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Anime Relations: Itou Junji: Collection

Junji Ito needs no introduction. He is probably the most well known figure in horror manga and for good reason. With works like Uzumaki, Tomie, and Gyo to his name, it is no surprise so many people enjoy his work and respect him as a creator. Ito also has a vast collection of horror oneshots. Seeing as he doesn't tend to focus on characters much anyway, oneshots are great for showing off Ito's work. After reading all 15 or so volumes of oneshots, I'm here to share my favorites with you.

Groaning Drain (In the volume 'Namekuji no Shoujo')
Namekuji no Shoujo may contain possibly the worst Ito oneshot (Biohouse if anyone is curious) but it also hosts one of the best. Groaning Drain is about a family obsessed with cleanliness and bathing. The take multiple showers a day and freak out over the slightest mess. They start to suspect that a boy the daughters rejected is crawling through the drain and the story goes from there. This story proves Ito can create an excellent work without relying on his ability to draw horrifying monsters. The tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife and the oddity of the characters (especially the mother) is enough to make readers uncomfortable. It doesn't have the most horrifying artwork but it's still well worth a read.

The Town Without Streets (In the volume 'Michi no Naimachi')
Another story that focuses on Ito's supernatural horror rather than bodily horror strengths. Town Without Streets is a lot like the title suggests: it's about a girl that runs away to an extremely bizarre town without streets. This is a pretty long oneshot so there's a little more time for everything to develop and it feels less rushed as a result. The claustrophobic atmosphere is so well developed it practically jumps through the pages and drags you into it as well, making you feel as trapped as the main character. Of course, there's some lovely artwork of deranged characters and the whole thing is a joy (or a nightmare) to look at. One of the best examples of Ito's supernatural work.

The Bully and Father's Heart (Both from the volume 'Ijemetsu Musume')
These stories are somewhat similar and both from the same volume so I put them together. They're both supernaturally focused and have an emphasis on family ties. The Bully is about a man and his childhood bully meeting in later life and Father's Heart is about a man possessing his children and seemingly killing them when they resist. And both stories are very atypical Ito works. Surprisingly, the both have a lot of depth with their characters and incorporate emotional moments that make you genuinely feel for them. Even though they aren't ordinary Ito stories, he still executes them wonderfully. Though both chapters are very strong, I'd have to say that Father's Heart is the better of the two.

Long Dreams (In the volume 'Tunnel no Tan')
This is a more classic Ito story, featuring plenty of horrifying imagery and concepts. What makes a lot of Ito's work so scary is that the horrors the characters are subjected to are almost always completely inescapable. This is a good example. This oneshot is about people having extremely long dreams, sometimes lasting decades, while only a night passes in the real world. They then slowly waste away until they never wake up. This story doesn't have the tension filled plot or emotional moments of the previous stories I mentioned. Long Dreams is honestly just scary. Perhaps you shouldn't read it at night.

Frankenstein (In the volume… Frankenstein…)
This is another very different story. As the name would suggest, this is a retelling of the classic story Frankenstein in manga form. Of course, the amazing story and atmosphere is Mary Shelley's doing rather than Ito's but Ito translates the story extremely well (if slightly rushed) And of course there's the artwork. Disgustingly mesmerizing, horrifyingly magnificent. I could stare at the art here all day. If you want to experience Frankenstein in a more compact format coupled with amazing art, I'd highly recommend this.

Honorable mention: Memories of Real Shit (Also in the Frankenstein volume)
Because this is just really funny.

Anime Relations: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

*Spoilers for both 2003 FMA and Brotherhood

Ah, the immortal debate. Which adaptation of the classic manga is better? I’ve wanted to share my thoughts on the matter for a while and if you couldn’t possibly tell by the title of this blog post, I’m doing so right now.

I think there’s a lot of blind hate for one show or the other because of the ideas of either "original=better" or "closer adaptation=better". It isn’t everyone who strongly prefers one show over the other but I feel like it’s a lot of them. Personally, I think both shows are fairly even in quality, though certainly in different ways.

Let’s start off with the original 2003 anime (which I’ll call FMA). This show definitely does a better job of developing Edward and Alphonse. Showing more of the time period around when Ed got his state alchemist certification was definitely a good move. Seeing more of his naivety makes future events and his development as he gets older hit much harder. And speaking of hitting harder, everything about the Shou Tucker arc. That storyline is far, far better executed in FMA. Heck, almost everything in the first half of FMA is better executed than the same material in Brotherhood. With the exception of a few dumb filler episodes, the first half of FMA is damn near perfect.

It’s the second half of FMA where things start to fall apart. Things go along pretty smoothly but you can tell there isn’t a clear plan as to where the series is going. A few completely ridiculous things happen (like Scar’s death. I like the idea of him redeeming himself and dying in the process but his death in FMA was handled extremely poorly) and then we get to the last three episodes, which were a nightmare. You just don’t introduce a concept like alternate dimensions at the very end of your show. Something that was meant to play a big role in the story should have been introduced much sooner. Plus, I just didn’t connect to Dante as a villain. Her backstory and motivations weren’t creative and I don’t understand why she’s considered a much better villain than Father since when you boil her motivations down, they’re basically the same but wrapped up in a less interesting package.

