Author Archives: Bobduh

Bakemonogatari – Episodes 9 and 10

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Nadeko’s OP is my clear favorite of the season (though the Fire Sisters both kill it dead).

So, as I mentioned in the last discussion, I wasn’t actually planning on rewatching this after having watched the whole series so recently. But as SohumB pointed out in the last thread[1] , these Nadeko episodes play in a really weird sexual space that has definite relevance to my thoughts on Nise – so I’m watching that pair specifically to see what I think.

And my first impression, only a few minutes in, is that the cinematography in this show is much more often interested in pacing than Nise’s constant emotional inference – though obviously both are still in effect, many of the shots seem designed more to keep the visual narrative constantly flowing than to impart a great deal of context.

“Being kind to everybody is irresponsible, after all” – now I actually do want to watch the whole series again, in search of all the ways they articulate variations on this theme. Making one of the core narrative issues of the harem genre a core, overt characteristic of this very self-aware show’s protagonist is one of the greatest successes of this series.

Alright, here’s the scene, Nadeko in the bedroom.

Hm. It’s tricky to say exactly how this scene is supposed to be played – there are a lot of variables involved. Yeah, it’s partially Araragi’s perspective. Yeah, it’s partially also just this season’s more jumpy and propulsive style of visual storytelling. And importantly, this scene also serves a lot of narrative purpose that needs to be conveyed visually – the actual, narrative plot of this scene is her revealing the curse on her body, so a great deal of the visual storytelling is dedicated to clarifying what’s actually happening in the story. Most of what I was discussing in Nise basically contrasted the visual storytelling against the narrative storytelling – here, they’re kind of too muddled together to be playing off each other.

In the next episode, it seems more overtly clear that Araragi’s deeply uncomfortable with this situation, but is maintaining the banter of 9 and the exposition of 10 to keep it from getting any weirder than it has to be.

Hm… that WIDESCREEN scene where she’s getting dressed is questionable. The argument could be made that it’s designed to reflect Nadeko’s sense of vulnerability – but if that’s true, I don’t think it did a great job of it. The fact that they’re lampshading it with the “Widescreen” breaks in the first place leads me to think it’s just pointing out fanservice while unabashedly presenting it.

Maybe this whole arc is supposed to be uncomfortably voyeuristic – it definitely comes across that way to me. The way they emphasize Nadeko’s clear discomfort in 9 supports that interpretation, too.

I wasn’t sure before, but it seems like Nadeko’s “attempting to remove the curse only made things worse” might intentionally reflect Hanekawa’s “trying to help everybody will come back to haunt you.” This idea is also pretty ridiculously overt during Nise’s Karen Bee. And Araragi’s barely-remembered interactions with young Nadeko causing long-lasting unintended emotional consequences is yet another reflection of it.

Araragi drawing attention to the pain of her scales causing her even more discomfort – another scene playing with her unwilling vulnerability during this arc.

And now, with the school swimsuit (can’t believe I didn’t remember that), I’m even more confident this arc is definitely playing with the expectations of this kind of show, and how the kind of voyeurism they normally represent would actually relate to characters who you’re supposed to treat as human beings. In fact, this seems like a more blunt reaction to standard fanservice than most of Nise does – while that goes beyond mere criticism and begins to address positive ways cinematography can address sexuality, these episodes are basically saying, “here’s one of those young girls you like seeing dressed up and stripped down so much. Look how much she’s enjoying what you’re doing to her”

Hah, I really like the use of a music-box rearrangement of Nadeko’s theme for this climactic scene.

It’s interesting that the kind of affection she has for Araragi isn’t just standard romance – in the scene she reminisces about, she is fawning over the ways he’s taken care of her. Remind anybody of anything? Yeah, she’s positioning herself as a moe object.

“And now we’re torturing her. You like that? This still getting you off?”

This episode’s brutal.

Ironically enough, this theme of Araragi’s helpful nature being an obsessive and unhealthy thing was something I was always hoping Clannad would actually bring up – hell, that show even had plenty of already-existing motivation for a complex like that, in the presence of Tomoya’s father as an example he’d be rebelling against.

Okay, those two episodes were really interesting. I think the ways it worked as a meta-commentary on sexuality and storytelling in anime wasn’t as tightly woven into the actual emotional/narrative story of the show as it is throughout Nisemonogatari, but it definitely wasn’t as interested in subtlety in general – these episodes came across as legitimately angry, and creator passion is pretty much as satisfying to me as character passion.

These episodes seem, in a wide variety of very overt ways, to be about the kind of voyeurism that’s often taken for granted in anime, and how that informs the viewer’s “relationship” with characters, and what that actually means in a human sense. The “widescreen” scene that begins episode 10 is the only one that resembles the traditional voyeurism of fanservice – in episode 9, she’s aware she’s being watched, and is deeply uncomfortable and ashamed because of it. In episode 10, they frame her exorcism in one of the most classically anime-fanservice tropes there is (the school swimsuit), and then take it a step too far, and then take it ten steps too far, seemingly all to make the viewer aware of their own reactions to this kind of material. It’s crazy stuff, and I don’t think it comes across as entirely natural (thus my recollection of these episodes as playing in weird sexual space that seemed somewhat unrelated to the narrative/emotional goals of the characters), but it’s certainly a strong and fiercely articulated argument.

