Wakaranai

 

Although this series continues to get the job done in its role as an ecchi/harem/comedy anime, with ample amounts of fanservice, and consistently impressive production values, I personally feel like it’s lost a bit of steam since the first episodes. Since the first couple of eps, this series has lost a bit of its comedic edge. I originally compared it to Seto no Hanayome with its well-timed punchlines and great visual humour, but that comparison has now expired because it no longer really makes me laugh. I think episode 2 has to be the pinnacle of the show so far in terms of entertainment value, with the ero-value of Mitsuki in handcuffed nopan mode and the general craziness. Maybe it’s because this series has been gradually leaning more and more toward a dramatic tone. Mitsuki’s childhood-friend love story is coming more and more to the forefront and the real plot behind the pet angels is beginning to surface. The result is a more serious feel for the series, even if it still features plenty of sexy eye-candy and ecchi gags. While I am somewhat interested in the origins and purpose behind these angels, I’m not sure the series should start taking itself too seriously. The odd bit of drama is good to flesh out the characters and make them more likeable, but this series works best when it embraces its ridiculous and perverse premise.

So I think this episode could have been a lot more entertaining that it was. I mean, even if it was a beach episode, most of the fanservice was just crammed into the ED! The beach episode is a staple tradition of anime, and usually just a thin excuse to get a bunch of girls in bikinis for a concentrated dose of fanservice. It’s kind of ironic then that the beach of episode of this series, marketed as an ecchi series, actually had less focus on fanservice than most of the previous episodes! There was still a good amount of eye-catching swimsuit shots I guess.

But the strangest thing was the way that this episode was used as the introduction point for Nymph. I’ve been eagerly awaiting Nymph’s appearance since the very beginning (largely because I find her to be the most attractive of all the character designs, but either way two pet angels are better than one, right?), but just slipping her in like this without any explanation kind of stole her thunder. Even though she’s now a part of the cast, she hasn’t really made an impact yet, or changed the dynamic between any of the characters. I guess they were just trying to be different, but it didn’t feel right. I almost thought that I’d missed an episode! So I can’t really say I like yet because so far she’s just hung around pointlessly and been rude to Tomoki. I really hope the next episode gives her a bit more of an opportunity to capture my heart. I really want to like her!

Overall it was a pretty good episode. The series remains one of the most attractive of the whole season. Mitsuki’s romantic feelings were delved into with a little more sincerity, Icarus and her master are gaining a bit of chemistry (do I detect the hint of an approaching love triangle or harem?), and the mystery behind these strange angels is starting to be explored. But personally, I like the show when it’s wild and unhinged.

● I love how Icarus’s response to Tomoki getting attacked is invariably to start glowing, make wind blow around the place, and tear up some rocks and shit. It always strikes me as a strange way to react. Is she charging up some devastating attack or something? In that case it’s pretty ineffectual if it takes that long. Surely she has the strength to just beat the crap out of 3 guys rather than concocting some kind of spirit bomb attack.

● So Nymph is a newer model of pet angel devices, huh? That’s what I assume if Icarus’s model is alpha. The biggest difference between the two models appears to be the fact that Nymph is a lot more self-conscious and has the ability to make decisions on her own. When Mitsuki was in danger, Nymph flew in to save the day while Icarus just stood around looking concerned.

✘ I have to call Tomoki an idiot again because he should have just told Icarus to go save Mitsuki rather than trying to swim out himself. The writers are making a habit of ignoring Iacrus’s abilities to serve their own stories.

 

 

I don’t know if I’ve ever read a chapter of a manga that was this breath-taking. The second part of what’s now known as the ALA RUBRA SAGA comes to a powerful and spirited conclusion as Nagi and his band of heroes pull off the inevitable and the impossible: a last-minute rescue of the defamed Queen Arika from certain death on the day of her execution. Although I’m happy to admit this was a simple and predictable fantasy-fairytale ending – the heroes showing up and saving the day for the cause of justice and love, and the typical setup of the knight in shining armor rescuing the beautiful princess. But with amazing artwork, impeccable timing, and intimate dialogue, Ken Akamatsu pulled it off with a sense of awe, passion and romanticism that, for me at least, defines the perfect story climax. And to think, this is just the end of a flashback sequence. If things work out well, the culmination of the present day plot, with its vast complexity and characters we’ve come to love over years of the manga, should be truly mind-blowing! This grandiose chapter had it all and it was so amazing that I’m not even in the mood to make the usual complaint about not having seen some of the characters for too long!

