(I’m just amazed I didn’t go straight to my Kanon folder for ‘winter pics’)

There’s been some muttering about the winter season being a bit slower than the previous fall, or even summer, with most of the big-name blockbusters being either continuations from seasons past or straight sequels (or sequel-like substances, etc) … or, y’know, licensed.

As such it’s been tricky trying to fill the ever-demanding viewing schedule with new and exciting things, especially for someone that is closed-minded in anime genre; in terms of visual novels, the winter 2008 season is kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel, with H2O, which has been underwhelming so far, and True Tears, which, is, y’know, licensed.

There are many things that could and are being done to remedy this situation: for one, cracking open that stash of KimiNozo / Rumbling Hearts gaining dust somewhere, or two, rewatching an old classic like Cardcaptor Sakura, or simply just staring at the mailbox waiting for Ever17. But rather, I figured I’d do something interesting and likely painful, and give a shot a bunch of random shows from random genres that people have been praising over the months; the kind of shows that get demands to be, y’know, licensed.

As such the last three days have kind of been like a strange icebreaker, or walking around at a party, or something, as I’ve been stepping from one first episode to the next in rapid succession, shaking hands with musicians, genius delinquents, little girls, littler girls, and giant robots. It’s certainly been an interesting exploratory experience, and on the whole it’s been one that’s positive. None of the shows really turned me off, although I would only really actively watch one or two of them. (The obligatory gag is falling a bit dead here, but I feel I have to say…y’know, licensed.)

What follows after the jump is a bunch of twenty-five-minute impressions of five quite acclaimed (or, at the least, talked about) shows from the eyes of someone who has no idea who, why, or what is going on; let it be an exercise in snobbish snickering for the veterans, or perhaps, an eye-opener to a series some of you dismissed blindly.
(I’ve been dying for an excuse to use this ‘alternate universe’ pic)

There’s jumping in the deep end, jumping in the deep end, and then there’s Kodomo no Jikan. For the first show I decided to try on the whim, I had the feeling that I was trying a pretty daring one. After all, it had been bashed as all sorts of lolicon-pandering stuff, featuring a college-age (I’m spot-guessing on this one) teacher and his adventures with his quite disturbing third-grade class. Still, it recieved a lot of backing from people who sound like they enjoy stuff with substance, claiming that it plays off the youth aspect of the main heroines not just for fanservice but also for story as well. And so it was plug your ears, hold your nose, and anything goes, to see what would happen.

Actually, I started with the manga first, a decision that I’m not I’m not sure is a good one or not. I enjoy anime a lot more than I enjoy manga for the most part; this is probably because that, since I read quickly, I tend to skip over a lot of nuances of the series that an anime might make sure I notice. For example, I burned through the first volume (10-odd chapters) of Kojika in less than an hour. Maybe, I guess, manga for me is a bit of a hedging of bets; it’s not as much of a waste of time, but it’s not as flavorful.

I still thought the Kojika manga was decent, but that I should have watched the anime first, since I probably spoiled myself for a few episodes by going with the manga first. Some claim that the anime is inferior, though, and so far I’d have to disagree, for no particular reason than the one that was stated above, as it seemed a pretty faithful adaptation. This may boil down to me watching the DVD version, which had a distinct lack of the whirling censors that supposedly plagued the TV version; personally, I would like to see an episode with it, maybe when I get further into the series, just because I’m the kind of person that enjoys gag censors, which Kojika looks like it might have employed. In addition to, y’know, actual censors.

The material itself wasn’t too bad; there were some moments that got a questionable eyebrow-raise or an awkward cough, but on the whole it wasn’t worse than anything else you’d see in on the dirty end of the harem scale. No nudity, just dirty jokes, and I think the only reason people are being offended is because everyone’s in the single digits (When they flashed the teacher at the end, they were only wearing bloomers as part of a joke, after all). The jokes themselves were hit or miss, there were a few that made me chuckle but it wasn’t drop dead funny like any show devoted to humor.

Serious aspects are all over the board so far; glasses girl got kind of skimmed over in the first episode, and I think the next plot point after that that I’m really looking forward to is the revealing of Rin’s background, which really adds another dimension to the show. As a whole, my judgment on Kojika at the moment is mostly nonplussed; there were a few things that would keep my interest and a few things that would repel me, but neither in enough force to warrant a high-priority entry into the viewing rotation. I think anyone scared that it’s a pedofest should give it a shot to prove themselves wrong, though.

After watching something that appealed at least in part to the lolicons, I decided to swing to the opposite end of thing and watch something that would enthrall guys in a more manly way. It was a show called Akagi, and much like the previous show it was in a genre I was utterly clueless about: the mahjong / gambling genre. Akagi, much like its brethren Kaiji, is a show hailed for its intense, dramatic gambling action, and either loved or hated for its lack of moe, cute things, or probably girls for that matter.