Aku no Hana – Episode 3

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Welp, time to feel a little bit worse about our fundamental human nature, I guess.

Aku no Hana can make twenty-three minutes seem like an awfully long, uncomfortable time. Can you imagine watching this show straight through? Hell, can you imagine owning the DVDs, and then just casually suggesting you and some friends sit down for a little anime? This show is a dangerous commodity.

But also a great one. That first episode rode perfectly on creeping tension and atmosphere, and the second one dragged us uncomfortably far into Our Hero’s tortured, claustrophobic, adolescent mind. Now he’s formed some kind of hellish contract with Nakamura, and has possibly ruined his social life and chances with his Muse regardless. Kasuga now lives in a nightmare realm of fear and shame, his last threads of dignity held in the grasp of an inscrutable demon-girl. Why this isn’t the breakout romcom of the season, I’ll never know.

Episode 3

0:30 – Maybe they do break with the tone of everything else, but I fucking love Kasuga’s wild-man screams. They’re obviously funny, but I think they also kind of point to the inherent disconnect between his florid, romanticized inner monologue and the actual world he’s living in and experiences he’s living through. You can frame your problems as the last cries of a tortured soul all you want, but you’re still just a kid wailing because people are gonna make fun of you

0:54 – Also probably good to leave the humor at the beginning, so it doesn’t break the tone elsewhere – I think the intro does something pretty similar. So far, the tone has been maintained so well that I hadn’t really considered the show might be thinking on a level above that tone and that world, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for it

4:30 – Couple things. First, the background art for this show continues to be spectacular. Beautiful in a tired, semi-decrepit kind of way – much like the rotoscoping, it’s just realistic enough to outline all the faults and ugliness of the real world to a level approaching the grotesque. Second, now I’m a bit more confident the show is playing with the protagonist’s perception of his conflicts – the disconnect between his panic and all the oblivious people around him seems to be directly indicating the distance between his mental state and the real world

6:10 – Nakamura’s actress has a fantastic “inspecting a strange and mildly interesting insect” default expression

6:52 – Still loving how the show uses that tower shot of the school as a kind of chapter title page

7:02 – Here’s a great example of what they’ve done with the backgrounds – virtually every element of this building has been reproduced perfectly, but then painted over with what looks almost like a watercolor speckling of mud. Like the whole world’s been neglected and has started to decay

12:00 – Goddamn, he was so close! But now it’s easier to fall in with her enabling influence – easier for him to believe his interior world really has some relation to the real world, that he is something truly different from everyone else.

Now he be fucked

13:38 – Why worry if they see, Kasuga? You’re better than them. You’re different

I was worried the writing wouldn’t be good enough, but so far this show’s thematic darkness is doing pretty well to hold up to the incredible aesthetics

16:21 – Ugh, this is brutal. They each want such fucked up forms of affirmation from the other. This show

And Done

I really love that trick with the ED over the fading final scene, and I think it’s a good example of the very distinct and difficult line the show walks regarding drama versus melodrama. While the tone virtually always absolutely supportive of Kasuga’s interior world, the show seems aware he’s living in a very personal, heightened reality, and that the actual reality is a quite different place. Not sinking entirely into his world while still respecting it and making you empathize uncomfortably with it is a ridiculous tough balance to strike, and I don’t think it’s always perfect, but I think it’s still doing an incredibly good job. Plus, all the visuals, the music, the voice acting, the non-voice acting… everything else remains stellar. The only question left is whether this story is worthy of all this meticulous artistic prep work – sure, it’s already an incredibly strong tone piece, but I’m excited to find out what this story really has to say

-edit- I didn’t comment on it at the time, but since finishing this episode, I’ve kept mulling over that multi-second frozen pause around 19:40. What effect is that supposed to create? Calling it animator laziness is lazy criticism – this show’s direction is too purposeful for that, and even if they wanted to cut corners, they could easily do it in less obvious ways, or just frame the shot differently. So what’s the actual intent of that frozen shot? I’m still unsure

OreGairu – Episode 3

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This show is stressing me out.

With Crime Edge, I know it’ll be terrible, and that’s what I’m there for. With Aku no Hana, I’m fairly sure it’ll be great, but I’m not emotionally invested, so it doesn’t really matter to me if it spins off the wheels. With Gargantia, I trust Urobuchi enough to know he’s not gonna fuck up.

With OreGairu?

I love this show. I have love love loved those first two episodes. But I have no way of knowing if it’s going to fall apart. And as the hour approaches, I find myself praying, “Please be good. Please, please, please be good. I want you to be good so badly.” Because goddamn do we ever need more shows like this. So one last time, OreGairu, please – continue to be this smart, continue to be written this well, and continue to explore both the vicious truth of young insecurity and the heartwarming passion and humanity that lies beneath it.

Please. Give me this one, at least.

Episode 3

0:43 – I always feel weird praising this show for its incredibly believable inner monologue, because really, the reason I find it so believable is that it almost perfectly represents a Younger Me. Applauding yourself for the combination of variables you’ve combined to excuse yourself from effort while still appearing eager to participate? Yeah. I’ve been there.

