Shocked's Blog

Mar 22, 2016 10:54 PM
Anime Relations: Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster, Top wo Nerae 2! Diebuster, Byousoku 5 Centimeter, Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, Kimi ni Todoke, So Ra No Wo To, Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu, Hanasaku Iroha, The iDOLM@STER, Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita




Action, plot, music, art, animation, characters, originality, style, genre, staff, prestige, influence, age, dub/sub quality, subject, adaptational accuracy - by themselves, these elements are meaningless. Why are they important to the anime in question? For what reason should I pay mind to them? And if they're important to the anime, what efforts does the anime employ to fully realize them?

As I see it, every anime is made with a purpose, whether if it's to create great adrenaline-pumping action, to sexually arouse its audience, to puzzle its audience with complex mysteries, or to test experimental styles and narrative formats. If they're good at what they do, I'll enjoy them. However, I do favor slice-of-life anime, specifically those that are calm and ordinary. These lack excessive comedic tendencies, overbearing drama, action, and fantastical elements. They could include bits of them, but they shouldn't be the main draw. I'm more interested in the characters and the worlds they live in, and within slice-of-life anime, where typical elements of anime are stripped away, there's a greater challenge to keep audiences interested. This lends to more introspective setups, where the few existing elements must be developed in great detail, else the anime be shrivel up and fail.

My favorites tend to be these types of shows, where despite seeming minimalistic or simple, they're also rich in depth. They're anime which can be described with singular words or phrases, yet they can also be analyzed at length. I have rewatched them various amounts of times, both casually and with the intent to criticize and understand how they function. In part, I do this to prevent myself from becoming a blind fan, ignorant of weaknesses and flaws present within. It's also because I personally like them, even though I'm not always sure why. It's because of this I constantly write and theorize on anime - to figure out where I stand, my own biases, and what I seek in entertainment.

Also, it goes without saying, but I don't believe any of these are absolutes. For one, I've held off on many renowned titles, as I don't wish to marathon through all of them at once. I like to save such anime for special occasions, if just to pace myself and to open myself to other shows in between major titles. Second, to add onto the first point, I haven't watched everything in existence, so there's always the potential for something better out there that I haven't watched yet. Lastly, to add onto both previous points, I'm always hopeful that I'll find something better, especially with titles yet to be created. To say these are absolute favorites is admitting that anime is getting worse, and my favorites would never be surpassed. I want them to be surpassed, as I want to have more anime I can praise and enjoy. But, at this day of March 22th, 2016, these are my favorites and why I like them.



15 - Gunbuster/Diebuster

"Tribute"





From all the anime I know of, this OVA pair features the greatest ending I've ever seen. For reference, I've enjoyed other Gainax mechas such as Evangelion for its psychological dabblings and Gurren Lagann for its scale, especially in the Lagann-hen movie. I also recognize that I haven't watched as many mecha/space opera anime as I should have, specifically Ideon, GaoGaiGar, Giant Robo, Macross and various Gundam titles. But, I've seen a modest amount of anime in general, and of the ones I've seen, Gunbuster/Diebuster still stands out for being able to string together 12,000 years of in-universe time and 16 years of real world time.






14 - 5 Centimeters Per Second

"Drifting, drifting..."





I've seen a number of Makoto Shinkai works, and thus far, this stands to be my favorite. As a note, I haven't seen The Place Promised in Our Early Days nor The Children Who Chase Lost Voices Below at this moment, so keep that in mind.



Throughout the works that I have seen at least, the element of time plays an important role, just as it did in Gunbuster/Diebuster previously. However, Shinkai employs time much slower, truly observing its passage at a moment-by-moment basis. In Voices from a Distant Star in particular, it also uses relativity as Gunbuster did, but again, it's taken much slower from the characters' perspectives. As a fan of slice-of-life however, particularly calmer ones, 5 Centimeters Per Second appealed to me initially, but this went further than my own tastes. Here, the theme of things moving at 5 cm/sec was deeply ingrained into the story. The title, the atmosphere, imagery featured, the characters - everything called back to the singular idea of slowly drifting.






13 - NieA_7

"Poverty"





I love stories about ordinary people living ordinary lives, as that's the type of life I want to live. Or, rather, the idealized life I wish to live where life would pass by uneventfully. So, it's rather odd for me to like a high-energy comedy about a poverty-stricken girl living with a loud, quirky, obnoxious alien.

