Author Archives: Bobduh

Hataraku Maou-sama! – Episode 6

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So. Maou-sama!

We’ve introduced our cast. We’ve resolved our opening conflict. We’ve even established a kind of status quo, an uneasy peace between our protagonists.

What the fuck do we do now?

The obvious answer is “end the book.” And I guess that’s what they did.

But it sold well.

Hm.

What the fuck do we do now?

I’m eager to find out! The first arc gave us a brief sketch of Emilia’s past – but she’s the only one with any background so far. We’ve certainly had development of our other characters, but up till now it’s mainly been used for humor – the first major conflict was outside interference, not a natural evolution of their characters. Plus, there were all those vague swipes at capitalism and the social order – that has to go somewhere eventually, right?

I don’t know what they’ll focus on now. But this writer is damn good at what he does, so I think I’ll be happy with wherever he leads us.

Episode 6

0:12 – “You will burn to sustain me…” Alright, what’s he cooking

0:57 – Classic scenario. Why does it work? Because Alsiel’s so goddamn adorable, that’s why

2:47 – Hm. New girl in the OP. Not to immediately be incredibly cynical or anything, but I hope they’re not planning on maintaining momentum by just throwing new characters into the mix when needed – I think the core characters have more than enough potential for development bouncing off each other. Granted, another show I could mentiondoes generally manage to use its side characters to illuminate new things about the central cast, but…

4:32 – Damnit Maou-sama, I know when you’re just pandering to me – don’t think making casual asides about religion’s self-deceiving hypocrisies will win you any favors!

5:05 – And now Maou/Alsiel have an ungrateful teenage son. Finally Lucifer’s haircut makes sense

6:27 – Maou’s cocky smile as he humbly downplays the impressiveness of his shift manager promotion. My god I love this show

7:25 – Their conflict doesn’t really seem that unsolvable any more – don’t they just have to just chase ambulances or hang out at hospitals and funeral homes and juice themselves up on despair and sadness?

7:51 – Wow, both sides of this argument are so great. Maou takes Lucifer in because the evil priest who tried to kill them both can no longer babysit him, and Emilia’s bothered by the logistics of the apartment. Awesome

11:08 – “His roommate?!?!” Man, whole lotta fujoshi jokes lately! Kids these days…

12:24 – “A student disappeared from that room like they’d been spirited away.” That could be a whole lot more than a throwaway line

12:45 – Ahahaha. “I’m not scared if you’re with me…” “’Kay.”

13:58 – There’s something particularly great about Alsiel comforting the Great Lord Satan about a high school ghost story

14:15 – “Gate opened in the past.” There we go. I wonder who was sent to Maou’s world? If it’s someone who now works in the church, we might already have the foundation of this book’s arc in place

18:30 – Seriously Emilia, that damn sword’s gonna put an eye out

20:25 – “Urushihara’s one cheeky cunt.” I can’t believe I’m putting up with Commie subs just to be in time for the discussion. Bleeeh.

And Done

Well, that was alright. It didn’t really do very much, but I guess it makes sense as the beginning of a new book – it’s basically reintroducing these characters and their dynamics, and sending them on a haunted house adventure. Plenty of solid jokes throughout (I really, really loved how disappointed Maou and Alsiel were with Emilia over the anatomical statue), and Alsiel continues to be Best General, but it was definitely a lesser Maou episode – at its best, this show combines that humor with sharp satire (like in four) or very effective action/drama (like in five). But obviously they can’t all be standouts, and this was still a solid episode that at least established Lucifer in Maou’s dysfunctional little family. And with the Inquisitor finally arriving, hopefully next week we’ll be diving into the church!

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge – Episode 6

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Shit, I forgot to do today’s prep work. Well, maybe we can make it a group activity, then. How about…

Take 1 drink every time hair is used as a sex metaphor.

Take 1 drink every time the spooky organs/strings come in.

Take 1 drink every time a romcom cliché is applied to a story about Hair Queens and Killing Goods.

Take 1 drink every time the show tries to tell an actual joke, proving it’s only funny when it’s not trying to be.

Take 2 drinks every time the show implies violent sex.

Finish your drink every time the show doesn’t just imply, but straight-up includes violent sexy times.

That should cover us!

Episode 6

0:44 – “I hear a voice from somewhere… it’s telling me to assault girls.” Goddamnit Crime Edge. Two drinks before I even reach the minute marker? Fuck you.

0:49 – It’s good to see Iwai is observing responsible scissor-holding posture while fleeing the zombies

2:08 – Does a camera shot aiming down her thighs as she runs count as anything? …nope, just generally weird, and if “generally weird” were a category, I really wouldn’t be getting out of this alive

3:17 – “It should have been a fun night after dinner… instead we’re here condemning Bobduh to death by alcohol poisoning.” Two more!

4:33 – “Pet Whip of Submissive Butchery.” How is everyone not watching this show? Anyway, I actually do appreciate that she’s the dominant one; but then, for as weird as all its sex stuff is, and as uncomfortable as all this sexual assault stuff makes me, the show doesn’t really seem all that backwards in its gender roles. So I guess we can now official declare Crime Edge as “more progressive in gender politics than Clannad, at least”

5:12 – Does… does this all count as one violent sex metaphor? I’m going with that, for my health

5:57 – Goddamnit, just finish your slow-walk villain monologue so Kiri can get on with unexpectedly blocking the whip

It’s weird to go directly from critiquing a show like Serial Experiments Lain to one where every single plot contrivance is the first one listed in the Anime Bible of Storytelling Cliches

6:40 – I like the doctor’s rakish grin/cigarette/literature combo. He clearly knows how to mug for the camera

7:42 – Their cries of ‘Monster’ cut deep… her hair insecurities paralyze her with shame and regret

8:00 – Nice, once again they’re forcing Iwai to be strong for her own sake. Can we now confidently declare that Crime Edge is also “more progressive in gender politics than HenNeko?”

8:08 – Oooh, hair as adultery metaphor – I like it! Still only one drink though

10:30 – “If you don’t say what you mean, I won’t understand.” See, now they’re applying classic adolescent emotional moments to the action parts of the show, which is a whole different, but still humorously effective, kind of parallel. Could this… could this show actually know what it’s doing?

11:26 – So wait, does the Crime Edge have like a Stun setting or something? Or is he just giving all of them such satisfying trims that they immediately collapse in exhaustion and delight? …or is he just murdering all these dudes?

