This week will be the same deal with Kimi ni Todoke -- my preferred version is not out yet, so I'll get this post out of the way and update with Kimi ni Todoke when I am able to watch it. Also, I haven't posted about Monster yet because I've been under the weather all week, and sitting down and writing about something as intensive as Monster is a task my brain just is not up for yet, haha. I'll probably get that up tomorrow.
Anime discussed: Aoi Bungaku, Axis Powers Hetalia, Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini, Kampfer, Kemono no Souja Erin, Letter Bee, Mononoke, Nodame Cantabile, Shugo Chara! Party, Slayers Try, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, Trapeze, Umineko no Naku Koro ni
UNMEI KAIHEN: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Kimi ni Todoke, Monster, Sasameki Koto
EDIT: This post has been Kimi ni Todoke and Monster'd way latter than I hoped it would.
Aoi Bungaku eps 5-6
Interesting couple of episodes. This is a completely different adaptation -- based off "In the Woods Beneath the Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom" by Ango Sakaguchi. This pair of episodes is about a hulking thief who kills a pair of men in a forest and takes the woman they have with them to be one of his wives. Rather than being afraid of this situation, however, the woman slowly turns the situation to her advantage and manipulates the thief to get what she wants, including a move back to the city and away from the forest. Apparently the story was originally intended to portray a culture clash between old and new Japan, and there are still elements of that here, but Madhouse frames its adaptation more as a battle of domination between masculinity and femininity.
This post explains it better than I could, but I'd like to add that I got a very Rashomon feel from the story in a couple of ways: 1) The appearance of the woman and her behavior is much like the samurai's wife in Rashomon (depending on who is telling the story of course). And 2) There is a strong sense of fallibility in the narrator, because it is obvious the story is told from the point of view of the thief, and it is framed to make him more sympathetic. Certain details are deliberately obscured (if you think he's treating those other wives he keeps locked up like princesses, then you're crazy), the mood shifts to "Oh, poor me!" when the thief moves to the city with the woman and Madhouse deliberately makes the ending abrupt and ambiguous to create a sense that what is happening onscreen is not literally happening. The feeling I got from watching it is that the whole "woman = demon" angle is something the thief conjured to make his soul more at ease with killing the woman. She is a strong, frightening demon -- that's why she was controlling him the entire time, and so he must kill her! It's an easy excuse.
Aside from the literary stuff, I enjoyed the style of these two episodes. Tite Kubo (creator of Bleach) did the character designs this go around, and I like what he does with them. The story has a free-flowing style to it as well -- there are a ton of anachronisms and a surprising amount of comedy. I think I actually enjoyed these two episodes more than the "No Longer Human" arc.
Axis Powers Hetalia ep44
America working in some backwoods cabin with a chainsaw is so random. I don't remember seeing such a folksy side of him before that, haha. Sure scared the hell out of poor Canada, though.
Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini ep7
So now that everyone is in Japan at least, it seems as though the final plot will start revealing itself. At this point in the game it is not quite clear what everyone is planning, although I am reasonably sure both Yin and Shion are the main cogs in the plan. (Yin is consistently referred to as Izanami, while Shion is referred to as Izanagi in this episode. This post explains the mythos behind those names and how they could possibly tie into the overall plot.) In a nice twist, apparently Dr. Pavlichenko faked his death somehow and is currently with Shion. We don't know what Shion's ability is yet, but could he have created a perfect replica of Pavlichenko's body? Or, perhaps, is Pavlichenko a contractor now as well?
It seems as if not everyone involved with the plot is happy, either. Misaki has been trying to figure everything out for a while now, and it appears as though Genma is ready to join her in that search. He does not seem like the type to be satisfied with simply being someone's grunt while being left in the dark, so it is not that surprising that he is joining forces with Misaki. Hopefully this is not something meant to draw Misaki and/or the informant out, however. I kind of like Genma, so I want to root for him, haha. Some interesting developments with Suou and July, as well. I still like the struggle within Suou between the logical fighting of her contractor side and the nurturing aspect of her human side, and it's nice to see July expand a bit more beyond the confines of being a doll, since there were some hints of that with him in the first season.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep33
My favorite tangent this week: The fact that Kimblee needs his own detective series. Based on this episode, we know he is a keen observer. And Kimblee certainly dresses the part of a high-class detective. So why not? His interactions with clients would be hilarious (especially the femme fatale types who would try to seduce him while he replies in a cold, detached manner), and if he somehow could not find enough evidence to turn the criminals over to the police, then Kimblee would have no qualms with blowing them up. You know you would watch this every week.
