FunBlog

By now I’ve had time to sample everything that looks interesting, and to write individual posts about some of them. Here’s a rundown of my current impressions.

Possibly worthwhile (depending on your tastes)

Kobato.. So far this is my favorite new series, cute and funny but with some dark undertones. The interplay between the impossibly sweet and optimistic heroine and her nasty, violent plush toy constantly cracks me up.

Aoi Bungaku. Dark, serious drama in a very high-quality production.

Kimi ni Todoke. Angst-haters beware! But if you like shoujo romance, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better example.

Inuyasha the Final Act. This has improved since the frenetic first episode, but it is still very fast-paced. If you were a fan of the first series there is a good chance you will enjoy this. However if you are not familiar with the story of the first series the new series will make no sense, and you are better off skipping it.
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This is an interesting and unusual anime series: an anthology of six stories by highly-regarded modern Japanese writers. Each story has a different director, which may lead to an uneven viewing experience. So far it looks very good. The writing is excellent (as one would expect) as is the animation by Madhouse.

Now this is probably not going to be to everyone’s taste. Contemporary serious Japanese fiction tends to be on the dark side. You encounter a lot of alienated people who think about killing themselves to make some sort of obscure political point. Or people who are bummed because their friends or family members killed themselves. Or intriguing fantasy stories whose background is never clearly explained, and which, on closer examination, seem to be a metaphor for how you feel when your friends kill themselves.

OK, I’m exaggerating just a little. But my main point is that most anime is based on manga or light novels, escapist literature about people who hardly ever think about killing themselves. So it’s possible that the typical anime fan won’t find this appealing.

Incidentally, “aoi” can mean “blue”, or “green” (like a leaf), or “unripe.” So does the title mean “Blue Literature”, “Green Literature” or “Unripe Literature?”

The latest fad among anime bloggers seems to be to list your top 5 anime, then try to draw conclusions from the list.

I’m willing to play along, but I’m puzzled by the question: “top 5 according to what criteria?” Should I list the anime I’ve enjoyed most, based on my initial reaction and number of rewatches? Or should I list the ones I admire most, based on overall artistic quality? These are not at all the same thing.

So I’m going to shrug and give both lists:

Most Fun

1. Cardcaptor Sakura
2. Spirited Away
3. Shakugan no Shana
4. Kanon (2006)
5. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (original broadcast order)

Of course, your mileage may vary.

Highest Quality

1. Spirited Away
2. Grave of the Fireflies
3. Cardcaptor Sakura
4. Haibane Renmei
5. Dennou Coil

There would be more overlap if I were doing a Top 10 list. Still, note that in one case I can’t link to a review since I haven’t been able to force myself to watch it again.

So what does it signify? I can’t say. You’ll have to draw your own conclusions.

Angsty shoujo romance is usually something I tune out very quickly (unless it’s played for laughs as in Itazura na Kiss.) Kimi ni Todoke (Reaching You) plays it totally straight, but it still has me watching after three episodes. Maybe it’s true that the genre doesn’t matter as long as it’s done well enough.

Sawako Kuronuma is a girl who is shy, book-smart and overly earnest. She has no friends because her classmates are afraid of her. They call her “Sadako” after the character in The Ring, whom she rather resembles. When she is nervous, which is most of the time, she looks angry and speaks in shaky voice that sounds like something out of a nightmare.

When a cheerful, popular boy shows an interest in her she gradually begins to relax, lighten up and start to make friends. However given the nature of the genre we know that things are not going to be that easy for her.

The OVA turns out to be better than I had feared. It’s a lightweight filler story (which is true of just about every OVA released for a television series, except for those that are total-ripoff clip shows.) However it is entertaining and perhaps gives us some insight into the characters. Fans of the TV show will probably like it. People who hate the show…have probably stopped reading by now, so we won’t worry about them.

The story apparently takes place in the interval between the first and second seasons of the TV series. Show ▼

Yuuji and Shana are rooting around in Friagne’s storeroom. Of course fooling around with unknown hougu is inherently dangerous; a mishap occurs and hilarity ensues. Everything works out all right in the end. Nothing really important happens but there are some nice scenes.

Presumably Yuuji and Shana were looking for something to use against the Balle Masque, which is a nice touch. The second season manages to give the impression that the heroes just waited passively for the inevitable attack, without making any preparations. This story suggests that they did look for possible countermeasures, but failed to come up with anything effective.

Though the story seems to wrap itself up neatly, AniDB says that this is just the first part of a 4-episode OVA series to be released between now and next August.

So far Kobato. (with a period) is my favorite series of an admittedly weak fall anime season. It’s cute, it’s funny and it’s charming. Maybe there’s more to it than that, or maybe not.

