Anime – Page 25 – Wis[s]e Words

My ConZealand schedule

Published on July 27, 2020Leave a comment

Had the world not taken a turn for the worse in January this year, I would’ve in Wellington now, in a very nice apartment that I had already booked just before everything shut down, ready for Worldcon to start. I’m still not sure I’ll ever get the money back from the flights I’d already booked as well, but ConZealand is going ahead anyway and I still will be on two panels. They’ll just be virtual ones, over Discord and Zoom, not that much different from how I’ve been doing my work the last five months already.

First up: My Favourite Anime: Our panellists reveal some of their favourite anime, and what draws them to it. 15:00, Friday 31 Jul 2020 NZST (50 minutes).

Second: The Decade in Anime: The highlights, the lowlights, and the unforgettable moments of 2010s anime. 14:00, Saturday 1 Aug 2020 NZST (50 minutes). Only disadvantage is that it overlaps a little bit with the Hugos.

Time wise, New Zealand is ten hours ahead of me, so that 15:00 and 14:00 starting time means I have to be up at 5AM and 4AM already. A small price to pay for being able to chatter on about anime.

Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka? — safe European home

Published on July 4, 2020Leave a comment

Cocoa is going to high school in a strange town, living with a host family that runs a coffee shop called Rabbit House. It’s in the coffee shop she meets her ideal little sister:

Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka: Chino in a coffee cup

Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka —Is the Order a Rabbit in good English — is what I call a slice of moe show. Cute girls doing cute things, with no real plot to speak of. Instead the focus is on how the characters interact with each other as they go about their daily lives. The appeal of this sort of show is twofold. First, there’s the ersatz emotional labour of seeing those characters going about their lives. (It’s not a coincidence most such shows feature high school girls.) You get to the comfort and togetherness of a close group of friends without having to do the labour for it. Second, it’s relaxing. In an uncertain, anxiety riddled world the slow tempo and predictable nature of these shows is comforting. Obviously there can be a sexual element to this, but the real appeal is cuteness. The same thrill as watching a nest of kittens play with each other, to put it bluntly. At its worst, this can be pandering crap, but at its best it offers a catharsis unlike any other genre.

Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka: choco box town

Where Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka is that it does not revolve around school or a school club. School is a natural setting for a slice of moe series, as it makes it easy to throw a bunch of characters together. High school in Japan is also supposedly the last time that you have some degree of freedom, before the maelstrom of study and work swallows you up. Having a high school setting therefore evokes a powerful nostalgia in an adult audience. But Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka eschews this familiarity, opting for a different sort of nostalgia. The town in which the series takes place looks like it belongs somewhere in Mittel Europe, picturesque and gorgeous, if a bit chocolate boxy. From the very first shot it’s a large part of the appeal of the series. These long, wordless establishing shots not only sell the beauty of the setting, but also slows down the pace of its narrative.

Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka: Rize, Chino (and Tippy), Syaro, Chiya and Cocoa

The interiors too have that old worldy charm, especially Rabbit House, where the main characters work and live. Rize is the eldest, a cool beauty who lacks a bit of common sense and a military otaku. Chino is the ideal little sister if she would just allow Cocoa to claim her as such, but a bit emotionally distant. Syaro and Chiya are childhood friends, the latter works at a Japanese dessert shop and is a bit of a troll, while the former looks like a rich ojo-sama but is actually poor. Cocoa finally is an airhead, over enthusiastic but with a heart of gold. There are also the two middle school friends of Chino to round out the cast, who delight in playing up Cocoa’s elder sister complex and tease Chino. All of these are fairly recognisable archetypes for a slice of moe anime and any character growth is slow and subtle. But they play well of each other. Syaro and Chiya bicker like old friends do, but when Syaro is with Rize, she turns into a blushing mess thanks to her crush. Chiya and Cocoa meanwhile get along very well too, sharing a similar sort of humour.

