Spotlight Anime: Grenadier MAL Series Information Page: Grenadier MAL Score – 7.01 (by 4935 users) Ranked - #1951 Popularity - #372 For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the anime that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate an anime: Animation, Sound, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Animation - insert rating Sound - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Animation - discuss any pros and cons of the animation styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Sound - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to the music and sound effects used in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 5 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to watching this discussion unfold. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL: Grenadier was NOT inducted into the club Anime list: 2 Yes - 11.2% 16 No - 88.8% 82 Don't Know - 82.0% of the total number polled |
santetjanJul 9, 2009 11:19 AM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| Whenever we begin something, be it a science project, a martial art, reading a book, listening to an album, of which we know only a few things in prior, we all have expectations of what is to come from the particular experience in which we indulge ourselves. Those expectations come from the experience of others, little bits of info we pick up on the go during our daily lives, our own prejudices, etc. Most of the time, our expectations more or less come true, for better or worse. And sometimes, our expectations get defied. Again, this for better or worse, only moreso in these cases. For, if somebody indulges in entertainment that they expect to be good, and it turns out the opposite, the negative traits of the subject matter become magnified. Something one expects to be good, but turns out to be bad, will be remembered as a far worse thing than it would be, had the expectations towards it not been so high. Perhaps, it could be said that such things are remembered worse than they actually are, but since there can be no objevtive value to entertainment, stories are always only as good as the person that thinks about them thinks they are, so fairness is something that isn’t to be expected in the memories of human beings (this is true for virtually anything). But what if something defies our expectations to our delight, to our amazement? Is it really so important what a story makes itself look to be? Is it possible for a story to be more than the sum of it’s parts, even if the sum of said parts actually add up in the end? Is it possible for a thing of true brilliance to not be a thing of true brilliance from the very beggining of it’s conception? If so, are we wise enough to notice that brilliance? In the first volume of the original manga of Grenadier, the author, Kaise Sosuke, writes that he bought a computer, just to make sure the illustration on the manga cover looked good. He also notes that the computer he bought to work on the illustration with was expensive. From this, we learn two important things, one of which is a sign of a truly great mangaka: 1. Kaise Sosuke had, probably, no need for a computer in his life beforehand. 2. This is a sign of a truly great mangaka: He spared no effort and no resources in order to make his story as good as he possibly could. He loved (and probably still loves) his story that much. Love. Just how important is it to give love to something you make? Obviously the answer is a variation on the phrase „outmostly”. Then, the question becomes: Is love enough for something you make to be great? Tolkien obviously had a lot of love in himself for his stories, otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have taken so much time to craft every aspect of his fantasy world until he liked it. Tarantino loves him his thrash movies, everybody knows it, and it shows. There was definitely a time when George Lucas loved Star Wars, altough, nowadays, you could say he found a much better lover for himself by the name of Benjamin Franklin. All the love John Romero had for Daikatana must have quickly slipped away when he realised the harsh realities of video game development without a computational wunderkind by his side. Kentaro Miura doesn’t so much love Berserk, as much the entire though of being a japanese person obsessed with pop culture, and the ability to contribute. Dragonfore must truly love the guitar and Dungeons and Dragons if they can still keep up with what they are doing. It is possible to exactly pinpoint the episode at which’s start of production, Goro Taniguchi lost all the love he had for Code Geass, thanks to Bandai CEO’s. There is no doubt that Eiichiro Oda will one day take up poligamy and marry One Piece. Etc. etc.. Really, I could go on, but by this point, it’s glaringly obvious. The best works of art and entertainment, be it literature, music, film, etc., are 90% of the time, born out of the great love and care their creators have for them (of the rest, 6% is born by accident, 3% is born out of the need of certain people to work out their issues through art, and a measily 1% is just in it for the money/doing it because they can). Almost all the great works mankind celebrates were created by people who had love in themselves for the thought that what they just