Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu was released late, so I'll include that in next week's post. Enjoy everything else I watched this week!
Anime discussed: Dance in the Vampire Bund, Hanamaru Kindergarten, Planetes, Sora no Woto, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun
UNMEI KAIHEN: Durarara!!, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Kimi ni Todoke, Nodame Cantabile Finale, Ookami Kakushi
Dance in the Vampire Bund ep3
This series has officially moved into So Bad It's Good territory. What a terrible episode. The school hijinks are reminiscent of a really bad Code Geass episode, complete with Akira being chased around the school as part of a bet, with the class that catches him getting a bigger budget for the school year. All it needed was a goofy helmet and a cat. And the ridiculous dramatics at the twist that OMG MINA IS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE SCHOOL. I swear Shinbou is directing this series just to mock the material and piss off vampire fans. That would be the only proper explanation for this mess.
Durarara!! ep2
So, Hiroshi Kamiya's character is about as terrible as I could have imagined -- he's even got a bit of Johan Liebert in him, goading Rio ever so slightly into attempted suicide before the headless rider badasses her way into the picture and saves Rio. Also, holy crap, refrigerator guy's voice sounds nothing like any Daisuke Ono voice I've heard in the past. This is kind of crazy.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep40
I didn't really think about this too much while reading the manga (too busy getting through the story), but this episode makes me really curious about the actual origin of Homunuculus. I mean, I don't think the humans created him from scratch -- after all, his knowledge of alchemy outstrips theirs by a good distance. So where did he come from? Is he a product of the Gate? Or something else?
Giant Robo eps 1-7
I said plenty about Giant Robo a couple of days ago, so just indulge me in one final message: I hate raising people's expectations to an unnecessary extent and having them be disappointed when they finally watch something I like. I believe it's reasonable for people to go into anything (books/movies/anime/etc.) expecting something good, unless they have reason to expect otherwise. If 'Gome says Tales of the Abyss is her favorite game ever, and then I played it, I wouldn't go into it expecting the best game I've ever played in my life; that would be silly and unrealistic. What I would expect, though, is a good game. (Side note: This is why the concept of Hype Backlash has always repulsed me. Yeah, people are dumb and overhype things to the high heavens, but there's also fault in lending too much credence to hype and then lashing out at the hype and unnecessarily taking it out on the product. Expect something good and let the other feelings develop on their own.) And I also hate elitist asshole statements that serve to boost a person's ego but really just make him or her look like a jerk.
With that said, I honestly think anyone who is a genuine fan of mecha series will like Giant Robo -- probably even love it. Don't ignore it because it's a relatively old series, or because it is an unfamiliar name or because the intro makes it seem unbelievably silly (even though the intro is awesome). Giant Robo should be required watching for anyone who likes mecha even a little bit.
Hanamaru Kindergarten ep2
If enough people watch Hanamaru Kindergarten, I think Hiiragi will be the breakout character of the season. She's so smart and hilariously deadpan, but at the same time she is such a kid -- and it's not just the way she parades around in animal pajamas like any kid would at that age, but more that she is so amazingly curious about everything around her. Hiiragi reads a lot due to encouragement from her astronomer father; however, and this is a part of her character I really love, she is adult enough to know her knowledge has limits, and yet she is also child enough to seek knowledge at every opportunity. Wouldn't every parent want his or her child to turn out like Hiiragi? I know I would -- she might even teach me a thing or two (or ten).
Kimi ni Todoke ep15
I know this probably won't happen, but I hope Kurumi plays her new "Superstar" persona to the hilt. She's already way more likable than she was when she played at moe. And now I won't have to be told by the anime that I have to hate Kurumi because she's trying to sabotage Sawako's chances of getting with Kazehaya. A winner is me!
Nodame Cantabile Finale ep1
I think I'll enjoy watching Nodame through an actual season! I like that this first episode throws the viewers right back into the action instead of easing people back into the show; there are only 11 episodes to work with, apparently, so leap right in, I say! I'm glad to see Nodame taking more initiative -- she wants to grow into an adult, and not just that but someone whose talents can flourish. Watching Chiaki is kind of weird because right now he is a similar type of character as Hachimaki from Planetes (focusing only on his ambition while letting his relationships fall to the wayside).
Ookami Kakushi ep2
This episode is again kind of boring ... but Isuzu's family is hypersexual (she's nuts for Hiro, and Issei hits on just about everyone in the episode), and I want to see if anything interesting is done with that (especially since Hiro has pulled away so hard from Isuzu's advances), or if the show will just blow its load with all that (pun intended).