Gochuumon wa Usagi desu Ka: Chino does not want to call Cocoa her onee-chan

But the heart of the series lies in the slow evolution of Cocoa and Chino’s relationship. Cocoa desperately wants to be a good big sister to Chino and Chino is just as adamant in her refusal to call her that. Nevertheless they do grow closer and Chino does grow fonder of her strange new friend. When I first watched this series in 2015 I found this all a little superficial, but rewatching it I can enjoy the subtleties. It was thanks to HolyAjora’s tweets that I fancied a rewatch. If you want a more indepth look at this series, you could do worse than read that thread and its season 2 follow up.

What I’ve been watching — Spring 2020

Published on June 14, 2020Leave a comment

With the spring season of anime on its last legs, let’s take a look at what I’ve been watching each week. It’s not a lot. Thanks to our friend Covid-19 a fair few series were postponed and while I theoretically had more time to watch stuff, what with being stuck at home all day every day, in practise I more often than not lacked the energy to do so. You will therefore notice a bit of a trend in the series I did keep watching week by week. Presented in order of which I’d watch the first,

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shiteshimatta…
Bakarina meets heroine
I’d been looking forward to this, having read both the manga and the original light novels. The animation itself is a bit underwhelming, but as an adaptation it has been great. The essential idiocy of Bakarina shone through and seeing her effortlessly and inadvertently built up her bisexual harem week by week has been great. I really like Bakarina’s character design; you could see she could’ve made a really imposing villainess if she wasn’t such a cinnamon roll. Every week it has been a delight to hang out with Bakarina and her crew, even when the plot kicked in. It’s cozy, funny and occassionally even touching.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai? Tensai-tachi no Ren’ai Zunousen
Kaguya-sama is very cute
The second season of two idiots too prideful to admit to the other they are in love with them is just as good as the first one. I like the super serious morality committee member addition to the cast, altering the dynamics somewhat. Most of the stories still end with Kaguya-sama self destroying, which is always fun, or the president’s paranoia getting the worst of him. What I’m most impressed by this season though is the animation, which has only improved from the first season. There’s a real playfulness to it, a willingness to experiment that make similar stories stand out from each other.

Princess Connect! Re:Dive
Princess Connect episode ten: our heroes are turned into pudding except for Pecorine
Take yet another wildly popular Cygames mobile game, create an anime of it. Then make the usual male audience stand-in protagonist so amnesiac he’s barely functions and focus on what would’ve been his harem in another series instead. Crazy isn’t it? There are some hints of dreaded plot here and there, but for the most part these are low stakes adventures in one of the nicer fantasylands. I love each of the three main girls. Pecorine is a cheerful glutton who befriends everybody she meets. Kokkoro is a sweet cinnamon roll, happy to take care of the protagonist hero. Finally Kyaru, the resident cat girl, is there to add a little bit of cynicism to the crew. the latest episode saw them all turned to puddings by a ghost with a lust for this particular dessert. That’s basically all you need to know.

Nami yo Kiitekure
Minare emoting
One night after being dumped by her boyfriend, whom she also had lent a considerable sum of money to, Koda Minare spills her troubles to a cool older dude in a bar. Who turns out to be a radio producer who had recorded the whole thing and broadcast it on local radio. That’s the start of Minare’s brilliant radio career as she gets involved in stranger and stranger circumstances made worse by her personality, then makes shows out of it. Frankly, this series lives by the voice work of Sugiyama Riho, who does a very good job as Minare. Everything else is so-so, but her acting is what keeps me coming back each week. I can’t imagine watching this dubbed.

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T

I’ve always liked Railgun more than Index. Railgun is more grounded, less likely to go off on absurd tangents and Misaka Mikoto is just more likeable than Touma. The current series has suffered a bit from Covid-19 delays, with episode 16 delayed until the end of July, but so far I’ve enjoyed it. Separating Mikoto from her usual friends and having her depend on Kongou Mitsuko was brilliant. I like Kongou; there’s a good friend hiding behind that ojosama laugh of hers. The series isn’t perfect, with Mikoto too often a victim rather than the hero and the villains are not very interesting. But on the whole this is again a fun series.