But, once again, appearances deceive. This is an ABe Yoshitoshi work. Unlike the dystopic Texhnolyze, the cyberpunk Lain, or the introspective Haibane Renmei, NieA_7 is much more grounded in reality, despite involving aliens of questionable stereotypes and stock SFX reminiscent of Tex Avery and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The show itself however is akin to 5 Centimeters Per Second and a number of ABe works, where it's a melancholic work that puts forward feelings of poverty at an emotional level. This isn't comparable to Welcome to the NHK or Watamote, where a socially awkward character is portrayed comically and tragically, full of expressive colors and zany visuals. In small portions of its first half and throughout its second half, NieA_7 takes advantage of its dull-out color scheme, slowing down to an introspective pace to truly look into the character of Mayuko Chigasaki, who exists as one of my favorite, most relatable characters in anime, and one of the primary reasons I regard NieA_7 so highly.







12 - The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

"Thank you"




I don't necessarily like the Haruhi Suzumiya television series, but its lead into this film cannot be understated. Haruhi Suzumiya was one of the first anime I've watched around the time I first learned of the term "anime." This is a long after the time I watched the likes of Toonami and Adult Swim titles, where I was too young to know they were Japanese. At the time, it was a shock to see anime that wasn't about flashy battles or adventures in fantasy worlds. Instead, it was set in a high school and featured relatively ordinary characters living extraordinary lives. A few years later, I would watch the 2009 version, though I didn't watch it as it was airing. Because of this, I probably didn't dislike it, which may also explain my willingness to rewatch all of Endless Eight given the opportunity.

The risk probably didn't pay off, but The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, which built off of Endless Eight, served to be the best work I've seen from Kyoto Animation so far and one of the finest films I've seen based off of an existing franchise.






11 - Kimi ni Todoke

"Cute"






Now, here's a word that may be dangerous to use, more so since with Kimi ni Todoke, I regard the first season quite high in comparison to the second season. The first season was, simply put, amazing. It's everything I could have asked for from its initial setup, and its ending was, perhaps, one of the best I've seen for a romance anime. No, actually, I'll say this: as far as pure romance anime go, this is my favorite romance anime. This is, of course, taking into account my bias for slower shows that take their time with their characters and world.





10 - The iDOLM@STER

"Dreams"


I've written far too much on The iDOLM@STER, but I'm always finding new things to write about. For a waifu factory series featuring a gaggle of cute girls of stock archetypes in suggestive-but-not-too-sexual-to-destroy-their-pure-idol-image contexts, I shouldn't like The iDOLM@STER. Yet, I do. I really do. Well, the anime at least. I disregard the games as they, along with other idol anime I've watched, are a collecting of inoffensive sugary pop idol songs that sound just like one another. I can recognize a large majority songs sung by the 765 Pro idols instantly, but I can't recognize the more poppy and sparkly ones, as I've gone out of my way to avoid them. I've purchased the Shiny Festa iOS games though, and with that as my small reference pool, I probably would disregarded the series entirely had I been exposed to those games first.

The iDOLM@STER anime is one of my favorites for one simple reason: its diversity. Each idol fall into their own archetype and only three of them see a good amount of time devoted to them. The show also isn't consistent in its strength of narrative, nor is it always capable of delivering on its comedy. However, each idol has a different dream and reason for being an idol. Each idol has their own style and flow. They all have their own niches, which eventually form into their own categories of work they pursue. All the idols can have their names thrown into a hat, pulled out at random, and work together in any setting. And, most importantly, they all have their own style of songs, allowing them to function not just as idols of visual appeal, but of singers who can perform a variety of genres, but specialize in certain areas.

For an idol anime, I'd imagine this diversity being critical in individualizing the idols and allowing any person to find their own niche. At a meta level, I'd consider The iDOLM@STER to be one of the best pandering shows I've seen. There's a high emphasis on character relationships and work ethics. There's very little sexual fan service and loads of barely noticeable actual fan service that don't detract from the show if you're not familiar with the series. There's a huge diversity of characters, songs, genres, settings, and episode atmospheres. Hell, to add onto the diversity of settings point, there was not a single moment in any main portion of an episode where the characters are in a school. I can recall two that occurred during ending sequences, and those were on episodes 3 and 10, and they were only on screen for seconds, holy crap. The iDOLM@STER is just one of the best anime I've seen for too many reasons.

