Anime – Page 44 – Wis[s]e Words

How is Precure so good?

Published on May 14, 2018Leave a comment

No really? How is Precure this good?

Hugtto Precure: no eggs no life!

To recap: Precure is a long running series of magical girl shows that has put out a new series each year since 2004 following roughly the same formula each time, though each series bar two stands on its own. There’s a team of two or more young teenage girls who’ve gotten Precure powers from a magical talking animal mascot to defend the Earth against some sort of primordal evil, which mainly manifests in fighting the monster of the week while also having to deal with more mundane problems. For more detail, see my review of Fresh Precure, which aired in 2009. Hugtto Precure is the latest installment, started last February and so far has been rather good, episode four being a particular highlight, but I think this week’s episode topped even that one.

Sakugablog has the nitty gritty of just who is responsible for making episode fifteen so great and mentions that this is actually supposed to be a budget saving episode. Which just goes to show talented creators can do a lot even under strict limitations. But what sets this episode apart from regular episodes is not just the good use of limited animation, but the focus on two supporting characters. There’s Lulu, the enemy infiltrant now living with main Precure Nono Hana, who is sent out to buy eggs and runs into Aisaki Emiru, first seen in episode nine, who introduces herself as Cure Emi-ru protecting the world through careful prevention. Emi-ru is great, trying to do all the usual stuff Precures do, in which the show obliges her by using the same musical and animation cues it uses for the real Precures. Intrigued, Lulu follows her (or rather, Emi-ru keeps clinging to her warning her of increasingly unlikely dangers she could encounter as she makes her way to the supermarket to buy eggs) and watches as Emi-ru attempts to help people and fails. Lulu then points out that even if she failed, at least she made the people she helped happy.

Lulu and Emi-ru hit it off immensily and it’s great seeing the fired up Emiru trying to explain things to the stoic Lulu. As the former keeps going into these flights of fancy, the latter keeps shooting her down, but not in a mean way. Rather, she seems genuinely concerned for her when her brother comes in to lecture Emiru on how it’s improper for girls to play the guitar. Lulu defends Emiru by continuing to ask him who died and made him boss as well as why playing the guitar is unseemingly, doing that in the same cold, logical way she has done everything this episode. Only when the brother flees, does Lulu reveal some genuine emotion and upset. Which also leads to the most adorable pout in Precure history.

Hugtto Precure: Lulu pouting

The stoic, logical, emotionless girl is a staple in anime ever since Neon Genesis Evangelion. But what struck me here is how much characterisation and character growth the series could put in one episode. There had of course been hints before that Lulu wasn’t as emotionless as she first seemed and she’s a prime candidate for mid-series conversion to the good side, but in this episode we learned she had a sense of humour, was able to make friends and get angry on their behalf and it all happened naturally. That’s what makes this such a good episode even without the brilliant animation to go along with it. Both Lulu and Emiru gained a lot of depth in what was nominally a gag episode and while this episode was incredibly funny, it also adhered to the standard formula of a Precure episode, showing how much the staff could fit in its limitations.

Hisone to Maso-tan — First Impressions

Published on April 24, 2018Leave a comment

A young woman joins the Japanse airforce wanting to become an F-15 pilot, but instead is lured to an old hangar to be swallowed and regurgitated by a dragon. Repeatedly.

Hisone to Maso-tan: eaten by a dragon

So far this season I’ve been mildly disappointed, as there hasn’t been any series coming out that’s as good as Yorimoi or Yuru Camp were last season. Hisone to Maso-tan comes very close though. For a start, the artwork is so different from what I’m used to seeing in anime, much more “western””? for lack of a better word. There’s a fluidity to the animation too which matches with it perfectly, just a cut above the norm. If it reminds me of anything, it’s last year’s Little Witch Academy, in that it looks like something designed to appeal to a worldwide audience, not just a Japanese or already anime fan one. And the dragon is adorable, very cat like in its behaviour.

Hisone to Maso-tan: Hisone

But perhaps the biggest draw in this first episode was the protagonist, Third Class Amakasu Hisone. She looks like your typical shy anime girl at first, passively going along with the weird situation she finds herself in, until this scene, when she unloads all of her frustration and anger at her superior. Hisone then flees the hangar and ends up in the bike shed, where she’s found by one of her co-workers and she further unloads her frustrations on him, as she’s brutally honest with how she feels. It turns out that this is actually a part of her character she usually tries to suppress, that tendency to say whatever she’s thinking. Now there have been shy characters before, even shy, sarcastic characters, but this combination of a general meekness with an unexpectedly sharp tongue when pressured is new.

Hisone to Maso-tan: Kaizaki Nao

And it’s clear that Hisone isn’t intentionally trying to put down Kaizaki Nao here by calling her “an elementary school punk wannabe’, which is what makes it all the more funny. Because Kaizaki Nao is the stereotypical anime yankee character, a short, short tempered foul mouthed brat with a chip on her shoulder who is far less intimidating than she wants to be. I love that sort of character and have a weakness for anime or manga series featuring yankees. Having one in this series is the icing on the cake for me. Nao and Hisone play off very well against each other too.

Now one of the advantages of getting your first impressions out so late that the second episode has already aired (at least in Japan, as everywhere else it’s held hostage by Netflix) is that you can include the absolute kickass ending song that debuted in that episode. There’s no reason whatsoever for this to be a cover of a classic France Gall song, but I’m not complaining. Best ending of the season.

