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May 11, 2020

Cowboy Bebop (Anime) add

Recommended

There is no greater purpose in Cowboy Bepop, no goal to work towards, only a past to come to terms with. Underneath the no care attitude of the Bepop crew lies a deep sense of ambiguity and turmoil as each member makes repeated shallow attempts to supress their past tragedies with meaningless day to day activities. Only to find themselves where they were at the start of each episode, staring at the bottom of a bowl of bell peppers and beef without the beef.

“I was watching a dream I could never wake up from. Before I knew it, the dream was over.”

Cowboy Bepop is not ... for everyone, and I sincerely mean that. The reason why it is regarded as a cult classic amongst the diehard fans of the genre is an enigma in itself. A 90’s anime boasting gunslinging space cowboys and thrilling fight sequences seems like the tools used to create a decent anime. However, chief director Shinichirō Watanabe utilised these staples of the shonen genre in order to create something so needlessly melancholic that not only does it shatter our perceptions of the suave protagonists we wish to be, but the very nature of life itself.

Plot 8/10
Mellow and carefree Spike Spiegel and his boisterous and pragmatic counterpart, Jet Black, try to make a living by chasing bounties across the galaxy in the year 2071 aboard their ship, the Bepop. As they travel, they reluctantly welcome others aboard who share more in common than they think.

Cowboy Bepop is fairly episodic in nature, each episode there’s a new bounty to collect and on the surface, there seems to be no overarching plot. The crew aboard the ship are merely used as vessels by Mr Watanabe in order to give us a glimpse into a minor character’s life and help them achieve their goal. Whilst this is enjoyable to watch, the overall theme of the show is one of despair, episode after episode, a relentless barrage of excessive heartache as another minor character loses something they once cherished, only to be forgotten after the credits roll. Even the crew themselves are not exempt from this grief, Mr Watanabe reminds us that no one can escape this harsh reality as every now and again he turns his focus to the very past the space cowboys try so hard to suppress.

Characters 9/10
The entire Bepop crew is filled with unique characters that complement each other quite well. For every calculated measure there is a spontaneous decision, for every suave action there is an uproar of laughter. It’s fun watching their interactions and how each of them behave in a certain situation. However, beyond that each member has a past life that calls out to them, longing for them to return in order to complete their story. Reminders are placed intermittently throughout the anime simply to showcase that they cannot run away without losing something, and whether they answer the call or not… well that’s for you to find out.

The supporting characters within this anime are an excellent means of a plot device for each episode, where all of them have been uniquely created with their own wants and desires. I found most episodes enjoyable and discovered that the key to gauging how good an episode is, is by how distinctive each supporting character’s goals are. Episode “Pierrot Le Fou” comes to mind.

Art and Sound 9/10
Being a late 90’s anime, Cowboy Bepop’s art style is much different to what you’re probably used to, but it holds up well to this day. The anime features a beautiful array of different planets across the galaxy with an imaginative display of how each society functions. Metropolitan planets are teeming with corporations whilst barren planets are left for those who are only focused on surviving. The imagery within the anime itself is very strong, each episode uses a different gradient scheme and highlights objects that make their appearances throughout the entire show and serve as aforementioned reminders to the characters.

The Bepop type of jazz, identifiable by its complex harmony and rhythms, is a heavy influence for this anime. Evidently seen in the spaceship’s name, episode’s titles, and most importantly, the music. Bepop is littered throughout the soundtrack and it is an amazing experience to listen to it both within the context of the anime and by itself. The soundtrack is full of energy lending to the intense fights scenes, whilst also toning itself back when required during a sombre moment.

Final Remarks
Cowboy Bepop is by far an excellent anime, full of vibrant sceneries and exciting action scenes with the unique flair the crew carries. But underneath that is what turns a decent anime into, well… a cult classic. The lasting impression that sets Cowboy Bepop apart leaves is sad and frankly, uncalled for. The thought that upsets the natural progression of shonen animes in order to address the bleakness of life and how…

“Whatever happens, happens.”

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Sep 7, 2019

Ping Pong the Animation (Anime) add

Recommended

Ping Pong the Animation, a sports anime, strives to be something it shouldn’t be… and it succeeds in every way. With an anime as short as the game itself Director Masaaki Yuasa wastes no time exploring the lives of 5 truly unique players as they search for meaning through the medium of Ping Pong. Each character’s background and problems are so grounded it would be hard to not identify as one of them, Mr Yuasa invites us to come along for the ride as he asks us only one question at the end of it all…

“Who do you play ping pong for?”

Ping Pong the Animation ... is an extraordinary anime that gives so much more than you ask, accompanied by its bizarre art style and its emotional soundtrack, the anime allows you to pick YOUR character, a character you identify with, and watch their personal transformation across the ping pong season. It’s a coming of age story that dives deep into a search for identity, friendship and success, and it is all done in 11 episodes without skipping a beat. And once you’re done watching it all and the screen goes black, you’ll realise the person on the screen is just a reflection of yourself.

Plot 10/10
PPTA starts with the introduction of two players Smile, who is quiet and reserved and has little care for table tennis, and his drastically different best – friend Peco, who is cocky and carefree aiming to be the best player in the world. The plot of PPTA follows these two players as they enter the inter – high table tennis competition and train intensely as only the very best persevere.