1:35 – Once again, mere minutes into the episode, I ask myself, “Why was I worried?” “Walls are a part of youth.” Profound wisdom from Best MC

3:30 – A nice little humanizing moment for Hiki here, enjoying a moment to himself where he doesn’t have to be on the defensive. Of course, all his actions humanize him – his motives and insecurities are transparent in all of his actions (kind of like “wall of Jericho” Asuka in that way – another one of my favorite written characters). But it’s nice to see him get to relax

4:15 – Wow, she’s got her Yuki impression down

4:20 – I like how Yuki’s easily-provoked competitive streak fits in so well with her superiority complex. It’s nice when personality quirks and deeper insecurities mirror each other like that

5:33 – Car accident. Our second clue, to accompany that flashback when Hiki saw the dog last episode

6:07 – “You’re making me blush, EHEHEHE.” I love how when Hiki’s engaged in conversation in a positive way, he reverts to that, “More like hot AND humid, AMIRITE?” artificial positivity

8:46 – Yuki’s anger seems far more deeply felt than Hiki’s. I can’t wait to see more honesty out of her

9:35 – I think it was xRichard in the last thread who mentioned a fear this show would become too “problem of the week” to maintain its initial strength? I think that concern’s valid, but I also think that, even more so than last episode, this episode has been expanding our understanding of the main trio while also containing a side story. I don’t have a problem yet, but this could certainly happen

10:50 – I really like that they didn’t feel the need to reintroduce our Chuuni friend – he just happened to be around, so he hung out with them for a while, and it wasn’t a big thing

12:00 – Hiki’s fighting back! I suppose he feels more confident with a few people already on his side

15:10 – “Worst case scenario: I’ll have to get serious.” Yeah, you don’t have any Chuuni instincts whatsoever, Hiki

15:42 – “I guess self-deprecation creeps people out if you don’t know them well enough.” Yep! That one took me a little while too

16:46 – “Though a certain someone calls me ‘The Ice Queen’… not like I care or anything.” Ah, youth

18:10 – “RAZE THEM TO THE GROUND!” I think I’m gonna like having this guy around

19:22 – “Lunch break will be over soon… usually I’d be in my favorite spot.” That same ocean breeze rustles his hair, and he smiles. See, this episode wasn’t about the side arc at all – it used that to create a concise little narrative arc about Hiki, and further develop the relationships between the main characters.

This is also just a well-crafted trick – the callback makes sense, along with the wind he unreservedly appreciates revealing his ultimately more optimistic nature.

And Done

Welp, it’s still doing it. At this point, the initial shock of a high school romantic comedy that treats smart, negative people as human beings has somewhat worn off, and I’m just enjoying how well these characters are written, how nicely they bounce off each other, and Hiki’s all-star narration. I like the various tones his narration took this episode – there was his default “I know high school sucks, but whatever” shield tone, there was his unshielded mini-ode to his favorite spot, there was the heightened, chuuni-recalling “high school sucks, and I’m a hero for surviving it” when he actually got passionate about the game and let his guard down, and there were his bitter, unguarded remarks towards the perfectly reasonable guy he was using as a stand-in for all the people who never thought to include him. This show knows this guy, and cares about him, but it never romanticizes him. And it’s smart enough to make sure that all comes through.

Maybe next week I won’t be so terrified it’ll all fall apart.

Kakumeiki Valvrave – Episode 2

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I don’t always (in fact, I don’t often) agree with them, but I think Cart Driver[1] pretty much had Valvrave’s number regarding that first episode. The most blandly anime anime in the anime kingdom. I ain’t doing a real writeup for this, but you might as well know beforehand that my current expectations won’t be tough to exceed.

Episode 2

1:30 – Wow, I am impressed. Shooting a gun out of your subordinate’s hands… without looking at him… from behind your back… while lying prone on the ground.

Fuck, I said I wasn’t going to do a real writeup. Well, I still won’t. Starting now.

2:04 – I love those custom anime guns that only graze people’s noses, and never actually scar or, god forbid, kill them.

Goddamnit I’m doing it again.

2:09 – Goddamn this fucking gun! Why will it perfectly disarm an opponent when fired behind the back while lying down, but only graze my target’s shoulder when I hold it in both hands while looking straight at him??!!

2:41 – AHAHAHAHAH THEY SWITCHED BODIES?!?! Oh my god that’s beautiful

3:42 – This generic-ass OP. At least Geass had, “I CON-TIN-UE TO FIGHT! I CON-TIN-UE TO FIGHT!” to entertain me

4:04 – It is at this moment, watching a parade of color-coded neon robots present their glowing phallic symbol-weapons, that I realize this show is Not Going To Be For Me. But hey, I’m already sitting in this chair, can’t stop now.

4:27 – Gawd, so many fucking characters in this OP. There’s definitely a specific audience type this sort of thing caters to – it’s like a lesser version of Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, where the sheer volume of data the world contains is for some reason very compelling to a certain audience. It’s not my thing, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with it – it just makes tight storytelling and pacing/emotional beats that much harder (but not impossible) to pull off.

5:10 – “I’m the boss in this school, shitheads” – he’s exaggerating, but it wouldn’t actually surprise me for the superintendent of their school system to be a fourteen year old loli.

