Wakaranai

 

Darker than Black season 2 plows ahead with another stellar episode, again leaving its competition behind in the dust. Although there are anime I haven’t seen, so I can’t say this definitively, there’s little doubt in my mind that this series is the pinnacle of the season, with its fast pace, depth of character, thrilling action sequences and polished production values. And for once I’m not alone in my pick for the season: 2ch recently ranked it as the most entertaining show of the fall lineup! I think the show’s success can be attributed to the fact that it finds a really great position somewhere between being pretentious and overly deep and being too shallow; it is both easily accessible and emotionally captivating. I feel really sorry for those with this misfortune to no have already seen the original DtB. Even though I complained about that series a lot it was sure worth it just for this follow-up season.

The last two episodes have dealt with some really confronting and fascinating themes as Hei continues to emphasise the anti in his new anti-hero role by perpetuating a tyrannical and absusive relationship with his young charge, the sympathetic and multi-faceted, Suou. His physical abuse of Suou was a shocking change of tone for the series. Even though the series never lost its ability to entertain, it gained a much more emotional spin that really gave my heart a good tugging. It’s not as though the violence directed at Suou was particularly graphic or serious, but rather than the physical distress of being kicked and slapped, it was the crushing of Suou’s once sprightly and innocent spirit that made for such distressing and riveting viewing. When she told Hei to hurry up and hit her to get it over and done with, my heart was just broken!

Suou’s character has now reached a point where she has not only been pulled into a life of grey morality, but is also at odds with herself. As she is dragged deeper and deeper into the world of contractors, of killing and solitude, her struggle between her lingering human emotionality and the cold indifference that seeks to possesses her as a contractor is intensifying. Suou’s character is a perplexing and gripping juxtaposition of a young girl with a strong, loving heart and soulless killing machine. I find it impossible not to sympathise with her and root for her as she tries to find herself in this harsh new existence. I think she’s probably one of my favorite character of the last few years.

Hei himself hasn’t reacted well to having to share the limelight with another star. By that I mean he has become grossly unlikeable as the alcoholic, abusive and uncaring hobo. He’s not just a shadow of his former self, but a true wreck of a man, whose competence in battle is just about his only asset as a hero. Another way of looking at it though is that he has become a hell of a lot more interesting. He always bored me as the stoic and unassailable protagonist in the first season, and in this season he is a guy that you just love to hate. And, despite his selfish and unkind attitude towards Suou, he now has a sense of intrigue, clearly caught in a pall of loss over Yin. Most importantly, even though he has a withered demeanor and twisted spirit, I still get the feeling that he is redeemable, and that it’s going to be an impressive moment when his sense of heroism is finally roused. Then again, this series has shown that it’s not totally predictable so far, so maybe things won’t turn out as nicely as that!

With all the moral dilemma and confusion going around, the only thing unequivocally good about this series is the excellent production qualities! Yasushi Ishii has created the best soundtrack I’ve heard for an anime in a long time. It’s unique, creative and textural music that works flawlessly with the series. The animation is slick, again providing an awesome action sequence, and the directing is sharp is effective, helping strengthen the show’s dramatic impact.

✔I think someone on the production team REALLY likes Misaki because every scene she’s in she looks incredibly cool. There must be a whole team of animators dedicated to making her look as suave and stylish as possible for her every appearance. The trench coat she had on this episode probably can’t be topped though. Lookin’g good, Misaki.

✔ What’s this? Gun maintenance? Weapons fans must be delighted. Ignoring the fact that she can spawn the anti-tank rifle and a handful of ammunition out of thing air, it’s rare to find an anime that puts this much thought into portraying guns.

✘ I’m still not really sure what the actual plot for this series is, and this is probably its only major flaw. Sure, there’s plenty of intrigue and important-sounding exchanges of dialogue between mysterious characters, but I’m not really sure what it’s getting at yet. But hey, I never really worked out what the first season was about – at least this series has enough thrills and drama to keep me from worrying about the story.

✘ The rest of the characters (except for Nika who is now thankfully deceased) are all complex and interesting, but for some reason Mao went in the other direction. Maybe he’s just getting into character for the new, cuter animal he’s inhabiting, but he’s been reduced to a pretty lame character who hangs around to make lame attempts at humurous comments.