Although the other members of ALA RUBRA had a fleeting moment of badassery in the limelight, this was primarily a chapter about the love story between Nagi and Arika. But even if we only get see them for a brief moment, after getting to know their deeds through this flashback, every time they appear I just have to cheer. Rakan’s appearance was just perfect, and his arrogant dismissal of his opponent’s armies on behalf of his untouchable team was just about as hot-blooded and GAR as this manga has so far been. In terms of our two stars, I actually found their dialogue together this chapter really poignant, sweet and funny. Prior to this chapter I never really cared much for the pairing, but their romantic reunion here was just executed so well that they finally clicked and I felt their great chemistry. Nagi was so cool here that my respect for him has greatly increased - I can see why Arika would fall for him (hell, I even understand why all the girls of the magical world fangirl over him)! And Arika was just so adorable as the smitten but stubborn damsel, swept from death by her knight. I just loved how she couldn’t confess properly, despite the utmost chivalry with which Nagi gave her the chance. Although I have to say I was relieved when Nagi headbutted her to break up her “why did you save me you crazy fool?” tirade. I’m starting to think it’d be great to see a bit of a spinoff manga set in the magical world with these guys..

I don’t really have a lot to say about this chapter because it didn’t deal with the intricacies of the plot and didn’t give me anything to complain about! The only thing of interest beyond the tale of the Queen of Calamity is the fact that this chapter gives a proper background for Godel, explaining his methods. Clearly, despite using subversive methods to achieve his goals, that we wouldn’t normally attribute to a hero, he is an ally of Negi’s who wants justice for the senate’s persecution of Arika. Brilliant fantasy imagery, probably the strongest dose of romance Negima has ever delivered, and great entertainment – this is why I love Negima!
 

In some ways it’s good to be a yuri fanboy right now. Exemplified by shows like Saki, Strike Witches and Railgun it seems almost all the popular shows to have surface dover the last year are coated in a thick residue of yuri subtext. It’s hard to find a series nowadays that doesn’t deal with yuri themes or connotations in some way. With all the overtones being thrown around, combined with the increasing selection of anime that, following in the large footprints of Strawberry Panic and Kannaduki no Miko, are overtly marketed as yuri series, featuring unsubtle and unapologetic relationships between girls. It’s like the entire anime industry has suddenly come out of the closet collectively. But, as a long time yuri enthusiast, I think this has become over-saturation and over-simplification of what was once a sub-sub-genre of anime. Being a yuri fanboy used to be a frontier lifestyle. To get to that rare gem of yuri would entail much sifting, searching and usually a bit of imagination. I’m starting to crave that less obvious era once more, when yuri romance was a thing of hidden beauty, epitomised by symbolism, subtlety and romanticism rather than upfront fanboy appeal. Almost ironically, the innocence of yuri that used to make my heart waver has been stripped away as it loses its place as ‘forbidden romance’ in a modern society and an anime industry increasingly marked by fanboy fetishism rather than genuine emotionality.

So where does Sasameki Koto fit into all of this? Well, interestingly, I don’t think it fits at all. Despite being a series that essentially opens with the line “Why can’t girls love each other?”, it’s certainly no Strawberry Panic. It’s in no way trying to hide the fact that it’s a yuri series, but at the same time it’s not making a blatant fanboy appeal; the girls aren’t all super-cute moe fantasies and it’s not caught up in some implausible alternate universe without men (ala Strawberry Panic). And there is no fanservice to be found. I can’t say it feels like a realistic portrayal of lesbianism (and frankly, who wants that?), but it is grounded in reality and hence manages to evoke emotion. Episode 1 misleadingly got the show off to a shaky start in terms of characterisation, but since then the characters have become relatively believable and easy to sympathise with.

