Before the year is over I want to review the three one-cour fall ’11 series I recently finished watching. I don’t have a ton to say about each so I decided to put them all on one post…

Working’!!

If you enjoyed the first season of Working!!, the second season is more of the same. I think it’s better than the first, actually. I found the episodes more memorable and the jokes funnier, perhaps because I’ve already grown to know the characters and their little quirks from season 1. There were some very hilarious episodes this season, such as the episode featuring Takanashi’s reclusive sister Izumi finally spending a day out, and the episode where Inami gets extremely flustered with using her new cell phone. There are some good new characters, too. Kyoko’s juniors Yohei and Mitsuki were very entertaining, and the elusive Maya, who’s only ever been seen as a background character in previous episodes, had some surprise scenes in the final episode. In addition to more laughs, there were good relationship-development episodes for Satou and Yachiyo, Souma and Yamada, and of course, Takanashi and Inami.

The only thing I can complain about in Working’!! even within the show’s silly atmosphere, is the whole thing with Otoo searching for his wife and Yamada’s brother (also called Yamada) searching for her. It’s just ridiculous that they haven’t been able to find them when they’re right in the same town. Do police and search and rescue squads not exist in the world of Working’!!? Because it makes no sense that Otoo can’t find his wife and Yamada can’t find his sister if they were seriously looking for them as missing persons. Nor does it make any sense that the wife and Yamada themselves could just easily go to the police station and find their way back home since they’re all living in the same town. And how has Otoo’s wife been surviving all this time if she’s so “lost,” and why is only Yamada’s brother looking for her and not her parents? Well, I know it’s just supposed to be a running gag in the series and not meant to be examined like this. But still, even for a comedic show, I feel it’s asking us to suspend our belief a bit too much with this particular gag.

All in all though, like the first season, Working’!! is great if you like fan service-free slice-of-life comedies that are always light and never get too serious. It has a cast of fun, quirky characters and refreshingly takes place in a restaurant rather than a high school. Its humor relies on correctly timed gags and poking fun at character flaws, which it executes great in my opinion. Bright and pleasant animation courtesy of A-1 Pictures and a very catchy opening song help it along, too. Not the best but certainly a good show for its genre.

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Fate/Zero

As I mentioned previously, I’m one of the few who watched Fate/Zero without having seen Fate/Stay Night. I decided to watch it after reading good things about it and hearing that you don’t need to have seen Stay Night in order to follow Fate/Zero. After watching the extra-long first episode, I was immediately engrossed by the high-budget animation and extremely detailed fantasy exposition. Now that I’ve finished the series (the first part at least) I don’t think any particular episode stood out to me, but I certainly enjoyed it as a whole. I usually have trouble following complicated fantasy in anime, but for some reason I didn’t have that much trouble with Fate/Zero despite the myriads of fantasy terms and subplots it has. So to me, it was paced and written well.

The plot revolving around a magical war for an enigmatic object that can grant wishes is certainly one with potential. Together with a diverse and overall “cool” cast of characters, as well as an interesting juxtaposition of the modern world and ancient magic, you’ve got the stuff of a great fantasy epic. Even in just thirteen episodes, I feel like equal attention was given to developing the large cast of characters – even Rin, who doesn’t play much of a role in this series, got her own starring episode. Even though this first season ends on a cliffhanger, I feel like I got to know all the Masters and Servants well. I like the fact that they’re all so diverse – in age, background, social status, lifestyles, war tactics, and personality – from the psychotic killer Caster, to the noble and chivalrous Saber, and the carefree, reckless Rider. Being the kind of show that it is, it’s not surprising that Fate/Zero can be dialogue-heavy at times (it is based on a visual novel) and it’s also very serious, with little to no humor at all. Probably the reason Rider and Waver seem to be the most popular characters is because they add that bit of levity and comic relief we tend to miss.

Just as Working’!! is a prime example of a slice-of-life comedy, Fate/Zero is a prime example of a fantasy series, and whether you like it or not depends on how much you like that genre. If you’re at least okay with complicated anime fantasy that takes itself very seriously, I’m sure you’ll like Fate/Zero. Engrossing plot, interesting characters, good animation and pacing, and a memorable opening and ending perfectly fitting for an “epic” series like this. I look forward to season 2 in April =D

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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

I decided to watch this series because I heard the light novels were very popular. Little did I realize that it was, plain and simple, a harem comedy not afraid to rely on fan service for some of its humor. But as harem comedies go, was it really that bad?

The vague premise that the show revolves around is that the characters are in a club for people who don’t have friends in the hopes of making friends. Like other slice-of-life/harem comedies, it revolves around mostly episodic stories with the male lead, Kodaka, and the girls having various misadventures that bring about humor, fan service, relationship developments, misunderstandings, and all that fun stuff.

