Anime is fun to watch. ANIME BANZAI!!!
Monthly Archive for November, 2006Page 2 of 2
Excuse my nerdiness for a moment, but…
It’s never explicitly stated, but the setting for Kanon is assumed to be an unknown town located somewhere on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido. Yes, I know Key used the real city of Moriguchi, a suburb of Osaka, as inspiration for the town in the game, but seeing as that area only receives a minuscule amount of snow each year, it’s fairly obvious the story can’t actually take place there. I suppose it’s possible the story could take place somewhere along the Sea of Japan coast, as yearly snowfall totals there rival those of Hokkaido. However, it’s clear the people of Kanon are accustomed to prolonged cold, and the architecture of the town and surrounding landscape suggest Hokkaido, so… it’s probably Hokkaido. One can reasonably assume it’s at least north of the 38th parallel.
Now, Kanon obviously takes place during Winter (for the most part). And, as of Episode 6, one can assume the time of year is somewhere around mid-January. Why? The Japanese school year is typically split into three terms, beginning in April. Breaks between terms occur in Summer, around New Year’s, and in late March. Yuuichi transfers into Nayuki’s school at the beginning of a new term, and given the time of year, one can safely assume it’s at the beginning of the final term in January. Granted, some locations in Hokkaido are snowpacked until April, but the snow is usually melting by then. And, besides, April marks the beginning of a new school year… Yuuichi clearly transferred into an existing class.
So, where am I going with this? In Episode 6, Yuuichi promises to meet Ayu in front of the train station at 5:00 PM for their movie date. Beforehand, he drops by the school in search of Nayuki, only to bump into Shiori instead. There, they talk and admire the sunset until a bells ring in the distance, signaling that the time is 5:00 PM. There’s just one little problem…
At no location in Japan north of the 38th parallel is the sun visible at 5:00 PM in the middle of January. At the earliest, sunset occurs around 4:00 PM. At the latest, sunset occurs around 4:45 PM. Either way, the sun is long gone by 5:00 PM.
Now, should Kanon actually take place in Moriguchi (damn global warming!), the sun would be visible at 5:00 PM in the middle of January… for about 5 minutes. It definitely wouldn’t be a good 30 degrees above the horizon as depicted in the image at the top of this post.
Of course, none of this is important, but given KyoAni’s standard attention to detail, I found it amusing, especially when you consider how explicit the scene was about the time of day. Although, if the scene played out in a similar fashion in the game (I don’t really recall those sort of details), I suppose it’s Key’s fault, and KyoAni should be commended for respecting the integrity of the original material despite its logical inconsistencies. Bravo, KyoAni?
In a post last week, I described my anime DVD purchasing habits as follows: “I don’t buy much anime on DVD these days, mostly owing to the fact that much of what’s being licensed and released lately is of little interest to me.” Well, somewhere around mile one thousand, two hundred and twenty three driving through rural Nebraska yesterday, I got to wondering about the accuracy of that statement. So, this afternoon, I sat down and ran the numbers.
Generally, if I watch a show fansubbed from start to finish, it’s because I enjoy it. In other words, if I dislike a show, I’m unlikely to finish it. So, if I watched a show in its entirety, it’s at least “of interest” to me. Since the R1 licensing landscape began to change with the DVD market downturn of 2004, I chose to limit my data set to those shows which have aired since January of that year. That’s just under three years worth of new anime. So, let’s get to it…
Number of shows watched fansubbed, in their entirety, since January 2004: 59
Of those, the number of shows licensed (and announced as such) for R1 release: 19
Now, let’s look at the details for those shows which have been licensed. So far, 10 shows have either been released on DVD in their entirety or are in the process of being released. Of those shows, I have purchased or am in the process of purchasing 5 (Comic Party Revolution, Diamond Dust Drops (R2), Genshiken, Ichigo Mashimaro, and Koi Kaze). Now, of the remaining 9 shows that have yet to be released on DVD, I tentatively plan to purchase 4 (Mushishi, School Rumble, Shuffle, Suzuka). So, of all shows licensed, I have either purchased, am in the process of purchasing, or plan to purchase a total of 9 on DVD. Half, basically. The remaining 10 shows aren’t bad, by any means - I just don’t feel they have enough rewatch value to justify owning on DVD.
Now, the number of shows that remain unlicensed: 40
Twice the number of shows that have been licensed, basically, or nearly 70% of all shows watched. Of these shows, I have purchased a grand total of 1 on R2 DVD (Uta Kata). That leaves 39 shows unaccounted for. Of these, how many would I be interested in purchasing on DVD should they be licensed for R1 release? 20. That’s a lot of shows. Unfortunately, looking at the list, I won’t be holding my breath.
So, what’s the conclusion? Of the all the shows I’ve watched fansubbed in their entirety the past three years, roughly 30% have been licensed for R1 release. I own or am interested in owning half of those. Of the remaining 70% of shows that have gone unlicensed, I’m interested in owning half. Of all shows watched, licensed, and unlicensed, I own or am interested in owning, you guessed it, half.