I’m just gonna guess he’s only hitting them with the flat of his shears

12:43 – JESUS CHRIST did he give that guy a clipping. Scissors right through the cheek… Senjougahara[1] would approve

13:34 – Oshit it’s Sharktooth

15:00 – Wait, wouldn’t the rope not have killed him anyway? Is his hang-worthiness a plot development, or his hang-unworthiness a plot hole?

Dear god, it just occurred to me that things might actually happen in this show without any coherent reason. I think I need a drink to steady myself

15:20 – ‘Me, a loser? The… the gall! And yet… oh god… he’s right!‘

16:08 – Kiri, unimpressed by the Pet Whip’s emotional breakdown, casually spins his scissors like a boss

16:24 – Oh dear god. As soon as that white flash started I thought, ‘please, no, not a trite emotional flashback,’ and then of course the first line is ‘I was sad I didn’t get to play the princess in the school play’

17:01 – Wait… that’s it? I thought that school play was going to start a downward spiral, or, or something, but… her backstory is actually “one time I didn’t get to play the princess, and that’s when I knew that I was born to kill”?

18:05 – “I’ve always loved your wavy red hair… your semi-insane entitlement issues, I could take or leave.”

20:18 – “You said I was only a convenience for cutting your hair… I was kinda upset.” Welp, it looks like Crime Edge has more capacity for emotional honesty than… er, every single harem?

21:30 – No complaints here – this is an adorable and well-executed idea for a credit transition

And Done

Goddamnit Crime Edge, this isn’t Pokemon – you can’t go and immediately become best pals with everyone who tries to kill you. Well, I guess technically you can, because you’re living in a world that’s simultaneously a teen romcom, psychological sex thriller, and shounen battle adventure, but… that doesn’t make it any part of this less nonsensical.

I love you Crime Edge. Don’t ever change.

Serial Experiments Lain – Episodes 1-3

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So, now that the viewing club has actually moved on to a show I both haven’t seen and am very interested in watching, I suddenly realize I’ve successfully doubled the number of episodes I’ve assigned myself to commit serious thought to every week. And I was already barely hanging on in the first place. So we’ll see how this goes – I might keep this looser and more brief throughout, and then try to collect my thoughts at the end, or something. Anyway. Roll tape.

Actually, one more thing. It occurs to me, upon beginning yet another series that I’m going to talk about for likely far too long, that someone might very well ask, “Why are you wasting your time with this?” And that’s a fine question! So gimme a second here.

Brief, Optional Tangent on Media Appreciation/Analysis

First, this is how I enjoy media, and this is also how I enjoy conversation. I like the craft, power, and potential of art, and I like discussing these things with other interested people, and these writeups are the best way I’ve found to have my cake and dissect it too.

Secondly, and this is purely personal, I really like that some people seem to appreciate my doing this. It’s a lot of work, and it eats a good number of free hours, but unless I’m working on my own creative projects, one of the best ways I can think of to spend my free time is in doing something that other people find worthwhile and meaningful. So that helps a lot.

Finally, I really do think there is something to this kind of stuff. I don’t think analysis kills art, or kills enjoyment – I think it deepens and broadens it, and gives it both personal resonance and larger context. I’ll close this little prologue with a quotation I just read in Italo Calvino’s “If on a winter’s night a traveler,” which, while ostensibly about the process of translation, I think also digs pretty well at what I and hopefully other people out there get out of the process of continuous reflection and unpacking.

“Furthermore, Professor Uzzi-Tuzii had begun his oral translation as if he were not quite sure he could make his words hang together, going back over every sentence to iron out the syntactical creases, manipulating the phrases until they were not completely rumpled, smoothing them, clipping them, stopping at every word to illustrate its idiomatic uses and its connotations, accompanying himself with inclusive gestures as if inviting you to be content with approximate equivalents, breaking off to state grammatical rules, etymological derivations, quoting the classics. But just when you are convinced that for the professor philology and erudition mean more than what the story is telling, you realize the opposite is true: that academic envelope serves only to protect everything the story says and does not say, an inner afflatus always on the verge of being dispersed at contact with the air, the echo of a vanished knowledge revealed in the penumbra and in tacit illusions.”

End Tangent

Sorry. I’ll stop now. Let’s watch some cartoons.

Episode 1

0:50 – I already like this sketchy, angular, un-idealized art style.

2:00 – Wow, I know I’m in for a good ride when even the OP seems heavy with thematic weight. These images of Lain observing life going on as mediated through a variety of screens makes me think this’ll be about some extremely relevant themes; the stuff writers like Anno and Urobuchi have yet to convince their audiences to believe in

3:19 – Okay, so it seems likely this show will have a lot of scattered thematic puzzle pieces, making a play-by-play a kind of tricky proposition. But I’ll bite! First three puzzle pieces: Lain in the screens [a pretty obvious-seeming metaphor], “Why won’t you come? I wish you could come here” [here as in outside?] and “Why you should do that is something you should discover for yourself” [these messages seem like meta-comments to the reader, which means that whether they’re meant to scream the themes or mislead, they’re not part of the narrative]. The puzzle I currently see is one about guiding people trapped in mediated lives to experience the real world. Let’s see what else we got

4:34 – More hints, and a clarification. The “I don’t need to stay in a place like this” seems to represent her final whisper or final thoughts – so perhaps those block texts are actually within the narrative, at least mentally. Also, both in the OP and contrasted against her death we have the figures kissing in very un-romanticized ways. My first thought there is that “honesty/dishonesty of human connection” is also key

5:05 – “If you stay in a place like this, you might not be able to connect.” Okay, so that one’s already been made overt.

Unrelated, I really, really like this visual design. The darker scenes with neon highlights reminded me of Blade Runner, and now this incredibly high-contrast daytime creates a whole different kind of stylized dream world. Very distinctive choice, and appropriate for a show that I assume will be handling the validity of various realities

8:18 – “She killed herself last week – come on, the teacher told everybody!” Tidy bit of storytelling there, with a line that both establishes the prologue for our protagonist while also revealing more about her disconnection and lack of engagement with the world around her

9:01 – Wait, is their lesson all code in some programming language?

