Fujimi 2-choume Koukyougakudan

Fujimi Orchestra (OAV) is able to stand out from the average Yaoi one-shot in that animation sequences involving the playing of musical instruments and conducting were obviously done by people who knew what they were doing. It is obvious the animators studied the motions of musicians until they could pull off something astoundingly realistic. It is unfortunate then that the writers were only given a vague outline on human relationships. Maybe these lines weren't actually uttered, but my brain becomes cluttered when things don't make sense:
"Fine! Rape me! For the good of the orchestra!"
"Wagner makes me hot!"

Yeah, it ruins classical music in ... a way Evangelion wishes it could have.

Going into Fujimi 2-choume Koukyougakudan, my expectations were very low. I had seen the average score, as well as skimmed through the reviews, and I was expecting to have another atrocious yaoi on my hands. However, due to these preconceptions, I found myself looking at every aspect with a much more positive eye - many elements were much better than I had set myself up for, and I was actually pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, that does not mean that Fujimi is any kind of masterpiece.

Instead, it is a fairly standard yaoi anime, that picks on some pretty common themes we see in the genre. Something I've ... generally noted, is that BL anime has a bit of a curve when it comes to release date vs. quality, and in my personal experience, I have found anime released in the 90s and 2000s are considerably more positive, and stay away from a lot of cliches we see more recently. (For example: Kizuna vs Junjou Romantica, Haru wo Daite Ita vs Super Lovers). Luckily, we seem to be improving with works such as Given coming out in the past few years, and of course, there are exceptions to this massive generalisation. Fujimi is one of these.

Story - 2/10
The story was not amazing. It was fairly standard, and it provided an appropriate facilitation for tension and drama, but it didn't always make sense. There were a number of unannounced flashbacks, unexplained encounters and just generally moments that prompted nothing more than confusion. The ending failed to satisfy, and though I believe that was the point, it could have been executed more clearly. Looking at it through my rose-tinted goggles, however, I enjoyed the plot decently enough. It was intriguing enough to annoy me with its lack of follow-through, and whilst it may not have fully entered the realms of psychological, the atmosphere was definitely achieved.

There were a few scenes involving non-consensual romantic and sexual acts, and whilst it was handed somewhat poorly, it was not the worst out there. It is treated as a much darker act than scenes of dubious consent in more recent works are, but things still aren't really cleared up and/or talked about. There's an attempt in there for it to be a psychological entanglement, with sinister undertones, but it falls flat of successfully portraying it as truly reprehensible due almost entirely to its aftermath. It does get credit, however, for being unafraid to attach the label of rapist to one of its characters when that is indeed what he is.

Art - 5/10
Fairly standard late 90s work. The perception of that is dependant on the viewer.

However, I felt that there were specific animation sequences that really just shone. Considering that 90s BL doesn't have the best reputation for animation, I thought that Kei's conduction movements were beautifully done. They were extremely fluid and expressive, and were used very nicely to parallel some of the characters' darker actions in intertwined scenes. In fact, at times I was so impressed by how much it stood out as, well, decent, against the rest of the OVA, I wasn't really sure I was still watching the same anime.

I'm no expert on classical instrumentation, especially not violin, but everything seemed realistic and well animated. Like another reviewer said, time was clearly taken to ensure the movements of the characters reflected those of real life musicians.

Sound - 6/10
Unfortunately, it was extremely difficult for me to find a version of this OVA with decent sound quality. As a result, the one I personally settled on meant that sound was rather unclear. This is something I found rather disappointing - I even searched for about an hour to try and find a higher quality, tolerable version, but was unsuccessful - as I thought the voice acting was pretty solid, and the use of classical music was very well done.

It was always interesting to see how beautiful phrases of classical music were used to contrast and/or highlight the darker scenes of the anime, complimenting the more dramatic moments nicely. Though it often got to the point of feeling over-dramatic, it was still a nice touch, and felt like it really brought something interesting to the characters (well, for me, who was reading into everything in the hopes of finding the diamonds in the rough). It was a nice parallel to show the importance of music to their lives and actions, and having a beautiful piece of Wagner with some slightly unsettling undertones directly complimenting a rather disturbing scene with some rather hidden, perverted affection really worked.

Character - 3/10
So very typically yaoi. I was actually quite disappointed with how character was handled here, but because it's so conventional for the genre, it wasn't enough to push me away. Yuuki was alright as a protagonist, but there are so many questions the anime unintentionally raises about his narrative that it can't answer, that he becomes a bit of an annoyance. He very much fits the stereotype of the 'I'm not gay, but when this person of the same gender forces himself on me I just can't resist' character. All-in-all, the only unconventional 'uke' thing he does, is call his aggressor a rapist and ask him to stay the hell away. Of course, it's never that easy.

I actually found myself interested in Kei from a psychological perspective, and found it rather upsetting how little he was expanded on. There were some interesting statements made about his relationship with control (and to some extent perfectionism), especially made through parallels in the visuals - things could have gone in a very dark direction had he been developed better and I would have much preferred that to the 'rapist in love' thing he had going. A better interpretation of Kei could have walked in the footsteps of Iason Mink (Ai no Kusabi), but instead we get uncomfortable cringe, and a severe lack of viewer empathy for his feelings.

Also, the one woman who actually kind of matters is a bitch and is only there to cause drama and tension for the two male leads. Disappointing, but again, this is a BL anime from 1997.

Enjoyment - 6/10
Despite its shortcomings, I did quite enjoy this OVA. Going in with the very low expectations I did allowed me to be pleasantly surprised. I was really unpicking the symbolism in and craftsmanship of every scene, and it opened me up to a deeper enjoyment I no doubt would not have had going in blind, or with less of an open mind. I can't imagine enjoying it much at all without reading into it so much, and even doing so raised many more areas of missed potential and unanswered questions. However, since it is my mission to get through as many queer anime as possible, it wasn't the most horrible thing I've seen.

Overall - 4/10
It gets a four mostly because it was better than I was expecting. If you are a BL fan that doesn't mind watching cliched pieces, or else actually enjoys unpicking the symbolism within an anime's sound and animation, then this one may be for you. If you are looking for something more upbeat, wholesome, or good, this is not really something to consider.

Fujimi Orchestra toes a dangerous line with its subject matter (and no, I don't mean classical music), but unfortunately fails to handle the situation with delicacy or insight, resulting in a plot that just flat out offends the senses.
While the scenario is not entirely unrealistic, the characters' reactions to it are.
And as the cherry on top, nothing is resolved in the end.

The story is presented through a combination of present scenes and flashbacks, with little indication which is which. While the timeline is more clear by the end, I found the first half of the OAV unnecessarily confusing.
This was presumably done to differentiate from ... the manga, but I feel a more linear presentation would have been a better decision.

The art is... well, the art is '98 animation, but poor directing and unnecessary scenes highlight its shortcomings.