5:15 – Finally, someone discovers a use for those goddamn pistols – just hit people in the head with them

…as I typed “them” in that sentence, OpenOffice auto-corrected to “thematically.” Not sure how I feel about that

5:53 – Using his rocks-paper-scissor skills to test his identity is actually a pretty cute gag. That writer has earned their salary

6:26 – “The body doesn’t forget how to fight” – so it’s Bourne Identity – Bishie Edition.

7:30 – Is the show expecting any of this political nonsense to resonate in any way? Oh! That’s another issue I have with the “raw data” worldbuilding style – unless you set your conflicts in personal or thematically resonant terms, they have a tendency to be emotionally sterile. I don’t inherently care whether the Jibberjabbians successfully defeat the Zamafloovians – either your points have to resonate with something real, or your characters have to be people I care about

7:55 – So this guy’s Geass power is… shooting people with a gun

On the other hand, it’s actually pretty intense that a default wishy-washy high school protagonist just straight-up murdered two people and justified it as necessary casualties of war. Perhaps this guy is more entertainingly crazy than I thought

8:52 – Okay, who’s got the gif of Our Hero belly-diving the scientists from a helicopter and landing with his foot in that guy’s face?

10:18 – Alright, that actually is a pretty sweet Geass, I have to admit. I’d be more excited with the narrative possibilities if the OP weren’t so dedicated to robots fighting pew pew, but I guess that’s the kind of things OPs naturally highlight, so maybe this will actually be more fun than I thought

13:07 – Blitzendegen… so these guys are literally space Germans.

…fine.

15:50 – Isn’t there like, an entire armada watching as these teenagers deal with their hormonal betrayal issues? Do they have any thoughts on these proceedings?

16:07 – Oh FUCKING REALLY? SHE’S ALIVE? As if giant robot shows didn’t have low enough stakes already

18:26 – L-Elf was so moved by Hero’s tears for his lady love that he decided to actually help him defeat his own cause? I… guess that makes as much sense as anything else that’s happened

21:45 – And he sidesteps the love confession. Welp, that completes my anime cliché bingo sheet. In fact, that completes the entire fucking grid. I’m done. Episode paused, episode closed. Packing up. Going home.

Finally Done

Final thoughts: Why.

Okay, so I gotta think about this show that way, then. In that case, I’d say this show is actually a lot less enjoyable than Crime Edge – although it’s equally terrible, it’s terrible in a much more routine, polished way, and not in the delightfully weird and sex-obsessed way Crime Edge happens to be. This show is just like the Platonian ideal of highly budgeted generic bullshit. It is anime as written by fairly stupid robots

On the Value of Visual Uniqueness

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Question:

Is it worth pursuing a unique visual style even if it adds nothing to the narrative, or does it simply amount to crying for more attention from “sophisticated” viewers?

Bobduh:

I think there are a couple different arguments that could be made here, and the topic is, as you admit, a broad and ambiguous one.

First, there’s the argument that many people have made here and that seems true to me – in a visual medium, there is no such thing as a visual style that exists outside of the narrative. It always affects the viewer’s experience, and thus the best visual style should be the one that best services the needs and goals of the show. If that is a style that will be labeled “pretentious” by some, so be it – it’s only actually pretentious if it really does somehow work counter to the show’s own goals, and thus is being misused and its effect misunderstood.

But I think you could also make the argument that most anime following such similar visual standards is basically a failing of creativity, and that the only reason these styles come across as so intentionally provocative is because there just aren’t enough shows that experiment and take risks with their visual storytelling. I can respect the need for works that try bold ideas and fail, because it is the shows like that which lay the groundwork for future successes incorporating those bold ideas. OP raised an interesting point about how the history of anime has guided visual and storytelling standards to the point of polish we’ve currently reached, and that makes some sense to me, but I feel there is ample room for other, wildly different visual styles and standards that also achieve those effects, or at least that the pursuit of alternatives is a valuable one. So even in shows that don’t necessarily use their unique visual style to greatest narrative/thematic effect, I can see something valuable, because I consider them trailblazers who are feeling out the future potential for narrative and thematic resonance that only these kinds of experiments can discover.

Not only that, but as IssacandAsimov noted in his discussion with BrickSalad, there is (though this isn’t necessarily true of anyone here specifically, I’m just speaking generally) definitely a tendency to ascribe some provocative intent to unusual visual styles, which I frankly feel is unfair to the shows that use them. Obviously these styles are often used to create some specific effect, but I feel the starting assumption within the audience that they are aspiring to be some different kind of art can damage their effectiveness – it’s like the audience has less trust in the show, and expects it to have to prove itself, because it has started with an art style outside of the norm.

On a related note, someone raised Aku no Hana as an example, and that brought an interesting thought to mind – the specific value novelty and unfamiliarity can bring to a show. Obviously Aku no Hana creates its mood through every element of its production, but I feel one distinctive component of that is the fact that its visual style is something people are not very used to – they are not familiar with seeing characters regularly portrayed in this way, and so they are immediately put at a comfort-level disadvantage. This effect would not exist if shows like this were more common, and Aku no Hana would be less effective as a mood piece for it.