 

Continue reading Darker than Black 05

 

 

Are there three production teams working on this series, each equipped with different writers, directors and animators? I only ask because there is a massive rift between the quality of the main story of the Metal-age and their carbon scuffles with the incompetent army, and the as of yet unconnected stories of the two lolis, Mikuni and Karin. Their scenes, so far, have been the only real interesting elements to the series. Metal-age is populated by silly characetures, like a whip-cracking tranny, a serious, wild-haired soldier, and energetic prodigy-girl. Its lame characterisation, disjointed animation, and cliché dialogue make it feel very much like a particularly poor children’s action tv programme with a whimsical global warming message. In distinct contrast, Mikuni’s and Karin’s scenes occupy a much darker, and far more compelling space. Their characters are a lot more interesting, the dialogue less eye-rolling, and they each put forward strong themes of moral conflict. Mikuni’s shocking amorality as a power-blinded child and Karin’s cruel streak and masked yearning for affection both make for fascinating characters and engaging storylines. But, unfortunately they are on a one-scene basis and most of the airtime is spent on the C-grade ‘rebels vs army’ romp that struggles both to entertain and to be coherently animated. The first episode had problems timing mouth movements to dialogue, and this episode has an expanding list of problems in terms of its animation quality. I have endured a lot worse, and, to be fair, all the characters at least are not distorted from their usual designs. However, it just looks cheap, which doesn’t at all remedy the poorly scripted story.

Episode 1 was an average start to the series, but this episode failed to improve on that, etching further into disappointment. Unless things pick up soon, this series is a blunder for GONZO. A project with Range Murata’s name to it, and an interesting premise should have been able to achieve much more, but the sloppy production effort from the studio has shown that its director is either hugely incompetent, or it was at the bottom of GONZO’s ‘to give a shit about’ list in terms of funding. It’s probably mixture of both, given the director’s small list of accomplishments in this role so far. If it wasn’t for the opposing force of Karin and Mikuni’s plots, this show would crashed down as a complete failure. For now it’s simply mediocre, but nonetheless you can’t help but mourn the fall of GONZO since the days of the superb Last Exile.

。。 ‘Mizutama‘ (polka-dots) – that was a funny slip of the tongue from Kunihito, who clearly got a fine view of Kuniko’s panties with her tree-drop attack in the jungle. He must surely be blessed to get such a view, which, by the way, NO ONE IN THE AUDIENCE CAN FUCKING SEE NO MATTER HOW MANY CRAZY FLIPS SHE DOES. Lucky we know about them from the promotional images! Still the mizutama instantly takes me back to Gakuen Alice, where the adorable Sakura was teasingly nicknamed mizutama after her skirt fell off (and we didn’t see them either!). Actually I struggle to think of any anime that has ever had a polka-dot panchira…

。。 Mikuni – what a little devil! I thought she was just naive in the first episode, but it turns out it goes a lot further than that. She really lives up in the ether, her aristocratic upbringing from birth meaning she has no emotional understanding of the worth of people’s lives (at least not ones from the outside world). Killing that new servant so swiftly and cruelly was really shocking. Now her character is a potent mixture of cuteness and danger! Sayako, her strange confidant, must have such power if she can manipulate this girl! Also, why does Mikuni have psychic powers?

。。 Karin is equally interesting as we see a bit more of her human side. She actually seems a bit less evil now. She may have a streak of megalomaniac in her, but it seems she thrills herself by obsessively playing with the carbon market perhaps to distract herself from her loneliness and isolation from her parents. She’s a manipulative genius but underneath beats the heart of a deprived, not depraved, child. The supercomputer she uses to pull the economic strings, MEDUSA, is also pretty interesting and probably the most original sci-fi concept present in the whole show. It seems as if it has been programmed with some kind of semi-sentience caught in a perpetual plea for help, a plea which Karin answers whenever she wants it to perform for her. It’s a novel idea about manipulating machines.

。。 Now don’t get me wrong – I’ve got nothing against transvestites. They can sometimes be fun (or at least funny), but the two trannys in this show are just plain annoying. I can’t stand the green-haired Momoko faux womanly-wisdom bs. Seriously, Kuniko hangs with a bunch of losers.

。。 I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but it does seem to be more than coincidence; I noticed that the three characters who possess the mystery daggers all have ‘kuni’ in their title. At the very least, it suggests some sort of connection between them beyond the fact that they each happen to have one of the daggers.