Oh, and yeah, Makoto is the best etc etc.






9 - Sora no Woto

"Moving on"





I've seen Sora no Woto described as some combination of K-on and All Quiet on the Western Front. After watching all of K-on and viewing the aforementioned 1930 film, I can say that assessment is partially true, but it misses out on a bit. The anime features cute characters reminiscent of K-on. It also features multiple characters whom are victims of war, suffering from survivor's guilt, or are constantly running away from their past. In All Quiet on the Western Front, characters deal with the trauma of war in real time. Sora no Woto, in comparison, deals with the after effects of war, and makes for a kind-yet-solemn slice of life anime in discussing these sentiments.








8 - Hanasaku Iroha

"From grandmother, to mother, to daughter"





Another type of anime I enjoy are ones similar to live action dramas. Well, not 1:1 at least. I did have a disdain for the Air movie, which veered too close to the realm of soap operas. It's a careful balance, where a drama's presentation and subject material is combined with the aesthetic and mannerisms of what we'd associate with anime. And with that, Hanasaku Iroha serves as an example of this in my mind.

One of anime's potentials is highlighting elements of real life and turning them picturesque. Makoto Shinkai has done this masterfully in his works, but he deals with film. Hanasaku Iroha is a TV anime, and one by PA Works at that. To give context, while I don't necessarily dislike PA Works, many of their titles have fallen to the wayside for one reason or another, despite their consistency in creating beautiful looking titles. But, for the 10th anniversary of their studio, Hanasaku Iroha stands out as my favorite title of theirs, and one of my favorite titles that I've seen.






7 - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

"Time waits for no one"





I have mixed feelings over the Mamoru Hosoda works I've seen. To give context, the first film of his I've watched was The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and I absolutely loved it. The second film was Summer Wars, and it...bothered me a lot. Then Wolf Children came along, and while the middle section was absolutely superb, the beginning and ending portions bothered me as well.

With The Girl Who Leapt Through Time at least, it's another romance anime that I enjoyed, but with a backdrop of time travel. Unlike Kimi ni Todoke however, it doesn't focus completely on the romance, and unlike something like Steins;Gate, the time travel aspect isn't its main focus either. Instead, the focus is solely on the character of Makoto Konno, the tomboyish main character who's too dumb to properly abuse her time traveling powers. The film is a journey documenting her growth as a character, reminding me of Hanasaku Iroha in some ways, but with a much more condensed focus and a time travel mechanic.






6 - Humanity Has Declined

"Satire and Sarcasm"





Watching Humanity Has Declined is like getting pinata thrown in your face. It's colorful and full of candy, confetti and a brick, and while hurts, you're thankful for it.

Seiji Kishi is a name I've become cautious of in recent years. I liked Carnival Phantasm. Angel Beats was a missed opportunity. My Bride is a Mermaid hurt me. I didn't have a strong opinion on Kamisama Dolls, I have yet to watch Tentai Senshi Sunred though I've heard good things about it, and both Persona 4 and Devil Survivor 2 worry me. When I watched Humanity has Declined, it was before I truly knew his name, so I walked in without much preconceptions. I knew of the name Romeo Tanaka though I have yet to read Cross Channel, and I at least knew of the bread scene. What I didn't know, however, was everything that preceded that first episode. As a satire of everything humanity, I loved it for its sharp-witted humor and devil-may-care attitude in screwing with its audience. Or, to be specific, Watashi's sharp-witted humor and devil-may-care attitude.






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Link to Part B


tl;dr -

15 - Gunbuster/Diebuster: “My holy crap this is badass and amazing anime”

14 - 5 Centimeters Per Second: “My super slow-paced anime”

13 - NieA_7: “My most relatable anime”

12 - The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya: “My anime of patience and delivery”

11 - Kimi ni Todoke: “My ‘butterflies-in-stomach’ anime”

10 - The iDOLM@STER: “My obsession; please make it stop”

9 - Sora no Woto: “My anime on living past trauma”

8 - Hanasaku Iroha: “My coming-of-age anime”

7 - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: “My other coming-of-age anime”

6 - Humanity Has Declined: “My anime on satire and sarcasm”
Posted by Shocked | Mar 22, 2016 10:54 PM | Add a comment
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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