I think the point I’m stabbing at here is more communicable through using comedy as an example. A necessary component of comedy is novelty – jokes that are familiar lose their power, and humor is very often derived from undercutting expectations, which is not a repeatable trick. Comedians constantly have to chart new “storytelling” terrain, because the demands of their art requires a constant influx of novelty. Obviously this is not necessarily the case within visual storytelling (Aku no Hana only works so well as an example because part of its goal is to remove the viewer from their comfort zone), but I think it’s an interesting result of the pursuit of new visual storytelling methods that’s worth being conscious of. As well as the opposite effect – that the standard methods of visual representation used by so many anime result in a constant feeling of “safety” or “familiarity” that complements or contrasts with everything else the show is trying to do. Many shows take advantage of this effect, or deliberately use it to thwart expectations, as people here have noted. Shows like Madoka or Evangelion take it the step further of presenting both that visual style and a familiar starting narrative framework, but I think that standard visual style by itself isn’t truly neutral, and can carry its own set of expectations.

Management: This was a discussion question raised on TrueAnime, and my response only really scratches the surface of the directions you could take this. BrickSalad and IssacandAsimov go incredibly deep on the topic of subjectivity in art evaluation, and their back and forth was both very illuminating and partially the reason I didn’t really touch the subject myself. I mean, you’ve all seen my style of critique – I clearly fall pretty far on the “art is not a wholly subjective experience, and in fact is most often a craft that can be judged just like any other – a show will sink or float based on its structural integrity just as easily as a boat will” end of the spectrum.

I think one of the main takeaways of my wandering points, which I should have made more explicit in my original response, is that the fact that non-standard art styles immediately connote specific intentions in the viewer’s mind makes the application of those art styles almost doomed to failure, because the average viewer will be spoiling the actual intent of that artistic choice by automatically assigning their preconception of what artistic choices like that say about what kind of story the work is to that piece of art. And it seems to me like the only solution here is to be utterly unbiased in your approach to any media object (hah), or for the medium to reach the point where unique art styles are so ubiquitous that they no longer carry the pretension baggage they currently do.

Hataraku Maou-sama! – Episode 3

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Hataraku Maou-sama!

I get the feeling this will be the last episode of setup for this very smartly written comedy. So far we’ve established our base conceit, we’ve grounded our four characters in their world, and we’ve begun to explore the various dynamics between them. The foundations of a classic sitcom are all there – the animosity and begrudging respect between Maou and Yusa, the seemingly obvious rivalry between Asriel and Yusa, the constant shifting between hero-worship subservience and mother hen disapproval between Asriel and Maou, and the fawning respect Sasaki shows Maou. Based on that info, the only dynamics really left to establish are those between Sasaki and the rest of the cast – and would you look at that, the preview for this episode implied Maou and Sasaki are going on some kind of date. That promises some comedy, as Maou’s dead-serious commitment to his new life always does – but the other classic side of this weathered sitcom chestnut is the group of friends sneaking along “for his own good.” Will we get Asriel and Yusa bonding over how Sasaki isn’t good enough for their precious/hated Maou?

See, that’s the thing – a lot of the jokes and situations here are pretty reliable standards, but the characters are written so wittily and affectionately, and the execution of the jokes is so top-notch, that it just doesn’t matter. It’s like a jazz riff on a classic progression – we’re not here for the melody, we’re to watch excellent artists show us their take on it. Let’s get to it.

Episode 3

1:25 – Those action cutaways of Maou putting on his MgRonald’s hat and apron are a pretty great elevator pitch for this entire show.

2:12 – I kind of appreciate the fact that the whole OP being reused show footage means they put every single goddamn dollar into the actual production.

2:30 – Eva trick turned industry standard #754 – bad memories always find people in the bath

3:39 – “Sure, I don’t have a shift. Let’s talk!” Normally this kind of plucky male obliviousness is a symptom of bad writing, but considering Maou still believes capitalism allows for class mobility, from him I can believe it

5:46 – Welp, her certainty it’s a demon makes me pretty certain it’s our wayward Head Priest. A priest wanting to erase both the hero and the demon king… wait, could this show actually be about something?

8:00 – See, you’d think this show is a one-note joke, but it just keeps finding new ways to play with that concept. The main trick is grounding their theatrics in a variety of modern mundanities (meddle with the epic hero… by forcing her to bail them out. Insult Alsiel’s skills at a general… by mocking his inability to maintain a well-stocked refrigerator), but the way the two sides of this coin both bounce so naturally off each other and come up so naturally as part of their conversations and characters is just really nice stuff

8:30 – Acting tsundere about her right to kill Maou before anyone else does. I think someone invented that harem comedy in a thread here…

9:20 – Omigod we get a fashion montage of Alsiel dressing up Maou for his date. GET OUT OF MY HEAD, SHOW

11:54 – And here we finally are. Yusa runs into Alsiel shadowing them on the date – perhaps the entire point of this episode. Savor it

12:46 – Goddamn this dynamic is great. Yusa immediately goes from blistering rage at what evil deeds her nemesis may be planning, to resigned disappointment that his plans include no evil deeds whatsoever

14:33 – “No, waaaait…” as she defiantly… walks through an automatic door.

20:32 – A lot of this isn’t particularly great, but that’s mainly because they’re for some reason using this last quarter for a huge infodump of plot catalysts, as well as to set up the Yusa/Sasaki dynamic. However, I did like the dialogue both in their fight and in Yusa’s light prodding afterwards – which makes sense, since a show that can write characters well enough to make personality-based jokes work should definitely be able to make personality-based drama work too

And Done

Ooh, I really like that twist at the end. Perhaps three episodes in is a little too soon for Maou to get his powers back, but not his old personality – but they’ve skipped months already, and that’s just not what this show is about anyway – it’s about their current selves, not the transition to their current selves, and that’s honestly how I prefer it.