One thing that worried me coming into this show was the fact that I hadn’t so much as touched a mahjong tile in my life, which seemed to prove a high barrier to prevent getting into the show, as opposed to the much more friendly games of Kaiji (rock-paper-scissors and walking in a straight line among them). Additionally, there was a lot of talk about Akagi being a highly different protagonist than Kaiji.

I can’t help but agree with both of these assertions after watching the first episode, which, while decent, I found much less enjoyable than Kaiji. Perhaps I like sympathizing with losers, or people down on their luck more, but I just found Akagi to be kind of cold in comparison. There is a bit of a thrill to watching ‘just as planned’ moments go off - why I like watching the James Bond movies and the like where everything falls into place in grandiose fashion - but the emotional connection found in Kaiji is just something that can’t be beat. Akagi, as a cheater, a cold-hearted delinquent, and probably a Japanese gangster as well, just doesn’t really click at the moment.

Plus, how the narrator makes him sound greater-than-life is just off-putting as well. I don’t want to believe that he is God, I want to believe that he is human, perhaps an above-average one, but a real person. Maybe Akagi will show another side, or part of it, later on in the show, but right now he’s colder and more inanimate than a block of ice.

Likewise, watching the mahjong terms get banded about in this episode didn’t help the flow of things, but I have a feeling that I could at least learn a bit about the game if I continued on, so I won’t fault the show for this.

Akagi, if it has the epic moments like Kaiji tends to have, certainly could turn out to be an enjoyable show, but without the emotional moments, I don’t know if it can be a great one. I might continue watching this show in hopes that things improve - both the track record and the show itself do have a high measure of potential - but it’s pretty uncertain at the moment.

Nodame Cantabile, a show I can’t pronounce, or much less spell, was the third one up to the plate and probably the show with the greatest degree of similarity to something I would normally watch. To be honest, I don’t hear of it much, but when I do hear about it I hear good things about this show which revolves around music. As someone who knows a lot of “band people” and as someone who feels a lot of guilt about being musically inept, I felt an urge to give this show a try.

I’m pleased I did, as it seems to be a good example of a relaxing slice-of-life show - it might be a good example of what some people call “healing anime”, a show that soothes the soul instead of setting it aflame with action, moe, or whatnot. Additionally, with the boy-meets-girl episode of the first element, it looks like it could have some romance undertones, or at the least, some interesting character-searching.

The story, despite being named after the eccentric girl Nodame, seems to revolve a lot about the main hero (yes, I’m horrible at names after one episode), and his ambitions to be more than a common piano player and become a conductor. In America Europe, not just Japan. Certainly there seems to be potential for growth within his character, and I can already see the contrasts being set up between him and Nodame. The former is a guy with great ambitions, and a touch of talent too; but he is easily disheartened (in an angry manner instead of a depressed one), and he could probably be called a quitter. The latter is a definitely talented musician, who seems to be more about having fun than being serious, yet still lives a life largely on her own terms. (As depicted by her astoundingly messy - by anyone’s definition - room.)

As Zetsubou Sensei would put it, it largely feels like a “meeting that was never meant to happen,” between two conflicting personalities who are meant to help each other grow (although, this of course, never happened in that other show). The male lead seems to be coming off the tail end of a botched relationship, and the Nodame, the female lead, seems to have something going on with a truly out-of-the-blue confession in the end. Whether she is just being silly again, or really is serious, the second episode will tell.

I’m probably the most entranced with this show out of the five, no doubt because of the characters; the male lead feels very real in a sense, like you or me could be him, and Nodame is a fun character who many people could see a bit in too. The show is pretty relaxed and slow-paced, but there’s a hint at enough of a driving force to keep the plot going. It’s kind of funny, kind of heartwarming, and a lot of musical fun as well; lthough, I can’t tell when they’re playing it right or wrong. Certainly it’s worth continuing.

And hey, Nodame makes a great Neko-Arc face.

Manabi Straight and Hidamari Sketch are two shows I continue to confuse over and over, maybe because of the similar-sounding names, or perhaps as their status as two of the more legendary recent slice-of-life anime. Unfortunately though, they both aired in the winter 2006/7 section, a blind spot for me due to that being the genesis of my newly-fansubbed fandom with the equally acclaimed (among most) Kanon.

As such I’ve made a few efforts here or there to try to catch up with these shows, but failed miserably, probably due to the very nature of slice-and-life, something that’s making it hard for me to watch these shows. Trying to marathon them, or even watch them in fast succession, just goes against the nature of the show as something that’s frequently slow-paced and relaxed.