thought up themselves could possibly exist. They spared no effort because they loved the thought that their ideas become reality. And it was, and still is, that love that those people transformed into prowess, into mastery, into the ability to achieve something great. For Kaise Sosuke, the idea he fell in love with was probably that of a beautiful, young, blond girl who shoots the wings of a fly off from the far side of the world with a revolver, and reloads said revolver by spinning around real fast and bouncing her boobs, ejecting the bullets she stores in her cleavage into thin air, scooping them up into the empty chambers of her revolver on the fly. All this in under a second. Any person under 30 with a scrotum and no child would tell you that an idea like that is too brilliant not to build a story around. And so, through strenulous effort and lots and lots of love, the story called „Grenadier” was born. Now I’d love to talk about the manga, but due to it’s unavailability, and the fact that this is an anime review, I will proceed to talk about the anime, altough I will say this: Kaise Sosuke is an extremely lucky man to have his manga turned into an anime by a team that apparently shared (and quite possibly still share) every aspect of his love towards his story with Sosuke himself. Because it could only have been love that fueled the work of that group. They couldn’t possibly have any idea what they were doing. The project group exclusively assembled to produce the anime version of Grenadier couldn’t possibly know that they were working on the BEST ANIME OF THE 00’S. And really, neither could I, when I first started watching it. Watching Grenadier, the viewer expects a lighthearted, unrealistic, insignificant romp with some whacked out fighting and forgettable characters and about 1 original idea. And if the poeple involved in it’s production hadn’t loved their project with all their heart (see: Mobile Suit Gundam), it probably would have met these exact expectations. Grenadier however, was shown love. And because of this, both major parties involved (that is, Kaise Sosuke and the anime production staff) did all they could in order to make the story the best as was possible. And it certainly worked out in the end, given how the additions of the anime mix perfectly with the original ideas. What am I talking about? Well, let’s see. Right off the bat, we have the main focus and female lead of the story, Tendo Rushuna. Very good looking, with marvelously exaggerated phisical abilities and gun- skill. Most anime would stop around there, with a „good enough” attitude, given this is primarily an action series, not bothering to break any ground with characterisation (not a main character, but still, Yoko from Gurren Lagann is a great exmple of this; thankfully Gainax saved the focus on characterisation on another one of their mecha shows). But not Grenadier, and in the end, that in itself is one if it’s greatest assests. The thing is, Rushuna’s character is the best female character in anime in the entire decade of the 00’s (and yes, I have seen Mai- Hime, she’s even better than Tokiha Mai). Admittedly, the groundswork for her characterisation was laid down in Sunrise’s Gundam SEED via the famous Lacus Clyne (a startling fact, considering that a character with such originality was worked on so much to be put into a show with as much suck as Gundam SEED), but the entire character ideal of Lacus is put into complete fulfillment in Rushuna. This is superbly demonstrated in her first true scene on camera. Because the first main character we get to truly see on film is not, in fact, Rushuna, but the shows male lead, Kojima Yajiro. In the world of Grenadier, technical advancement is somewhere around that of medievil Japan, with one exception: guns. Guns are rapidly taking over as the primary armament of warfare, and Yajiro is having a hard time as a mercenary who defiantly sticks to swords. In fact, the story opens with Yajirou and his gang of fellow mercenaries storming a castle invaded by bandits, trying to rescue the warlord that hired them to protect him. The mercenaries wield swords. The bandis have rifles. Yajiro’s group is slaughtered in a stunningly well directed scene. Yajiro is forced to run away, fleeing from the bandits that give chase. Long story short, he gets wounded, and meets up a bathing Rushuna butt naked in a hot spring. This scene introduces some of the staples of the story: bathing and ecchi. Rushuna is shown taking a bath almost every episode, and those scenes always feature glorious ecchi. But the most important thing about this scene, is that we get a glimpse into Rushuna’s personality. She senses that whoever this wounded person is, he means no harm, and he’s in trouble. So she proceeds to hide him in the only way she can: In the hot spring, under the water, eclipsed by nothing more than her own naked body. She has no qualms about it, and does it whitout a second thought. She never bothers mentioning it again, an thinks about it as completely natural behaviour. This alone qualifies her as one of the most unique characters in the medium. And it completely fits the rest of her personality. She never whines, but is still ladylike –never even a bit tomboyish-, she’s always cheerful and upbeat, but can become dead serious in