Even though I don’t like fan service, I have a certain amount of tolerance for it and Haganai didn’t quite push me over my limit. Yes, all those scenes emphasizing Sena’s boobs made me cringe, but for some reason the show kept me interested enough anyway. So what did I like about it that made up for all the fan service? First off, Kodaka is a likable male lead – nothing great about him but at least he’s not an unassertive wimp like most others. And I actually grew to like the girls themselves and found them pretty entertaining. I like Sena because she thinks she’s all that but she’s really quite naive, Rika’s unique fujoshi obsession with mecha yaoi is just so over-the-top hilarious, Yukimura is a sweet, potentially interesting girl who I wish we could have seen more of, and Kobato’s “vampire versus church” thing with Maria is actually kind of cute (they are kids after all). I usually like the main girl, but oddly I didn’t particularly like Yozora. I think she was a bit too mean to Sena at times, though she did get some funny scenes. Speaking of funny scenes, I did find some of the humor in Haganai funny enough to keep me watching. I don’t mind fan service if it actually works in terms of humor, and it did sometimes in Haganai.

One thing that would have made Haganai a lot better in my opinion is if we had more scenes with the girls interacting with each other rather than just with Kodaka. The only girl-girl interaction we get is with Yozora and Sena fighting (which made me nostalgic about Ryoko and Ayeka from Tenchi Muyo! for some reason) and Sena kawaii-ploding over Kobato. I would have liked to see them build relationships with each other rather than just with Kodaka, but it is a harem series and obviously it intends to be just that. And yes, the thing with Yozora being Kodaka’s childhood friend was made painfully obvious. So obvious in fact that I didn’t care about it one way or another since it didn’t really affect anything until the last episode.

While I wouldn’t say Haganai is a great show even for its genre, I was invested enough in the characters and had enough good laughs to keep watching it despite fan service turning me off at times. If a second season ever comes along, I’m sure I’ll check it out.

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And just to note, I’ll be back very soon with another new post…sometime on New Year’s Day actually, I plan to post my “moments of anime” list. See you all then =)

Along with Madoka and Steins;Gate, Mawaru Penguindrum has been one of the most praised anime of 2011. Of course, there are plenty of people who don’t like it, but it seems like the fans of it are the ones making the most buzz. Having seen and loved director Kunihiko Ikuhara’s other famous work, Revolutionary Girl Utena, I had high hopes for Penguindrum as well. I liked the series well enough in its early episodes, confident in the fact that the confusing things would “be explained later.” So now that it’s over, why do I feel so…dissatisfied?

Inushinde brought up a good point that there seems to be a fine divide between viewers of Penguindrum’s finale, or as I see it, the entire series in general. On one side are the people who think the show is an overly pretentious, incomprehensible mess that uses symbols to fool viewers into thinking it’s “intelligent” when it really has no definable narrative. And on the other side are people who think that while it is a strange show, all the symbols, allusions, and artistic techniques are what make it brilliant even if explanations for everything aren’t spoon-fed to you. Whichever of the two sides you’re on, I agree with Inushinde that the last episode will mostly likely not change your opinion about the series but will simply reinforce what you already believed it to be – a mess or a masterpiece.

As for me, while I didn’t find the series utterly bad, I’m more on the negative side than the positive. My main beef about it, as others have pointed out, is the over-saturation of symbolism and unexplained plot points. Now, I certainly don’t mind symbolism in a show and leaving things up to the audience’s interpretation. But when, like, 90% of the show is spent throwing out symbol after symbol and vague plot twist after vague plot twist rather giving us a breather to actually explain things and give us some semblance of a comprehensible, linear narrative, that’s when I have a problem.

To me, such an over-saturation of symbolism creates a frustrating blur between what’s really happening in the show and what’s just a symbol of what’s happening. Are the four penguins actual living creatures or just symbols? Is the Child Broiler an actual place that’s somehow existing in the real world or is it just a symbol? Were Shoma and Kanba really locked in tiny cages where an apple suddenly appeared or was that all just symbols? Is there really a magic diary that has god-like powers to alter time and space to change people’s fates that somehow got in the hands of a little girl named Momoka, or was this symbolism again? I think you see my point…not knowing what’s really, objectively happening in the story versus what’s just a symbol for plot twists and character emotions, is probably my biggest issue with Penguindrum. I know Utena had things that blurred the line between reality and symbolism that weren’t fully explained – the Rose Bride, pulling swords out of people, the upside down castle in the sky – but I don’t remember there being nearly as many as Penguindrum, and I found it much easier to distinguish symbol from reality in Utena. My favorite Penguindrum episode was the one where we see Himari’s past relationship with the Triple H girls and she meets Sanetoshi in a library of her own mind – I like this episode because I felt the distinction between symbols and reality was more clear and it had just the right amount of symbolism to make it interesting but not confusing.