The infodump stuff about trans-world sonar and earthquake magic and blah blah blah was honestly pretty lackluster, but I guess if one artless, humorless exposition-spiel was required to set the board for the rest of the show, I’m fine with that.

Otherwise, the episode was fine. I don’t think it was quite as funny as either of the first two, but I think that’s mainly because Yusa and Sasaki just aren’t as funny as Maou or Asriel, and this episode foregrounded both of them. Hopefully, now that all four leads have been properly introduced, as well as the larger conflict established, the show can settle into a more comfortable groove and fall back on its excellent writing and humor

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge – Episode 3

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Maaan, I had plans for this episode. Seriously, this comedy routine thing is freaking me out. I thought being insightfulwas hard… fuck, being entertaining is a lot of responsibility! So yes, I have a number of more or less entertaining full-episode conceits in the pipeline, and yes, I probably have spent a little too much time prioritizing the entertainment of you, you unappreciative rabble, over admittedly fairly relevant concerns like maintaining employment and striking some semi-artistic mark on the world. But you know what? I’m sorry. Tonight, I visited some new friends in the area, and perhaps partook of an unwise number of questionable beverages. Tonight, I got a little bit selfish, and my much-vaunted objectivity will perhaps suffer as a result. Tonight, I am drunk, and motherfucker this is what you’re getting, like it or not. Give me some fucking

Crime Edge: Episode 3

0:11 – Dear god did I miss this show. If conflating hair maintenance with sex is wrong, I don’t want to be right. And frankly, what kind of callous, coal-hearted man would deny their own proclivity towards sexy grooming? Their hypocrisy has no place in my hair-centric world

0:45 – I have to admit, I’m kind of awed by how well they maintain this hair-sex thing. The fact that my body is conflicted about how sexy this is is proof enough (I hope? I mean, we’re all friends here, right?) that they have some pretty solid understanding of how direction can affect emotional tone

1:59 – This OP makes me wonder if all OPs are this absurd. She stands aloft, stranded on a fern-strewn precipice within a… field of battleaxes? I guess? I don’t know where this joke is going, but fortunately our resident Rei/Asuka-antiheroes are here to present Rei licking Asuka’s arm in a sexy, sexy way, and that’s humor enough for the both of us

2:10 – Just realized Hair Queen is naked during this scene. Can’t wait to get some context on this one

3:05 – I just realized the Hair Queen’s tragic curse exists partially to allow the writers to dress their precious hair-muse in a new hairstyle every week. Honestly, I’m less annoyed with the obviousness of how blatantly pandering this is than the fact that it doesn’t pander to me

3:35 – It’s funny because she was happy before! It’s always encouraging when this show reminds us that it has no idea how to actually be intentionally funny

4:23 – Goddamnit are this show’s unintentional parodies wonderful. Right here, we have the classic “my talent isn’t that great, don’t make a big deal out of it” statement by some secondary character, followed by the “don’t sell yourself short, I think you’re amazing!” statement by our secretly not so secretly godly protagonist. But because this is Crime Edge, the talent they’re comparing is motherfucking hair. Don’t sell yourself short, secondary love interest – your ability to continue growing the hair that inevitably vomits out of your scalp is super fucking impressive! Clearly I have a great deal left to learn!

5:36 – Alright, cut the bullshit Kiri. That hair is nuts and I need to know the truth

6:00 – I’m sorry, but how can I make fun of these scenes? “Her hair is so shiny, like a baby’s… does she have some kind of disease?” This is inherently hilarious. It’s like pointing and laughing at a clown’s red nose and oversized shoes. This show is so ridiculous it is making my job virtually impossible

7:24 – “His Goods is that of a hammer.” Is it the original writer, screenwriter, or translator that is responsible for crimes against humanity like that sentence? Who precisely do I have to kill to make sure that kind of tense disagreement never occurs again?

7:33 – Well, now we’re fucked. If it’d merely been the Sledgehammer of Indiscriminate Maiming, or perhaps the Sledgehammer of Delightfully Ironic Massaging, we’d have been golden. But the Sledgehammer of Crushing Disintegration…

8:33 – Could someone please remind me what any of these fucking Killing Goods have to do with the Hair Queen in the first place?

8:50 – Awww, Junkie Rei’s on their side after all. How heartwarmingly predicable

10:47 – Credit where credit’s due – “her change of clothes” followed by a dramatic bolt of lightning was a pretty effective gag. The less said about the sexytimes horn accompaniment, the better

12:00 – You seem tense. Let me tell you about my terrifying lineage of murder-happy ancestors

13:06 – WTF? Straight-up naked girls? I certainly don’t see how this appeals to my blindingly pure hair fetish. Way to demean your audience, Crime Edge

13:45 – Hair AND nudity? Now THIS is more like it

13:55 – “So this is how it grows – in a series of five Gaussian-blurred frames. Obviously…”

14:47 – On this day, fourteen minutes and forty-seven seconds into the third episode of Crime Edge, the show itself finally realizes hair-cutting is a metaphor for sex. Let this day live in infamy and regret for all of eternity

15:43 – Dear christ, I better close all these doors or the man who obliterated an entire wall of our house will be able to get to us

20:00 – Well goddamn. Alright, I’ll admit it – at its best, this show is the Gurren Lagann of barber empowerment fantasies. That fight scene was hot to death, Crime Edge. Trade off between that and the super-weird, super-intimate hair-sex stuff, and we might really have something here

And Done

Against all odds, this show relentlessly continuous to be Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge. I had my doubts, but they were proven unfounded and frankly predicated on cowardice. At this point, anyone who doubts this show will continue to be Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge should be tried, shot, and hung, preferably simultaneously. If your hair isn’t quivering by now, get your traitorous ass the fuck out of here

In response to the prompt “Why Do You Watch Anime?”