Infinite Stratos II — one good scene, forget the rest

Published on June 11, 2020Leave a comment

Infinite Stratos II has one good scene and this is it

There’s a cute scene at the end of Infinite Stratos II episode ten. One of the main haremettes has spent most of the episode attemping to learn to cook, in the process putting most of her rivals in the hospital by accident. Finally, it’s the protagonist’s turn to teach her and he wisely decides that they’re going to make rice balls. When she struggles making a rice ball, he moves behind her and gently guides her hands to do it properly. Which leads to her self-immolating on the spot, our dense hero having no clue why she gets all flustered. It’s a sweet moment, romantic and actually funny as well. A standout scene in a series that usually goes for the most cliched of harem antics.

Infinite Stratos is a “only boy in magic school” harem show, only here the magic is mecha exoskeletons that normally only women can operate. The protagonist, Orimura Ichika, is the only boy in the world who can do it too. But unlike most such protagonists, there’s a good reason for him being so special. It turns out the inventor of the Stratos is the older sister of his childhood friend, who put in a special exception just for him. There is some sort of loose plot about his status as the sole male Stratos wearer in the background of the series, but you can ignore it. The real focus is on those harem antics.

Which are mostly a pain. The endless scenes of Ichika doing something “perverted” by accident only to be hit for it are on Love Hina levels of unfunny. Ichika being dense as one of his harem wants to jump his bones bores quickly too. It’s a bit strange how all these harem shows never show their protagonist actualy enjoying his harem. Maybe just the idea of being attractive to multiple girls is enough for its intended audience? Let’s be clear: Infinite Stratos is not a good show. Not even if all you’re looking for is some harem anime fun. Yet the original was just entertaining enough to watch all the way through. Likewise, this sequel was there when I couldn’t be bothered to watch anything that demanded actual attention. Just a pity it didn’t have more moments like this.

At least it would make some good doujins.

Jack in for adventure — First Impressions

Published on April 8, 2020Leave a comment

Why is this boy lifting up the skirt of the girl he just rescued from being buried in a garbage dump, to show his sister her hole?

Listeners: It Is! This hole is just like I saw in the books!

Because this amnesiac girl is a Player and he’s not looking at what the anime wants you to think he’s looking at. He’s looking at her output jack, something only Players have. It’s what controls the giant mecha they fight the Earless with, the shadow monsters that are slowly destroying the world. Echo Rec, our hero, is a bit of a Players fanboy so he’s …less than tactful when it comes to sharing his enthusiasm. But he knows his place. He’s just a lowly trash collecter in Liverchester, a run down town almost destroyed in battle ten years ago, now only surviving as the garbage dump for the rest of the world. No way somebody like him can have anything to do with Players. Even when they turn up unconscious and amnesiac at his workplace.

Listeners: Echo and Mu on their giant robot

Imagine my surprise when by the end of the episode, he was fighting the monsters! Though he spent most of the episode insisting he was happy where he was, at the end he rode into the sunset with the Player girl. Who is now called μ/Mu ~~because she’s a big Love Live fan~~ for the symbol on her neck chain. A bit predictable, but executed well. I like that Echo isn’t the usual hot headed idiot champing at the bit to go on an adventure. His hesitation and attempts of talking himself into in staying put rather than go on adventure when it’s thrown in his lap are relatable. I would like to have a pretty amnesiac girl take me on an adventure, but if push came to shove?

Listeners: plug into the amplifiers

Every other anime reviewer seems to compare this to Eureka Seven, mainly because the main writer for that series also worked on this one. But since I never got further than episode three, what it reminded me off instead was Megalo Box. Same slightly gritty feel, same sort of slum setting. And like that series protagonist, Echo here seems to be a person of colour? Or at least not quite looking like the usual anime protagonist. There’s also an obvious rock undertone to the show: Players plug into amplifiers, the Earless are defeated by bursts of loud noises, a lot of retro tech like vacuum tubes on display. And finally, do we need to mention the obvious sexual imagery of Mu plugging in Echo’s jack?

Not all that original, but if the quality of the series stays this high, I’ll take it.