This is most true of the main character, the ordinary-looking and slightly masculine Sumika, whose yuri crush on her cute best friend and flagrantly lesbian, Kazama, is crushingly nonreciprocal. The dynamic between these two is the core of the show, and the fact that it is so unusual and fraught with angst gives the show a strong emotional pull over more straight-forward yuri of this type, like Aoi Hana. Sumika’s trouble stems from the fact that her love interest happens to be infatuated with cute and pretty girls, a catergory from which she is explicitly excluded. So despite Sumika being in a good position to confess in terms of the fact that Kazama is interested in girls, she is doomed to the role of jealous and frustrated onlooker as Kazama chases beautiful girls. The secrecy of her crush doesn’t derive angst from the morality or strangeness of her attraction but rather from her fear of being rejected. In that sense you could almost say that its strengths are its romantic storytelling ability, regardless of the yuri aspect. Take out the yuri twist and you’d probably still have a gripping story.

In being an atypical yuri series and not following the usual path of the S-class relationship, and not really chasing a theme uniquely found in the yuri genre, it doesn’t really feel like a yuri series, despite the fact that it clearly deals with girl-girl relationships. I have to say, I prefer yuri series that derive angst or excitement from the “forbidden love” aspect. Being set in a co-ed school rather than the standard all-girl’s-school setting does mean that occasionally allow the show to give the sense that the yuri predispositions isn’t entirely normal, but there’s certainly no antagonism. The only truly straight girl with any kind of role is completely unperturbed by Kazama’s interest, which is nice and all, but I guess I just don’t swallow the lack of prejudice found at this school. This series would have you believe Japanese high schools are havens of political correctness and acceptance while series like Shigofumi portray them as rampant with bullying. But this lack of true believability is forgivable because it isn’t what the show is really about, I just think it’s easy to get fired up and root for a pairing when they face external adversity.

In this case the struggle that defines this relationship is very much internal. Which, as I said before, is quite affecting as a romance story, but feels like it could have been to applied to any couple. While I consistently sympathise for Sumika, the main problem with the series is that it’s set up such that you can’t help but hate the object of her desires, Kazama. Kazama’s obsession with good-looking girls just feels unforgivably shallow coming from the perspective of the audience who knows how hurtful it is to the more sincerely in love, Sumika. The more I feel sorry for Sumika, the more I become frustrated with Kazama, which makes the show fun to watch but which doesn’t really make for a great pairing. I certainly don’t care for Kazama/Sumika, I just want to see Sumika happy. I think this is a flaw in the show, because I’m sure they could have made Kazama more likeable while still playing the obliviously dismissive card. Maybe that would have had the spark to set alight my yuri fanboy side.

As it is though, this is a strangely compelling tale of love, even if it skims over its girl-love angle a little too cleanly and simplistically. If you’re looking for a romance with a dash of angst and a bit of an unusual twist (yuri AND crossdressing), then this could well be worth watching. I’m enjoying the series in that respect, but wanted to try and articulate where it belongs in the exponentially growing mosaic of yuri anime. As yuri creeps into more and more anime, it becomes more important for its fanboys to remember where it came from and what its appeal really is.

 

This is a really exciting chapter because it really feels like that we’re finally teetering on the brink of a major plot revelation. We’re not there yet, but pretty soon this manga is going to deliver a real answer to some of the burning questions behind the vast and convoluted story. Until now, and that includes this chapter, Ken Akamatsu has demonstrated an amazing ability to expand and complicate the epic story behind the history of the magic world, the past of Nagi and comrades, and Negi-and-cohort’s present struggle against enigmatic Fate. With every flashback he manages to raise new questions and ambiguities but, and this is the thing that really impresses me about his storytelling ability, it never feels like he’s going off on a tangent or unnecessarily trying to drag it out. Every time he adds new mysteries to the story he also inches the separate threads every closer to making sense as a single, coherent body. Over the course of the magic world arc we’ve gradually been able to focus in on a few key holes in the plot, questions that would link everything together and which, even now, threaten to put a crushing spin on the story. When a true revelation is dropped it should be really satisfying.