For those of you who think Penguindrum is brilliant, if you could answer any of these questions for me, I would greatly appreciate it:
- As I mentioned above, were the penguins real creatures or just symbols? If they were really existing, where did they come from?
- If the two penguin hats were really the split of Momoka’s soul, why did one become this “Crystal Princess?” Why did the hats choose Himari and Mario out of all people? Why did her soul have to split in the first place?
- The diary; is it a real magic book with god-like powers? If so, where did such a thing come from?
- Momoka; I’ve heard it said that she’s actually some kind of witch and that’s why she has this diary? If that’s so, does that make Ringo a witch too? But if she is just a regular girl, why would she have such a diary?
- How did Masako know about the diary’s powers and how does she have these magic penguin bullets that can make people lose their memories? Don’t tell me she’s a witch too…or was it from Sanetoshi?
- Speaking of Sanetoshi, he’s just a ghost right? If so, I was never clear on his motivations or his relationship with Momoka? And why did his soul split into two bunnies again?
- With all those random flashbacks, I just couldn’t piece together the correct chronology of the lives of Shoma, Kanba, and Himari. If someone could lay out a timeline for each of their lives, that would nice. And what exactly did their parents do that made everyone hate them? Was Kanba supposed to carry out whatever “plan” the parents had?
- Like I already mentioned, was the Child Broiler a real place? If so, why would such a cruel place exist in modern Japan? How was Shoma able to save Himari from it, and Momoka save Tabuki? Or again, was it all just symbolism?
- What were those robot teddy bears?
- So the penguindrum was Shoma’s…heart? Why would Momoka (if the penguin hat is really part of her) want it?
- How did the Triple H girls have the words to Momoka’s spell? I don’t remember them having any relationship with her? And if it’s in their song, how would Ringo know which are the right words?
- Where exactly were they in the last episode – they couldn’t have actually been in a train yet that’s where Ringo and Himari ended up? Was it some kind of alternate world, the same world that popped up whenever the “Survival Strategy” sequence occurred? And I can’t even begin to understand what happened with Sanetoshi, Momoka, Shoma, Kanba, and the penguins in the end?

I’ll probably think of more questions but I’ll leave it at that. Now, I know I’m not the best at following and remembering complicated details in anime, and maybe some of my questions were properly answered in the series. But even in the most complex anime I’m able to get a good gist of what happens in the end even if some things are left up to interpretation. But for Penguindrum, I feel more confused by the end than I did at the beginning.

Some people might say to all my questions that “You’re reading too much into it, the fun is to interpret it your own way.” I know that’s part of the brilliance that people associate with the show. Nopy for example wrote a great post pointing out all the symbols Penguindrum has in terms of classic Greek plays and the Japanese novel “Night on the Galactic Railroad.” Despite my own misgivings, I can see why some people like this series. They enjoy musing about the show’s themes of fate and family, and interpreting the various symbols and allusions rather than concerning themselves with how much the story makes sense or whether they really know what the hell is going on. Whether Ikuhara intended this to be the appeal of Penguindrum, or whether he just used the series to have fun with symbols that only he could correctly interpret, I couldn’t say. But I can say that while I see why people like the series, my joy in anime comes from plots and characters I can understand rather than interpretation with few solid facts. That’s mainly the problem I have – most of what happens in the series is symbolism that’s open to interpretation, and only a small amount is real, official fact. With Penguindrum, I felt like I was trying to correctly interpret a piece of abstract art rather than watch and understand an anime.

But to conclude on a positive note and to give the show some credit, I would say I liked it more than disliked it. Despite all the convoluted symbols, the show did have some sincerely good messages to offer about fate, love, family, and just plain human suffering. It had a lot of heart and emotional impact that I probably would have enjoyed more if the confusing symbolism didn’t keep me from being fully invested in the characters. Speaking of whom were good characters despite the fact that some of them – Tabuki, Yuri, and Ringo – did major 180 personality changes in the series that I felt were a bit contrived, but nothing terrible. The three main siblings were fairly likable despite some over-the-top moments (like Kanba chasing the truck), and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the penguins doing their funny little skits that may or may not relate to what their respective characters were doing. Penguindrum was also great to look at in terms of animation and color. If you don’t think too hard about the symbols, they’re great fun to observe. The opening and ending songs were alright though they all started sounding the same to me after a while.

So, to wrap up this longer-than-usual post, Mawaru Penguindrum is certainly a must-see if you like artsy anime that messes with your head. But if you prefer your anime to follow a logical narrative structure that explains more than forces you to interpret, you probably want to pass on it.

Seven anime I’ve been watching this past spring and summer seasons have come to an end. Normally I like to give each series its own review post, especially for the longer shows. But I also like to review anime when it’s fresh in my mind, and if I wait to review each one individually, it’ll take me longer than I’d like to get them all done. So instead I opted to make a single post here for the last four spring/summer 2011 anime I’m going to review. Since there’s four of them, I tried to keep each review concise while still getting out everything I want to say…

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée

My opinion of Ikoku Meiro hasn’t changed much since I discussed it on two previous posts. It was my #1 of the season when I had watched half of the series, and now that I finished it, I would say it still is. To reiterate what I’ve already said about it, it’s a sweet, cute, pretty, slow-paced, historical slice-of-life show, plain and simple. I’ve constantly compared its soothing, gentle atmosphere to Aria, though with historical elements rather than sci-fi. Like its fellow summer ’11 anime Usagi Drop, it doesn’t have much in the way of plot other than furthering the relationship between the two main characters, nor does its small doses of comedy and drama get too extreme. The episodes are episodic, and I’d say Ikoku Meiro’s quality stays consistent throughout its twelve episodes.

