September 17th, 2010
Two Hayao Miyazaki Films
Anime Relations: Kurenai no Buta, Gake no Ue no Ponyo
Well, obviously I haven't been watching all that much anime recently. The reasons for this are numerous. And by numerous I mean two (hey, two is a number right?) First, work has been really busy of late and I just haven't had the time to get involved in a new series. Second, I just haven't really found any good series worth watching. I have been using my new Netflix account to rent a Miyazaki movie every week or so, however. The last two I rented were Ponyo and Porco Rosso
Ponyo is definitely a kid's movie. This is not to say it wasn't done incredibly well, however the depth of story I'm used to seeing in Miyazaki movies just wasn't there. The story is essentially a (very loose) adaptation of the little mermaid story. A young boy named Sasuke finds a goldfish who wants to become human. She gets her wish and transforms into a little girl, however in the process she upsets the balance of nature and creates a magic tsunami that floods Sasuke's village. Nevertheless, the overall tone of the movie is extremely carefree as one would expect from a children's film. Even the flood isn't portrayed so much as a natural disaster as much as a fun excuse for Sasuke to go sailing in his magically enlarged toy boat. I felt the movie was fun to watch, but I would probably have preferred a more serious tone in places. I did like Tina Fey's portrayal of Sasuke's mom Lisa, as well as Liam Neeson as Fujimoto.
Porco Rosso Is a much more realistic tale about an Italian pilot and WWI veteran who protects ships from air pirates in the Adriatic. Oh, except he's been magically transformed into a pig (got to have that fantasy element in there somewhere right?) In all seriousness though, I was surprised that the fact that Porco is a pig is almost irrelevant to the main story. There is no quest to lift the curse or explanation for why he was turned into a pig in the first place. In many ways, he acts almost exactly like a person with a more mundane disfigurement might. Porco has clearly come to terms with his altered appearance, and though other people seem embarrassed to bring it up Porco himself often makes jokes about it at his own expense.
This reaction to the fantasy elements of the story is actually pretty characteristic of Miyazaki's work from what I've seen of it. I actually wonder if the casual attitude of people toward the fantastic may actually more realistically represent the human ability to adapt to new circumstances better than another show where the characters demand for things to be explained every two seconds. A similar theme can be seen in Ponyo as well, when Sasuke informs his mother that his pet goldfish has turned into a human she just stares at them for a second, then proclaims "Well the world is certainly a very mysterious and wonderful place!" before proceeding to fix both of them dinner. Even as a very analytical person (an engineer by vocation) I find this tendency to accept the existence of magic in these films to be somewhat refreshing.
Ponyo is definitely a kid's movie. This is not to say it wasn't done incredibly well, however the depth of story I'm used to seeing in Miyazaki movies just wasn't there. The story is essentially a (very loose) adaptation of the little mermaid story. A young boy named Sasuke finds a goldfish who wants to become human. She gets her wish and transforms into a little girl, however in the process she upsets the balance of nature and creates a magic tsunami that floods Sasuke's village. Nevertheless, the overall tone of the movie is extremely carefree as one would expect from a children's film. Even the flood isn't portrayed so much as a natural disaster as much as a fun excuse for Sasuke to go sailing in his magically enlarged toy boat. I felt the movie was fun to watch, but I would probably have preferred a more serious tone in places. I did like Tina Fey's portrayal of Sasuke's mom Lisa, as well as Liam Neeson as Fujimoto.
Porco Rosso Is a much more realistic tale about an Italian pilot and WWI veteran who protects ships from air pirates in the Adriatic. Oh, except he's been magically transformed into a pig (got to have that fantasy element in there somewhere right?) In all seriousness though, I was surprised that the fact that Porco is a pig is almost irrelevant to the main story. There is no quest to lift the curse or explanation for why he was turned into a pig in the first place. In many ways, he acts almost exactly like a person with a more mundane disfigurement might. Porco has clearly come to terms with his altered appearance, and though other people seem embarrassed to bring it up Porco himself often makes jokes about it at his own expense.