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A few reasons.

First, animation can do things virtually no other visual medium can. The diversity of possible topics, the creativity and depth in which they can be explored, the absolute freedom of any visual representation of any idea, no matter how outlandish or high-concept it might seem… that’s awesome. Many anime could not possibly be translated to any other medium and maintain what makes them great.

Second, anime tends to focus much more sharply on the interior lives of characters than many other media, and I really appreciate that. I enjoy a good plot as much as the next person, but my favorite anime are all about subtle character moments and explorations of what makes people tick.

Third, the best anime often offer combinations of strengths that surpass almost any other media – I’m thinking here of moments where a long-building plot, a strong visual aesthetic, a slowrolled character turn, and a fantastic musical accompaniment all come together to make something incredibly unified and powerful. Moments like (Eva spoilers) this or (FLCL spoilers) this are why anime strikes me so powerfully.

Fourth, I really like “broken” works – works that are flawed in some obvious ways, but also compelling or deeply personal in other ways. There are many anime that could never, ever attract a mainstream audience because of some glaring flaw in immediate storytelling, or a necessary suspension of disbelief, or some strange visual choice – but that clearly demonstrate the singular vision and mind of a quirky and dedicated creator. I prefer my art un-streamlined, and while I can get plenty of this in music and film, anime combines this with the ability to tell a story over a larger time frame and the strengths I’ve already mentioned.

Fifth (I know, sorry), I like the pacing of many anime more than Western media – I like how so many scenes are built out of peaceful establishing shots, how so much is left unsaid in slow conversations, how the environment can often become as much of a character as any single protagonist. The town of Mabase is an intractable part of a show like FLCL – the environment does most of the telling in 5 Centimeters Per Second. To me, this really cements these stories, and makes me feel more a part of the character’s lives than more direct action and telling ever could.

Finally, I just like it. At this point, I’m programmed that way – an adolescence of Toonami, a young adulthood dominated by the visions of Gainax, Watanabe, and Miyazaki, and all the other shows I’ve seen and manga I’ve read along the way have basically conditioned me to feel incredibly comfortable and almost safe watching any new show. There will be things I’ve seen before. There could very easily be a high school that is not all that it seems, containing a somewhat detached student, sighing as he looks out the window from his window seat second from the back. And that’s okay. That seat’s a pretty fun place to be.

TLDR: Because.

HenNeko – Episode 1 (BLOG EXCLUSIVE)

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So I actually did watch HenNeko last night, and even did a full writeup… but then I looked at the discussion thread, and realized this just isn’t the sort of thing anyone there is going to be happy about. So, in lieu of raining on their parade for pretty much no reason, I’ll at least put up my thoughts here. For your consideration:

 

Alright. HenNeko. I…

Well…

Alright. Me and Sakurasou had… disagreements. This is well documented. And honestly, the only JC Staff show I’ve ever been impressed by is Toradora!, and I assume that was basically because the source material was good. But there was good within Sakurasou, and there are clearly talented people working at JC Staff – sure, I’m entering this with some bias, but there is hope as well. And, perhaps most importantly, this season also has OreGairu – I don’t desperately, soul-achingly need another incredible romantic comedy, and so I won’t automatically damn this one for failing to be that thing. I promise to do my best to take what I can get, and accept what this show is actually trying to do.

But I’m still not pulling any punches.

Episode 1

0:35 – Well this is off to a roaring start.

0:58 – Oh dear god the protagonist is Ouma Shu

2:45 – I’ll say this: this show is far more honest in its intentions than Sakurasou was. And with that, it’s looking like I’ll only have two shows to cover on Saturdays. Which is actually kind of a relief.

4:10 – “There are such things as facades and true feelings.” Yes, both of those things do exist. Do you have anything to add, HenNeko? Because OreGairu actually- oh. Oh, that was just a setup to a sex joke. Fair enough

4:52 – I admit, I kinda smiled at “Don’t you remember the promise we made on that day?!”

5:53 – Also, “A dutch wife that was just sitting collecting dust” is good. What a criminal waste!