Fans lashing out does not a story make

Published on April 22, 2018Leave a comment

When certain socalled fans got angry with Darling in the FranXX episode 14, they thought harassing the show’s creators and other fans was justified. This is how Anime News Network reported on it: Latest DARLING in the FRANKXX Episode Inspires Angry Hashtag:

After Zero Two practically goes nuclear on the entire squad, her handlers separate her from Hiro and re-enlist her with the elite squad. Hiro feels tortured over the development because he rejects Zero Two’s actions but still loves her. He attempts to go after but Ichigo stops him and finally lays her feelings bare. Fans of the Hiro and Zero Two coupling, or those who disagree with Ichigo’s actions in the episode have started using a hashtag on Twitter to designate their anger towards Ichigo, dubbing her “#Bitchigo.” The hashtag is predominately being used by English-speaking viewers on Twitter and Instagram.

In my experience, whenever there are articles in the fan press about “fans being angry on Twitter”, even if it’s clearly disapproving of them like this one is, it encourages them. Especially when written in a “some fans say this, others disagree” template. Doing this without context other than a plot summary legitimises this behaviour. It’s a nothingburger of a story anyway, fans being outraged online, but if you have to write about it, at least provide the context, both in why certain Darling in the FranXX get so het up about their shipping as well as to why this sort of behaviour shouldn’t be condoned. Focus on the inevitable harassment this brings along with it.

Be more responsible.

Golden Kamuy — First Impressions

Published on April 16, 2018Leave a comment

A war veteran travels to the wilderness in search of gold, to fulfil a promise made to a dead comrade. He encounters a native woman who helps him fight off a bear attack and they join forces in search of a legendary treasure trove stolen from the woman’s own people, while other, more sinister forces are also looking for it. A typical western, except for its setting.

Golden Kamuy: Immortal Sugimoto

Because Golden Kamuy is actually set in snow bound Hokkaido, just after the Russian-Japanese War, rather than the American west and Sugimoto Saichi is a veteran of that war, having almost died in the battle of Hill 203. Now he’s looking for gold to take care of his dead comrade’s wife, who is slowly going blind and needs an operation. Asirpa, the native woman he encounters is an Ainu girl. It’s this setting that makes Golden Kamuy interesting from the start. Even if the nominal plot so far isn’t the most original, the setting sure is. Not to mention that having an Ainu character is very rare in anime, this is the first one I’ve seen.

Golden Kamuy: Asirpa

Asirpa is an interesting character, from what little I’ve seen of her this first episode. She shows up halfway to save Sugimoto from a bear attack, then serves as his introduction to how to survive in the wilderness. It’s a role that reminds me of the Native American friend of the protagonist in a western, but there are some hints she’ll be playing a larger role later on. She teams up with Sugimoto to look for the murderers of her father, the men who stole the gold he is after.

Golden Kamuy: bear punching

This first episode was mostly setting the plot in motion and as such did its job. I like both Sugimoto and Asirpa and it’ll be interesting how their relationship will evolve. The bear punching didn’t disappoint either. Since Golden Kamuy started as a critically well received manga, I have faith in the quality of the source material. The studio adapting it also did last season’s Kokkoku, which was much better than I expected it to be, so I have high hopes for this.

Comic Girls — First Impressions

Published on April 15, 2018Leave a comment

Moeta “Kaos” Kaoruko is — apart from a Disney Princess — a high school manga artist whose series has just received the lowest ranking and she doesn’t take the news well. So her editor suggests she goes and live with other mangakas so she can learn from them.

Comic Girls: the animals come to comfort her

That’s the setup of Comic Girls: a female manga artist dorm inhabited by four quirky girls, a somewhat novel variation on the regular slice of moe formula of four quirky girls being in a club together. Kaos-chan is the crippling shy one, while her shojo romance drawing roommate Koizuka Koyume is the boisterous big eater. Their two senpai are Katsuki Tsubasa, who is the slightly chuuni one who draws dead serious shounen battlers and Irokawa Ruki, the serious but easily embarrassed one. Who turns out to be the one coerced into drawing porn, which to be honest is a bit creepy, the sort of anime cliche that should’ve died a long time ago, likewise the boob gags later in the episode.

Comic Girls: working hard

What makes Comic Girls a bit more special is that it does go into the nitty gritty of making manga, with the four girls working together to beat Tsubasa’s deadline in the first episode, while in the second episode they go to a supplies store to check out new zip-a-tone patterns. It’s always interesting to see people at work, even if you can’texpect Shirobako levels of fidelity here. It adds a bit of crunch to what otherwise would be a fairly undistinguished slice of moe series. It also adds a bit more to each of the protagonists’ personalities, seeing the differences between their work and normal modes.

Comic Girls: the animals come to comfort her

As with any good slice of moe series there’s an undertone of yuri: the two senpai are roommates who behave as if they might as well be in a relationship, while both Kaos and her own roommate are crushing hard on them. Kaos likes the shy one, while Koyume likes the chuuni one, to the point where she draws shojo romance flowers in the background of the latter’s oh so serious shounen fantasy series… Nothing much is likely to come of this queerbaiting, but as long as it doesn’t start to deny its own subtext like some other series I could mention, i’m happy. This isn’t going to be as mold breaking as last season’s Yorimoi or Yuru Camp, but I always like a decent, well executed slice of moe series.