What I will add about it that I didn’t already say is that it did a decent job with backstory for Claude and his father and Yune and her sister. The relationship between Claude and Camille was also an interesting revelation, though it did come a bit out of nowhere and felt lacking. For only twelve episodes, I’d say the Ikoku Meiro characters are given enough personality to make them likable without needing a ton of development. Besides the appeal of having a sweet, soothing tone, the two driving points of the series are the refreshing setting of 19th century France, which the series animates and constructs beautifully, and Yune’s cuteness, which the series does well too.

Also like Usagi Drop, Ikoku Meiro’s final episode was pretty much just a regular episode with a bit more emphasis on the relationships between the characters. It was a fine way to end an otherwise plot-less show in my opinion. The only thing that had me puzzled was the fact that Yune kept hearing the ringing of the cat’s bell, so intensely that she climbed up on a roof, and yet the cat was never even there. Was she hearing things?

Again, I feel that Ikoku Meiro stayed very consistent in its twelve episodes so anything further I have to say about it will just be repeating myself. It’s definitely not a show for everyone and you can tell by the first episode if it’s something you’d like.

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Kami-sama no Memochou

After the unexpectedly long first episode of KamiMemo threw me off, I decided to stick with the series regardless of misgivings. Further episodes piqued my interest somewhat, and now that I’ve watched them all, I’d say it’s a decent series that simply needed more episode to live up to its potential.

What I mean is that, while the cases that the NEET detectives get involved in are interesting and the dialogue of the show is well written, there were just too many main characters in such a short show that it felt like a lot of them were cheated with screentime and development. Tetsu, Major, and Hiro especially, but even the enigmatic Alice with her unusual status as a NEET detective was screaming for at least some backstory that we never got. But to be fair, not all the characters had this problem – I felt like Ming Li and The Fourth got a good amount of attention, as did most of the one-shot characters in the different cases, such as Renji and Meo.

Surprisingly for an anime like this, I felt that our main protagonist Narumi was the most well developed character. Even though he’s kind of wimpy and annoyingly submissive in most of the episodes, we at least get to know where he’s coming from and how he feels about things. And I was especially pleased with him when he finally grew some balls in the final episode! That’s probably why the final arc of the series is my favorite. Episode 11 almost made me cry because it conveyed the pain and guilt Narumi was feeling about Ayaka so beautifully. Like the case with Renji, it was an arc that was emotionally invested in the main characters rather than guest characters, which I usually prefer. There wasn’t an overarching plot in the show so I felt that KamiMemo ended well with a touching moment between Narumi and Alice, and Ayaka waking up in the hospital.

I know KamiMemo is based on light novels, so most likely my complaint about lack of attention to certain main characters is addressed in the original source. All in all, it’s a decent series if you like mysteries and prefer to see the characters involved in a variety of different plots rather than one ongoing plot. The characters as a whole are rather bland in my opinion, but this could be overlooked if the intrigue of the detective work catches your fancy.

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Nichijou

I have to question myself on why I stuck with Nichijou for twenty-six episodes when it never particularly grew on me over that time. My answer is that I’m a hopeless Kyoto Animation fan, and there were indeed some parts I found funny. But honestly, I’d say about 75% of it confused me while only 25% was sincerely funny.

Nichijou is basically a plot-less, slice-of-life variety show comedy, jumping between skits from different characters who live in the same town/go to the same school. The characters with the most screentime are three high school girls – Mio, Yukko, and Mai – and the residents of the Shinonome Laboratory – the Professor, her robot Nano, and their talking cat Sakamoto (no need to question why a child professor is living alone with only a robot for a guardian =P) Pretty much the only time I was engaged in Nichijou’s humor was when one of these sets of characters was the focus, the latter more than the former.

I really wanted to find Nichijou’s comedy funny. But it was just so random and…bizarre. Being unique is one thing, but being unique to the point where it doesn’t make sense to the general audience is another. Or maybe I’m just missing the whole appeal of “randomness = funny” theme that the show thrives on. Or maybe I prefer more subdued humor while Nichijou relies on a lot of hyperbolic yelling and over the top slapsticks. It’s kind of strange when one of the main things I look forward to in each episode of a series is what famous seiyuu will do the preview for the next episode.

But to give the show credit, KyoAni is great at giving precise atmosphere to their shows, and Nichijou is no exception. Their animation is also top notch, despite Nichijou’s character designs being less detailed than their usual works. Both OPs are catchy and well animated, and the two EDs are nice. Every now and then the show stays focused on a single group of characters for an extended period of time and moves away from the bizarre hyperbolics for a while. But on the average, it’s just too miss than hit for me. When it comes to unique “ordinary life” humor, Azumanga Daioh does it way better.