6:22 – So this is actually “Liar Liar, ecchi romcom edition,” I guess

6:58 – The Benny Hill soundtrack helps make this… well… no, actually, it doesn’t help anything. Nevermind

8:40 – Welp, this show has already exceeded the rapport Sakurasou built between its romantic leads over 24 fucking episodes. Good job I guess

9:45 – So this girl is going to actually magic herself into a kuudere. Well, I guess that’s more realistic than that personality type normally comes across…

11:27 – I guess you can never have enough ___deres

16:40 – I was literally moving to pause and note “Oh wow, it looks like they’re not only using this premise for cheap gags” when he began tickling her. But either way, it does seem like the premise will actually make things happen, and not just be a wacky gimmick entirely. But it’s already pretty clear at this point that this show is pretty much a straight harem comedy, and so it doesn’t actually matter whether anything does anything for the “plot” anyway

18:48 – Okay, if those are the terms we talk about this show on, so be it. A couple of my major problems with this entire genre: the jokes are all ones we’ve heard a million times before, and the characters are all obvious stereotypes, meaning you can’t really care about them, meaning there’s no emotional connection that goes along with the humor. I’m getting all of that here.

20:14 – Why would she even be mad if they did have a relationship? Oh, right, because this is one of those genres where everyone is immediately in love with the protagonist for no reason

And Done

Look, don’t get mad. I was just checking. This show’s a lot more honest than Sakurasou. I can appreciate that. I won’t be taking up any more of your time.

Further Words on Fanservice

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Here’s one of the many interesting exchanges the Nise writeup provoked, on the nature and merit of fanservice, as well as the presumption of evaluating art:

 

OP:

I think the amount of effort you put into this analysis shows. It’s obvious that you like the show quite a bit, and dislike fanservice quite a bit. Maybe this is your way of reconciling the two?

Anyway, I can follow your logic, but I think you’re falling into the trap of trying to attribute things to the director or creator of the show that are purely a product of your mind. Obviously, analysis is about how you viewed the show, but you’re framing it as though you have some kind of special insight into what was going through Shinbo’s mind while the show was in production. You don’t. While I’m sure you enjoyed the show believing what you wrote, I’m just as sure there are fans who enjoyed the show because it had fanservice.

I take issue with the idea that fanservice is bad. Ultimately the point of a show is entertainment value. This can be done through various means. You seem to be saying that some of the means to entertain the viewer are inherently better or truer than others. That using these other means of entertainment is making use of some fault in the viewer, and that any entertainment they provide should not be considered in the show’s actual worth.

Why is one stimulus worth less than another other? Because you said so? Demeaning the audience? Give me a break. You’re the one demeaning various forms of entertainment because they don’t mesh with your rigid ideals.

Regarding the bit you wrote on intimacy, I agree. In fact, I think most fanservice is a sort of emotional porn, and it’s not limited to intimacy. Even if it’s just a character cameo, it’s eliciting an emotional response in the viewer. In fact, I could analyze any scene from any show you consider useless fanservice and contrive some narrative or emotional value from it by projecting my own ideas on to the characters.

Bobduh:

Regarding your first point, all I can say is “there is strong evidence for my theory within the show.” Most scenes support my interpretation, and there are a number of scenes where a character relationship or conversation shifts, and the camera angles used immediately shift to reflect this change. I honestly think it’d be pretty hard to argue the camera choices in this show are totally meaningless.

Second point. When I say fanservice is “bad,” the implication is that it is damaging/irrelevant to the goals of a show. There is nothing wrong with entertainment, but it is certainly not the only possible goal of media – media can seek to inspire, to illuminate, to cause an emotional reaction, to evoke a time and place, etc etc etc. And when a show has a clear artistic purpose, but deviates from that goal to offer some random other commodity to some subset of the audience, it hurts the show.

This sounds like a pretty big and esoteric assumption, so as an example, many shows with random fanservice simply have goals like “make the viewer empathize with these characters and then tell a story with them.” Sure, there are normally other themes in the background, but this is a common base. When fanservice enters a show like that, I dofeel demeaned – it’s like the show is saying, “these characters that we were trying to make you empathize with? They’re objects for your voyeurism now, because that’s what you really wanted.” I don’t like that implication, and I don’t like that the fanservice damaged what the show is trying to do the 95% of the time it’s not being about fanservice – create an emotional investment in these characters. As my original last paragraph regarding this said, if the show doesn’t respect its characters, why should I?

I am not saying portraying sexy things is bad. I am saying a show hurting its own storytelling or themes is bad for that work as a conduit for that story or those themes.

Your last point is an interesting one. I don’t know if it’s possible or justified to say one work is “worth more” than another, but I think it’s easy to say one work is more artistically valuable than another, if we can all agree to respect the standards and metrics of artistic value that have been formulated and refined over hundreds of years. I’m very aware personal taste influences our love of media, and that’s only natural – but I personally respect that there is a difference between things I love because they reflect my media preferences, and things that are extremely successful and praiseworthy as artistic works.

 

Further Clarification on My Definition of Fanservice:

I should probably have included a point in my conclusion that makes it clear I don’t really think this show has much fanservice at all.

“Fanservice” as a term implies something added for the audience that exists outside of the narrative/emotional needs of the story/themes, and since this is a show largely about sexuality and the visual portrayal of relationships, it wouldn’t actually work or say any of the same things if the characters weren’t portrayed the way they were.

“Fanservice” doesn’t even have to be about sex – it’s more like “if this scene/shot were removed, would it negatively effect the story, characterization, themes, or resonance of this work?” If not, it’s probably fanservice. Then again, I should probably replace that “story, characterization, etc…” list with “what this show is trying to do,” because not all shows are interested in that stuff, and sometimes, the fanservice is the point.