 

 

Hmmmm. I was looking forward to this show since I heard about Range Murata’s involvement and read a bit about the intriguing premise. I’m not really sure if the first episode was a disappointment or not. My hopes for this series are still alive, but one thing I will say is that this premier episode was well short of impressive. Although I’m not usually too picky about my animation quality, it’s hard not to be saddened by the lack of excellence in the animation production on this series. Whether it’s a sign of tougher budgets as the industry is becoming less profitable, or a sign of GONZO’s recent troubles, the fact is that this series was not given the treatment it deserves. Although the action scenes were fluid and active enough, and the show has a vibrant feel, the problem lies in the general lack of detail which, unlike Last Exile, fails to capture the essence of Range Murata’s fantastic designs. With the exceptions of the two loli characters, Mikuni and Karin, the cast seem plain and visually dull. The main character, Kuniko, in particular lacks real gravitas, and just seems flat (and I don’t mean in terms of her chest – no complaints there). It’s partly due to the lack of detail in her character design, and partly due to the obvious and cliché way she is written. This is a problem across all the ‘good-guys’ of this series – they lack real believability, and identifiable depth. I just couldn’t buy Kuniko as a battle-weathered leader of a military guerrilla group, and I got the impression she was supposed to inspire some kind of awe with her fearless, free-spirited nature, but by the end of the episode I barely felt anything at all in regards to her character.

But, if the characters are visually lacking, then the background art clearly intends to try and atone. Although this episode served as only a vague introduction to the near-future setting, the background art did help to give the show some flavour. Tilted ex-scyscrapers being devoured by tropical jungle is a nice sci-fi aesthetic. And the background art inside Kuniko’s allegedly poverty-stricken town definitely helped to give it a slight ghetto charm. I say ‘allegedly’ because, other than it being implied, I barely got the feeling that anyone living there was the least bit unhappy or discontent. They’ve tried too hard to make the heroes appealing and emphatic by making them jolly and good-natured, which kind of undermines their cause. It’s hard to get behind someone’s quest for justice, when they don’t seem particularly hard-done-by. Are Metal-Age fighting so that they can all be fabulously wealthy and live in geofront-sized rooms like the supremely rich villains? There’s a lack of convincingness behind the plot here, reducing it to something really quite childish, and that’s the biggest complaint I have with this episode. This sillyness pervades the action scenes too, which actually were animated quite well but were poorly timed and felt totally implausible. There was some neat choreography with Kuniko using her unique boomerang weapon, but the suggestion that a girl tossing around a bent stick and a tranny using a whip could defeat a unit of soldiers armed with assault rifles and TANKS in a straight confrontation doesn’t make it through my mental logic chip.

It was entertaining enough, but a bit more immature than I expected. I’m certainly watching the next episode though.

。。The mystery of the three knives and the destructo-rain - is probably the most interesting element to the series so far. The show’s description on the official website hinted at something that exceeded the human conflict between Atlas and Metal-Age. Is there a mystical element at play here, what is the origin of these knives and how did they come into the hands of these three people – these questions have caught my interest, if nothing else.

。。Let there be loli! I was disappointed with the Metal-Age characters, but the two loli offerings almost make up for that themselves, being both super cute and fascinating at the same time.

Mikuni is a visually distinctive 8-year-old girl, born and reared to aristocracy. She demonstrated her naivety and childish curiosity when she leaned out of her carriage saying “the outside world sure is interesting” just after her guardian blew up a civilian vehicle that was in the way. - I’m really surprised to find out how little her seiyuu, Yui Ariga has been in because her loli-voice was adorable. Especially the way she said Omoshiroi na~

A little older and a lot more devious, Karin is the playfully cruel loli behind the wheel of the privately owned supercomputer system, MEDUSA. Quite the opposite off Mikuni, Karin is wordly, cunning and devoted to global economics and money. I like her character a lot, because she may be evil but she’s still pretty cute. She reminds you of Al if she’d gone over to the Dark Side, with a similar character design and a fondness for stuffed toys. She has a more seasoned seiyuu who imbues the character with a sinister and sweet tone. She’s a naughty girl! Breaking 3rd World Countries is bad!

。。The best example of the flaws in the production of this series is the unusually shoddy job of animating the characters’ mouths when they’re speaking. There are probably a dozen obvious moments in this episode where the character speaks without moving their mouth, or their mouth moves at completely the wrong timeline. I also noticed quite a few shortcuts to try and avoid having to animate mouths, like characters turning around to speak, or Karin holding her toy bear to cover her mouth. It’s a strange problem to have with a show of this caliber. Perhaps it’s indicative of the fact that GONZO have essentially ceased in-house production?

。。Pantsu fanatics like myself will be dejected to note that the series clearly will not include any. It shouldn’t really matter, but it gets on my nerves that you can have a girl in a short skirt jumping through the air and off buildings and avoid any panchira by the underhand tactic of making skirts ignore air resistance. It just doesn’t look right. I blame TV Tokyo.

。。I liked the fact that the series started off with Kuniko getting changed. It was minimalist fanservice, but I’m not opposed to some delicious skin, or the wet T-shirt look. That shot really exemplified how flat-chested she is, even though she’s 18! She says she’s sensitive about it :( Konata should show her the way: A flat chest is a status symbol!