Kampfer ep8
Kind of a dull episode, actually. Shizuku yanking Natsuru's chain is kind of fun, and Natsuru is taking retardation to an entirely new level with how thick he is about relationships, but this post sums up the episode perfectly. And next week appears to be a similar type of episode, except with Akane instead of Shizuku. Feel the originality. At least Akane's transformed state has some of her old fire back. I was wondering where it had gone the past couple of episodes. Seeing Kampfer!Akane be kind of moe for Natsuru while bitching him out at the same time is kind of funny.
Kemono no Souja Erin ep43
Well, this episode definitely throws a wrench into the plans. I thought at least the next couple of episodes would be about Erin trying to keep Lilan and the other beast-lords out of Damiya's hands, but with Lilan attacking the two beast-lord handlers (and also biting off three of Erin's fingers), there is no way Erin can logically deny the Queen's order for the beast-lords and Erin to come to Kazal. And Erin doesn't -- she follows orders partly as penance for not being able to halt Lilan's destruction, and also because even though she suffers a severe setback, Erin wants to continue raising Lilan, even if she has to blow the mute whistle to keep Lilan under control. It's a harsh lesson Erin learns time and again: To keep the world of the wild under control, she must use force, but in the big picture, nature just is not meant to be controlled so strictly. That is the ironic part of the whole thing. Erin wants Lilan and the other beast-lords to be as free and naturally raised as possible, but she is still administering some degree of control over them, and now she is being forced into what will assuredly be Damiya's plan to reconstruct the beast-lord horde. Something tells me this series is definitely not going to end on a happy note.
Also, I like the symbolism of Erin placing her mother's keepsake on her wrist to bind the mitten covering her wounded hand. It's a visual reminder of the pain Erin's mother had to endure as she raised Touda in a way that hurt them -- and now Erin will be forced to do the same. The series is foreshadowing Erin's death in a huge way, especially since Erin's life is paralleling her mother's to such a huge extent.
Kimi ni Todoke ep8
Some of the hints that Kurumi is more manipulative than she seems are hilarious. The close up of her evil eye made me laugh so much. Trying way too hard, story.
Letter Bee ep8
I like that everyone suspects Gauche is a crazy bum who ditched his job instead of thinking there might be something deeper behind his disappearance. Even his sister is like, "Fuck it, he's dead, and there's nothing I can do about it!!" Lag is the only one who is like, "No way is Gauche dead! LIES!!!!!!![/Harry Potter]" Not much to say about this episode except the mystery with Gauche's whereabouts is getting more interesting, and I also wish the series would stop it with the lowbrow jokes with Niche. They're not funny. At all. It's not really completely confirmed in the preview, but I bet Lag shoots Gauche's gun with his shindan so that Sylvette can get a view of the memories it holds within.
Mononoke eps 6-9
A couple of clever stories here. Never really thought about it before, but Mononoke sort of reminds me of what Natsume Yuujinchou would be like if Natsume were a total badass instead of the kindest person in the universe. Also, if Natsume actually killed the Ayakashi instead of befriending them. Part of what I like about the styles of shows such as Natsume Yuujinchou and Mononoke is the actual process of the main characters processing and solving the mysteries surrounding the Mononoke/Ayakashi. The story of eps 6-7 -- involving a young servant/wife who has seemingly killed the terrible people who have taken her in -- is the only story so far where I have correctly guessed the outcome. However, that did not diminish the story in my eyes because I was so fascinated by how the Medicine Seller gets from points A to B to C and so on. The problem for him in that story is the Mononoke refuses to show the Medicine Seller its true form; therefore, the Medicine Seller goes about discerning the Truth and Regret first, after which he will use the information to decipher the Form of the Mononoke. The way the Medicine Seller mercilessly tears through the life history of the woman in question is done so well. Different events are shown from different angles and are pieced together in a way that actually makes a hell of a lot of sense.
What's also striking about the story is that it is pretty simple overall, and yet it is also pretty damn tragic. A lot of that has to do with how well the visuals support the story. The symbols (boxes, prisons and masks) are obvious enough so that the viewer gets the message, but they are used cleverly enough to lend some real weight to what the story is going for.
The second story in this set (eps 8-9) is an entirely different beast. What it really makes clear, I think, is why the Medicine Seller has dedicated his life to destroying the Mononoke. No matter how innocent a situation involving a Mononoke may seem, there is always something malevolent behind it. What the Mononoke have in common is that there is a strong sense of emotion where they strike; interestingly enough, along with greed, the emotion in this case seems to be boredom -- at least on the part of the Mononoke. The entire arc is a sort of dream constructed by the Mononoke to confuse the Medicine Seller for the pleasure of the Mononoke. It even seems to work for a time. There is a point where the Medicine Seller actually has a confused look on his face, and that sure as hell has not happened prior to that point in the series. (Although perhaps the Medicine Seller is just playing along -- during a game, the Medicine Seller submits the answer of "Illusion", which would seem to indicate that he sees through everything that is happening.) But what an illusion it is regardless! I love what this arc does with color. Most of the characters and backgrounds are done in a drab, flat style ... until the characters catch wind of the scent of certain types of incense, whereupon the colors become much fuller and brighter, and it's like your eyes get kicked in by a pair of boots. So awesome.