This reaction to the fantasy elements of the story is actually pretty characteristic of Miyazaki's work from what I've seen of it. I actually wonder if the casual attitude of people toward the fantastic may actually more realistically represent the human ability to adapt to new circumstances better than another show where the characters demand for things to be explained every two seconds. A similar theme can be seen in Ponyo as well, when Sasuke informs his mother that his pet goldfish has turned into a human she just stares at them for a second, then proclaims "Well the world is certainly a very mysterious and wonderful place!" before proceeding to fix both of them dinner. Even as a very analytical person (an engineer by vocation) I find this tendency to accept the existence of magic in these films to be somewhat refreshing.
Posted by UserZero | Sep 17, 2010 3:15 PM | 0 comments
July 21st, 2010
The Search For My Next Anime
It seems that most of the shows I've been currently watching have either ended recently or gone into filler. Right now the only new anime I am left with is Fairy Tail, which is essentially just your typical lightweight action fluff about a group of teenage friends saving the world. I find this sort of thing tends to get stale after a while, (See also: my dropped list which includes Naruto, Bleach, and pretty soon One Piece if they don't hurry up and get the freaking band back together.) Fortunately, I'm still enjoying Fairy Tail at the moment since it's new enough that the novelty hasn't begun to wear off yet. Needless to say though, I'd still kind of like to find something a bit more substantial to watch.
This means it is a good time to go through my list of shows I've been planning to watch and start the usual sampling process. What I typically do is watch the first episode of a few shows until I find one I like. At the time of this writing, the aforementioned list includes Saraiya Goyou, Dennou Coil, Gungrave, Kara no Kyoukai, and Saiunkoku Monogatari. I'll probably go through these one at a time and may blog about my first impressions of each one. Of course, I'll also continue my re-watch of Death Note as well (This is my 4th time through that series now.)
This means it is a good time to go through my list of shows I've been planning to watch and start the usual sampling process. What I typically do is watch the first episode of a few shows until I find one I like. At the time of this writing, the aforementioned list includes Saraiya Goyou, Dennou Coil, Gungrave, Kara no Kyoukai, and Saiunkoku Monogatari. I'll probably go through these one at a time and may blog about my first impressions of each one. Of course, I'll also continue my re-watch of Death Note as well (This is my 4th time through that series now.)
Posted by UserZero | Jul 21, 2010 4:31 PM | 0 comments
July 16th, 2010
Top 5: Shinigami
The shinigami, or soul reaper, is a common character in anime. For a while it seemed that half the anime series that came out had to have a shinigami in them somewhere, from Bleach, to Soul Eater, and of course, Death Note. They don't seem to be quite as common recently (or at least I haven't noticed as many) but I think there are a few who definitely deserve some recognition. Therefore I've made a list of my top five favorite shinigami characters from anime.
Fun Trivia Fact: Shinigami are actually not originally from Japanese spirituality or Shintoism, but are a japanization of the Grim Reaper from Western mythology. As the list will demonstrate, this leads to a wide varity of depictions since there isn't really a canonical representation of such an entity.
Botan (Yu Yu Hakusho)
What makes Botan unique among shinigami is her personality. She is extremely kind and cheerful but also has a playful side. She often makes wisecracks at Yusuke's expense but is definitely an invaluable guide to him, helping him return from death to reclaim his body and teaching him to use his new spirit powers. For some reason she is able to ride her oar like a witch's broomstick. The best part though is the interaction between Botan and her boss Koenma. Koenma is- to all appearances- a toddler, but is actually the son of King Yama, ruler of the spirit realm. Botan clearly respects her boss, but he is definitely a hard person to take seriously (especially for Yusuke who doesn't really take much of anything seriously to start with.) This leads to some hilarious moments between the three characters.
Celty Sturluson (Durarara!)