Planetes eps 15-18
Man, I didn't think Ai and Hachimaki's relationship would turn out well, but I didn't expect it to fizzle out this quickly! Hachimaki is having a difficult time reconciling his ambitions in space (exacerbated because of his brief battle with Acute Spatial Disorder) with his feelings for Ai. I can't be completely sure of this, but right now I think he is acting in a way that will make Ai distance herself from him so that he will be able to go on the Von Braun mission without forcing Ai to wait for him for seven years, which makes me want to throw a brick at Hachimaki's head. I'd never want to stop a guy from fulfilling his ambitions, and he definitely should reconcile whether this is more important to him than a relationship, but the passive-aggressive way he is dealing with Ai is just infuriating. The only hint of his true motive he has given Ai is his admission that he might be like Von Braun -- a man whose ambition led to the invention of the V-2 combat rocket, which the Germans used during World War II. So basically Hachimaki is saying he is the type of person who will let himself be consumed by his ambition at the expense of everything else, even if he knows people will be hurt along the way.
He's just being a big, selfish idiot though. If going into space at the expense of personal relationships is what he really wants to do, then he should man up and tell Ai that's what he wants to do instead of beating around the bush (he appears to be telling her now, however). Sure he'll look like a huge ass for basically leading Ai on, only to change his mind later and direct all his energies to space, but at least then he would be truthful to Ai instead of delaying things and making the pain worse for her. Some people are built for relationships; others are built to fulfill their ambitions. Hachimaki's dad is shown to be that second kind of guy -- even when he resolves to retire, he cannot help but be drawn to the Von Braun mission after seeing how cold and ambitious the man behind the mission is. Hachimaki is showing himself to be the same kind of person.
Despite how annoyed I am with Hachimaki, I think his character development is actually really good and much more interesting than I thought it would be following the ASD episode. The ending of that episode seemed at first to be far too easy, that Hachimaki had worked through all his problems with space at much too quick a rate. It did not feel natural at all; now, however, it's clear that he doesn't change or work through his issues so much as he bends every part of his being to the goal of going as far as he can into space. Hachimaki's ambition is no less than to leave his mark in the annals of history for eternity as one of the first men to explore Jupiter. He works himself so hard because he realizes the fear of being alone in space is nothing compared to the fear of not being able to accomplish the one goal he has had his entire life. Hachimaki is a young guy; he's restless. He's temporarily satisfied with grinding away as a debris hauler and falling in love with Ai, but a grounded life just does not suit him. Again, it's that ambition: People who feel it running through their blood just have to test it constantly and run as far as it will take them. Almost losing that makes Hachimaki more focused than he has ever been in his life.
Still doesn't excuse him for acting like a freaking assmunch to Ai, though.
Also, ep15 is probably one of my least favorite episodes in the series. I love Edel, but that whole episode just feels really awkward and out of place with the rest of the series. It develops some more themes (like clawing one's way out of a terrible background, and how much harder those people have to work than most people); however, it's just ... eh.
eps 19-22
A lot of things happen in these episodes (which conclude with Hachimaki breaking down ever more and withdrawing upon learning that Ai knew about Gigalt's cancer and did not tell Hachimaki about it until after Gigalt's death), but what interests me most is the continued development of Hachimaki's ambition and how single-minded his focus on getting on the Von Braun is. I've been reading a lot of books about basketball lately (The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons, The Jordan Rules by Sam Smith and currently The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam), and they have given me interesting insights into the mindsets of people who are ruled by their ambition (great athletes in particular, but this could reasonably extend to anyone with boundless ambition). In many ways, Hachimaki is similar to Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls shooting guard who is in all likelihood the greatest basketball player ever and the most popular athlete of the 1990s. The Jordan Rules digs beneath Jordan's carefully cultivated public image and shows a man with a ruthless, intense ambition dedicated to one goal: Winning the NBA championship.
Jordan, like Hachimaki, had great ability to match his ambition, and he often acted like a complete asshole to his teammates because he believed they were not good enough to help him win a championship. He couldn't respect them because none of them -- not even the great Scottie Pippen, perhaps the most gifted defensive player of all time -- could match his unique mix of otherworldly athletic talent, unshackled ambition and domineering will. Jordan punched one of his teammates in practice to assert his dominance over the group. He cracked cruel jokes to put his teammates in their place and often isolated himself from them. The one way to earn Jordan's respect was to stand up to him and let him know you wouldn't stand for his bullshit. If you could earn his respect, Jordan would stick by you on the court, even if he didn't necessarily like you. He would go to war with you. Those who didn't earn Jordan's respect, however, would instead constantly receive his wrath, because he despised those who could not keep up with him. If you were on his team, there was only one acceptable result -- to win the NBA title. That's it.