Almost 15 years ago there was another anime series created by CLAMP and animated by Madhouse. It was called Cardcaptor Sakura. It was cute and funny and charming. When I saw the first few episodes, I thought that was all there was to it–fun but lightweight. Gradually it became clear that this was a masterpiece, a great classic of animation and perhaps the best example of long-form television writing ever. (It’s not the best-written series ever, but the better ones are all much shorter.)

Since then both CLAMP and Madhouse have gone on to make many other series, none quite as good and some much worse.

This new collaboration is quite different from CCS, but there’s something about it that feels similar. That certainly doesn’t prove that it’s another masterpiece. In fact the odds are that it’s not. But I’m willing to stick around to make sure. At worst, it probably will be a pleasant diversion.
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Perhaps it’s an indication of the overall quality of the Fall 2009 anime season that the show that seems to be attracting the most attention is one that irritates the heck out of me.

Seitokai no Ichizon (It’s Up To the Student Council) is rather reminiscent of Lucky Star with its cute high school girls, fast-paced anime in-jokes, and general lack of an overall story. On the other hand Lucky Star had much better artwork, bigger laughs and much more believable characters.
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The Informant! is an offbeat, funny movie based on a true story. It imitates the visual style and musical score of a 1970s crime caper movie, perhaps because that’s what the protagonist thinks he’s involved in.

Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) is one of the top executives at agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). He is under pressure to figure out why the new lysine factory is failing to produce enough lysine (an agricultural feed additive.) He tells them that he has been contacted by an extortionist who says that the plant is being sabotaged by an industrial spy.
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Photos below the fold.
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(Sept 20) Various other attractions in Ueno Park. I think I managed to cover about half of it.
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(Sept 20) Since my flight home left in the evening, I was left with almost a full day to kill in Tokyo. I had never been to Ueno Park, so I decided to check it out.

There are lots of interesting things in the park, but the single most popular attraction is surely the zoo. My expectations were not very high based on my previous experience with Japanese zoos, but in this case I was pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t quite measure up to one of the top-ranked American zoos (e.g. San Diego, Washington or the Bronx) but given the limited space they have available it is really pretty good.
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(Sept 19) Every morning the colorful market district near the train station bustles with vendors selling the fresh produce and fresh seafood for which Hokkaido is famous.
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(Sept 18) Hakodate takes its name from the Ainu words for “box house”, referring to a trading post built there centuries ago. Over the years it grew into a bustling port. When the Shogunate was forced to end its policy of isolation, Hakodate and Shimoda were the first two ports opened to foreign trade in 1854. Thus Hakodate became one of the first places where Western culture entered Japan.
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(Sept 17) Toyako Onsen is located on the shore of Lake Toya, s beautiful caldera lake, at the foot of Mt Usu (Usuzan), one of Japan’s most active volcanoes.
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(Sept 16) There are no Ainu “reservations” where the Ainu can live together and practice their traditions. The Ainu today live in Japanese cities and towns, speak Japanese and work at regular jobs.

The Ainu Museum in Shiraoi is dedicated to preserving what is left of Ainu culture.
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(Sept 15) This figure of an oni is the first thing you see when you emerge from the Noboribetsu train station.
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(Sept 14) The Sounkyo hot springs resort is a very small community nestled among the spectacular scenery of the Daisetsuzan National Park.
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I just watched the first episode of Inuyasha–The Final Act on Hulu.

First the good news: the subtitle translation seems noticeably better than the one on the VIZ DVDs for the original series–although they still translate “youkai” as “demon”, a pet peeve of mine.

The bad news is that they apparently intend to cover the final 21 volumes of the manga in 26 episodes or less. Thus, while the original series was arguably too padded and drawn out, the new series is far too rushed.

Anyone who did not watch the original series should forget about watching this one. Even fans of the original series whose memories have faded in the intervening years may have trouble following the action.

Worse, the proper pacing and rhythm of the story is lost. The first episode rushes through several minor story arcs and at least 4 major climactic moments:
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Each of these deserves at least an episode of its own, to allow us to experience the full emotional impact. Instead each is rushed through in a few seconds and is over almost before we know it.

So far it looks like this potentially great but overly-ambitious epic will have a botched ending.

(Sept 13) As the town’s only business is tourism, most of the street space in Akanko is devoted to hotels, restaurants and (most of all) souvenir stores. Gift-giving is very important in Japanese culture, so it would be unthinkable to come back from vacation without a suitcase full of miyage (souvenirs) for one’s friends and family.
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(Sept 13) The Lake Akan hot springs resort is a small community surrounded by the forests of Akan National Park.
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(Sept 12) An area with a number of geothermal sites.
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