Technically Celty is a dullahan, not a shinigami, but she still makes the list on account of still being a mystical harbinger of death (according to legend, you will die if a Dullahan calls your name) so it is essentially the same thing. Celty rides a mystical black motorcycle, and is actually a pretty good driver for someone without a head. She tends to be a bit self-conscious about her missing body part however. Her boyfriend Shinra doesn't seem to mind, although this renders Celty unable to speak since her mouth is obviously missing as well. At any rate, this probably makes Celty the only incarnation of death in history to communicate solely via text messages.
Ryuk (Death Note)
This guy is definitely a weird one. Appearing in Death Note, he looks like some sort of cross between an emo-clown and Gene Simmons. His personality is equally strange, having a very dark since of humor and an almost debilitating addiction to apples. Even other shinigami seem to think the guy is weird, mainly because he is easily bored. Frankly though, I'd say Ryuk really has the most Shinigami-like personality of anyone on this list.
Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach, but only in the first season)
Remember when Bleach was still a good show? It's been a while now but I can still remember when the way shinigami were portrayed in this show actually seemed like a cool and original idea. Long before they were transformed into the goofy punching-bags of today who all seem like they would rather be in DBZ, the Bleach shinigami actually did things you would expect of a soul-reaper such as, for instance, reaping souls. Rukia was definitely my favorite at this point. I recall originally thinking she was just ripping off Botan's shtick, but she quickly established herself as her own character. She was cool, she was somewhat mysterious, and she was occasionally silly but in a good way. Unfortunately I think she may have suffered brain damage or something during her imprisonment in Soul Society because by Season 4 she had lost most of her cool factor and was practically pushed into the role of side character. Then again, once the filler got started I think half the characters in the series got dumbed down quite a bit.
Shinigami (Soul Eater)
This guy isn't just a shinigami. He is The Shinigami. He is the administrator in charge of Shibusen which he manages with an iron fist. Actually no, what are those things made of- Styrofoam? Shinigami seems pretty laid back for a personification of death, but beneath his facade he is still an extremely powerful and extremely dangerous being. He usually behaves in an extremely silly manner for the benefit (and annoyance) of those around him, but watch out if he gets serious. His spirit energy is actually the size of a major city and the resulting spectacle is apparently frightening enough to send anyone who sees it into a mental breakdown.
Obviously I'm sure I've forgotten a few important characters (as usual.) Go ahead and point out any incarnations of human mortality I've overlooked in the comments.
Fun Trivia Fact: Shinigami are actually not originally from Japanese spirituality or Shintoism, but are a japanization of the Grim Reaper from Western mythology. As the list will demonstrate, this leads to a wide varity of depictions since there isn't really a canonical representation of such an entity.
Botan (Yu Yu Hakusho)What makes Botan unique among shinigami is her personality. She is extremely kind and cheerful but also has a playful side. She often makes wisecracks at Yusuke's expense but is definitely an invaluable guide to him, helping him return from death to reclaim his body and teaching him to use his new spirit powers. For some reason she is able to ride her oar like a witch's broomstick. The best part though is the interaction between Botan and her boss Koenma. Koenma is- to all appearances- a toddler, but is actually the son of King Yama, ruler of the spirit realm. Botan clearly respects her boss, but he is definitely a hard person to take seriously (especially for Yusuke who doesn't really take much of anything seriously to start with.) This leads to some hilarious moments between the three characters.
Celty Sturluson (Durarara!)Technically Celty is a dullahan, not a shinigami, but she still makes the list on account of still being a mystical harbinger of death (according to legend, you will die if a Dullahan calls your name) so it is essentially the same thing. Celty rides a mystical black motorcycle, and is actually a pretty good driver for someone without a head. She tends to be a bit self-conscious about her missing body part however. Her boyfriend Shinra doesn't seem to mind, although this renders Celty unable to speak since her mouth is obviously missing as well. At any rate, this probably makes Celty the only incarnation of death in history to communicate solely via text messages.