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Hanasaku Iroha

Like Ikoku Meiro, my opinion of Hanasaku Iroha hasn’t changed much since I picked it as my #3 favorite of the season upon watching nineteen of its twenty-six episodes. So I’ll just add my new impressions about it after completing the series.

An anime with no real ongoing plot tends to hinge on its characters, and I feel HanaIro has a great cast of characters. First of all, the characters are a variety of ages – adults, elderly, as well as high school-aged, which is always a unique touch. Having a two-cour length, I feel that all the important HanaIro characters got plenty of development and attention, especially in their relationships with other characters. Minko and Tohru, Enishi and Takako, Sui and her late husband, Ohana and her mom, Ko, and just about everyone else…relationships in HanaIro were “blooming” beautifully all over. I also like how even characters who have a lot of rather distasteful traits, Ohana’s mom being the main one and perhaps Sui in the early episodes, are still treated with dignity as characters and shown to have grown more likable in the end without changing completely. The only character who bothered me some in this respect is Minko, since she’s insufferably rude to Ohana even in later episodes when they’ve more or less become friends.

I’ve heard complaints that the mid to latter episodes of HanaIro aren’t as good as the early episodes. I personally didn’t notice much of a difference in quality. Out of the twenty-six episodes, there were of course some that were better than others but none that I felt went below mediocre. But one thing this series is totally consistent on is good animation. Although I didn’t care for any of the HanaIro OPs or EDs, the animation throughout the series, especially in the gorgeous backgrounds, is stellar.

As for wrapping things up in the end, I’m glad it ended up with OhanaxKo as OhanaxTohru just seemed too contrived to me. I feel that Sui got the best development in the end, really opening up and softening compared to the stiff, bitchy grandma she was in the first episode. It was great seeing a montage of all the characters in the end though I would have liked to see Ohana having a tearful goodby to Minko and Nako since she spent the most time with them out of all the Kissuiso staff.

To conclude, even if it falters a bit in some episodes, HanaIro has a memorable cast of characters, good writing, great animation, and a bittersweet yet optimistic outlook from beginning to end thanks to its plucky protagonist Ohana.

Like last season’s [C] and AnoHana, this passing summer season of anime included a sci-fi and slice-of-life Noitamina series; No.6 and Usagi Drop respectively. With the typical Noitamina run of just 11 episodes, how did the two vastly different shows fare?…

No.6

While the first episode of No.6 can be a bit jarring in that it takes place four years before the rest of the series, it’s vital in establishing the relationship between the two protagonists and introducing the setting. Both of these components – the relationship between Shion and Nezumi, and the setting of No.6 – are the driving points behind the series.

For those of you who are familiar with the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, that’s the kind of sci-fi feeling I got upon watching the early episodes of No.6: a futuristic world in which people are living in complete ignorance and bliss by a deceiving government that has banned all forms of humanity’s culture – books especially – and silently eradicates anyone who disagrees with this society. The majority of the episodes deal with Shion and Nezumi’s relationship, conflicts with the other characters (specifically Shion’s past girlfriend Safu), and slowly unraveling the secrets of No.6.

Besides building an engaging, believable setting in No.6, which I feel the series did a fairly decent job of, Shion and Nezumi carry the show. While not the most original characters I’ve seen, their plight and interactions with each other are interesting enough to make me care about how their story will end. Nezumi fluctuates between being a total jerk to being an otherwise good-hearted anti-hero while Shion is basically the typical naive, nice kid who just wants to help everyone. Again, they’re not very striking as protagonists go but they’re sympathetic enough, especially together. And speaking of that, one of the outcries early on about No.6 is the yaoi relationship between the two. For me, as long as a relationship in anime is well written and engaging, I don’t care who it’s between. I think the ones who berated the series because of that were fanboys looking for a dark, masculine sci-fi series and felt like they got yaoi for fangirls instead.

Besides Shion and Nezumi, there’s isn’t much to say about the other characters other than I felt like they fit their roles just fine. The series made a wise decision in not having too many characters in such a short show and all had just enough development to make them likable.

My only complaint about No.6 is, unfortunately, the final episode. It wasn’t the worst ending but it could have been better. A bit of a deus ex machina going on in terms of the vaguely defined Elyurias wiping out No.6 and bringing Shion back to life. Also I felt it ended a tad abruptly…we didn’t even get to see Shion reunite with his mom after she was pining for him throughout the series. A little montage or something at the end showing the people rebuilding society and seeing what the other characters are doing would have been nice. But I actually didn’t mind the fact that Shion and Nezumi went their separate ways at that moment since it’s obvious they’ll be able to be together again anytime later on.

Overall, I would say No.6 is a very good sci-fi anime. A well-written, fascinating setting, decent characters, and lots of suspense. If you can use your imagination to fill in the less explained plot points and take the abrupt ending with a grain of salt, I can certainly recommend it.