This is Hachimaki's mindset now. When he gets a taste of what he might be throwing away, Hachimaki's ambition kicks into overdrive, and he cuts out everything in his life. When Hachimaki verbally tears Ching-Shin apart, it might seem somewhat inexplicable, but looking at it from the Jordan mindset, it makes perfect sense: Hachimaki cannot stand the kind of person who admits that he never expected to do anything great, and that failing doesn't bother him too much. When Hachimaki says getting onto the Von Braun means everything to him, and that it's the only thing that matters in his life, he means it with every fiber of his being. Anything less than getting onto the Von Braun is unacceptable to Hachimaki; if he didn't make it, he would probably kill himself (although I'm not entirely sure what he will do now -- maybe Gigalt's death will inspire him to go further). And I now realize I totally misinterpreted the reason why he acts cold to Ai. Hachimaki is not considering her feelings so much as he is make a calculated judgment: "Ai is satisfied with picking up space garbage for the rest of her life. I am not; therefore, I cannot associate myself with her." It's more understandable to me now, though no less cruel, obviously.
This Jordan mindset also applies to when Hakim betrays Hachimaki by attempting another attack on the Von Braun. Hachimaki is not offended so much by the fact that Hakim is committing an act of terrorism, nor is he quite as upset as one might expect that Hakim is damaging Hachimaki's chance to get on the Von Braun -- rather, Hachimaki feels betrayed because Hakim is the only person in the tryouts who can match (or even exceed) Hachimaki's talent and drive. Hachimaki wants to go as far as possible, and a part of that is being pushed and challenged as much as possible. Hakim earns Hachimaki's respect because they are equally cold and ruthless about achieving their goal. They have that edge nobody else possesses. Hachimaki goes into the Von Braun tryouts not aiming to make friends at all, but he cannot help but being drawn to Hakim because he senses a kindred spirit who will continually make him into a better, stronger person by virtue of being who he is.
Even the reason Hachimaki catches Hakim in the act of blowing up the Von Braun supports this idea: Hachimaki instinctively senses that Hakim has lost his edge because he has accomplished his goal -- simply getting near enough to the Von Braun to destroy it. Hachimaki knows immediately that the edge Hakim had earlier is now gone. He's let up. And Hachimaki cannot stand that, because he thought he found in Hakim -- a fellow student of Gigalt -- a kindred spirit who would push him to the greatest possible heights while he pushed Hakim to the greatest heights, at once a rival and a friend in battle. Hachimaki's ambition causes him to see not Hakim the terrorist (who has legitimate reasons to be angry) but Hakim the rival who let him down.
Sora no Woto ep3
I'll readily admit to being one of the skeptics of this series before the season again, and I will just as readily admit to this episode making me eat my words in full. Great episode that I loved from start to finish -- the character relationship between Rio and Kanata is perfectly played, and the redemption they both seek resonated with me. I'm not sure if this was planned, but I read the Wikipedia article for "Amazing Grace" (which is featured prominently in this episode), and an interesting aspect of the song is how both religious and non-religious people alike can glean a similar meaning from the hymn (transformation from the lowest point of a person's life to being saved) through completely different paths (to a Christian, "grace" is God's grace that redeems humanity's sins, whereas a non-religious person may see it solely as humanity's strength in surviving hardships). That ties in well to a conflict in Rio -- the series has made it clear from the start that she is not a particularly religious person. She participates begrudgingly in the ceremony that starts Sora no Woto (although re-enacting the story is meant to be an act of redemption itself for the village), and Rio's flashbacks suggest that her mother died at the hands of a greedy faith healer who bungled something in his attempt to cure her. Yet she still sought some sort of redemption (maybe more like the strength to survive and grow up in her mind) and received it through, interestingly enough, the same mystery woman who played "Amazing Grace" for Kanata and gave her the trumpet.
I love that connection between the two of them. Just as Rio had someone who helped her grow up through her troublesome stage, so too will she be there to help Kanata grow through her own troublesome stage. There are still many mysteries about the world of Sora no Woto (the nature of the war, the impact it has had on each of the girls, where some of this clearly advanced technology comes from, and so on), but through it all they've got each other. Rio doesn't seem to have led a particularly happy life up to this point; however, through her interaction with her superior, Rio was shown that light indeed exists in the world, and that it's never too late to endure, become strong and rise above the darkness. And now she is passing this along to Kanata. It probably seems kind of sappy on the outside looking in. The episode makes it work much better than I think my writing indicates, though.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun ep15
An OK episode, but I think it's funny how often the main characters of this series get upstaged by all the random side characters. They're middle schoolers (always a jarring fact to recall), but Kuroko and Mikoto are supposed to be fairly strong; yet, how many times have they really been let loose and allowed to kick some ass for themselves throughout the series? Mikoto particularly seems to be upstaged almost every time she gets ready to fight. It's kind of ridiculous. I don't know about other people watching the series, but I want to see Mikoto blow some fools away.
