Monthly Archive for December, 2007Page 2 of 2

Year in Review: Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight

14 Comments |
December 17, 2007
| Television

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?

Year in Review: Lucky Star

29 Comments |
December 15, 2007
| Television

8. Lucky Star

The fact that I understood even half the jokes in Lucky Star is proof positive that I’m a lost cause.

I recall when Lucky Star first began, there was a lot of discussion about the very first scene in the very first episode, in which Konata and friends sat around discussing the proper way to eat various foods for five minutes. Or was it ten minutes? I can’t remember, really. It was a long time, either way, and with that one scene which one half of viewers hated, the other half loved, and pretty much no one (myself included) fully understood, Lucky Star became the topic du jour of the Spring anime season.

Talk about a plan coming together.

And, in many ways, that scene set the stage for what Lucky Star would become: a continuing series of all the absurd and pointless conversations we have with our friends when there’s nothing better to do. Lucky Star isn’t just slice-of-life; it’s distilled slice-of-life. Slice-of-life in the raw. Slice-of-life au naturel.

Here’s the rub, though. All those absurd and pointless conversations we have with our friends when there’s nothing better to do? Sometimes, they’re not all that funny. In fact, sometimes, they don’t even make sense. And Lucky Star was no different in that regard. Sometimes, it wasn’t funny. Sometimes, it didn’t make sense. On more than one occasion, a whole episode would pass without my laughing all that much. For a show that relied so much on jokes and gags to get its point across, you’d think this would be an indication of complete and utter failure on the part of the writers and director.

Perhaps it was. Yet, I kept watching. In fact, when I found myself facing a pile of new anime episodes in need of watching, Lucky Star always seemed to come first. And when an episode left me disappointed, I’d just shrug my shoulders and say, “c’est la vie,” because I knew the next one likely would not. And, typically, that’s exactly how things played out.

So, despite being an uneven show, Lucky Star somehow managed to keep me hooked. Was it some sort of Kyoto Animation voodoo magic? Was I just really, really bored? Did I have a crush on Kagami?

Anyone know how to say, “I haven’t the foggiest idea,” in French?

Year in Review: Tokimeki Memorial Only Love

21 Comments |
December 13, 2007
| Television

9. Tokimeki Memorial Only Love

The Tokimeki Memorial franchise has a storied history. The original game and its sequels are often considered the quintessential dating sim. The franchise is also unique for its lack of adult content; porn sells bishoujo games, obviously, but Tokimeki Memorial has always managed to get by without. There’s something innocent about the series, and it shows in its most recent anime adaptation.

Tokimeki Memorial Only Love is a breath of fresh air, to be honest. In this era of bishoujo game adaptations, it’s remarkable for its simplicity: there’s no shocking story to be told, no broken heroines, no despicable protagonist. In essence, it’s a show about high school boys and high school girls doing their thing. There’s a certain wackiness to it, of course, as is typical of most Konami anime properties. The wackiness, however, is all in good fun, and serves as a beneficial counterweight to both the show’s more mundane and more dramatic moments. All in all, it’s a good balance.

Of course, it’s likely because the show is so well-balanced and straightforward that it’s often overlooked. Even I didn’t give it the attention it deserved until about half way through its run. However, as the characters grew, the romantic subplots matured, and the writing continued to improve, I realized the show was more than just “filler anime”. What started off as something I watched only for grins eventually became something I looked forward to on a weekly basis.

I don’t watch as many bishoujo game adaptations nowadays as I did in the past. Somewhere along the line, I grew tired of the extraneous stories and cookie cutter characters so typical of the genre. Occasionally, however, an adaptation will come along that circumvents those limitations. I think Tokimeki Memorial Only Love does just that.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s plainly obvious that the show is inspired from a dating sim. The protagonist is even forced to make a choice between the three main heroines in the final episode. The show is true to its roots, but its not necessarily bound by them. The premise may be obvious and the ending may be pre-ordained, but the intervening episodes are a wonderful mix of competent storytelling, playful comedy, and honest character development. And it got better and better with each episode. That’s not something you can say about too many bishoujo game adaptations, really.

To be honest, I feel a bit silly for recognizing this show. I can hear the head scratching from here. However, it really was one of the more pleasant surprises of the past year. It turned out to be far more enjoyable than I ever expected going in. The show may be simple and all, but…

Well, sometimes, simple is good.

Year in Review: Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA

19 Comments |
December 11, 2007
| Television

10. Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA

No anime series is perfect. Sometimes, a series will come damn close, but it would be foolish to assume that even the most carefully crafted show won’t stumble some point along the way. Frustrating as they may be, such stumbles don’t have to be the defining feature of an otherwise enjoyable show. However, when they occur near the end, they tend to color your memories nonetheless.