The homunculi are a bit of a hit or miss in FMA. I love the idea of the homunculi being byproducts of human transmutation but it could have been explored more. The explanation for how that works is very weak (as is the seven deadly sins connection). As for the characters themselves, they’re pretty good for the most part. I prefer these versions of Lust and Sloth and while I prefer the manga/Brotherhood versions of Envy, Greed, and Wrath, their characters are very interesting in FMA too. Gluttony is basically the same in both versions and I wasn’t a big fan of Pride/King Bradley. His character was done much better in Brotherhood.

Now, for Brotherhood. What I definitely prefer about this show is the attention given to the side characters. I mentioned earlier that Ed and Al are better developed in the original anime but they’re the only characters developed that well. Brotherhood gives more attention to its supporting cast, which really makes the world feel more alive. Even characters that died very early on still feel like big parts of their world.You could argue that Roy Mustang was better developed in the original with the whole killing Winry’s parents thing (and I might agree with you) but you really can’t make an argument like that for any of the other supporting characters, Of course, Brotherhood looks better than FMA but since I don’t think it’s fair to compare animation from 2003 and 2009, I won’t dwell on this. Brotherhood also has a better ending in my humble opinion. Cynical old me doesn’t have a problem with downer endings but they just don’t suit the story of FMA (the franchise as a whole). It only makes sense that the characters we watched struggle and cheered for get what they deserve in the end. Not entirely realistic but what’s wrong with a little well deserved happiness?

Now for some of the uglier parts of Brotherhood. Mainly the first 14 or so episodes. It rushed through everything the first anime took careful time on and it was filled with inappropriately timed comedy. The creators assumed everyone had already seen the first anime and they wanted to rush to ’the good stuff’. This resulted in a very awkward, disjointed start to the series. And one personal little gripe I have with Brotherhood is May Chang. I don’t know why, I just don’t like her.

I can understand the argument that Brotherhood’s ending is too idealistic and in a few ways, I agree. I was at least hoping that Scar would die; it would have made perfect sense for his character and would be far more believable than the idea that he was forgiven for everything and asked to help rebuild Ishval. Another tiny gripe is Greed’s death. This was just a result of the scene being ill suited to animation. The scene itself was good, it just looked a little off. The scene looked much better in the manga.

Overall, I think both shows are fantastic and well worth your time. Honestly though, if you want the full Fullmetal Alchemist experience… read the manga.

Anime Relations: Death Note, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

I recently (as in a few days ago) finished watching the first season of Code Geass, which I’ve been meaning to do for a while. One of the main reasons I wanted to watch it were the constant comparisons to Death Note. Seeing as I am a fan of Death Note, this made me want to check it out.

Now having finished Code Geass and saving a full review for another day, I wanted to speak on the matter of it constantly being compared to Death Note.

First of all, let’s look at the main draw or hook for both series. The main draw for Death Note was curiosity over its unique and unexpected premise. It had a plot you could summarize in a single sentence that was guaranteed to get anyone curious. People watched it because they wanted to see a story about a killer notebook and stayed because it was a genuinely good show.

On the contrary, Code Geass doesn’t have a unique sounding premise at all. When you think about it, the plot of Code Geass can be summarized as ’guy tries to overthrow an empire’, which has certainly been done before. However, what makes Code Geass good isn’t its unique plot, it’s how it handles said plot. Code Geass did a great job breathing new life into previously trodden territory, creating an engaging show in the process. While admirable, this definitely isn’t what Death Note did.

The main reason Code Geass is compared to Death Note is Lelouch and Light, who are both antiheroes committing violent acts in the name of justice. However, the point of Lelouch’s character is different from Light’s. With Lelouch, we’re not supposed to debate the ethics of what he’s doing, Lelouch is heading towards a specific goal and the show focuses more on that rather than how he plans to achieve this goal. There’s a lot more talk about whether or not his goal is ethical, rather than the way he’s getting there. Is it right to violently take down an empire because of a personal grudge?

Death Note is the exact opposite. There’s no question that Light’s goal is a noble one, he wants to rid the world of crime and create a place where good people can live in peace. However, it’s what he does to achieve this goal that make him morally questionable.

Lastly, the strongest element of Death Note was the battle of wits between Light and L. Code Geass has nothing equivalent to that. Lelouch is certainly smart but he didn’t have much of an opportunity to show it off. He doesn’t have one specific enemy he needs to fight the way Light had L and the lack of the battle of wits doesn’t give the show the Death Note vibe people claim it has.

Of course, the two don’t have to be similar to be good and I was pleasantly surprised that Code Geass was a very different experience from Death Note.

I hope you enjoyed this random little post.