Shangri-La is an impending anime series from the troubled studio GONZO which shows a surprising amount of promise despite the studio’s recent shake-up and the seemingly silly premise. It’s based on a science-fiction/action novel by Eiichi Ikegami.

I suppose if anime teaches you one thing it’s not to shy away from an absurd premise (unless it’s as irredeemably stupid as Akikan’s). Here’s the the show’s plot description:

“The story takes place in the middle of the 21st century when global warming has turned Tokyo into a tropical city. To reduce the temperature at the heart of the city by 5°C (9°F), the city is being reborn as the world’s largest forest city. However, despite the flow of refugees to the new city of Atlas, there are not many residents who can actually live there. Moreover, anti-government guerillas are attempting to stop the forestation.

。。So our first introduction into the series gives as an idea of the setting and hints at a utopian/dystopian conflict plot complete with boomerang-wielding guerilla jungle fighters. It’s interesting to see an anime dealing with global warming to such an extent that it shapes the whole future-setting of the series. The issue of global warming, despite being somewhat depressing, can certainly be the basis for some good science fiction storytelling. It’s just that the way it’s handled here sounds pretty simplistic and not particularly scientific. But the show could surprise me with a whole bunch of detail so I won’t crucify it yet. In fact, fans of the novel seem to be saying that it has a lot of interesting plot ideas woven into it.

The idea of a radically tiered and inequitable society like the one set up here has been done so many times already it makes you wonder whether it’s worth doing again. Even Last Exile, one of GONZO’s finest creations dealt with the same notion of class-warfare. But these stories somehow manage to captivate and engage time after time, so I hope it provides a dramatic backdrop for this anime as well. I suggest that you don’t be fooled by this primitive synopsis however, because the official English website puts it so much more eloquently:

The story is set in a neo-futuristic age, in which Tokyo has turned into the world’s largest “jungle-polis” that absorbs carbon dioxide. A tower city called Atlas houses the rich and privileged, and is the object of yearning of all that are not allowed to enter. But Atlas also has ancient secrets which cause a sudden whirl of events. Festooned by colorful characters such as a riotous teenage girl, a child genius, a juvenile princess, a drag queen, a female doctor, an army major, and an elderly gentleman and lady, SHANGRI-LA’s hard-core world view plays out as an anime action saga.

A striking vision of Earth’s future from some of Japan’s foremost creative talents, SHANGRI-LA is a tale of greed and division vs. bravery and the human spirit. Set against the backdrop of a Tokyo cityscape turned into a teeming jungle by runaway global warming, with the elite living in the comfort of the tower city, Atlas, and the less-privileged masses struggling in the squalor in the jungle – only one girl, Kuniko Hojo, and her band of guerrillas can find a way to preserve the future for everyone..

。。Interested yet? I know I am, if only because it’s one of the few anime coming out these days that promises both a tangible plot, interesting human themes and (if all goes well) an appropriate budget to realise it. One other sign of potential greatness is the involvement of Range Murata. For those who are not familiar with the name, he’s an extremely talented and prolific artist whose work often involves anime/manga oriented art style and designs. He has worked with GONZO on anime twice in the past, on Last Exile and Blue Submarine no. 6, both of which are widely acclaimed. The staff/cast page on the official website also sells the show on his reputation. The English page gives this nifty description of him:

Range Murata, known for his unique style of bishōjo as well as tasteful illustrations of classy and cool men, has visualized the image of the original novel magnificently. In addition to the appearance of the characters, the costume and props also play an important part in bringing about this intriguing world.

。。It’s good to hear that an emphasis has been placed on aesthetic design across the board. Range Murata doesn’t just create charming bishoujo characters, but he has a keen eye for costume design, and hopefully Shangri-La’s overall aesthetic will be benefited by his involvement. Here are his character designs before they’re tailored to something that can be animated, and some nice colour artwork of his that have been used in promotion:

Actually this image conveys a little more than that, providing a map of allegiances of all the principal characters. The characters appear to be divided into four specific catergories:

Top Left: The people who live in the forest area surrounding Atlas
Top Right: Atlas
Bottom Left: Metal-Age (the guerilla group aiming to overthrow the government)
Bottom Right: Atlas Aristocracy

As expected, they all look really good. The main character has a simple but sufficiently cute design, and the two loli females have a more elegant (but still very cute) look to them. Karin looks a bit like Al 2.0, even coming with the complementary stuffed toy (but I still think Al is a nicer design). Overall the designs don’t have the same level of appeal as Last Exile’s, but they’re good in their own right. Because I’m a pantsu fiend, I couldn’t help but appreciate the prominent panty-shot which shows that the main character, Kuniko, wears a rare breed of pantsu: polka-dots. Somehow I don’t expect the anime to follow up on these pictures though, especially if it airs on the pantsu-hating TV Tokyo. Here’s an image of the designs in their final anime-style.