9:39 – “What’s it like when you die?” Ooh, so perhaps all that text represents the emails

10:00 – Those constant phone lines, connecting everyone. Also, the soundtrack being just a mechanical hum both increases the fuzziness of her worldview and simulates the hum of a computer

12:46 – “I’ve only given up my body.” Okay, now the actual plot is starting to catch up to the themes that every other element of the show is articulating. Here we go!

13:46 – “Why did you die?” “God is here.” Man, was instrumentality/singularity such a big concern in the late 90s/onset of the internet age? Does this relate to all that Bowling Alone stuff about the loss of communal societies, a concern that I think was pretty much swept away by the supremacy of internet community/culture? It’s weird to try and think about what poignancy these ideas might have had in their own moment in history

14:30 – That bearsuit’s adorable. Also, that dinner conversation kept up the Bowling Alone view of community, even within the family unit

17:04 – Her father only speaks to her from behind a wall of computers, his face always obscured from her view

18:10 – What are these visions she keeps seeing? Her classmates blurred, her fingers emitting steam, the wires dripping blood… oh, goddamnit, I was about to say “I see no connection between them,” and then I realized all three of them work as separate visual metaphors – she can’t fully interact with her classmates, her fingers will be the keys to her new reality, the wires contain the life of her dead friend.

Still don’t know if they’re meant to just mean she has an overactive imagination or something more fantastical, though

20:36 – Not sure what to make of that train vision/nightmare yet. Not enough information. The train is key, though, we’ve had too many scenes of Lain on the train, standing at the door, staring out at the wires

21:00 – Again, I’m still not sure how sane we’re supposed to believe Lain is, and whether things are actually crazy or she’s just really good at day-visions and conflating memories with reality

22:36 – Her friend smiles and disappears, leaving her alone on the street, stranded between the endless wires

And Done

Oof! Great first episode, rich in thematic imagery, riding a fun, ambiguous line between fantasy and reality, and maintaining a great, creepy mood throughout. I can’t wait till next… oh wait.

…this is gonna be a long night.

By the way, I’m sticking with my writeup structure for now purely because it’s easier for me than first noting all my thoughts, and then straightening them into a paragraph-based impression at the end. I just don’t have enough time to do the full essay routine – hopefully nobody minds too much. Anyway.

Episode 2

0:31 – So I assume there’s a dialogue to be constructed of all these prologue lines. “I want you to come out here.” “What are you scared of, I just want you to try it for a bit.”

3:25 – Well! A lot happened in that club, but I don’t think I have quite enough fragments of chaos to see where that end of the plot is going yet. But that was supposed to be Lain at the end there, right?

4:22 – And her sister looks at the ceiling when talking with her. Man, connecting is hard!

5:15 – But this man, almost merged with the telephone pole, makes direct eye contact as she passes

8:02 – Jeez, remember when characters actually had personalities, and weren’t just tired tropes? Yeah, I got a pretty distinct and separate impression of all three of these girls here, and then of course there’s a bit of “identity is something you can construct” going on, but it’s basically just a hint

8:48 – Wait, so that lecture on the drug was just the show itself telling us, the audience, about it? That’s kind of weird. I do like the idea of a drug that accelerates your perception of experience in the context of a show that’ll clearly be about the internet age, though

9:35 – Again, the storytelling is understated and great. Lain gets excited when she receives a text, which I assume is because her lack of friends makes her assume it’s from her internet friend – but it’s actually the girl who befriended her that morning, which disappoints her, so she cancels the trip so she can wait for her “real” friend instead

13:02 – Another one of those awkward kissing embraces, this time beside Lain’s new computer. Still not sure what they represent, I’m just noting them for now

14:54 – Hm. Her sister waiting at the door. Another piece… goddamnit, there’s a lot of chaos to sift through here

16:01 – Aw yeah, all dolled up for clubbin’ in my little felt hat

19:00 – “You’re that scattered god’s…” Big clue here.

And Done

What the hell? Did he imagine her saying that? Lain definitely looks like someone at the club – both he and the other girls saw that person. But he seems to think she’s some harbinger of the internet leaking into the real world, which is something foretold by Lain’s own maybe-visions, maybe-delusions. Is this other Lain only relevant in his mind? And did she actually say those things, in that voice – was that also in his mind, or is she really more than she herself realizes? I guess until I definitely know whether this show’s primarily interested in sci-fi, psychological horror, allegory, or some/all of these things, I can’t make any definitive calls here. The themes are still consistent, but what their delivery vehicle actually consists of… very ambiguous

Okay. Gah. Once more into the breach

Episode 3

0:14 – Once again starting with those same city shots. There’s actually a lot that reminds me of Aku no Hana here – the repeated visual markers, the menacing, droning soundtrack, the long periods of silence, the unreliability of the narrator, the jagged, kind of unsettling character designs, the general claustrophobic tone. It’s intriguing to see these various tangible markers of this slow-building psychological horror style of storytelling be used for such different purposes

1:00 – “I called your house, but no-one picked up.” How unreliable is this narrator?

2:05 – Lain’s such a mentally removed character that it’s hard to tell where the post-traumatic stress ends and the personality begins

2:23 – God, I’m so loving the stark color contrasts and angles of this visual design. Shades of Bakemonogatari here, and that’s a good thing for your show to be reminding me of

3:12 – Her parents sleep in separate beds, her family is completely silent at dinner, and her sister can’t make eye contact with her. If connecting with people in the real world is this hard, why bother?

6:59 – Alright, so all this “Lain is some strange bringer of a new integrated reality” stuff seems to indicate this series doesn’t entirely take place in her crazy headspace. There’s the creepy G-Men following her, her doppelganger, the drugged-up dude who “recognized” her, her own alter-ego response to that guy, her consistent visions of a world verging on her own… my current assumption is “actually a sci-fi story, but thematically relevant to our impersonal real-world order”

9:56 – “I’m saying it’s strange we can’t take his death serious- IS THAT A LOVE LETTER???”

Also, I guess they’re implying that Lain is herself becoming a receiver for signals from the internet?

13:22 – “Do you know what this is?” She extends the gift to her father, who stands distant in the doorway. He leans slightly forward, barely closing the gap between them, and then turns away

14:18 – What is with this embrace/kissing motif? I’m sure it’ll make sense eventually, but they’re really laying it on thick

15:05 – Okay, so now the associates of her doppelganger are actually referring to her as Lain. Multiple personalities? Memory issues? Versions of herself are the first net intruders into actual reality?

