Monthly Archive for November, 2006Page 3 of 3

Not Dead Yet

11 Comments |
November 9, 2006
| Television

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.

Call Me Onii-chan…

12 Comments |
November 3, 2006
| Television

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?