Spring 2010 Quick Opinions

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Tuesday, 4th May, 2010

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Anime, Quickie Reviews, Totemo Subarashii

So far I’ve tried to be quite lean with what I pick up from the Spring 2010 season. I have mountains of recently purchased DVDs sitting on my bookshelves (Baccano!, Eureka Seven, Rahxephon … the list could go on) and I’m trying to focus on series bought with hard-earned cash rather than ‘free’ fansubs (the guilt!), so I’m happy that really only four drew me in from the outset.

Below I’ve throw just a few little tidbits of thoughts so far on each of these. Nothing overly planned out, really just initial reactions.

Senkou no Night Raid

This was one of the first series of this season that really piqued my interested, but now, three episodes in, I’m still not feeling any warmth for it. The first episode was very so-so for me, and even with the improvement in the next two episodes, I’m still finding it very average. I love show, books, movies, whatever, that have a 1930s setting; it’s a decade I constantly find myself drawn to more than most. But so far, even that hasn’t kept me interested; it looks nice and everything, but that’s about it. And one of the main characters, Aoi Miyoshi … I don’t know. I just can’t bring myself to like him. So far he feels very one-dimensional, as do most of the other characters (we are told their past, their current situations, but not in a way that really draws emotion from the viewer. It’s put almost matter-of-factly), and almost anachronistic in the way he presented.

I’m also a little worried that over these past few episodes, the subject of the location for the series, Japanese-occupied Manchuria, is almost being glossed over a little. I’ve long been interested in this setting, an interest that was activated further when I recently read Haruki Murakami’s novel ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle’. The novel has, especially from a Japanese point-of-view (but then Murakami is far from an apologist for past Japanese crimes. In fact, he’s usually the opposite) an honest view of what happened in this region during the 1930s, but so far ‘Senkou no Night Raid’ paints a very innocent picture of the whole thing. I do wonder if they are going to delve any further into what wasn’t a very nice period of history, and whether it will be a sanitized view of that world.

I know at only 13 episodes, the show doesn’t require a great lot of commitment, but I’ve been into anime for so long now that, whereas before I could sit through most things in order to tick off my list of ‘watched’, that’s not something I have any desire to do any longer. And with that, I do think this will be dropped. Why spend time on this when I have another 1930s-era show, Baccano! to watch, something that hasn’t let me down for a moment yet.

Saraiya Goyou /The House of Five Leaves

Saraiya Goyou / The House of Five Leaves

This is one of two shows airing during what, since it began with Honey & Clover back in 2005, has been my favourite anime slot, noitaminA. This is the star of the season for me so far, but then I’ve been on a Natsume Ono kick lately. The story centres around a shy, down-on-his-luck ronin who finds himself tangled up with a band of Robin Hood-esque kidnappers.

I know some people view Ono’s work as a bit “ugly”, but I can help but feel that draw me to it, that it’s part of the overwhelming charm this series so far has. It doesn’t ask anything of you; the plot isn’t mindbogglingly complex, but at the same time far from being bare. You can sit back and just let yourself fall into the story, a little like

I also love the OP and ED to this show; completely anachronistic to its settling, but fits in surprising well.

The manga is released in a few months time, though there are chapters up on Viz’s IKKI site at the moment. I haven’t read them for myself yet and will probably just wait until I get my hands on the physical release. Lord, I can’t count how much money I’ve spent lately on Viz’s Signature/IKKI releases.

Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei / The Tatami Galaxy

This series is the kind of thing I love. Completely bizzare, funny, and with a gorgeous but simple 1960-ish style. It exudes character.

The main character is an unnamed university student and each episodes explores his time in various university clubs, time that he now calls ‘wasted’.

But as much as I enjoyed the first episode, I know it’s going to be hard to find the time when I’m in the mood and have the concentration to watch the series; the dialogue goes at a greater pace than anything I’ve ever watched before! And I thought the speed of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was difficult to follow at times! I can be a speed-reader when it’s called for, but doing it for 20 straight minutes is a little painful. And I also don’t know when to even expect subs for this as it must be a murder of a job to do (I’m in the UK so blocked from the legal streams of this and ‘The House of Five Leaves’).

Here’s hoping for some let-up on the dialogue-speed (Dialogue amount = no problem. Dialogue speed = big problem!) as this is something I really want to get into.

Arakawa Under the Bridge

I was already convinced to put this series in my ‘to watch’ list as it was based on a manga by Hikaru Nakamura. Not that I’ve actually read anything by her (yet). Just the plot synopsis of Saint Young Men brought her to my attention, and until I am able to get around to reading that, or the original Arakawa manga, I thought this would be a good chance to get accustomed to her work. The fact it’s from the same people as Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei further convinced me; it’s without a doubt one of my favourite anime of the past few years.

So far, I’ve been really engaged by the first few episodes. The characters are interesting, the gag element consistently successful, and the weird factor just enough to be fun and not overdone. And the OP is probably one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a while.

And to End …

So three out of four isn’t bad. But at the same time, I hate to drop a series. Over the past few years I’ve been so selective that my ‘dropped’ list has remained quite short. But if it must be expanded, then it must.

And now I actually have sometime to delve into the pretty DVDs I have sitting at the other end of the room

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