Ryuk (Death Note)This guy is definitely a weird one. Appearing in Death Note, he looks like some sort of cross between an emo-clown and Gene Simmons. His personality is equally strange, having a very dark since of humor and an almost debilitating addiction to apples. Even other shinigami seem to think the guy is weird, mainly because he is easily bored. Frankly though, I'd say Ryuk really has the most Shinigami-like personality of anyone on this list.
Rukia Kuchiki (Bleach, but only in the first season)Remember when Bleach was still a good show? It's been a while now but I can still remember when the way shinigami were portrayed in this show actually seemed like a cool and original idea. Long before they were transformed into the goofy punching-bags of today who all seem like they would rather be in DBZ, the Bleach shinigami actually did things you would expect of a soul-reaper such as, for instance, reaping souls. Rukia was definitely my favorite at this point. I recall originally thinking she was just ripping off Botan's shtick, but she quickly established herself as her own character. She was cool, she was somewhat mysterious, and she was occasionally silly but in a good way. Unfortunately I think she may have suffered brain damage or something during her imprisonment in Soul Society because by Season 4 she had lost most of her cool factor and was practically pushed into the role of side character. Then again, once the filler got started I think half the characters in the series got dumbed down quite a bit.
Shinigami (Soul Eater)This guy isn't just a shinigami. He is The Shinigami. He is the administrator in charge of Shibusen which he manages with an iron fist. Actually no, what are those things made of- Styrofoam? Shinigami seems pretty laid back for a personification of death, but beneath his facade he is still an extremely powerful and extremely dangerous being. He usually behaves in an extremely silly manner for the benefit (and annoyance) of those around him, but watch out if he gets serious. His spirit energy is actually the size of a major city and the resulting spectacle is apparently frightening enough to send anyone who sees it into a mental breakdown.
Obviously I'm sure I've forgotten a few important characters (as usual.) Go ahead and point out any incarnations of human mortality I've overlooked in the comments.
Posted by UserZero | Jul 16, 2010 7:01 PM | 0 comments
July 14th, 2010
Why My Manga List Is So Short and What I Intend to Do About It
A few people have asked me what I think of manga. I have to reply that unfortunately I haven't read all that much. This may leave you with the mistaken impression that I do not enjoy reading. However, this is not the reason I tend to avoid manga. In fact, the real answer is exactly the opposite: I don't read manga because I enjoy reading too much.
The thing about written media is that, unlike video, one can pretty much enjoy the story at their own pace. Unfortunately, when I am given this much control over the pacing of a story, I tend to be a tad over eager to see how the story turns out. So the Hero is duking it out with the Main Villain in an expertly drawn two-page spread? Screw the pretty pictures! I wanna see who wins! The upshot of this is that when I sit down to read something, I usually tend to speed through it in a way that would probably be more appropriate for reading the manual on how to operate a shotgun while in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
Speed reading isn't so much a problem with regular novels where one must spend time absorbing the descriptions of the world in which it is set, but in a graphic medium such as manga, this is hardly the best way to enjoy the story. This is well exemplified in my recent experience of leafing through the first volume of Berserk. I was skilfully able to complete over 200 pages in about half an hour. I could probably have finished a single anime episode in about the same amount of time.
The other problem is that if the anime has already been released, I usually don't see the point of reading the manga if it has basically the same storyline. I recently attempted to read the manga for Mushishi, one of my all time favorite anime, and was completely bored by it. The story was almost word-for-word and frame-for-frame identical to the anime. If, like most people, I had read the manga first, no doubt I would have been quite pleased with the way the anime had faithfully adapted the books, but going in the other direction just seems sort of pointless.
Anime are usually based on manga, not the other way around, and- at least recently- good manga seem to be adapted fairly quickly. Thus I have been having a bit of a hard time finding manga that are generally recognized as good , but which have not already been made as TV shows. There is another possibility however: manga which have been adapted, but which the adaptations are different from the original or do not cover the entire story. This is how I ended up reading Full Metal Alchemist (before the new series came out) and Mahou Sensei Negima.