Goddamnit, I’m feeling really stupid here… it normally doesn’t take this long for me to figure out a plot. Let me…

Hm…

Okay, if I’m going to draw any conclusions, I can’t assume everything is ambiguous. So for this conjecture, I’ll just assume that Lain’s reality is at least real according to her. Then…

Alright, she’s already under guard by the G-Men. This implies she has either always been important, has recently become important, or was important at some point in the past, and they’re making sure she doesn’t become that important person again. Her family seems incredibly distant, and barely treats her like a human being, outside of her father’s assistance in getting her Wired. She’s distant from everyone at school, though Arisa is making efforts to be her friend. We have seen no other hobbies, and she expressed no interest in technology prior to this point.

Recently, due the encouragement of a dead girl who’s apparently both real (she remembered walking home with Lain once, though that could have been observed) and alive within the internet, she has begun ingratiating herself into internet culture. Concurrently with this, she has begun seeing visions of internet wraiths, as well as hearing voices that seem to come from the internet.

Very recently, a version of her with an entirely separate persona was observed at a club, and various people at that club seem to know her by name. In fact, one man was incredibly distressed by her presence, saying she’s related to a “scattered god” – which is relevant to her dead friend, who said that “god is here” within the internet. When confronting this man, her voice changed, and she authoritatively told the man that we are all always connected, which caused him to commit suicide.

So what do we have here? Internet-based singularity story, with Lain as the fulcrum, for some reason? Seems likely. I can’t think of any clues that hint at how she’s already known, why she’s receiving these visions, or why she’s being watched. Perhaps we’re actually only seeing the second half of a story… but it’s too early to know. We’re not there yet.

19:02 – “You never saw us. We’re not here, you see.” Here’s another big clue. Now we know for sure they’re real, and also they seem to be hinting that projection from the net is already possible, which might explain alternate-Lain as well. Still not there yet.

Also, I’m not really commenting on thematic/imagery stuff any more because it’s all pretty damn consistent throughout the show (eye contact, the wires, etc), and it all seems to point towards the same themes. This mystery’s interesting, so I’ma figure it out

19:24 – “Are you listening, Mom?” Their mother is completely emotionally absent – she avoids all interaction with her daughters whenever possible, and never seems to address them directly. Again, another file for the drawer

20:15 – And now we have another new Lain saying welcome home to her sister. This is also the second time her sister has tried to connect with her – her success or failure in this will probably continue to gain relevance

And Done

Interesting stuff so far. The thematic concerns seem pretty obvious, but I’m enjoying figuring out exactly how this world works, and the aesthetics are great. This is a very entertaining show

…“Looser and more brief.” Good joke.

…damnit. That actually got so long that now I feel obligated to coherently format it. Alright, screw you all. Summary time.

TL;DR:

I’m very much enjoying it so far, and it simultaneously feels like a very carefully and wildly written series – in that there are a lot of ideas at the same time, but the direction and visual storytelling is always very sharp.

Visually, I’m greatly enjoying it. The visual aesthetic is very distinctive; the blurred, neon cityscapes remind me of Blade Runner, and the stark, angular, high-contrast, nearly abandoned suburbs remind me of a cross between Bakemonogatari’s visual design and Aku no Hana’s mood. The constant blurring and repeated visual motifs (the telephone wires, two figures embracing in a kiss, the various repeated backgrounds of Lain’s world) all contribute to the dreamlike atmosphere and question of how much we can trust this reality – which is perfect, because this seems to be a show specifically about the validity of identities and realities.

I love the sound design, which is another of the many elements that reminds me of Aku no Hana. The droning sound sets an uncomfortable, creepy tone, further contributes to the hazy, distorted reality, and mimics the sound of a computer’s hum. All relevant things.

The writing is generally solid and the dialogue is great, though I’m not sold on the way the show seems to sometimes directly tell the viewer things without associating that knowledge with any specific character – the biggest specific example of this is when the show explained that drug to us. Maybe there’s another layer there in that our perception is more full than Lain’s, but stuff like that tends to remove me from the story as it’s happening.

Thematically, it seems pretty obviously to be about the ways our society has begun to disconnect physically, the replacement of that connection with connections of the online variety, and whether these new realities are as legitimate or “real” as the original one. It attacks this theme from a variety of angles – first, there’s all the visual stuff drawing attention to the dreamlike world, as well as Lain continuously observing the world through a variety of frames, as well as that motif of the telephone wires outlining her world. Secondly, there’s Lain’s actual relationship to the world around her; she seems disconnected even before being contacted by the dead girl, and the scenes with her family constantly emphasize the distance and lack of connection between them. Finally, there’s the central mystery of the show, wherein it seems that Lain’s own personal reality is being invaded by elements of the internet, and that this connection has also spread to the point where alternate, potentially fabricated personas of Lain are being witnessed by other people in the real world. This idea of the relative validity of realities is transposed against ideas of the subjective and potentially self-created nature of identity, or at least persona. It hasn’t been fully explored yet, but the show seems to be trending towards that idea.

…as a side note, it always bears mentioning that this show came out in freaking 1998. So, even if its themes don’t really come across as revelatory to us, I’m guessing they were pretty damn prescient at the time. No piece of art exists outside of a larger context.

Finally, the actual plot of the show is pretty interesting too. It’s been keeping things pretty ambiguous so far, though Lain’s sister’s interaction with the G-Men seems to indicate that a lot of Lain’s reality isn’t actually just in her head. Her visions and sudden, random leaps into other personas (in the club, greeting her sister) are clearly linked to the creation of online identities in some way, and her relationship to this “scattered god” is likely the reason the G-Men are so interested in her, but it’s all very ambiguous still. I think they’re spacing out hints very well so far, and I’m certainly interested in whatever happens next.

TL;DR to the TL;DR:

Bob like Lain.

Aku no Hana – Episode 5

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Why am I watching this. I hate uncomfortable things. I generally watch painful-looking scenes through my fingers, and empathize too much with well-written characters to ever enjoy seeing them squirm. And this is probably gonna be the least comfortable half hour of television I’ve ever endured.

…fuck it. Let’s go on a date.

