, but the same was true in reverse, with Tomori finding a strength in Anon she lacked herself. The relationship between Nyamu and Mutsumi is more complicated than that. Like Anon, Nyamu does find something in Mutsumi she’s lacking herself, but it frightens her. Enough that she rejects an invitation to do a stage play because Mutsumi’s acting talent scares her so. Neither is she perceptive enough to understand the change ‘Mutsumi’ had undergone at the end of episode three. All she saw was the acting talent that scared her.

It is the Anon/Tomori relationship as seen through a glass darkly, distorted, wrong, fitting in well with how Ave Mujica as a whole seems like a dark mirror version of MyGo!!!!!.

Episode six of Ave Mujica was filled with heavy scene after heavy scene, but this particular one stood out to me:

Umiri was introduced way back in MyGo as Taki’s classmate, maybe friend and bass player for sixty bands. She’s always been shown as a professional, never emotionally involved with any of the bands she played for. Her role in Ave Mujica was the same, always the one who kept reminding the other members of their engagements and such. This must be the first time that somebody has told her that this isn’t enough to be in a band. If all she can see is just the band and not the actual people in it, how can she claim to be a part of it?

Five episodes of depression cleared away by a two second jingle. Sasuga Anon.

Tomori and Anon see Sakiko driving away from school in a stereotypical ojo-sama car, which prompts Anon to exclaim that Sakiko really is a rich girl. When Tomori looks puzzled, she explains that at her debut as Oblivionis, it turned out she was part of the Togawa Group. Tomori still being puzzled leads to her doing that jingle. A very Anon way of knowing things: shallow yes, but also incredible nerdy at the same time. Who takes the time to memorise a jingle just because an actress or influencer they like did it one time? That’s our Anon indeed. Selfish, but providing a moment of relief amid the depression.

Anon can be this light hearted about encountering Sakiko because she lacks the history Tomori has with her, of having been in Crychic together and then the band breaking up. No surprise that she keeps brooding on this chance meeting that evening. And, the next day, as she and Anon once again see Sakiko getting into her car, she sprints after her only to fall down. Which is when Anon takes over for her, telling her she was the anchor for the relay race all three years of middle school. A very Anon boast; seemingly selfish but done as much to assure Tomori as it is to brag. Anon does this a lot, giving her hope and courage this way. Fake it until your friend makes it. I’d noticed that before, but this episode crystallised it for me. Anon’s self confidence, unearned or not, gives Tomori courage. It’s Tomori who reaches out to people, like she does to Sakiko here, but it’s Anon who gives her that first push and who helps her do the things she cannot do on her own.

And of course Anon has to redo the jingle for her other girlfriend, Soyo. Which, pay attention, shows some actual character development for Soyorin, as she doesn’t just ignore Anon, but actually asks whether the hand movements she does at the end is supposed to be a bird or a butterfly.

Finally, an anime protagonist who struggles with the same problems I do:

Akuyaku Reijou Tensei Ojisan is yet another villainess series, but this time the protagonist reincarnating into the teenage villainess is a fiftytwo year old white collar worker and father Tondabayashi Kenzaburou , whose daughter Hinako was the one playing the game he reincarnated in. He himself has only a vague idea of how the plot is supposed to go or what role Grace Auvergne is actually supposed to play in the harassment of the game’s heroine. His idea of a villainess is much more classic:

Fun fact: Inoue Kazuhiko, Kenzaburou’s voice actor, actually played the male lead in Candy Candy. Which is also one of the first anime I remember watching, long before I knew it was anime, as a child in the eighties when you watched everything that was animated even if it was *shudder* intended for girls. Kenzaburou is very much of my generation then and also a bit of an otaku like his daughter (and wife). With little knowledge of otome games and reincarnated into a very aristocratic young lady, how will Kenzaburou cope in his new role? Luckily he has a cheat power, which transforms his thoroughly salaryman behaviour into the correct aristocratic etiquette for Grace to have.

I like the manga of this and I’m glad to see some care has been taken with its anime adaptation. It all looks a cut above the usual villainess/isekai production with some genuine impressive animation, character design and backgrounds. If there’s one thing that could be improved it would’ve been for Grace to sound even more oujo-sama-ish than she already does.

The problem with almost every isekai story is that the first episode wants to bore you with all the unnecessary details of how their protag-kun managed to be reborn/transported/trucked into his new world. Around 40 Otoko no Isekai Tsuuhan understands that all you need to do is turn up the Strauss, do a almost dialogueless montage and let your audience figure it out for yourself:

The rest of A middle Aged Shopper in Another World is less impressive, reverting to the main isaki anime first episode, with the protagonist establishing himself in his new world. What sets him apart from other isekai series is that his cheat power is being able to use his favourite web shop in this new world, rather than being able to summon dragons or whatever. Which means that after he reaches civilisation, we follow him getting started as a merchant. In the process, because he gave her candy and drew her portrait, he also got to shag the cute maid from his local inn, which is the other thing that sets him apart from the usual sexless isekai protagonists.

This is the sort of series I like to watch weekly: nothing special but entertaining enough. The animation and designs are good enough not to be annoyed by it and this will make for a decent palate cleanser between more demanding series.