Anime

That really is a nasty way to end a season.Poor Momo will have to hold her breath until July, being stared at by this creepy old fart.

That’s Dandadan for you, finished as it started, with a creepy sexual assault on its main protagonist. Best series this season nevertheless. Normally I don’t particularly like this sort of big Shonen Jump adaptations, as they’re aimed at eleven year olds like my nephew and I’m not eleven anymore, but this was the perfect mix of horror, action and humour. I love that Ayase Momo is very much the main protagonist, a rarity for a shounen series, with Okarun her faithful sidekick. I like how comfortable they are with each other and how easily Momo’s gyaru friends accept him. I like how much of a goofball they both are, as are Aya and Jin. The animation is great, but the voice acting, especially Momo’s (Wakayama Shion). Just a great series overall.

When Anon goes to confront Soyo at her home, just before the climax of episode ten, it’s the first time that Anon has the upper hand over her and can see her as human, somebody she can relate to.

To Anon, Soyo had always been the sort of person she wanted to be: smart, elegant, kind, calm. The sort of person who can drink Earl Grey tea without sugar, who’s kind and friendly with everybody. Throughout the early episodes you can see how impressed Anon is with her. She never saw through the facade Soyo put up (neither did Tomori or Taki to be fair). Even when Soyo became angry in episode 7 for them having played haruhikage, (Crychic’s song), Anon took it as another example of Soyo’s kindness, her being angry out of concern for the feelings of Sakiko, Crychic’s ex-leader, who was at the concert. She had to hear from Taki of all people that Soyo had used her, that Soyo had never been serious about their new band, saw her only as a tool to reunite Crychic.

Anon being Anon her first instinct was not to be angry about it, but to see it as confirmation of all her worst self loathing. She isn’t needed, she isn’t special, she cannot even fool people that she is. Tomori starting doing solo concerts is a confirmation of this to her, as she completely misunderstands what she’s trying to do. Like with her attempt to study abroad, she wants to give up because it has become too difficult. Because Anon knows she only did it for ulterior motives, to look good in class, to become popular: she was using Tomori as much as Soyo was using her. It’;s only after Tomori literally chases after her and tells her she needs her, shows her that regardless, Anon still struggled for the band, that she relents.

She may have had awful, selfish motives but Tomori still accepts her. And because of that she now has the courage and clarity to recognise that she and Soyo are the same, that Soyo is not some paragon to emulate, but as human and flawed as herself, which means Anon can now play her like a fiddle. Being so similar she knows exactly which buttons to push to get Soyo to come to the next performance and once she does, getting her onstage is easy. Against the combination of Tomori’s earnestness and Anon’s maliciousness Soyo never stood a chance.

And because Anon can no longer put her on a pedestal, does finally see her as a human being, she’s now able to treat Soyo as she does the other members, as a friend she can give a nickname to, whether it’s appreciated or not. As with Taki (sorry, rikki) she shows her love through teasing. She still seeks her approval but now from a level playing field, just like she does with Taki.

It must be easy to be a trans man in anime Japan. Just cut your hair short and wear masculine coded clothing and people just think you’re a hot guy.

Goukon ni Ittara Onna ga Inakatta Hanashi is about three guys going to a mixture and expecting the usual girly girls who go to these things, instead ending up with three women who work in a drag king bar, who dressed up look cooler and hotter than them. It’s a Boys Love anime but the boys to love are girls who are better than you at being masculine love interests for other girls. Do we call this queer, or queer baiting?

If you like the opening, you will like the rest of Dandadan:

Nothing much to say about this one because it sells itself. Nerdy UFO obsessed otoko clashes with heartbroken gyaru who believes in ghosts. They each set out to proof the other wrong by going to the respective UFO/ghost activity hotspots. He gets his dick stolen by a creepy grandma ghost, she gets almost raped by aliens with metal drills for penises. In the end they save each other. Science Saru is doing the adaptation and it looks good.

The one caveat is that sexual assault. It’s deeply creepy and uncomfortable as it should be, but you still have a high school girl getting her legs spread open clad only in her underwear. I don’t think it’s intended as fanservice but honestly, the whole alien attack could’ve been done differently. It was unpleasant in the original manga and it’s not improved in anime. This is the sort of thing that could’ve been changed for the adaptation.

Another season of anime has come to a close. Light on shounen crap but like last year strong on romcoms, this was a fairly decent season even if there were no truly outstanding series.

Elf-san wa Yaserarenai. Fantasy creatures trying to diet and exercise after being exposed to the temptations of our world. This ended as it started, with no real plot but the introduction of a new character every second episode or so. Animation got progressively worse over the course of the series. Lots of nudity but a lot of it was on a level of a documentary on obsesity — vulgar, juggling bellies and such — rather than anything actually sexy. The manga is better. 5/10

Giji Harem. Two theatre kids fall in love. She’s an aspiring actress who uses her talents to provide him, her decor building senpai, with his own pseudo harem. The manga on which this was based came to a satisfying conclusion, moving beyond the usual high school romcom setup and the anime version was able to do so to in 12 episodes. I liked the way their actual confessions were not shown until the very last episode even though it was clear they had become a proper couple some episodes earlier. 8/10

Gimai Seikatsu. A high school boy suddenly acquires a step sister when their parents remarry to each other. The foundation of many an ‘edgy’ romcom where it’s all about the taste of forbidden love, here handled extremely maturely. By the end of the series their mutual attraction to each other has not so much been resolved, as acknowledged. Taking place over just a couple of months, Gimai Seikatsu has them first grappling with having become family, before each in their own way realises that they are in love with the other. What helps is that the animation, lightning and character acting is so strong. 8/10

Katsute Mahou Shoujo to Aku wa Tekitai shiteita. The lack of progress in this romantic comedy between a magical girl and the lieutenant of the evil organisation she fights as well as the magical girl’s passivity was disappointing. It didn’t help that the mascot characters were so annoying. The animation reminded of a consistently high quality throughout the series. 6/10

Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai. Like her father Dahlia is a magical engineer creating various magical tools, but she draws inspiration from memories of her past life living in Japan. This started out as being about how Dahlia was slowly ground down under the insecurities of her fiancee, losing her independence and self worth, but this was burned through and resolved in the first four episodes. The rest of the series was spent just hanging out with her as she went about her daily life with no real conflict left to drive the story. This is a failing you see a lot in these wishfulfilment fantasy series, that the actual conflict setting up the series is resolved quickly and then it has no idea what to do afterwards. 5/10