Episode 5

1:00 – Nothing’s even happened and it’s already so uncomfortable I hate this I hate you people Why am I watching this Nooo…

2:05 – I was about to type, “Wow, these distant shots really increase the sense of creepy voyeurism here,” and then Nakamura’s head actually pops into the frame

2:42 – I also really like the way the limited features and fill-ins of more distant characters dehumanizes them, making this world feel even more dead and lonely

3:24 – Wow, never thought I’d describe Nakamura as adorable, but her airplane-secret agent run here is great

4:04 – You’re both middle schoolers, Kasuga. You don’t understand yourselves, much less each other

6:44 – I had to pause and go back to confirm the bookseller did indeed have two mustaches. Badass

7:50 – Was all this dialogue in the original? It’s fantastic – it’s really conveying his passion as a laudable, fully articulated thing. It’s almost improbable that someone so young could articulate the way they love something in a way that makes it so understandable to an outside audience

8:59 – Oh shit, his mustache is just so intense that it curls back over itself. Double badass

11:30 – “Admit you’re a crazy deviant… or I’ll fuck stuff up for you.” Yeah, that’s not exactly how this works, Nakamura. It’s a shame Kasuga only reads poetry, or he might have learned a thing or two about projection

12:32 – That’s quite an evil smile[1]  

15:10 – THIS SCENE AH GOD FUCK I CANT WATCH THIS. I was actually saying, “No, don’t, stop, nooo” at the screen. Gah this show

15:45 – Nakamura is killing it this episode. Her “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me” face is great as well

And Done

AHHHHH FUCK FUCKING FUCK IT. GodDAMNIT, this show is bad for my heart. Jesus that episode was intense, and uncomfortable, and just… well, just really fucking fantastic, actually. I was worried last episode that more overt plot would weaken the atmosphere – this episode demolished those concerns with the most focused and uncomfortable set of unbearable minutes yet. The concept of a classic “spiral into temptation” story where the antagonist is just a screwed-up, confused, very malicious teenager who wants to either destroy someone or at least prove she’s not alone is a great one, Kasuga has a rich and painful interior life that carries a lot of weight on its own, and all the aesthetic stuff is still ridiculously effective. I think this was the best episode yet, and probably my favorite episode of any show this week.

Suisei no Gargantia – Episode 5

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Five episodes in, I am ashamed to admit that this is the first time I’ve realized “Ledo” is probably named Red to directly contrast against the blue of the water/Amy’s eyes/doctor’s brooch visual motif. Goddamnit.

Anyway, let’s get to it.

Episode 5

1:05 – “Agreement: It is early in the morning.” These Chamber bits are great, even moreso for how rare they are

And yeah, we’re getting right back into that “work as source of pride and personal fulfillment/identity” stuff, but if it’s all overt I don’t really have to point it out

1:48 – “Not useful” – actually, I do think it’s a kind of nice, subtle shift here, where Ledo still can’t really translate their value system, but has reached the point where he wants to be useful for his own sake, even if he can’t yet understand the meaning they derive from their lives

2:57 – I have to keep my impression of this show’s ambition in check. But I really do like how explaining their economy and world, and the personal desires it stems from, in such a step-by-step way lends itself to highlighting the dehumanizing structural stuff that separates their society from Ledos’ or our own

9:45 – Whew. I was worried the show wouldn’t have a matching gratuitous pan for Ledo, but fortunately it did. Equal opportunity ogling here.

12:25 – Putting on lotion and talking about men. Bechdel would have a field day with this one

13:57 – …really?

15:52 – What is this episode dooooing

18:04 – I hope those gay panic guys hanging off the stairs got down okay

21:50 – This is pretty great – we’re getting back to the point here, with Ledo feeling the satisfaction of still being a part of something greater than himself, but working towards specific goals for specific people that are meaningful to him.

And Done

Well, that… happened.

In theory, I actually like (or at least am not against) a lot of the things this episode was trying to do. Between episode three and this one, a clear fantastical, lighthearted streak has been pretty well established, though I’m not sure how that tone will be managed if more conflict gets introduced – you only have the breathing room to pull off stuff like this early on in most series.

I like the idea of dedicating a full episode to that “life with meaning even in the absence of orders” concept, and I like how fully the episode committed to just enjoying time spent with these characters – for a show that’s normally so tightly written, I think it was an intentional and effective choice. The scenes at the grill supported my feeling that this is basically the closest to “healing-type” shows I’ll ever enjoy, and the race/chase stuff once again made me feel that this is Urobuchi’s version of a Ghibli movie.

But I could certainly live without both that embarrassing gay panic stuff (I’m not even going into anime’s horrific track record there), as well as the more gratuitous bathing suit stuff.

It’s a weird line to walk, because a lot of the swimsuit scenes came off as natural, and the rest of it was mostly played for humor, but it’s hard for these things not to end up voyeuristic. I’m (as always) taking this pretty seriously, but this show generally takes its characters seriously as well, and respects them, so I’m not a fan of moments where it seems like they’re being put on display for us, the viewer.

So yeah. Overall I think it achieved the goals it wanted to, and I actually liked the pacing and idea, but some specific choices definitely dragged it down for me. I don’t think this is a new norm or anything – as I said, unless there truly is no larger conflict brewing at all, the further we get into the series, the less feasible it is to pull off something like this. But it’s definitely the first time something in this show has disappointed me.

Attack on Titan – Episode 5

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HOLY SHITTING FUCK THERE’S A TITAN AT THE GATES WHAT THE FUCK DO WE DO NOW.

Episode 5

3:57 – Wow, they did an awesome job conveying a sense of momentum, scale, and speed in that encounter. I think they were going for something like how we must appear to flies, and it certainly worked – the slow but unimaginable power of the titan, the constant whiplash of the three dimensional cords… good stuff

5:07 – The lone doll in the street, pretty much the required marker of an abandoned town. We lose more dolls that way…

5:48 – Nooo Franz and Hannah, don’t let the camera catch you solemnly swearing to protect each other! Noooo…

6:45 – Goddamnit Armin. Wait in the fucking car if you have to.

9:42 – This scene is pretty vintage samurai fare, right down to the holding back in order to let your lord maintain his ego. But it’s executed well enough, which I guess is kind of the point of all of this – it’s taking some classic shounen ideas, some classic war film ideas, some classic samurai film ideas, etc etc, and just making a well-executed riff on them with a fun core concept. Nothing wrong with that

10:30 – It seems like this whole army really likes the idea of keeping their most useful soldiers in the least useful/dangerous locations. I guess according to traditional warfare, this makes sense, since highly valued skills are generally about a soldier’s use as a tactical/strategic thinker or leader, and you’d rather have your grunts kill their grunts than your best be mowed down in a melee. But here the “best soldiers” are just the best fighters, plus the titans have no hierarchy, do not know to focus on targets of opportunity, etc… you’d think it’d be better to use the best soldiers wisely throughout the battlefield, not just have them guard the rear.