There’s not a lot to talk about in this chapter other than the plot. There’s little in the way of golden moe moments or fanservice highlights. It’s one of those chapters with a deeper tone than your average Negima fare, which is usually the mark of a Nagi flashback chapter. This chapter initially felt like it was actually explaining things, but by the end of it I realise it had left me much more confused than ever before (and I had to go back and reread it to try and extract sense out of every snippet of dialogue). For 18 pages worth, Ken Akamatsu really packs in a hell of a lot of conflicting motivations and moral dilemmas. Now that the Megalo Mesembria Senate has entered into the mix Negima has gained a new edge of intrigue and espionage. This chapter is our best look into princess/Queen Arika’s perspective yet, and it’s a very interesting world of politics and warfare. Compared to the (from what we’ve seen) simple masculine heroics of Nagi and ALA RUBRA, Arika’s decisions as her kingdom’s leader are fascinating in a more intellectual way. We don’t really know specifics yet but this chapter suggests that:

Arika made a decision that would partially save her kingdom, but which would bring ruin shortly after. In other words, she gained time in which she could evacuate as many citizens as possible from the sky-plateaus. We know now that she knew a disaster was coming and that she decided to take responsibility for it, giving her the title “Queen of Calamity”. I like the idea that she made an honourable sacrifice, and the idea that the Megalo Mesembria Senate was behind the scenes even back then, pulling strings, is even more interesting.

The most confusing element to the chapter was the death of Zect and his dialogue with Negi.

It is impossible for a hero of war to shape the future.
In the end you were unable to change anything.
I suggest that you ask yourself now, is humanity worth throwing away your own life to save?
Humanity is beyond saving .. hero, know my 2006 years of despair. Farewell.

Zect has had very little mention but the fact that Nagi calls him master suggests he had some kind of significance. His death and final words are kind of mysterious. Was he really a traitor/villain-in-disguise or was he possessed by something or someone to deliver that message to Nagi. What does he mean when he says Nagi was unable to change anything? The chapter casts doubt on the triumph of Ala Rubra on that day - things went a little too smoothly and here we have someone saying that they failed. By throwing away his life, I wonder if Zect is referring to what’s happened to Nagi - the reason he disappeared. I really hope the next chapter explains what happened here a little better because it’s the most confusing part of the chapter. Interestingly, Ku:nel seemed to know the circumstances behind Zect’s “passing away” and stopped Nagi from sharing. There’s definitely some important piece to the puzzle that’s missing here (as usual!).

Other than the plot, we got some nice character development for Arika and a good look at her relationship with Nagi. There’s some pretty funny flirting between the two of them, and talk of eloping. Given their older age compared with Negi and his companions, their relationship is a bit more mature (especially from Arika’s side of things), and there’s this real sense of drama between them. They are drawn together but pulled apart, Arika’s sense of duty to her country is torn by her love for her knight. It’s really compelling, and I can’t wait for the next chapter. Maybe Negima’s present-day romantic stories will eventually develop to be as interesting as this. I suppose we can’t forget to mention the reference to Asuna in this chapter too. Her past is still somewhat mysterious but a lot of it can be inferred from the many comments about her that have been made. Here it says she was sealed using the power of the entire fleet. It seems she is the cause of the disaster that will soon unfold and brand Arika the Queen of Calamity. Her magic negation powers really fit in well with this. Again, the answer to this whole thing feels like it’s on the tip of my tongue but I can’t quite say it..

I was rereading an earlier volume today (vo,ume 6), published by UK company “Tanoshimi”, and in the translation notes it has an interesting interpretation of Fate’s name:

Fate Averruncus
The name of the “white-haired youth”. The roman god of aversion, “Averruncus” is said to help in avoiding calamity, while also bringing forth good fortune. In other references, Averruncus is known as the God of childbirth.

His name certainly has some interesting connotations! It really reinforces the theory that Fate actually has goals that aren’t explicitly evil. He is likely trying to save humanity in some fashion. Whether that’s destroying one dimension to preserve another, or something else entirely remains to be seen. I’m going to go crazy if some of the answers to this massive plot aren’t shared soon!