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Usagi Drop

Being a very short series as well as a fairly episodic slice-of-life series, I find that I don’t have much to say about Usagi Drop. But what I do have to say about it is all good ^_^

The plot is a simple one: a rather passive 30-year old guy winds up adopting the daughter of his late grandfather. The episodes follow Daikichi as he discovers all the pains and rewards of being a “father” both through his growing bond with Rin and with other people he meets who also have children. Every episode is sweet, cute, and soothing yet also solidly written and it never feels like it’s just cutesy fluff. A little drama here and a little comedy there, but it doesn’t tug our emotions in any extreme direction. Daikichi and Rin are likable right from the get go and the other characters play their parts perfectly well. What I find very interesting about Usagi Drop’s characters is that they act more like real people than anime characters. Even the children – Rin and Kouki in particular – act very much like real kids and not hyper or unusually insightful anime kids.

The unique pastel-like coloring style of the animation is a bit strange at first, but I think it fits the child-like gentleness and innocence of the show. I enjoyed the BGM as well and the opening, “Sweet Drops,” is the only opening of the summer season anime that I’m particularly fond of.

Being the kind of show that it is, it’s natural that Usagi Drop’s final episode wasn’t anything drastic. Pretty much just an ordinary episode with a bit more reinforcement of Daikichi’s decision to truly be a father figure to Rin. Since there’s no real conflict to begin with, nothing really needed to get resolved. Rin and Kouki being childhood friends (or something more later down the line), whether Masako will return, and whether Daikichi will hook up with Kouki’s mom are all things that are hinted at in the episodes, but I feel the atmosphere of the show makes it unnecessary to flat-out resolve them in the end. I know there’s a lot more to the story in the Usagi Drop manga and changes were made in the anime version, but personally I’m satisfied with the anime and don’t care to investigate it further.

To conclude, Usagi Drop is a sweet, lovely little show that gets its themes of family and children across in a beautiful, gentle way. It’s one of the few shows where I feel every episode is up to standard. You can definitely tell just by the first episode or descriptions of it if it’s a show for you.

After weeks of time-traveling tragedy, I can breath a sigh of relief as Steins;Gate reaches its much deserved happy ending…

Steins;Gate’s most notable trait is probably how deceivingly mild the plot is in its first half only to shift to utter suspense and tragedy in its latter half. The first 11.5 episodes are more or less about a group of friends who build an amateur time machine that allows them to send text messages back in time (called D-mails). Led by the eccentric, self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintarou Okabe, he and his gang of lab members end up sending D-mails to alter the pasts (and ultimately the futures) of a few choice individuals upon their requests. Sprinkled with witty banter and otaku and scientific inside jokes, the first half of Steins;Gate almost seems more like a slice-of-life comedy than a mystery and sci-fi show. However, there is frequent hinting at something darker behind the scenes.

It’s not until the end of episode 12 that the show’s true conflict is revealed in its full horror. Rintarou realizes that altering the past for seemingly harmless reasons has had a catastrophic affect on the future – which leads to the death of one of his beloved lab members, Mayuri. In subsequent episodes, Steins;Gate becomes “Endless Gate” as a despairing, guilt-ridden Rintarou goes back in time again and again trying to figure out a way to prevent Mayuri’s death. He continues to fail each time and plunges deeper into hopelessness until he realizes that his only choice is to start back at the original “beta” timeline before any D-mails had been sent. As he proceeds to time-travel further and undo each D-mail, resulting in much suffering and death for those involved, he finally succeeds, but with one last hurdle: at the start of the “beta” timeline (episode 1) he had accidentally stumbled upon the dead body of Kurisu, who becomes his lab member and eventual lover in the altered timeline after he sends the first D-mail. Returning to the original timeline would save Mayuri and the future, but would mean death for Kurisu. Rintarou’s final challenge is to figure out a way to not alter that event but to still save Kurisu.

Stories revolving around time-travel can be very tricky and I commend any creator who’s able to tell such a story with convincing and believable details. As I hope my above summary of Steins;Gate conveys, I’d say the series did an excellent job in creating a unique, unpredictable, and suspenseful sci-fi story that really seemed to have its complicated time-travel facts planned out from the get go. I know there were some inconsistencies and errors, but for the average viewer who isn’t sensitive to details, it all came together perfectly. Steins;Gate can certainly compete with Haruhi for constructing a very well thought out time-travel plot. Unpredictability was definitely the strongest point of the show for me as I could never guess what would happen next or how all the show’s conflicts, big and small, would be resolved.