Although, considering that scene with the lord and Pixis, this could very well become a plot point, where our brave and talented recruits lead to some structural changes in their “lose as slowly as possible” focused military

12:21 – I like that this whole episode is just Eren walking around and Kamina-ing people into shape

13:05 – Holy shit he even headbutted her.

13:45 – “I couldn’t die even if I were killed here.” Well, I’m not above saying it. Hate to tell you, Eren – people die if they are killed

15:00 – Eren just sitting politely in class, mouth agape in his silent horror face.

The pacing of this episode is pretty weird – a minute of frenetic action, titans start attacking the city, and now we’ve found time to introduce some new characters, run through three separate pep talks, and have a biology class flashback. Not sure about it

15:16 – Why did historic guards wear wizard hats? Wait, fuck that, why don’t current guards wear wizard hats?

16:08 – Ah, I get it. I’d already read past this point, so I’d forgotten we hadn’t fully established how their battles work yet. That’s certainly something the show needed to do before we got into the action

16:45 – And now with this fourth pep talk, along with thinking about the skill analysis from last episode, I’m actually pretty content with the work here – they’re not just hitting classic scenes or buffing our impression of the leader, they’re clearly indicating “leadership potential.” Which hopefully means this show will get pretty damn tactical about the various roles our heroes play within the squad, which I am all for

17:15 – Yesss, these close cam shots are awesome. I love the sense of speed they’re creating here

And Done

WELL SHIT. Squad crushed, main character devoured, mankind is doomed. I think I’m gonna go sit down for a while.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru – Episode 5

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Welp, you all know how I feel and I’m late enough as it is. Let’s do this.

Episode 5

1:03 – Panty joke. I guess it’s kind of a tradition now for this show to start with a dumb anime-ism joke.

4:14 – Hikki’s surprisingly diligent about his studies… although now that I think about it, what with his ego being based on a sense of superiority towards high school things, it makes sense that he’s focusing on how awesome he’ll be once he isn’t surrounded by nattering fools.

4:51 – Sis is sure she’s seen her before, somewhere…

6:55 – A lingering shot and reaction face from Hikki is a lot of hinting, so it’s likely that Yuki’s home situation might be relevant to her own persecution complex.

7:29 – “So, what are you going to do with my cat?” I love how often Yuki’s high-minded explanations have to cover for fundamentally pretty stupid ideas. The distance between self-image and actual experience/understanding is so clear here… I’d assume anyone would get that, but I’ve heard of people dropping this show because they’re “tired of cynical genius characters,” which is kind of the opposite of the point

7:51 – Also, this convoluted scheme with dedicated roles makes me think Yuki has a bit of a Chuuni streak herself. Man, that period between a childhood of un-self-consciously accepting your love of drama and creativity, and an adulthood of self-awarely realizing you don’t have to give a shit about the opinions of everyone around you, really sucks

8:05 – My god that’s adorable

9:51 – Nooo, that conversation was going so well, too. Why does Japan find these stale-ass spinster jokes so goddamn hilarious?

10:40 – Ahaha, using Hayama like a guided VN adaptation protagonist missile. Cunning work

11:08 – When they say something like “there are only two places that fit that name,” I have to assume they’ve started with the wrong one, and it’s gonna result in a wacky misunderstanding. Let’s see how they handle this one

12:10 – “Girls welcome.” Oh god are we really doing this

12:57 – Alright, scene finally over. We shall never speak of this again

13:15 – Actually, that scene is retroactively almost worth it for the contrast between Hikki’s blasé attitude towards the pet-fetish stuff and immediately getting flustered when he sees them in actually classy, non-demeaning attire. You’re ahead of the class, Hikki. Also your hair looks ridiculous

16:18 – Holy shit, sounds like this girl has actually been dealt some shitty cards. She’s way out of their naïve little league

16:46 – WacNordo. That’s a new one!

And Done

Oof, Hikki fucks up royally in the end. I’m surprised I didn’t expect his reaction – his self-loathing is definitely strong enough, and his awareness of others’ motives and emotions poor enough, that he’d interpret things this way. This is how character dramas of this kind should be written – not based on random outward conflicts, but on the inherent ways different people bounce off each other and eventually come to some understanding. And I appreciate the more honest articulation of his viewpoint at the end there – to someone with few friends, the lightly intended kindness of acquaintances can certainly create some brutal expectations.

My feelings on the actual conflict of this episode kinda mirror the ones I had for this week’s Maou – it was one of the funnier episodes, and it used the side characters to great effect, but it wasn’t that focused on the things that make this show incredibly smart and unique. While the episode did finally push Hikki out of his new stasis, and resolve the dog thing in very solid fashion that leaves room for great dramatic possibilities, I don’t think it used Silver’s conflict to really illuminate all that much – the points about siblings just weren’t that insightful, and while there were a number of hints at Yuki’s family problems throughout (her discomfort at the study meeting, knocking over the glass, her ‘that I understand’ response to Hikki’s ‘siblings are like closest strangers’ line), they were mainly just setting the groundwork for dramatic turns to come. Like Maou, I think this episode just had too much larger storytelling work to do to stand perfectly straight on its own – but I also think we’re really in it now. The status quo of the first act has been broken; things are gonna start moving faster for our lovable misanthropes.

So yeah, not my favorite episode, but I think it was a necessary one plot-wise, and I get the feeling this was the last of the character-building, semi-autonomous weekly conflicts. It’s kind of funny, because at this point, the things I’m picking at are more flaws that might prevent it from being the best possible high school romantic comedy, and less things that impress me – the status quo is me being incredibly impressed at all times, and that’s a pretty great place to be.

Hataraku Maou-sama! – Episode 5

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Alright. Last episode was my favorite yet. Least funny, but still my favorite, since the show it hinted at seems amazing – a tongue-in-cheek yet still withering satire of capitalism and class structure starring a pair of the upper class who are finally learning what working class really means. That is an awesome show in the making. But is it the show I’m actually watching? Let’s find out.