In case you were wondering, yes this post is an open invitation to recommend manga to me. If anyone can think of any manga that seems to fit this model I would like to know about it. For example as I mentioned before, I am currently reading Berserk and plan to read Hakuto no Ken. From what I've heard both of these are usually considered better than their adaptations (although I admittedly wouldn't know from personal experience so please don't hate me if you think otherwise.) Also both are a bit more gory than I am usually interested in, but for some reason I don't seem to mind as much when it is in print instead of video. Feel free to also recommend manga that you think is good but hasn't been adapted yet, although for that I can probably just go to MAL's top manga listings.
The thing about written media is that, unlike video, one can pretty much enjoy the story at their own pace. Unfortunately, when I am given this much control over the pacing of a story, I tend to be a tad over eager to see how the story turns out. So the Hero is duking it out with the Main Villain in an expertly drawn two-page spread? Screw the pretty pictures! I wanna see who wins! The upshot of this is that when I sit down to read something, I usually tend to speed through it in a way that would probably be more appropriate for reading the manual on how to operate a shotgun while in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
Speed reading isn't so much a problem with regular novels where one must spend time absorbing the descriptions of the world in which it is set, but in a graphic medium such as manga, this is hardly the best way to enjoy the story. This is well exemplified in my recent experience of leafing through the first volume of Berserk. I was skilfully able to complete over 200 pages in about half an hour. I could probably have finished a single anime episode in about the same amount of time.
The other problem is that if the anime has already been released, I usually don't see the point of reading the manga if it has basically the same storyline. I recently attempted to read the manga for Mushishi, one of my all time favorite anime, and was completely bored by it. The story was almost word-for-word and frame-for-frame identical to the anime. If, like most people, I had read the manga first, no doubt I would have been quite pleased with the way the anime had faithfully adapted the books, but going in the other direction just seems sort of pointless.
Anime are usually based on manga, not the other way around, and- at least recently- good manga seem to be adapted fairly quickly. Thus I have been having a bit of a hard time finding manga that are generally recognized as good , but which have not already been made as TV shows. There is another possibility however: manga which have been adapted, but which the adaptations are different from the original or do not cover the entire story. This is how I ended up reading Full Metal Alchemist (before the new series came out) and Mahou Sensei Negima.
In case you were wondering, yes this post is an open invitation to recommend manga to me. If anyone can think of any manga that seems to fit this model I would like to know about it. For example as I mentioned before, I am currently reading Berserk and plan to read Hakuto no Ken. From what I've heard both of these are usually considered better than their adaptations (although I admittedly wouldn't know from personal experience so please don't hate me if you think otherwise.) Also both are a bit more gory than I am usually interested in, but for some reason I don't seem to mind as much when it is in print instead of video. Feel free to also recommend manga that you think is good but hasn't been adapted yet, although for that I can probably just go to MAL's top manga listings.
Posted by UserZero | Jul 14, 2010 7:52 PM | 2 comments
June 30th, 2010
Death Note Analysis Ep. 11: Kira - Now Accepting PR Applications?
Anime Relations: Death Note
Before anyone asks, no I did not go AWOL on this series again. I was just taking my time getting around to re-watching episode 11. Hopefully and with any luck I'll now be able to go back to writing these analyses on something resembling a regular basis. So without further ado, back to the regularly scheduled Death Note thing.
In this episode, Light devises his most brilliant plan yet: to take over a TV station!
Wait a minute what? Misa? Who's that?
Yes that's right, we now have not just one, but two Kiras. Actually I was always a little surprised that Light didn't come up with the TV broadcast idea on his own. Sure it doesn't exactly work the way Misa intended, but with the size of Light's ego you would have thought he would have wanted to escalate his television exposure by sending a message to the general public in some similar way before now. I suppose was is just too busy planning his next brodate with L or something. Naturally, Misa decides that Kira needs to work on his image and designates herself has his public relations official to the media.