This means, essentially, that a show like ARIA, Hidamari, or Manabi will never really top the charts of “Oh God I need to watch this now“, but I don’t find that a bad thing. They’re more of a fall-back, the show that’s always there, that you watch because you have nothing else to do, and you just want to chill.

Luckily, this whole five-episode-trial being a sort of “well, here goes” for me, I managed to approach Manabi Straight in the right mood, expecting not very much but a pleasant time, and that’s essentially what I got. Manabi Straight wasn’t exactly a show that left me rolling with its jokes, and the plot isn’t important enough to warrant watching on it alone, but still, I was left in an incredibly bright, cheerful mood once the show ended. Such is the power of the “healing anime” genre, of shows that just make you feel good, for no apparent reason.

This is probably due to Manabi/Manami’s famous line “Massugu GO!” (or “Go straight ahead!”), a determined statement of the attitude that permeates the very soul of this show. Her slightly exaggerated energetic personality works well, as it is built off a strong base of a fun-loving, enthusiastic character who isn’t afraid of what others think.

The one thing that is kind of strange about this show is how, apparently, in the future, birth rates have not only stumped the population’s size but also its height; you could have told me this show was about a bunch of elementary school girls instead of high school girls, and I would believe it.

But that’s merely aesthetic, and a lot of other elements of this show are good-looking, bright, and cheerful, so I don’t mind so much. There’s not much to say about this show, being a slice-of-life, but that’s always been what this genre has been about to me. It’s not something so much that you watch so much as something you immerse yourself in, like a warm, soothing bath. Manabi Straight, in that sense, is like a spa; something that both energizes and calms you.

The final anime in the five-show-frenzy is undoubtedly the biggest name on the list, and that I think is saying a lot; it’s something that I’ll probably get myself killing simply for not watching it up until know, and it’s Gurren Lagann. One of the biggest names of 2007 anime (yes, that’s just a link to an aggregator of posts, because there are too many), it seems, Gurren Lagann is touted as one of the best giant-robot-type shows in recent memory. Not that I would know, because really, I’ve never watched any giant robot anime.

And on that rationale, why not start with something truly epic, I figured? Gurren Lagann appealed from the start, even for I begun watching, on the sheer quotability of it all, that even made its way into other anime. (Incidentally, I finally get all this ‘giant drill’ stuff Konata was going on about) I’ve always been aversive of the other big name in giant-robot, Evangelion, because of all the talk of a weak, depressive protagonist, and the empowering, adrenaline-filled stance that Gurren Lagann appeared to take in comparison clicked instantly.

Gurren Lagann, from what it seems so far from 25 minutes of watching and endless months of hype, is an absolutely over-the-top show, and that’s probably what makes it so much fun to watch. The opening scene shows an impossibly giant robot destroying impossibly huge universe. Kamina’s impossibly awesome go-getter attitude and empowering speeches would raise life in the coldest of dead corpses. The Lagann, or the Gurren Lagann, or whatever, can crank its power to impossible levels (it has to be at least 12 - it’s two higher) and send the enemy flying into the heavens, as shown in the first battle. And, of course, Yoko has some impossibly huge ballistics ifyaknowwhatimean. The anime simply radiants energy and enthusiasm.

Simon seems a bit of the basic shonen hero - enthusiastic but naive, determined but cowardly - but overall he’s not a bad guy and combined with Kamina the two of them make a good pair. The show’s optomistic and empowering overtones make it more than your average show, I think; the enclosed environment in which everyone lives in has hints of the cave allegory in it with the whole “this is the world” deal, and really is quite dreary when compared to the stunning beauty of the real world.

There’s not a whole lot else I can say about this show, as I just realized I don’t know much of the direction of this show; but with the whole world standing before them, it’s more of what Simon and co. can’t do at this point than what they can. As such, it seems like the kind of adventure and exploration show that I could really enjoy, as opposed to the fading glory of the “I wanna be #1″ shows of my youth. I definitely have no complaints with Gurren Lagann; I don’t think it’s as much of a must-watch in a personal sense as Nodame Cantabile yet, but as a hot-blooded person I will definitely look forward to seeing more of this show (in the States, right, right!?) in the future. It’s every bit as energetic and good-mood-inducing as Manabi Straight, but in more of an adrenaline-packed manner. I believe in the me that believe in this show!

-CCY

(Hey, I think I finally get this picture too.)

(Although, about Gurren Lagann, the spoilers about Show ▼

really make me worry for the future of this show after episode eight. )

This post is tagged Akagi, Gurren Lagann, Kodomo no Jikan, Nodame Cantabile, Season Review