a moments notice, she always has a clear head, but can act childishly if she feels like it. Even so, Yajiro can always pull her leg with a snarky comment, particularly about her philosophy. Oh, I haven’t even got to talk about Rushuna’s most defining trait, have I? So, afterwards, Rushuna decides to accompany Yajiro on his way back to the castle, and after Yajiro sees that she can take out (read: disarm) six snipers from a mile away with a handgun, he decides to „allow” Rushuna to help him out in retaking the castle (this is a crucial sight into Yajiro’s personality). So, they enter the castle, and we, the viewers, get to see the most entertaining, and most defining aspect of Rushuna’s character: rather than threaten the bandits with her overpowering abilities, she puts on a smile and politely asks the bandits to stop what they are doing. Keep in mind, she’s talking straight to the leader of the bandits, and previously it was shown that he’s a heartless bastard with no qualms about killing people. Yet, she’s calm as heck, and she talks to the bandits completely sure that persuading them with kind words will work. And this, my friends, is the prevalent theme throughout Grenadier. You see, Rushuna lives by a the philosophy of the „Ultimate Battle Strategy (tm)”: She strives to defeat her opponents without fighting! She walks her war- torn world to end conflicts, traveling and trying to get people to stop fighting. And in every fight she’s in, she’s constantly trying to end it without having to hurt anyone, even going as far as admitting defeat! And one of the most interesting aspects of grenadier is that Rushuna’s beliefs and respect for human life (many of the adversaries she faces during the run of the show, she could easily kill, yet she refrains from doing so for their own sake, and at times, she even goes along, acting as if she was intimidated) carries over into the mood of the story. It’s rare for an anime to be capable of treating the life of characters (human beings) as a thing of outmost value, but Grenadier succeeds in this with flying colours! It does this so well, that whenever the bad guys kill somebody, it actually feels wrong! Again, only a few stories can invoke this feeling in the viewer. So, does it work? Can Rushuna really change the minds of people merely by being nice to them? Welp, it’s a bit complicated. See, Rushuna isn’t an expert at this battle strategy yet. So most of the time, this being an action series, the bad guys won’t catch the drift, and a firefight ensues. These action sequences are all over the top, unrealistic, and damn fun to watch. They are all ingeniously choreographed, and are quite original and refreshing, wether it’s the weapons of the enemies of Rushuna’s various gun techniques. It sure as hell beats Trigun, even if Triguns final battle kicks the ass of Grenadiers final battle, even though the latter goes all out and featurs gun- kata! (Though it’s really no shame, after all, the final battle of Trigun whoops the ass of practically any battle seen in anime to date.) (Plus, Grenadiers firefights make far more sense than any firefight made by Bee Train, for instance.) And the show is at it’s strongest at the end of these firefights, which usally end by Rushuna persuading her opposition that it’s wrong to fight. This she usually does by disarming her opponent, and hugging their heads into her huge breasts, as a sign of her trust, that she means them no harm. This idea is stunning in it’s simplicity, mind numbing in it’s rarety, and brilliant in it’s execution. The story enforces the idea that evil can be turned good, and enforces it in a beutiful, truly heartwarming fashion. Or rather, not that evil can be turned good, but that things ruined can be fixed back. See, in Grenadier, just like in the real world, nobody is born evil. It is always explained how the bandits Rushuna and Yajiro face are people who’s lives have been ruined by war, and in desperation, have taken up guns and violence as their only way of survival. And even with this topic the show stays within completely reasonable boundries: at times some will heed the good words and turn over a new leaf, other times, they can’t be helped, and they, sadly, perish. As can be read, not every battle ends in repentence. So, it’s been established that, in an entirely unexpected turn of events, rather than be a silly action series, Grenadier explores some pretty serious themes. It’s doubtfull that the makes of the anime had any idea that what they were doing would end up this brilliant. Most likely, they just thought about what they believed would make the story even more better, and they did exactly that. The side characters are aproof of this. Take Yajiro. Remeber when I said that he allows Rushuna to help him right after he sees how good she is with a gun? Yajiro is one of the most interesting male leads ever made, merely by notion that he is an avatar, not so much for the author, but the viewer. All it takes for him is a single time to see just how competent Rushuna is, and from that point onward, he has the exact same thoughts about her as the viewer. Namely, he’s never worried about him, because he knows that she won’t be defeated. Even when she is in a seemingly dire situation, Yajiro brushes off all worries, saying Rushuna will win in the