Light's condemnation of Misa killing innocent people always seemed a bit hypocritical to me. However, this is hardly out of character for Light, whose personal code of honor seems to involve splitting hairs more than some sort of anti-shampoo/conditioner. It is often hard to tell just where Light is willing to draw the line when it comes to killing people. Apparently it is okay to kill police, FBI agents, and innocent civilians who happen to be married to said FBI agents, but not TV executives.
The introduction of the second Kira is brilliant for just this reason, however. Misa's own simplicity helps contrast Light's own increasingly convoluted morals. I'll admit that I've always found Misa to be a tad annoying but she certainly works well as a foil for Light. The way I see it, she basically acts as the dimwitted sidekick who makes Light look smart by comparison. It is also interesting the way in later episodes when we will see that she actually becomes both an asset and a liability to him.
Light's father now decides to go all Bruce Willis, smashing a van through the front entrance to the TV station. He is able to liberate the Kira videos, but discovers that the new Kira is able to kill with just a face, so if he is seen it is all over. It turns out that Misa made the eye deal with her own shinigami, Rem. L tells him to just walk out the front entrance. L solves this problem by... forming a giant barrier around the entrance of police and police vans. Um, surely there was an easier way to sneak him out of the building?
Everyone form a human pyramid! It's the last thing Kira will expect!
At any rate, at least through this L is finally able to convince the police to take action and rejoin the investigation. Perhaps this was actually his plan all along.
<--Previous Part
In this episode, Light devises his most brilliant plan yet: to take over a TV station!
Wait a minute what? Misa? Who's that?
Yes that's right, we now have not just one, but two Kiras. Actually I was always a little surprised that Light didn't come up with the TV broadcast idea on his own. Sure it doesn't exactly work the way Misa intended, but with the size of Light's ego you would have thought he would have wanted to escalate his television exposure by sending a message to the general public in some similar way before now. I suppose was is just too busy planning his next brodate with L or something. Naturally, Misa decides that Kira needs to work on his image and designates herself has his public relations official to the media.
Light's condemnation of Misa killing innocent people always seemed a bit hypocritical to me. However, this is hardly out of character for Light, whose personal code of honor seems to involve splitting hairs more than some sort of anti-shampoo/conditioner. It is often hard to tell just where Light is willing to draw the line when it comes to killing people. Apparently it is okay to kill police, FBI agents, and innocent civilians who happen to be married to said FBI agents, but not TV executives.
The introduction of the second Kira is brilliant for just this reason, however. Misa's own simplicity helps contrast Light's own increasingly convoluted morals. I'll admit that I've always found Misa to be a tad annoying but she certainly works well as a foil for Light. The way I see it, she basically acts as the dimwitted sidekick who makes Light look smart by comparison. It is also interesting the way in later episodes when we will see that she actually becomes both an asset and a liability to him.
Light's father now decides to go all Bruce Willis, smashing a van through the front entrance to the TV station. He is able to liberate the Kira videos, but discovers that the new Kira is able to kill with just a face, so if he is seen it is all over. It turns out that Misa made the eye deal with her own shinigami, Rem. L tells him to just walk out the front entrance. L solves this problem by... forming a giant barrier around the entrance of police and police vans. Um, surely there was an easier way to sneak him out of the building?
Everyone form a human pyramid! It's the last thing Kira will expect!
At any rate, at least through this L is finally able to convince the police to take action and rejoin the investigation. Perhaps this was actually his plan all along.
<--Previous Part
Next Part-->
Posted by UserZero | Jun 30, 2010 6:34 AM | 0 comments
June 26th, 2010
Durarara - Final Thoughts
Anime Relations: Durarara!!
Well, DRR has finally finished airing all 24 episodes. The show has certainly grown more enjoyable and less confusing as it went on. Unfortunately it was also the only serious anime I was watching this season, aside from possibly FMA, so I'm not really sure what to do now. I may have to (Gasp!) actually get back to doing my Death Note re-watch reviews.
Anyway, the show is now over, so it would probably be nice to figure out what the series was actually about. DRR is definitely one of those things where you're not really sure where it's going until it gets there. So I guess this is a good time to take a look back and figure out just where this crazy show has taken us. It goes without saying that spoilers are to follow, enough so that I'm not going to bother with spoiler tags, so just be forewarned.
