For all of us, words are the means by which we form these bonds. Not only is it the most readily available method of forming a meaningful relationship but, no matter how good an individual’s understanding of non-verbal cues are, they won’t learn about a person’s character or state of mind until they engage them in conversation.
Our use of words in everyday life means that a level of meaning is attached to the words we speak (subconsciously or consciously) which inevitably shapes how others view us as well as how we view ourselves. From using a certain word, to our construction of sentences, we are attaching a part of our personality onto the phrases we use. From politicians and world leaders to business executives, media moguls and everyone else in the public eye, their use of words to craft an answer designed to attract people towards them while also saying noting of any note is a skill in and of itself. As a student of ancient history I have studied some of history’s finest orators and their ability to master language is a prerequisite not only in convincing the masses, but also to convey one’s ideas as clearly as possible. It explains why some of the most charismatic and successful people in history all share the same trait: being excellent orators.
For the wordsmith, their chosen tool for didacticism is the dictionary. With at least 500,000 words and more than a billion different ways to combine the words, the dictionary is vital for the one who wants to understand words. Even holding a dictionary is to feel not only the physical weight of it, but also its cultural and social weight; the culmination of centuries of compiling and editing, revising and perfecting to create a portfolio of every word that has ever been uttered in one language. For most of us, a dictionary is used to find a word’s definition. Unfortunately, not many of us use a dictionary anymore. The vast behemoth that is the internet, where everything (including a word’s definition) is at your fingers, using a dictionary is an anachronism of a bygone era consigned to the annals of history.
Anyway, this is an anime about a group of people making a dictionary. This, as I’ll explain later, is simultaneously a good and bad thing.
Mitsuya Majime is an excellent wordsmith, an individual capable of defining words in a myriad of ways, and is a walking encyclopaedic knowledge of language. The problem is that he cannot articulate himself in a meaningful way. A shy, unassuming man, Majime lives his life in the unremitting slog of daily mundanity as a salesman who works for a publishing company. A chance encounter with Araki, who is looking for someone to assist in the publication of a new dictionary, allows Majime to satiate his desire not only for words, but also to find a place to belong.
Majime himself is a thoroughly human character, an individual who despite being handed his dream job, is still wracked with uncertainty about his ability to perform to the best of his abilities. His journey to not only understand how he fits in within the larger scheme of life, but also to express himself properly with the multitude of words at his arsenal, is both illuminating and thoughtful. His subtle evolution as a character makes him a far more realistic character. The best compliment I can give Majime is that he is thoroughly humane: you could imagine him existing as a real human being. His evolution is not drastic. He is still incapable of expressing himself for most of the series, but he is far more aware of his limits and of his strengths. Even without the skill to express himself, his love and passion for words comes across clearly to the viewer, and something about that almost childlike naivety made him more endearing to me as a character. Majime, like the rest of the cast, is not an especially complex character, but his passion for words and his inability to express them creates a conflict within him, which is aided by some lovely and deliberate animation to highlight this conflict within him. This conflict might not be fully resolved, but his recognition of his strengths and weaknesses, as well as his concession that he cannot overcome them but chooses to focus on his strength while having others compensate for his weaknesses creates a fully realistic and human portrayal of Majime. Here is a character that could really exist.
Alongside Majime is a colourful cast of characters, including a female Majime (Kishibe) who turns up halfway through the series and the resident badass grandma Take. The other character of note, Masashi Nishioka, is your typical ‘life of the party’ character, but his evolution from comedy character to thoughtful character provides the perfect juxtaposition to Majime. Masashi is perfectly capable of expressing himself as a person, but lacks the same passion for words that Majime has, but the latter’s influence over the series can be seen as Masashi develops his own relationship with words, and continues to help with the making of the dictionary even when he is no longer a paid member. Either way, all the characters are handled with a level of maturity that I found utterly refreshing. This was a ‘slice-of-life’ in the truest sense, dealing with the trials and tribulations of completely human characters. The dialogue of the show was also expertly executed at times. Some of them might have waffled for a bit longer than necessary, but as someone who enjoys thinking about words, I found their discussions to be thought-provoking. It’s just a crying shame that they didn’t have those conversations more often, often eschewing conversations about the use of meanings of different words in favour of plot exposition.
Accompanying the story is a visual and auditory treat. The show for the most part is fairly standard with certain occasions where they smooth out the animation to create some absolutely gorgeous scenes that are well-directed and accompanied by a varied soundtrack which enhances the scene, sets its tone, or/and compliments the scene. Just as important as the dialogue is the direction and special emphasis should be given to how the series showcases the importance of non-verbal cues, whether it is a stroke of the chin, a clench of the fist or a quick diversion of eye contact, the camera work is truly excellent.
So a show with a realistic lead character, a colourful cast of characters, with some excellent direction and at times is a visual and auditory treat. So a 10/10 from me; right?
Well, no unfortunately. Remember how I wrote that its plot was its biggest weakness as well as its biggest strength. Having a character that has a passion for linguistics and having them framed through the prism of composing a dictionary is a novel idea. Unfortunately, it is also a bit stale. I have a couple of other issues with the narrative as well, including a badly written romance sub-plot which is never expanded on, and a mid-episode cutaway featuring hand drawn dictionaries talking to each which constantly killed the tone of the episode. However, I believe the two problems above are causes of the type of show that Fune wo Amu is. Its primary concern is with the completing of the dictionary. I wrote that a dictionary is an anachronism, and it is true. How many people use a dictionary? Even the exploration of words is a niche subject. It always ran the risk of being stale and uninteresting.
I predominately felt for much of the anime that both the romance sub-plot and mid-section ‘Dictionary Corner’ were tactics used by the writers to make the show more appealing, and break up the monotony of a primarily dialogue-driven show. This is a shame, because its premise is utterly original. Plus, I really enjoy thinking about linguistics, which makes the show's fear, or inability to take itself seriously a shame. It is a show with immense promise, which had the ability to be a serious work on the nature of linguistics and linguistics anthropology, but lacked the means and the belief to execute its ideas in a philosophical and thought-provoking manner. Nevertheless, I really did enjoy the series a lot. It has a lot of elements going for it: realistic characters, a great soundtrack, great visuals and camerawork and an excellent cast. It’s just a shame that it didn’t have enough faith in its own idea. Mind you, I would still recommend it, because the show still manages to execute its individual elements with a level of subtlety and nuance not always seen in anime.