Episode 5

2:03 – And a new OP, emphasizing how fully they’ve tricked me into finding all these characters endearing and adorable. Curse you, Demon King.

2:45 – A point for everyone who predicted the Priest would turn out evil.

3:45 – Maou is far too genre-savvy to be defeated by such an obvious monologue, evil priest

6:16 – So their source of power is a literal inversion of power corrupting people – by causing corruption they gain power. Cute

7:02 – He’s creating energy through the melodramatic despair of a teenage girl? I’m sure I’ve heard that somewhere… hmmm…

10:37 – And as this show is happy to point out, time doesn’t actually stop out when the camera zooms in on your interior battle-analysis monologue

15:30 – I like how Maou is taking to heroism with the exact same gusto as pepper fries.

18:35 – This episode is pretty seamless and perfect, so most of what I’d be commenting on would just be how great all the jokes are this episode. “Maou… at least… remember to get the discount on the first of the month…” “Nah, can’t conquer the world, way too many shifts this month,” etc. They’re laying it on thick this episode, and it’s awesome

18:57 – AND AGAIN. “Lucifer… you found a girl’s wallet and actually went through it? Disgusting.” as the camera pans to the bridge he was attempting to drop on hundreds of innocent people

21:10 – Eh, a little graceless expositing here to clear up the last couple plot loose ends from this arc. This show has a little bit of a problem with that

And Done

Huh. Well, the ending there was a bit clumsy, considering the characters they introduced/mysteries they started and then immediately had to clear up for a clean ending to what I assume was the first light novel. They also didn’t really build off the things I found most interesting about the last episode – but again, this was a big climactic finish to the action stuff, so that’s not surprising. As far as what the episode did do, I thought the mix of drama and humor here was extremely well done – definitely the funniest episode since the first two, and the dramatic stakes of the fight were well defined, with satisfying heroic turns from all our heroes. It was propulsive and exciting and a ton of fun.

The sudden ending to every foreshadowed element so far kind of jarringly reminded me of the nature of light novel adaptations – since it’s been so consistently a single well-told story so far, it was awkward to be reminded that this is actually a series of adventures, and might not all serve to make one larger thematic point. But it’s still a very smartly written and well-paced story, and I only like the characters more every episode. I hope the next set of episodes brings the economic stuff back to the forefront, but it’ll probably be pretty great either way.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge – Episode 5

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Man! Last week I was very busy writing a sloppy-kiss love letter to both Lovecraft and myself, so I didn’t actually comment on any of the things I actually liked. But rest assured, they were there! I liked the episode just descending into that lovely piano part for a full minute or so – most shows are too frenetic about their pacing to let a moment simply breathe, and I thought that song was honestly a much more natural fit for this show’s lighting and color choices than the usual histrionic Greek choir and death-organs. I liked the (admittedly unintentional) parodies of classic high school reconciliation scenes with the fish-woman (am I allowed to keep calling her that OOC?). And mainly, as always, I liked how goddamn weird everything was.

Admittedly, I spend the vast majority of my time laughing at how ridiculous everything is. But it’s… well, it’s sincere, at least. It really does want to tell its alternately bizarre and maudlin little story. Sure, most of the characters are simplistic devices, and the scenario couldn’t make less sense, and the writer’s grasp of storytelling cliches is so inept they almost universally turn into unintentional comedy, and it occasionally seems more of a vehicle for the writer’s sexual hangups than anything else… but I think there’s definitely a kind of honesty there, and I feel the original writer really did care about his endearingly weird little world. And that’s something I can appreciate.

Let’s tear it the fuck apart.

Episode 5

1:23 – I love how for once these standard absurd OP lyrics actually seem literally appropriate. She physically couldn’t move? Sure. His creaking heart could be heard for miles? Yeah, I’ll buy that. No problem.

2:47 – The joke is… boobs? Is… is that a joke? Or is it just boobs because boobs

3:47 – I guess this is fishgirl’s moe impression. Pretty good, I barely noticed her crack-addict eyes

4:45 – Oh man, this is actually great. Remember all that weird adolescent sex stuff that I find so strangely fascinating? Here’s another awesomely resonant parallel – teenagers sneaking off from camp to get all PG-13 together, except here’s it’s to cut her hair because lewd

5:17 – “I can’t wait for tomorrow.” “For the stargazing, or when we *murder the Hair Queen?!?” “The stargazing, of course. The visibility up here is just lovely.”

5:46 – A riding crop?!? Wait, the PIG MASTER?! Damnit Crime Edge, you’re stealing all the best ideas!

6:02 – “Fell victim to the Pig Master.” Welp, I know what my epitaph’s gonna be.

7:02 – Uhh… guuuys… is this… is this even a metaphor any… nope, this is just sex.

8:20 – “Don’t you girls like stars and shit?” Ever the romantic, Kiri-kun

So I’m still unsure what, if anything, this show actually has to say. I joked about it last episode, but it’s just so weird how the main pair use the hair as a metaphor for young love/sex, but everyone else is… well, just actually fucking each other. It’ll be kind of disappointing if there’s never any point aside from, “yay kinky sexy times.” But I guess this is the kinky sexy ride I signed up for…

9:31 – The Hair Queen is thinking about playing the field?!?! So what, Kiri-kun’s her, her manservant? Her hair paramour? Hairamour? Sorry.

11:37 – This actually is a pretty weird choice. Deliberately separating the sex metaphor from their actual relationship… hm. On the one hand, this does open up the door for more hilarious hair-courtship metaphors. On the other, it probably actually implies we’re in for a whole bushel of love triangle bullshit. My excitement is palpable

21:02 – “I was just… wondering what… he was doing tonight.” Time from prediction of cliched plot device to actual appearance of said plot device: 12 seconds. New record!

12:59 – I was about to ask, “Does the absurd nature of this show make me more or less entertained by these high school rival mundanities?” and then the red-headed upperclassman with a predilection for whips and swinery was introduced to the sound of screeching ridiculous organs and I got my answer

14:09 – “How do we explain their relationship?” “Fuck it, childhood friend ’em.” “But didn’t we just use…” “CHILDHOOD FRIENDS.”