And that’s why it feels strange to be writing about Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA right now. At some point during its broadcast run, I wrote, “the final episodes will decide its legacy.” If I were to stand by that statement, I would have to describe the legacy of Idolmaster XENGLOSSIA as uncertain. I’m still not entirely sure what to think of the show’s final act. It was typical Sunrise fare, I suppose: throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks. And it definitely didn’t do the show any favors. But, as stumbles go, it didn’t make me come to dislike the show in any particular way, nor did it make me forget why I came to enjoy the show so much in the first place.

In an era when high production values and competent direction have become increasingly common in anime, Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA stands out from the crowd like most every Sunrise series. Somewhere along the line, Sunrise learned how to make anime look and feel not so much like cartoons, but like live action without limitations. The thoughtful camera work, consistent animation, polished score, and talented voice acting typical of most Sunrise productions is clearly present in the show. The concept may be silly, but the package is professional.

If you think about it, Mai-HiME and Mai-Otome were similar: silly stories presented in such a competent manner that you couldn’t help but find them engaging and fun to watch. We’d make jokes about, “Stuff happened and then there were boobs,” but we were still glued to our seats, anxiously awaiting each new episode. Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA didn’t have nearly as many followers, of course; it was always haunted by its origins, fans of the original game crying “bastard!” and the rest groaning “give me a break!” And to say the conventional wisdom sorted the show into the burnable garbage pile early on would be an understatement.

Which is probably why I write about Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA today. It was a show that was far from perfect in many ways and suffered no shortage of abuse for those imperfections, real and imagined. And, yet, when the final credits of the final episode rolled, I looked back on everything that had come before and thought, “all things considered, that was some good anime.” And for that, it deserves recognition.

Year in Review: Introduction

9 Comments |
December 9, 2007
| Television

Last night, I sat down and started rewatching Kimagure Orange Road for the first time in seven years. It’s been so long, really, that I remember very little about the show. It’s hard to believe I’ve been watching anime for as long as I have; I’ve lost count of the number of shows I’ve watched over the years. And as yet another year comes to an end, I think about how lucky I am for still being an anime fan. I’ve never been monomaniacal with my hobbies or interests, so to stick with something for so long and with such consistent, if not increasing, fervor is kind of remarkable. Sometimes, I don’t get it, but the fact remains: I love this stuff.

Anyway, it’s been a good year for anime. There weren’t as many blockbusters this year compared to the last, but enjoyable shows were plentiful. And, as always, trying to pick the best of the bunch was no easy task. I’m really not all that good at ranking or reviewing shows: I like most of what I watch. So, it feels a little out of character to spend time doing a Year in Review. But, I think it’s a valuable exercise nonetheless, if simply because it gives me the opportunity to reminisce about the year’s offerings before they’re lost to the next. And it gives me yet another opportunity to write about the shows I enjoyed most with a better realization of why they touched me the way they did, which is something only the passage of time can really provide.

Those of you who have been reading for awhile might notice that I’m starting early this year. I feel it’s best that I take my time working through this list of my ten favorite shows of the past year. They may be ranked in some fashion, but the distance between each ranking is not necessarily so great. Each and every show deserves some level of recognition, I think, and it’s for that reason that I’ll be posting new entires every other day. Of course, that necessitates starting early, so here I am.

And, because people will no doubt ask, I should answer a few questions. Obviously, many anime series air on television in Japan in more than one year. A few of the shows I’m watching right now will continue airing into next year, for example. When considering shows for the Year in Review, I look at a snapshot of the year itself; in other words, if a show aired at any point during the year, it’s open for consideration. Start dates and end dates are irrelevant. I feel this is the fairest and most workable approach, as I’m not always entirely sure how I feel about a show that spans multiple years until the final episode has aired. That’s why you won’t be seeing currently airing gems like Clannad or Shugo Chara in this year’s list. You might see something else, though.

Also, the absence of a show from the list doesn’t necessarily mean much in itself. There are more shows I would like to recognize than there is time to do so. If I thought I could manage writing something about each and every one of the nearly thirty shows I watched and enjoyed from start to finish this year, I would. I have to draw the line somewhere, though.

So, stick around for awhile. It’s been a good year.

Winter Break

4 Comments |
December 3, 2007
| Administration

I hate to do this, but…

I’ll be spending a lot of time at the office this week, so I’m going to take a short break from blogging. So short, in fact, that you probably won’t notice. But, since I’ve been blogging fairly regularly as of late, I figured I should let you know, lest you think I slipped on a patch of ice and fell in front of a speeding snow plow. It’s a risk this time of year, you know.

Anyway, I’ll be back this weekend to kick off the much awaited Year in Review. Mark your calendars!