One of the most interesting aspects of DRR, in my opinion, has been the unique organization of the characters. The cast seems to be made up of equal parts ordinary people and, well, I guess we'll say monsters for lack of a better word. Although this is not original in and of itself, what is unique is the way these characters are integrated so casually into what is essentially an otherwise realistic modern day setting. Conversations between these characters are likewise extremely laid back, essentially ending up with something along the lines of "Hey! You don't have a head! That's cool wanna be friends on Facebook?"
Naturally these supernatural types soon became my favorite ones in the series, with Celty taking the top spot (for obvious reasons.) I've always found the trope of an eldritch harbinger of death with a congenial personality to be hilarious for some reason. (I actually looked this up on tvtropes.com but there doesn't seem to be a name for it. How disappointing, I was so hoping to include a link and trick people into wasting hours browsing through that site.)
Anyway, the bizarre mixture of characters I described above is directly manifested in the Dollars organization. I love the idea of this amorphous organization that holds power due to the mere fact that literally just about everyone is a part of it. I do find it a bit ludicrous that this organization is somehow entirely made up of good guys, since there are no entry requirements but this problem is effectively lampshaded by Kadota in episode 20 during his conversation with Masomi. (There! I put one in anyway!) Also, Masomi's own Yellow Scarves end up succumbing to this very problem so it all works out I guess.
In my previous reviews I often compared this show with Baccano so I guess I should briefly mention that. The shows do have their similarities, but end up being quite different. I still think Baccano is my favorite, though not by much. At any rate, I will leave you with a ridiculous crackpot theory regarding the two shows in the spoiler tag below. (Even though I already promised not to include any spoiler tags the following theory is too insane to just leave lying around in the open. Read at your own risk.)
Anyway, the show is now over, so it would probably be nice to figure out what the series was actually about. DRR is definitely one of those things where you're not really sure where it's going until it gets there. So I guess this is a good time to take a look back and figure out just where this crazy show has taken us. It goes without saying that spoilers are to follow, enough so that I'm not going to bother with spoiler tags, so just be forewarned.
One of the most interesting aspects of DRR, in my opinion, has been the unique organization of the characters. The cast seems to be made up of equal parts ordinary people and, well, I guess we'll say monsters for lack of a better word. Although this is not original in and of itself, what is unique is the way these characters are integrated so casually into what is essentially an otherwise realistic modern day setting. Conversations between these characters are likewise extremely laid back, essentially ending up with something along the lines of "Hey! You don't have a head! That's cool wanna be friends on Facebook?"
Naturally these supernatural types soon became my favorite ones in the series, with Celty taking the top spot (for obvious reasons.) I've always found the trope of an eldritch harbinger of death with a congenial personality to be hilarious for some reason. (I actually looked this up on tvtropes.com but there doesn't seem to be a name for it. How disappointing, I was so hoping to include a link and trick people into wasting hours browsing through that site.)
Anyway, the bizarre mixture of characters I described above is directly manifested in the Dollars organization. I love the idea of this amorphous organization that holds power due to the mere fact that literally just about everyone is a part of it. I do find it a bit ludicrous that this organization is somehow entirely made up of good guys, since there are no entry requirements but this problem is effectively lampshaded by Kadota in episode 20 during his conversation with Masomi. (There! I put one in anyway!) Also, Masomi's own Yellow Scarves end up succumbing to this very problem so it all works out I guess.
In my previous reviews I often compared this show with Baccano so I guess I should briefly mention that. The shows do have their similarities, but end up being quite different. I still think Baccano is my favorite, though not by much. At any rate, I will leave you with a ridiculous crackpot theory regarding the two shows in the spoiler tag below. (Even though I already promised not to include any spoiler tags the following theory is too insane to just leave lying around in the open. Read at your own risk.)
Posted by UserZero | Jun 26, 2010 2:17 PM | 2 comments