7. Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight
I don’t remember much about high school. After all, it’s been over ten years since then. I do remember it being a pleasant time, however, and when I run into fellow geeks on the internet who describe their high school experience as if it were the tenth circle of hell, I often wonder if they’re exaggerating. Perhaps I got lucky. Or perhaps I just don’t care all that much anymore.
Every so often, however, I’ll get to feeling a little sentimental about it all. It’s not so much a longing for the halcyon days of my youth as it is a recognition of how the events of the time and the people I met shaped who I am today. And, in a nutshell, I think that’s what Manabi Straight is all about. It’s a reminder that every single thing you do in life, intelligent or idiotic, with or without success, worthwhile or not, still matters in some way. Be it organizing a school festival, creating a work of art, or making a connection with another person, it all matters. But it rarely seems obvious at the time.
So, when I saw Mikan walking toward toward her future in the final moments of the final episode of Manabi Straight, I thought to myself, “that’s every one of us.” It’s what every one of us strives for. Manabi Straight is just a road map for how to get there.
I’m not a religious person, but I think I understand now what Omo was going on about all the time. Perhaps the show really is a model for enlightened living.
It’s kind of subversive, ain’t it?
Add this one to the “often dismissed as just another moé anime” list. *sigh*
And gradient hair ftw.
I knew this show was going to be one of my favorites as soon as I picked it up. Massugu go!!
When I see people complaining about their high school years, I’m pretty sure it’s just because they’re too into the moment to realize what they gained from it. It’s that kind of time after all. xD
It killed me when people were putting this off as some loli service show! I even remember certain people who only picked it up because of the voice work.
I think if you and I were one person we’d be a completely unbiased blogger.
Dunno, I felt Manabi Straight was a lot of wasted potential. Like it had this some what intriguing back story but nothing of it was developed.
Manabi Straight was too short of a show and it began in the middle of things. I couldn’t really grow or learn to like the characters more because things happened too quickly, and it felt to me that the characters didn’t grow outside their base personalities that were presented. The characters graduating at the end really meant nothing because I didn’t grow attached at all.
I watched it while finishing up college, so I felt it worked with me more than it probably would have at another point in time. In a post I wrote on it, I felt that it definitely calmed me down in terms of me being anxious about the future, about leaving what I’ve established (friendships, connections, influences) for something new. Watching made me realize that even when you step out of the comfort zone, you still have it with you in many ways, and that gave me motivation to go on. So you could say I’m a bit biased if I find it my favorite show of the year. :P
I thought this was a good show which had its moments.
What I found more amusing was that so many people refused to accept that the show was more on Mikan’s self-discovery than Manabi’s. It’s a parallel to SHnY where the actual main character is Kyon/Mikan and not Haruhi/Manabi.
The narration, the point of view, etc… it is all Mikan’s.
Cheers.
Like it did for totali, Manabi Straight was an instant win for me. And even if I knew from the get-go that I’d like it, it proved itself to be better than I had anticipated. It’s one of those shows that made me feel good after watching it. Even if my high school days looked little like those of Manabi and co., the show had a pleasant nostalgic feeling to it that I really enjoyed. And I loved the end!
I do wonder tho, what the OAV brings to the table?
Bout time something worthy got on your list XD ah, Manabi Straight, definitely a top pick for 07 is not for all time.
too many school festival related stuff - this has been animated and reanimated to death - the characters also look too happy that they start to get irritating - sometimes, I feel like they’re reincarnated beings of Lucky Star characters *shudders*
liked the color palette used, though
helane: LOL what.
Koji: UFOTable specializes at “wasted potentials.” But if you don’t believe, you won’t see it. And sometimes we all have to realize the distance between you and the screen is not going to get closer if you refuse to move.
Well, my work is cut out ahead of me. See yall in a couple weeks.
I swear that the reason why I didn’t consider Manabi Straight among the series I liked in 2007 was because I thought it was from 2006.
So far I’ve got this and Lucky Star on my “oh yeah, these are from 2007 and I liked them a lot” list, as well as Hidamari Sketch, which I’m looking forward to hearing about from you.
A nice job on the summary. Or that is to say, you did a surprisngly accurate description on how I felt about the show when watching it :).
I think I had a minor dumbfounded profound discovery after finishing the series - “that is so fuzzy and happy and …. and so totally familiar. Wow, life.”. I guess that was why I was watching and enjoying it all a long, but somehow it didn’t smack me in the face until the very end - and I still get a slight tingling feeling of nostalgia from just thinking about the show.
I guess it is something I really do owe a rewatch - Sure would be good medicine to make this otherwise damp and pitcher-than-black winter up here slightly less depressing maybe :).
You know, Muey, it didn’t really smack me in the face until the end, either. The entire time I was watching, I recognized the show as something good, but it wasn’t until all was said and done that I understood WHY it was something good.
Nice thoughts in the writeup. :)
I didn’t quite identify with the school orientation particularly, but friendship and determination were strong points with me; plus the cute characters too. I was had from the first ep, probably because I thought Manabi may have been an alien or something, but no matter. Mikan’s decision at the end put the series on another level though, it was a good development.