end. Like I said, just what the viewer thinks. Another thing about him, is that, given the story is full of gorgeous, volupteous women, he is shown to phantasize about them (we are only given a idea about it), but only about the girls he meets aong his travels with Rushuna, and never about Rushuna herself. Peculiar indeed. And he constantly stays on on ground, having a hard time beleiving that Rushuna can accomplish her ideals. They are a great combination, manily because they have extremely good chemistry between themselves, something completely nonexistent between pairings such as L and Light. They alone can make the show lively even when there’s nothing going on. The third main character would be Kurenai Mikan, a litle girl („little” in the sense that she’s relatively small, after all, for all those big hooters Rushuna has, she’s only sixteen) that had lost her ballon- maker parents to a bandit attack. She joins rushuna and Yajiro after learning a valuable lesson about revenge ( in yea another beautiful scene), and uses balloons to fight. What can I say, the show is quite inventive. Mikan is bratty, tomboyis, always bugging in between Rushuna and Yajiro. Kurenai Mikan is probably annoying to most people. Kurenai Mikan is the creative subconcious in action. Simply put, there isn’t all that much sense in having Mikan in the story. However, she still serves a purpose, no matter how abstract that purpose may be. Because, for all I do declairing Grenadier the best anime of the 00’s, there is a high chance you won’t like it. There is a high chance that all you will see is dumb garbage, stupid characters, a retarded plot and a complete waste of time. If you harbor these thought about Grenadier, while thinking tha the true masterpieces of anime are somewhere along the lines of Elfen Lied and Gundam SEED (heaven fobid Code Geass R2) - don’t despair! The Catholic Church accepts anyone, so long as they agree to one or two points about Jesus.* During the process of making Grenadier, the subconcious of Kaise Sosuke must have realised that what it’s ego is creating was in fact sensational, and also, that not everybody will „get it”. And so it was, that the subconcious influenced the ego: Grenadier will be a story for only the intelligent, wise, bright people to enjoy, and Mikan will be the final test! The viewer has gotten over the ideas the author originally had, and as a test to see wether he or she is truly a person worthy of enjoying the story, must put themselves over an annoying character! If you fail, well it’s okay, don’t sweat it, we can’t all be the cream of the crop. Should you however succeed, then you get the privilige to understand what the story really is about! Not a girl reloading her gun with bullets she keeps in her bra, not ecchi, not feminism (altough this one is still a strong possible contender), but rather, the truth, that if somebody doesn’t make a first move, and if nobody in a conflict is willing to make a concession; if nobody is willing to stop fighing even for a moment, and try to make up with their enemy, than all things will go to hell, because we will never escape the cicle of violence, and it will go on for eternity! In the end, that is what Grenadier is all about, and the fact that it starts out as a story in which a single bullet can chain- reaction- destroy a barrage of minigun bullets serves as a testament to the achievement the people who worked on the story have made. I could go on, talking about how the techno soundtrack has an incredibly neat guitar track inbetween, or about the completely fine animation quality, or about how well Rushuna’s facial expressions are drawn sometimes; or I could go into explaining that Grenadier is an idealistic piece of work, detailing why it is absolutely not a problem that it’s message would be difficult to apply in the real world. It may not have the best story of the 00’s (that title belongs to Death Note (Monster will henceforth be considered a creation of the 90’s)), it may not have the best animation of the 00’s (that title belongs to 5cm per second, as it’s the only good thing about that abortion of a movie), it may not have the best soundtrack of the 00’s (well, you can’t have Kajiura Yuki work on everything (note: we’re talking about the 00’s, J.A. Seazer does not apply to this decade)), but as a complete package, nothing in this decade can come even remotely close to the effortless bravado with witch Grenadier enthralls the viewer. Every single rewatch brings forth the same joy, the same glee that the original viewing had, every joke (sexist as some may be (but even then it’s not insulting and fits the mood so well it’s ridiculous)) the same laugh, every emotional scene the same warmth. (Even the freaking DVD- exclusive omakes ended up accidentally being earth- shatteringly brilliant.) Grenadier is untuouchable, infallibe, and even though it isn’t as good as the greatest works of the 80’s and nineties respectively (though that says more about the state of anime in the 00’s then about the quality of the work discussed), it’s the most brilliant, entertaining, outstanding, best anime of the decade of 2000. *That passage was just too brilliant for me not to steal. Kudos to you, Rogers, even if Galaxy is better than 3. |
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