The characters of Steins;Gate are as eccentric as the plot. Actually, just about all of the characters have at least one trait of “weirdness” – otaku Daru, “tutturu-ing” Mayuri, cat-girl waitress Feyris, cross-dresser Rukako, texting-obsessed Moeka, and of course, mad scientist Rintarou. With 24 episodes to work with, I think Steins;Gate has just the right amount of characters and time to develop each one. Each of the supporting characters (Feyris, Rukako, Moeka, Suzuha) had enough episodes focusing on them to develop, but without dragging on too long. Surprisingly, I feel it was actually the main characters, particularly Mayuri and Daru, who could have used a bit more backstory. All of the seiyuu did a great job, but obviously Mamoru Miyano as Rintarou had the widest range of emotions to express. From his humorous mad scientist boasting to his tragic lamenting, Rintarou went through the most out of all the characters and Miyano certainly did a good job. What I found particularly interesting is how the main plot focuses on Rintarou’s dedication to Mayuri and what he’s willing to go through in order to save her, yet we find out in the last few episodes that it’s Kurisu he truly loves. Once again the show has great unpredictability and does a fine job focusing on the feelings Rintarou has for both girls.

One thing I noticed in the visuals of Steins;Gate is how somber the colors are. When it’s not dealing with dark colors, the coloring scheme has an earthen-tone to it at the most. Even brighter colors like Feyris’ pink hair and Kurisu’ auburn hair don’t particularly stand out. Perhaps this choice of color hue is simply part of the show’s style as a mystery-laden sci-fi story.

All in all, I’d say that Steins;Gate’s only flaw is its slow start. The first eleven episodes offer a completely different impression, both in terms of plot and tone, than the rest of the episodes, and could thus turn away potential viewers. For those who stick with it regardless, the result of having a show that changes so drastically in its latter half is two-fold; either “wow, I couldn’t have predicted that!” or “what took them so long to get to the good stuff?” If you came to Steins;Gate looking for a serious and complex time-travel story, you’ll have to be patient. If you can derive some enjoyment from the clever humor and light tone of the early episodes in the meantime, I believe the wait is worth it for when the plot takes off and the show reveals its true potential. Steins;Gate starts in humor and mystery, plunges into tragedy and suspense, and concludes with a happy and very satisfying ending. The show definitely has a shot at making it into my top 5 anime of the year =D

For lack of a better post today, I decided to try something new and pick my current five favorites amongst the seasonal anime I’m watching (with inspiration from kevo’s ongoing “Anime Power Rankings” project)…

Just to note, I’m only counting anime that started airing in summer ’11 or are still continuing from the spring ’11 season. And naturally, my opinions of these shows may change upon their completion.

5. No.6
(episodes seen: 5/11)

4. Steins;Gate
(episodes seen: 19/24)

3. Hanasaku Iroha
(episodes seen: 19/26)

2. Usagi Drop
(episodes seen: 5/11)

1. Ikoku Meiro no Croisée
(episodes seen: 6/12)

———-

I now realize that all of my top 5 here will be ending in 5-7 weeks. I may write full reviews of all of them if I can get around to it. Mawaru Penguindrum and Baka Test season 2 have potential to become season favorites depending on how much I like their future episodes =)

And just a bit of news before I go, I’ll only have time for one new post next week due to another heavy work week. It’ll most likely be on Wednesday. See you all then~

The two spring ’11 Noitamina anime (with unnecessarily long names) – [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control and Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai – have recently come to an end. With only eleven episodes each, how did they fare? Let’s take a look…

[C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

Reading a brief summary of what [C] is about is what got me interested in watching it. And for a while it looked like it had a lot of potential – a solid, sympathetic protagonist in Kimimaro and a unique concept of battles for the sake of finance in a wonderland-like setting called the Financial District. Sprinkled within the “battling monsters” theme of the superpowered assets and the economics-laden plot, is a universal, striking message about the evils of money and the morality of how one chooses to wield the power bestowed by wealth. So with a concept that’s so easy to relate to, presented in a unique way, why was I disappointed by the end of [C]?

My main beef with [C] is that it simply failed to explain important plot points and left too many things open ended. I don’t mind if a series wants to leave things up to the viewer’s imagination, but there’s a difference between that and not explaining very important things. One of the major examples is the background of the Financial District itself; how does it have such incredible power to alter time and space and take people’s futures away? There must be some psychic or time-traveling powers involved if the system knows what a person’s future will be, and god-like powers involved if it’s able to change that future. Where did such power come from? Is a single person controlling it? Is it Masakaki (what is he anyway?) And for lesser unexplained things, I found it difficult to follow the battles between the assets. Nothing much was explained about how the battles worked and what the rules were other than the loser losing their money. They were cool to look at, but just seemed to be all over the place with all these random attacks and economics Engrish words thrown around. And did we even get to see how Mashu is related to Kimimaro’s future in the end? (maybe it would have helped if they explained more about what assets are to begin with other than just taking the form of their entre’s future).

But…other than lack of explanations, I enjoyed some things in [C] nonetheless. The first half of the series was good (before you realized that they’re not gonna give you the answers you want). The OP and ED have trippy animation and great songs. The design of the Financial District is very cool, as are the individualized designs of the assets. Episode 7 is my personal favorite and shows the series at its best – emotionally gripping background given to Mikuni and development for Kimimaro and Mashu’s relationship all in one episode. Unfortunately, soon after that the plot moves faster than exposition can keep up before we get to the noticeably abrupt ending.

