One of the things that surprised me about the final episode of Manabi Straight was its accurate and detailed portrayal of Narita International Airport. For one, I had always viewed Manabi Straight as being set in some fictional, non-existent sliver of Japan, so I sort of did a double take when a real location popped up in the end. This was compounded by the fact that the backgrounds in that scene were a dead ringer for the airport’s Terminal 1. I’ve done the whole “minasan sayonara!” thing from the same exact spot at which Mikan and friends parted way, so it got me to reminiscing.
I must say, however, that, given how much Japan loves wasting money on unnecessary construction projects, I would have expected them to have replaced Narita twice over by the year in which Manabi Straight takes place. Or at least redecorated.
Heh.
That farewell scene was so awesomely done as well. I expected some cheesy teary farewell scene, but instead they just calmly did the “Massugu GO!” pose and parted off just like that. I was really touched by that.
The Narita scene almost looked like they took real pictures and put them through a Photoshop filter to make them blend in with the animation better–the Narita backgrounds somehow seemed much more realistic than usual.
> I must say, however, that, given how much Japan loves wasting money on unnecessary construction projects, I would have expected them to have replaced Narita twice over by the year in which Manabi Straight takes place. Or at least redecorated.
Narita will probably just have 8 or 9 runways by then…or they’ll keep adding more international airports like Nagoya and the famous “sinking island” Kansai airport (which is my favorite to fly into since it’s closest to Kyoto).
I loved Manabi Straight though–definitely my favorite from winter season.
I agree with Suguru about the shopped pictures, and without any “almost” either. This, however, is quite common. I see tons of such backgrounds in Lucky*Star, starting right with the OP. In Azumanga though, all of them were drawn afresh and rather represent artist’s impressions. There was one guy who went to places and took pictures of stuff like Shiisa and the museums, and you can see what was the same and what was different. Personally, I prefer how it was done in Azumanga and Kamichu. You can recognize all the places, but they are not photographically precise and lifeless. And there’s a certain element of cheating in doing it Manabi’s way. But at least it wasn’t common.
Another item in the same vein was the stupid Mini. Cars do not live that long, they just don’t.
But overall, I think it was a tremendous ending.
I figured they were stylized photographs as well. I think it’s good technique when used effectively, although I still have a personal preference for painted backgrounds. Alas, it’s been ages since I’ve watched Azumanga Daioh, so I don’t remember much about the background art (or, rather, I don’t remember it being particularly memorable), but I agree that Kamichu was impressive.
Mei’s car - By 2037, a BMW Mini would be a very quirky retro choice of car, although I disagree with Pete about cars not living that long, cars that old are rare (a quirky, retro, rare choice of car) but still around.
Yes it did seem that they took photos and photoshopped them for that filter effect. That aside though, this was an incredible ending and as someone above mentioned, they did not go for the cheesy teary effect. Instead, they gave that pose without saying a word and took their steps towards their new lives. Honestly I have constantly liked this show since it began, not just for it’s great graphical qualities, but also for its central theme. I’ve always liked high school anime, but some really get the job done, and this was one of them. During my years in high school I held tenure in many many MANY clubs, and was at such a high activity level that no matter where I went I constantly had something to do. Shows like this make me nostalgic about six things; the beat and rhythm of everyday school life, the rush of some big event coming up that we all have to prepare for, the pressure of people relying on you to get things done, the spirit of cooperation under which VAST projects are accomplished, the burn of the club’s first big failure, and finally those friends whose faces you probably will never forget no matter where or how far away they are, army and navy aside, I’ll see both you guys again before my day is come.
So you can tell this show hit all the right chords with me, eh?
It’s pretty unlikely that a modern car will last 30 years. Cars from 30 years ago and older were much more robust, had no micro-electronic or other fancy technology. Even if you can keep it alive, it’ll cost you a fortune because most parts will be hardly available anymore. That’s also why even the military and police lease cars nowadays instead of buying them. Otherwise, the vendor would have to guarantee availability of parts needed for repairs and that’s simply not economic. It’s much cheaper to get a new car when it’s about 10 years old or so - or sell it before it gets too old.
When I lived in Japan, I’d actually see ancient cars on occasion that looked to be in surprisingly good condition. There’s no shortage of auto enthusiasts in Japan, and I could definitely see a Mini being the sort of thing someone would buy and stick in their garage until the day they die.
Of course, it could just be that the 2035 Mini looks exactly like a 2007 Mini. My guess, however, is that the production team didn’t give it much thought. Chances are, someone said, “Hey, let’s have Mei drive a Mini in the final episode!”, and everyone else was all, “Cool!”
There’s an article in today’s New York Times about a whole gaggle of 30-year-old Trans Ams making the journey depicted in Smokey and the Bandit to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of that film. And those are cars from the 1970s, the absolute nadir of shoddy automotive workmanship.
And how many Cruise Nights have you run into, full of *fifty* year old cars with tailfins?
Suffice to say, I am very glad I watched this series, and it rekindled my faith in ufotable.
Cheers.
Maybe the 2037 Mini will be a revival of the 2007 Mini, rather like the “new” Beetle is a revival of the Beetle of yore. I’ll bet Mei’s is all-electric.
For that matter, the 2007 Mini is a revival/recreation of the mid-20th Century Morris Mini….
In the light of how classy they ended the series, I’d overlook some of the production discrepancies. Besides, this is anime. Defying logic it’s its specialty ;).
Yes. In focusing on the Mini, it’s easy to overlook the fact that this was an amazingly good series — top notch from start to finish, and for many viewers, one that will always hold a spot in their heart.
Like mine ;_;
Ah, by episode 5 Manabi Straight hadn’t done anything interesting enough to keep me watching in terms of plot or character, so I put it on hiatus to see if it would go in a direction I found interesting. It seemed content to just be as simple as possible though as I was looking over short summaries of later episodes so I think I made the right choice. I expected so much more from this show, it had everything set up in such a way to be a charismatic and fun slice of life story with potential life lessons, but it just fell far to short and left me bored through my run with it.
In the end I think Manabi Straight’s defining place in anime history for me will be how any time a series gets to fresh with breaking into character singles in the middle of a show, I will immediately think of Manabi Straight. Like seduction for James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me, when it comes to promoting Seiyuu Singles in an anime “Nobody Does It Better” than Manabi Straight.
It’s amazing.I want to watch it in China.