I hear the final arc is pretty crazy, so I can't wait to watch that!
eps 10-12
I love that almost immediately, this final arc forces the viewer to reconsider everything he or she assumes about the Medicine Seller. The setting leaps forward who knows how many decades (or, perhaps, centuries) to 1920s Japan, where a group of people board a train that suddenly falls prey to a Mononoke. And, yet, there the Medicine Seller is, looking the same as ever. Is this guy human at all? Is he immortal? Is he a Mononoke himself? None of these questions are answered at all, and while the Medicine Seller clearly has a supernatural element to himself from the beginning of the series, that really does nothing to clarify his exact nature. It's interesting to think about, though -- not really certain where I fall myself, although I admit to being intrigued by the idea that the Medicine Seller could be a Mononoke. His Form is beyond my ability to grasp (being as unfamiliar with Japanese folk tales and horror stories as I am), and his Truth is his to know only, but how interesting would it be if his Regret were to send Mononoke to the world beyond for all eternity?
But getting back to this final arc, it is definitely my favorite of the series and perhaps the most viscerally creepy of all the stories. The train setting is beautifully used to create an intense sense of claustrophobia, and the emotion of vengeance on the part of the Mononoke is felt more strongly than in any other arc in this series. The woman the Mononoke possesses -- a young reporter who came across a dangerous scoop -- is beyond pissed off. Each of the train passengers is completely terrified the entire time; for good reason, too, because they keep dying one by one (although a good number of them are left alive again, possibly because they are legitimately contrite about screwing the reporter over).
I want to comment on one moment in particular that is legitimately terrifying: The reporter is pushed off a bridge onto some train tracks in such a way that her death will look like a suicide; however, although her neck appears to be broken, the woman is still alive. She cannot move at all and is forced to stare head on into the cold headlights of a train rushing toward her with great speed while the conductor is catching 40 winks at the front of the train. Inside her head, the reporter is screaming for someone to notice her on the tracks and how she does not want to die, but it's all in vain as the train runs her over. The very thought of being forced to face one's death straight on and not being able to do anything about it just gives me the shivers. There are not many more feelings in the world more frightening than that.
As should be obvious by now, I thoroughly enjoyed Mononoke. Love the style, love the stories and love the Medicine Seller~ I'm now raring to watch Ayakashi, which is the series from which Mononoke was spun off (although I hear the Medicine Seller is in only one of Ayakashi's arcs).
Monster eps 13-14
I love the irony that Lunge has such a great mind for detail and analysis, and yet his daughter gets pregnant under his nose and his wife cheats on him without his knowledge. And then they both conspire to leave while he is in the house. Inspector Lunge: Father/Husband of the Year!
Nodame Cantabile eps 1-3
Because the final season of Nodame is airing during the winter season, I've decided to stop dragging my ass and finally watch the rest of this series. A long time ago I caught the first episode and stopped watching it for reasons I cannot fathom now, because I definitely liked the opener. Ah well, I'm watching it now -- that's all that matters. When I went to Anime Club in college, I watched a few episodes of the live action Nodame drama, so I know the general direction the series is heading in right now: Nodame and Chiaki's relationship is developing while they meet all the students who will eventually comprise an orchestra to be led by Chiaki. I'm cool with that direction right now, because the characters introduced so far are pretty fun, and watching Nodame insert herself into every aspect of Chiaki's life is amusing. I'd express my wonder at how someone like Nodame could actually exist (since she is based off a real person), but I've actually known a few girls like her in my life, so she is not actually too farfetched a character to me, haha.
Regarding Chiaki: I crack up every time he gets flustered at the latest silly thing Nodame does, because he is voiced by Tomokazu Seki, and I cannot for the life of me get Van from Escaflowne out of my head when he speaks. If Nodame were voiced by Maaya Sakamoto, then my head probably would have exploded by now. It would have been way too weird to conceieve. But as it is, I'm OK with snickering at Chiaki Fanel whenever he speaks. If he has a brother voiced by Jouji Nakata, though, my head will probably spin.