 

In some ways this last episode of Bakemonogatari exemplifies the thing I hated most about the series as a whole, but unlike previous instances when it got caught in a self-indulgent run of relatively banal and plot-free dialogue between the sadistic and sarcastic Senjougahara and Araragi, this time it actually went somewhere. I spent a good portion of the episode pretty bored and frustrated that the series was signing off on such a dull note, but in the last few minutes it unexpectedly took my breath away with a moving, deeply romantic and believably intimate moment between the two notorious conversationalists. The final exchange of words between the two of them under the light of the stars was certainly the most (or perhaps only) beautiful moment of the series, and it really payed off all their chatter throughout the episode by referencing parts of their earlier conversation with some great twists. I think this was a really great way to end the series.

Not only was it a poignant scene itself, but it also finally stabbed through Senjougahara’s cynical and indifferent façade to portray her at her most vulnerable and honest. As a result, her character finally clicked for me and she went from being my least favourite character to among my favourite from the series. I always got the idea of her, that she had the heart of a real girl behind her bladed tongue and apparent sociopathy - but it wasn’t until it was expressed sincerely like this that I could properly appreciate her and see what Araragi saw in her. Having said that, this episode also made their relationship click with me. I think it’s quite clever the way the never seemed to have much chemistry, but when you look back on a lot of their dialogue having seen how this episode turned out, you can see a very strong emotional compatibility. That doesn’t mean to say that I take back my assertion that a lot of the scenes they share together were tedious. But exposing the life and love in these two characters and their relationship at the very end made for a very satisfying conclusion.

On the other hand, it is not entirely satisfying because it treads over the story of Tsubasa Cat, and Hanekawa’s troubles. It’s pretty annoying to invest in a character and a story only to have it put off, especially because that arc looked to be one of the most promising. I know we still have the online episodes to watch, but, despite my anger at the dropped Tsubasa Cat story, I’m honestly not that interested in seeing those episodes. And that’s not because I don’t think they’ll be entertaining, but rather because I think this was the perfect end to the series. After such an emotional finish I’m not sure I want to see Senjougahara in her normal insulting state again, or rather if I find myself bored by another one of their 10-minutes discussions it will undermine the sentiment that this episode left behind as an aftertaste. The final thing I noticed about the episode and about the series was that the lyrics of the song tied into this final scene. I was really impressed by the fact that the ED lyrics actually MEANT something (very rare for anime), and the way in which, like the characters themselves, I saw it in a new light.

It was far from a perfect series, but it had its moments and this was the greatest of them all. Despite Akiyuki Shinbo’s comments to the contrary, I really think SHAFT left their mark on this series, and even if they didn’t produce the perfect adaptation their creativity and style made it unique and memorable. It’s hard to imagine this series done in the style of a regular anime, and that definitely shows that SHAFT played their part in making it a success. Personally, it didn’t live up to my expectations, but it certainly made a splash and looks like it’ll be a commercial success.

 

 

SHAFT has always been known as a studio inundated with disproportionate amounts of work and time pressures, but they have also made a more positive-sounding name for themselves as a surprisingly profitable small studio, making the best of low-budget series. At the moment, they are working on a host of shows - two currently airing, a couple of upcoming TV anime and the looking Negima OVA series, and it seems that they have really over-stretched themselves too far this time. Whether it’s due to budget miss-handling, ill-planned schedule management or some genuinely blameless twist of fate ( someone bought swine flu into the office?), the studio’s unprofessionalism really showed in this episode of Bakemonogatari, to the point where no amount of animation-shortcuts or Akiyuku Shinbo’s trademark sense of humour could rescue it.

At least they were surprisingly honest about their inability to complete the episode, with a whole pile of cuts replaced by black screens with text simply reading ‘cut due to circumstances’. When the cuts did make it into the episode they were often not animated at all. With all the extended periods of dialogue without any movement and black screens disrupting every scene you may as well be reading the novels. Make no mistake, this is a very flawed production effort and I find it inexcusable for this kind of series, which is written to have dramatic impact. This isn’t like the inane and frivolous Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei - serious animation problems interfere with the story and the emotion behind it. I think it’s unfair to the performances of the seiyuu, especially for the star of episode, Kana Hanazawa as the distraught and adorable Nadeko. The climax of her arc, a night-time, school-swimsuit-filled magic ritual could actually have been quite profound and striking, even suspenseful, but instead if just felt cheap and unremarkable. It seems they spent all their cash and passion bringing the tale of Suruga Kanbaru to life!