14:51 – Class Pres’s diabolical plan hurtles into action as he callously scolds Kiri for oversleeping

15:20 – Okay, here’s a good way they can use this relationship development. Kiri going in mental circles about their varying expectations about the relationship, and chastising himself for assuming too much? Classic young, tentative relationship material. More of this and I’m totally down with Hair Queen’s fickle, tempestuous ways

16:20 – “They all want the same thing.” I hear that. Real talk with pig-girl.

18:00 – So their plan to kill her involves taking her out into the middle of a lake, pushing her out of the boat,rescuing her, bringing her back to the lodge, and leaving a hurtful note on her door?

Devious

21:20 – This section is playing in some super weird and very sensitive sexual assault space, but it’s definitely heartening that this conflict is currently being entirely handled by Iwai. There’s nothing actually offensive here, she’s actually kicking ass and taking names… and it’s kind of amazing to me that Crime Edge of all shows is providing a positive example of female agency and her right to control her own body. Full of surprises!

And Done

Well, shit! I’m legitimately excited to see what happens next. So I guess we kinda know the structure now – it’s basically a series of shonen battles against various Author/Insteads and their sexy, sexy Goods. I can’t believe no one thought of this completely batshit insane idea before now!

By the way, to anyone disappointed I didn’t try some new bizarre formatting experiment this week, I offer my sincerest apologies.

See you next week.

On Katawa Shoujo as a Theoretical Anime

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Question:

Which work from another medium would you like to see animated?

Bobduh:

People ask this question pretty regularly, enough so that I eventually decided to do a little thought experiment for whenever it came up again. So here’s my unrealistic, fantasy-world proposal. I guess there’s light spoilers regarding dramatic structure? Anyway.

Design Proposal for a Katawa Shoujo Adaptation by Kyoto Animation

Pitch:

Katawa Shoujo, the recent English-language visual novel, has managed to develop a substantial and passionate fan base in the Western world. It’s distinctive in the thoughtful treatment of its concept, the acuity of its writing, and the diverse and relevant themes presented throughout. Though there are significant hurdles presented in successfully adapting this work, I believe an adaptation which captures the spirit of the visual novel would further bolster KyoAni’s reputation as a creator of emotionally resonant and deeply personal young adult stories.

Immediate thoughts:

The title would obviously have to be changed, as it’s by its nature offensive in the original Japanese. More critically, I believe an adaptation of this title would have to address the fundamental narrative failing of most visual novel adaptations – the consolidation of multiple storylines into a single linear narrative. In order to maintain romantic pacing and integrity of character writing, I propose a new solution – separate the central protagonist, Hisao, into five separate characters to reflect the five separate routes, and reorganize the five narratives so they interweave with each other while all progressing as separate love stories.

I believe there are generally two hurdles that prevent this approach. First, the tendency to characterize visual novel protagonists as blank slates, in order to aid audience surrogacy. I believe Katawa Shoujo lacks this problem – in fact, in my experience, the five routes each make use of a substantially different Hisao, with different desires, hangups, and personalities.

Secondly, it requires substantial rewriting and reorganizing of the visual novel content. This cannot be avoided – I believe it is the necessary price to pay if we wish to make a show that will stand the test of time.

One last thought – the broadening of the story into one larger narrative presents a few opportunities of perspective, with the largest being the potential to shift the Shizune narrative closer to Misha’s perspective. Considering her emotional arc is already the key conflict of the route, I believe holding closer to her perspective would improve the dramatic consistency of that line, along with offering the opportunity for a more meaningful exploration of gender identity. Something to consider.

Further planning:

As a strict adaptation is not advisable for this work, further thought must be put into the successful transfer of the original’s strength to the animated medium. A brief outline of those strengths might contain:

Organic Writing: Perhaps more than anything else, the core emotional resonance of Katawa Shoujo is derived from the utterly believable and naturalistic dialogue of the protagonists. Not all this writing can be conserved, nor should it – but the need for subtle and naturalistic pacing to match this dialogue’s emotional rhythm necessitates adapting this work as a two-season show. Consider the pace as slightly more propulsive than Hyouka, but applied to a work that’s attempting to fully execute five separate love stories.

Thematic Resonance and Acuity: The deft treatment of disabilities, as well as the way the source moves beyond that to actually be more concerned with themes of human connection, power structures in relationships, our various ways of dealing with our pasts, and emotional honesty, is another remarkable strength of the source. Here, we simply should adapt the best we can – these strengths underline the core conflicts of the narrative, and are virtually impossible to lose in translation.

Frank and Empathetic Depictions of Relationships in All Stages: Here we run into a more difficult question. Can the adult content be excised from the text without diminishing it? My response is a resounding no – not only are the game’s frank treatments of sexuality one of its greatest strengths, but the ways these events are woven into the narrative make them virtually unavoidable in the majority of the storylines. Only Shizune’s route contains adult content that seems to veer into titillation – all other such scenes further our understanding of the characters, provide crucial narrative turns, and exist as some of the most honest and touching moments of the narrative. They will be handled tastefully, and with much greater restraint than the game, but they will stay.

Regarding “depictions of relationships in all stages,” the game’s narrative actually provides some assistance here. Not all the stories operate on the same timeline – for instance, the narrative arc of Hanako’s route concludes in the interim between acts two and three of Lilly’s, and the scattered events of Shizune’s route could be rearranged virtually at will to better enable a steady rise and fall of the various dramas throughout. The various narrative experiments of the text (the even-handed positivity and maturity of Lilly’s route that is only rarely interrupted by narrative conflict, the continuous rise of narrative tension in Hanako’s route to one single emotional peak) will hopefully lend themselves well to the intermingling of narrative arcs this adaptation will require.

As a brief initial proposal, Emi and Hanako’s storylines might possibly hit more of their narrative beats in the first season, with Lilly’s and Shizune’s stretching from this period throughout the second season (though obviously not removing Emi and Hanako’s arcs – as I said, a positive portrayal of already-existing relationships is one of the great strengths of this work, and the anime adaptation offers further opportunity to explore a romantically healthy slice-of-life emotional space), with Rin’s progressing the slowest and her art exhibition and the aftermath perhaps offering a final gathering of the characters and last dramatic resolution.

Final Thoughts:

Obviously, successfully adapting such a sensitive text is always a risky proposition, and both the changes necessary and the changes that can’t be made further complicate this adaptation. However, I believe that in light of the source material, the final result could easily stand as an artistic pillar of both our studio and the medium itself. This challenge is a risk worth taking.