Taking all of that into consideration, was my original statement accurate? For the most part, yes. It’s worth noting that, of all of the shows that have been licensed thus far, the vast majority aired in 2004. And it’s also worth noting that, of all of the shows that remain unlicensed, there are quite a few I’d consider personal favorites. Hear that, R1 distributors? I’m an untapped market!
Oh, and while I was at it, I calculated the value of my anime DVD collection: roughly $11,000.
Hey, it’s got to be cheaper than buying figures.
I’ve got my hands full at the moment, so for the sake of posting something (anything!), here are some thoughts on what I’m currently watching…
NHK ni Youkoso! - I still stand by my previous complaints, but I have to admit that I’ve made my peace with the show. The whole Suicide Island arc (”de pain, boss, de pain!”) actually rubbed me the wrong way, but I at least have a bit more sympathy for Satou’s character now compared to before. Still, I find I enjoy the show more when it abuses Satou, so recent episodes have been fun. The pyramid scheme pep rally left me in stitches.
NANA - I’m a sucker for a good soap opera. Ever since Trapnest showed up and Hachi started sleeping around, the story’s been a lot more interesting… addictive, really. I’m such a girl.
Bokura ga Ita - I’ll admit, the whole “they’re back together, oh wait, they’re NOT” thing is getting kind of old, even if it does make for good drama. I’m having a difficult time keeping up with the show, actually… I find myself hoping for some sort of recap at the beginning of each episode, as I can never quite remember where the previous episode left off.
Kanon - I never knew Kanon could be this funny. Amused girls in snow? BONUS!
Asatte no Houkou - I sort of wish the pace would pick up, but with so little original material to work with, it’s not to be. This is a difficult show to write about, to be honest. I enjoy it, but I’m not entirely sure why. Is it the atmosphere? The simplicity? Hell, maybe it’s the pace, and I’ve just yet to realize it.
Hataraki Man - I have a confession to make: I think Mayu is absolutely adorable. I demand a Mayu episode! NOW!
Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na - I gave up.
Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru - I’m still on the fence. Like I said before, it’s a pretty good show… but the writing and direction are so deliberately over the top that each episode leaves me exhausted. And not in a satisfied way. Perhaps if it were a bit more… graceful?
Tokimeki Memorial - I’ve started each of my comments thus far with a variation of “I”. My 8th grade English teacher has the vapors. Anyway, Tokimeki Memorial has been the big surprise of the season for me. What at first looked to be a pedestrian ren’ai game adaptation has turned out to be something entirely different. Off the wall is the best way to describe it, really. It’s goofy in a way that makes me smile.
As I’ve mentioned before, Kanon is moving along a lot faster than I expected. Episode 5 just drives this home…
For one, it looks as if the show is about to hit Makoto’s story pretty hard. There’s still a lot left to her story, no doubt, and until I see a certain yet-to-be-introduced character pop up in a next episode preview, I can’t say, “Oh, this is it!” At the same time, I don’t see how KyoAni can stretch her story out for very long. Compared to the Toei version, the remake has been dropping hints about Makoto left and right, reinforcing my belief that KyoAni considers its audience to be primarily composed of Kanon veterans (no reason to play your cards close to your chest if everyone’s already seen your hand). Anyway, I suspect we’re only a few episodes away from having her story resolved.
As for Mai, her story is so involved that it can be slowly unraveled over time. In the Toei version, however, there wasn’t enough time to slowly unravel things, so we got stuck with a string of episodes in the middle of the show that focused almost solely on Mai alone - and, even then, certain details of her story were left untold. It didn’t work out all that well, and it proved to be my least favorite part of the show. This time around, however, KyoAni has all the time in the world. It’s possible they may choose to dive head first into Mai’s story once Makoto’s story is out of the way, but the option to take a more leisurely pace exists, at least.
Moving on to Shiori… very little of her story has been revealed thus far. Her story is actually pretty simple once its out in the open, but it takes awhile to reach that point. There’s a major aspect of her story that’s only barely been hinted at so far (provided you already know what to look for). Like the Toei version, I suspect we won’t see the resolution of her story until much later in the show.
Ayu is the grand finale, so I expect she’ll just continue hanging out in the background, snarfing taiyaki until the show’s final act. And Nayuki? Beats me. One of the interesting things about Nayuki is that’s she’s always there, and her story is one that slowly comes into focus over time. How KyoAni plans to resolve her story (if at all), I don’t know. That’s still three or four months away.
Oh, and I have to say this: Yuuichi 3.0 is quite the player. In fact, I think he’s actually differentiating himself from Kyon at this point (perhaps that was the intent?). Kyon was never this smooth.
UPDATE: Something that just came to mind… the Toei version of Kanon didn’t do much with Ayu’s story until late in the show, but her story (parts of it, at least) plays a role in the stories of two of the other girls. So, it’s entirely possible KyoAni may hit on her story a bit earlier than expected. I wonder how they’ll handle that?