This was a disappointing end to the Nadeko Snake arc. Animation isn’t everything, and I recognise that the emotional story behind it is quite strong. I found the onii-chan-complex romance of Nadeko particularly affecting and interesting. And Nadeko’s too-shy-shy type character was bought to life with fitting cuteness by the soft-spoken Kana Hanazawa. And I do have to thank both Nadeko and Suruga for the saturation of bloomers and school-swimsuits the last two episodes have delivered. But it isn’t enough to excuse the dead animation effort from SHAFT this time around. I can only hope that the last few episodes of the series will prove this to have been a momentary collapse in ‘quality’ (more like, completeness).

。。 This disaster makes me wonder if the offices of SHAFT are in a chaos state similar to the fictional animation company in Animation Runner Kuromi. The producers didn’t make it through in a pinch this time. Just as long as the same thing doesn’t happen to Negima! Apparently this kind of thing has happened before, when their scheduling caused problems when they were doing Hidamari Sketch. But this is certainly the biggest screw-up from SHAFT I’ve seen.

。。 The character-OP was really great again. Such a cute profile of Nadeko. I usually don’t go for shy girls but this one’s just so sugary-sweet it’s irresistible. ℳℴℯ♥. Actually, from what I’ve heard it’s surprising they can even get these OP’s together:

“The director for Mayoi OP, Itagaki Shin also wrote on his Anime Style article that his OP job “was so sudden he can’t gather many animators” is also somewhat disturbing.”

 
 

 

 

Is psychopathy and general insanity the new trend in anime or something? After being thoroughly freaked out by this week’s disturbing adventures of Beatrice (Umineko no Naku Koro ni), I got an earful of the seriously damaged Liang Qi. Or several earfuls. Seriously, although I otherwise found the episode quite enjoyable, by the time I’d sat through 10 minutes of Liang’s ranting lunacy I was practically shouting at the screen “put a bullet in her head, Aplhard! Put her out of her misery, or ecstasy or whatever the hell emotion her insane tantrum was supposed to represent!”. She did eventually come to her but not before ranting incoherently for a good portion of the episode. It’s sad because, by going so far over-the-top it bought down the otherwise fast-paced and thrilling pace of the episode, diminished the impact of her seiyuu, Rie Tanaka’s fine performance, and also discarded whatever potential her character had left. I initially found her a really interesting character, because I’m an admitted yuri fanboy and I found her onee-sama complex kind of fascinating. Obsession is always fun to explore, unless it results in this kind of mad and incoherent screeching.

On the other hand, I’m not one to say no to smoothly animated swordfights and girls in lingerie. Liang may be a bit annoying in her vocal craziness, but she’s still damn hot. I loved the shot of her packing an uzi, a handgun and a sword dressed in her sexy love-love attire. And just to make her that bit more fucked up, in a sexy kind of way, the fight with her onee-sama had a masochistic bent to it. Who would have thought, she’s even worse than Cummings? The choreography in the fight was impressive, as was the fluid and detailed cel animation. Looks like the producers have banked enough gold to afford a few more pieces of great animation.

But once again the script suffered from a pretty strong ‘lame factor’. I liked the conversation between Alphard and Natsume, and, actually, most of Alphard’s dialogue, but the stuff with Liang was too unconvincing, and the line about Maria wanting to become a cameraman and the suggestion that she take Canaan’s photo when she returns felt a bit retarded. Would real people in that kind of situation say such wishy-washy metaphorical nonsense? I doubt it. And I was also a bit disappointed that this marks the swift end to the ‘home village’ set of episodes. Next time it looks like we’ll be back in civilisation. Initially I thought the climax would have gone down out at the base, with all the characters arriving on the scene. But it seems that arc was just a bit of a sideshow to help explain the backstory and the real climax is going to ambush us out of nowhere.

There are only two episodes of CANAAN left and I’m doubtful it can really wrap things up in a satisfying manner.

 
 

 
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