Sasameki Koto ep7
Akemiya needs to see a therapist, or he needs to kick someone's ass. One or the other -- just something to give him a desperately needed boost of self esteem. He's got a serious case of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy going on here: He thinks his sister will eventually grow to hate him. Well, if he keeps approaching life with a depressing attitude like that, of course she'll hate him! Who wants to be around a moper all the time? Nobody, that's who. So buck up and kick some ass, Akemiya.
Shugo Chara! Party ep8
... Are Character Transformations different from Character Changes, then? Because Amu has done Character Transformations with El and Il, but Miki says she cannot do a Character Change with Rikka. Maybe Miki is just taking advantage of Rikka's ignorance so that she does not have to deal with Rikka. Also, King Tadase is still hilarious. Been a while since we saw him.
Slayers Try eps 24-26
Not a bad ending. I like Lina's, "LET'S BAND TOGETHER AND KICK SOME ASS!!!!!!!!" speech. The final battle is mostly everyone walloping Dark Star with every attack they have (with the power boost they receive from the Dark Star weapons), and slowly increasing the power of each attack while combining their powers until they are strong enough to own the crap out of him. Mostly predictable, but still kind of fun. I kind of like the drama with Filia at the end, where she has to step up and do the right thing for the world but is still having difficulty coming to terms with the past of her people. But she kicks some ass at the end. (Like Des, I lol'd at the little Filia x Xellos tease the writers throw in just for kicks.) The ending kind of makes me laugh, too, because it comes off like, "Well, we barely avoided the destruction of the world, and all of Filia's people are dead, but fuck it, let's go find some more adventure!!" I wouldn't want to honor those douches, either, but at least do it for Filia.
If you've been reading these posts the past couple of weeks, then you already know how I feel about Slayers Try -- fun series and has a lot of the Slayers charm, but that charm alone is not enough to carry the series. Right from the get go in Slayers Next, you got the feeling that something good was going to go down. Try, meanwhile, kind of meanders a bit and never really feels fully focused until the very end, and even then it doesn't wrap up in a completely satisfying way. Slayers Try is solid fantasy but disappointing for Slayers.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun ep8
The slice of life portion of the series might be over for good now, since the bigger story is getting more of a focus. The search for the Level Upper is kind of interesting, although it is pretty obvious where the series will push Saten's involvement with that whole thing. (Will the story pull a twist with that now? I dunno.) Best part of the episode is Mikoto's short skirmish with the boss chick who demands she be taken seriously even though Mikoto whoops up on her anyway. Her electrical powers are pretty crazy now (wouldn't it feel pretty damn weird to be magnetically bonded to metal via electricity?), but it's not yet at the point where she is just about invincible (unlike with Touma, whose hand can neutralize damn near everything under the sun). Lazy scientist lady is back, too, and she gets to examine those who saw their powers increase, which will be awesome for her since I believe she is the one who set all that forward.
Trapeze ep6
This is kind of a boring episode, aside from Irabu treating text messaging like Twitter and Mayumi's views on loneliness. But I do like how the solution to Yuta's problem develops naturally. Yuta is a cell phone addict; his hands shake like crazy if he is not holding his phone, and he keeps in constant contact with people through texts. He can't even keep live friends in person -- they see worth in him only because Yuta buys things all the time. The last straw comes when they purposefully (?) block Yuta out of a karaoke trip when a party plan falls through, and they bring along Yuri, a cute waitress Yuta had asked out when he and his friends were all out at a restaurant. Yuta decides to jettison all his shitty relationships and start off with a clean slate with the help of Irabu, who is partying away with all his patients. Again, a pretty simple message: To really be friends with people, one has to make an actual effort instead of hiding behind obstructions all the time (texting, materialism, etc.). Irabu pretty much has the right idea regarding cell phones. He's very excited to finally have one, but eventually he grows bored of it and tosses it aside. A cell phone is simply a tool of convenience; it is not something around which to build one's life.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni ep21
I wonder how much longer this arc will continue focusing on Ange's extracurricular activities. This episode mostly serves to further explore the relationship between magic and the believer. For a while now, magic has been presented as something that the user must totally believe in for it to work. In this episode it is directly compared to a delusion, which blurs the lines a bit more between what is real and what is not in this series. It's interesting that more people seem to believe in magic, though. Maria totally believes in it, and while Ange is nowhere near as zealous about it, she seems to be a believer as well. It's not even totally clear whether Battler really does not believe; however, since he has to deny magic with his murder explanations, he must continue to be obstinate about the whole thing. (The murders may be explainable without magic, but the Meta World is pretty damn difficult to explain logically without delving into the ridiculous.)
Speaking of delusions, uh, Maria's flimsy delusion about being happy with her relationship with Rosa is pretty much shattered. Rosa has some good qualities about her, and I think she really does love Maria, but she makes Inspector Lunge look like one of those '50s TV dads.