A fairly simple story that allows the anime to dive deep into each character in such short time, at the start of an episode you won’t know who a character is and by the end you discover their motives, reasons and dreams, and PPTA does it all without boring the viewer. As more and more characters are introduced and the plot thickens, PPTA doesn’t slow down as every line and stroke has been placed so perfectly from start to finish, allowing Mr Yuasa to uncover the bigger themes of identity and success all within a 3 set match… and you’d be quite surprised by how much a match can change a person.

Characters 10/10
The characters literally make PPTA, each one carries their own playstyle, attitude, background, goals with incredible depth. By describing each character like this it allows the viewer to understand who each character is and carry great empathy for each and every one of them. This is what makes PPTA so real, they are so relatable as we realise that we have the same struggles as them.

Art and Sound 10/10
Ping Pong’s art style is probably the most decisive feature of the entire anime, some people hate it and some people love it. If you couldn’t tell… I am a huge fan of it. Mr Yuasa’s team have ripped pages out of the manga and animated them in such a chaotic way that it matches the sport perfectly. There are so many different ways to animate a match of ping pong, but none of them would be nearly as interesting to watch as the way it was animated, so I beg of you, don’t drop this anime because it dares to be different.

For an 11 episode anime, Ping Pong packs over 1 hour of music that adds so much depth to an already rich anime. From the Ping Pong melody to the climactic Hero’s theme, PPTA knows how to take us through a match of ping pong as if we were playing the match. Payoff in film is commonly used to offer additional depth and meaning to a story that creates a more satisfying and complete viewing experience. Mr Yuasa and his team should be praised as music that is teased so early on in the anime shines like a star when finally put into the spotlight, leading to a feeling of sensation and realisation that Mr Yuasa has essentially re – defined cinematic payoff.

Final Remarks
“It’s nonsense to stake your life on table tennis.”
As I said at the beginning, Ping Pong the Animation strives to be something it shouldn’t, that something is a metaphor for the journey that is life. People put their lives on the line just to prove to themselves that they are the best, all players are different, but they all want to win. PPTA doesn’t ask the viewer if they would drop everything to be successful, it asks the viewer if what their fighting for is what they truly desire. This anime isn’t life – changing, but it is thought provoking, a beautiful, heartfelt story that addresses the core desires of man and what it means to succeed. I seriously cannot use words to explain how spectacular this anime is, but numbers can… 10/10.

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Aug 26, 2019

Tenki no Ko (Anime) add

Recommended

The spiritual successor of Your Name follows in the footsteps of Makoto Shinkai’s critically acclaimed movie. Through his unique approach to storytelling and stunning art direction accompanied by a stellar soundtrack composed by returning band RADWIMPS, Mr Shinkai may as well have discovered the formula to creating an Anime film that leaves a lasting impression.

Weathering with You is a rare movie that delivers reasonably well on all fronts, art style, sound, characters, plot, the list goes on. It’s a beautiful, heartfelt, yet confusing fantasy romance movie which at times fails to keep the viewer engaged due to long drawn out sequences that have no place ... in the bigger picture of the film.

Plot 7/10
Primarily the plot of Weathering with You is told from the perspective of 16 year – old runaway Hodaka, as he ventures to the grand city that is Tokyo. This allows the viewer to have a unique experience of learning everything along with the Hodaka including, surviving in Tokyo, the environment around him and most importantly, learning more about the people he meets along the way. This is an excellent way of storytelling, as it keeps the viewer engaged, however personally I felt the beginning of the movie was a bit too slow for my liking as the film spent too much time on Hodaka’s early days in Tokyo.

Hina, the girl with the ability to stop rain, is essentially the centre piece of the film. However, something that Weathering with You doesn’t do as well is explaining the spiritual elements that surround Hina’s power. The reason for this is that exposition was dropped a bit too late into the film and frankly, there still wasn’t enough of it overall. What has been done in past films and the reason why those films succeeded is that the different elements of the spiritual realm were explained as the movie went on. I personally feel as a consequence of experiencing the entirety of the beginning of the film with Hodaka, we as viewers lose out on the opportunity for exposition to be subtly introduced as time goes on and instead it was forced on us halfway through the film.

Character Dynamic 8/10
The supporting characters in Weathering with You are an absolute joy to watch in the film, each of them brings their own unique flavour to the film. However, sometimes these characters overstep their boundaries when it comes to the overall feeling of a particular scene. One that comes to mind is in a more serious scene jokes were written in, which in turn breaks the feeling of intensity in the scene. The antagonists in this movie do their job well, serving as a consequence for the choices made by the characters throughout the movie, it is through these people that the movie can come full circle.

Art and Sound 10/10
When I initially saw the trailer for this movie, the thing I was most excited by was that RADWIMPS were returning to produce the soundtrack. And after seeing the movie, I can confirm that my excitement was not unwarranted for they have delivered yet another amazing soundtrack that is full of energy and light-heartedness and yet sombre when need be. The art is simply stunning to look at, nothing felt out of place and in a film with so much water, reflections were animated beautifully.

Final Remarks
Weathering with You is, by the book, an excellent movie. It gets so many things right and only a few things wrong. This movie is recommended to anyone who enjoys a light – hearted romantic film with a hint of fantasy, or if you’re like me and bought a ticket based on the art style, soundtrack and the director’s previous film.

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