In some ways, with the addition of colour, the characters generally look even better. I especially like Kuniko’s bright pink hair tone (I’ve been into pink-haired heroines, particularly of the loli variety, since Anita from R.O.D TV). Check out these screenshots on the official blog too, or the screencaps featured on this dengeki article. Below are some official descriptions to go along with the designs.

Characters:

北条國子 Kuniko Hojo ー A leader-designate of Metal-age, an armed anti-government resistance group. She is an 18-year-old girl clad in school uniform. Gifted with incredible athleticism and reflex, she is a daredevil who would defy any adversities in high spirit. < I have high hopes for Kuniko as a female lead. I like spirited girls.
 
 
 
美邦（みくに） Mikuni　ー A mysterious 8-year-old girl of aristocratic class residing in Atlas. She is a fragile soul stricken with disease by which she cannot be exposed to sunlight. < Her strange character design gives a face to the elite of Atlas. Interesting that she’s clearly a sympathetic character, indicating that it won’t just be a white-and-black conflict.
 
 
 
石田香凛 Ishida Karin ー One of the developers of MEDUSA, a commercial CO2 forecast system She is a genius who uses MEDUSA at age of 10 to control market and engrossed in money game, believing that money is everything. < Loli geniuses are the best! Definitely the loli highlight of the series.
 
 
 
モモコ Momoko ー A sexy transsexual who claims to be the “eternal 28-year-old”. Highly athletic, Momoko was born with incredible beauty and knack for battle. She can tell from people’s body shapes what kind of lives they have been living. A foster mother of Kuniko who has taught her how to love, fight and think.
 
 
 
草薙国仁 Kusanagi Nihito ー Major of the 10th Antiaircraft Artillery Corps who insistently hunts down the Metal-age. Brought up by an ordinary family, Kunihito is a cleaver fellow with an honest heart. < Sounds like he’s gonna defect.
 
 
 
小夜子 Sayako ー A Mikuni’s lady-in-waiting who devotes to Mikuni with almost obsessive devotion. She is a former autopsist who is having difficulties in self-affirmation and is also a sadist with masochistic nature. How she came to Atlas Corporation is a mystery. < I thought she was a male character till I read this. She could end up being really interesting if they play her sadist side well enough.
 
 
 

。。。Other characters are described on the official page as well, but these seem to be the main ones.

The OP is done by May’n (May Nakabayashi ), who might also be known as Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier, and storyboarded by Higuchi Shinji . I haven’t found any information on the ED, so I imagine it won’t be very exciting.

The general staff are as following:

Director: Makoto Bessho
Series Structure: Hiroshi Ohnogi
Creative Producer: Takeshi Mori
Character Design: Range Murata
Animation Character Design: Kumi Ishii
Creative Supervisor: Shingo Takeba
Art Design: Hajime Satoh
Design Works: Takuhito Kusanagi, Hajime Satoh, Umanosuke Iida, Fumihiro Katagai, Tomohiro Kawahara
Sound Director: Youta Tsuruoka
Sound Production: RAKUONSHA
Music: flying DOG / JVC Entertainment
Animation Production: GONZO
Presented by: SHANGRI-LA Partners

The Director isn’t the most exciting choice, looking at his previous achievements. He hasn’t had the helm of director all that often previously, and not on anything that I’d consider exceptional. The lead female character, Kuniko, is voiced by Mikako Takahashi, who doesn’t sway me either way to be honest. Iguchi Yuka is voicing loli-genius, Karin. I’m not too familiar with her, but I wasn’t all that fond of her as Haruka in IdolM@ster: Xenoglossia. If not the director or seiyuu cast, this anime still does have some strong creative talent behind it, and, more importantly it seems to have an unusual and interesting novel to draw from to create an absorbing and exciting series. For some reason, although one exists, I haven’t been able to find a promo, which is highly unusual for such a big title. Perhaps that is a clue of bad things to come, or maybe it’s just so good that they don’t want to share!

Although my excitement for this show is overshadowed by my anticipation of Kenji Kamiyama/Production I.G’s new series, Eden of the East, there is definately potential here. Owing to the novels, the world is multi-faceted and should provide an exotic setting for the story, and the characters that populate it appear diverse and original. Everyone should at least give it a go.

If anyone has any other thoughts they’d care to add, then please do!