So all in all, there was just too much left unexplained in [C] for me to give it a high rating. It’s not that the story, characters, or aesthetics were bad – it’s just that I had a question mark over my head the whole time I was watching that got bigger by the end rather than smaller. Maybe Noitanima’s eleven episode limit is solely to blame and my questions would have been answered if they didn’t have to wrap up the series so quickly. I believe it’s a case of having a great premise but executing it poorly.

———-

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai

Going the opposite route from the action/sci-fi of [C], we have the melodrama of AnoHana. Like [C], I was drawn to AnoHana by reading a brief summary about it. Such a simple, sweet-sounding story about a group of friends being brought back together by the lingering ghost of one of them sounded like a very down-to-earth, character-driven show filled with tears and bittersweet smiles. And for the most part, that’s just what AnoHana gave me.

I’ll admit that the first few minutes of the first episode turned me off a bit. Menma was insufferably cutesy and her relationship with Jinta just seemed too cliche. But once Menma’s identity as a ghost becomes emphasized, and the other characters along with their emotional baggage are introduced, I started to enjoy it a lot more. The fact that AnoHana has the same creators as the Toradora! anime really shows with its complex relationships between the group of main characters and their gut-wrenching angst in trying to mend those relationships.

I don’t think the eleven episode limit hindered AnoHana too much since it has a simple story and a single group of characters to focus on. I don’t feel that individualized development for the characters was necessary because the story is solely about their relationships with each other and Menma. But maybe a little more development for the relationships between the characters, especially in their younger days (and I don’t think Poppo got enough characterization) would have been nice, but not totally necessary. My only complaint about the series is, yes, the angst and melodrama does go over the top sometimes, especially in the final episode. But if you take it with a grain of salt, those are the feelings the show is trying to bring out. I think it does a decent job of it, but of course such melodrama an acquired taste.

To conclude, I enjoyed AnoHana very much. I’d also like to mention that it has a great OP and ED. The OP is a very gentle, relaxing song that still keeps a good beat and has visuals that perfectly convey what the show is about. And the ED is beautifully visually and audibly (I also like how the next episode preview is merged with the ED). Few anime make me cry, but AnoHana did, especially the scene in the finale where they all read the notes that Menma had written to each of them with the last of her strength. Anime scenes like that are golden. If you can forgive the angst getting carried away at times, it’s a great slice-of-life drama sure to bring out emotions in just about anyone.

Back in the late 90s/early 2000s when Pokemon was at the height of its popularity, many similar “monster collection” anime and game series were brought over from Japan in the hopes of cashing in on this current fad. While the majority of these franchises simply came and went, arguably the most successful one was Digimon…

I got my first look at Digimon in 1999 through the English dub on local channels. I was well into Pokemon at the time, and after hearing rumors that Digimon was just a rip-off, I was surprised that I liked it and found it quite different from Pokemon. I watched Digimon dubbed on TV until it stopped airing on local channels after season 4 in 2003. I continued to watch season 5 and the currently airing 6 via fansubs.

Although the first four seasons aired back to back in Japan over the span of four years, only seasons 1 and 2 have any connection to each other. Unlike Pokemon and other long-running kids anime, seasons 3 to 6 of Digimon start the story anew each time, with different characters and different twists on the premise.

So how has the franchise that is fated to forever linger in Pokemon’s shadow evolved over these past twelve years, in terms of its anime at least? Let’s take a look…

Digimon Adventure
(season 1, 54 episodes, aired 3/1999-3/2000)

The original series that centers around seven elementary school kids (an eighth comes later) who are pulled into a digital world and partnered up with their own digimon in order to save the world from the evil digimon who are trying to take over. I don’t believe the original of anything is necessarily the best, but in Digimon’s case, I think Adventure is the best of the six series. Despite appearing very childish, it touches on many relatively mature themes such as death, self sacrifice, and family struggles. All of the main sixteen characters (eight kids plus their eight digimon) are given ample starring episodes to develop; just about all of the kids are given backstories and believable struggles they have to overcome, whether it’s problems with their families, bonding with their digimon, or their own personal flaws. The plot itself is broken into a few different arcs before the “final battle” at the end, none of which seem dragged on or out of place. It’s just an overall well written family series.

Digimon Adventure 02
(season 2, 50 episodes, aired 4/2000-3/2001)

The sequel to Digimon Adventure that takes place three years later, with the original kids being in high school and new kids with new digimon being summoned to once again save the digital world. Although I didn’t find the first half of 02 as engaging as its prequel, it still maintains excellent character development, particularly in the transition its villains (the Digimon Emperor, BlackWarGreymon, and Oikawa) from “bad guy” to “good guy.” The original main characters from season 1 play a part in this sequel as well. It’s been many years since I watched the later episodes of 02, but I remember that the ending was quite epic.

Digimon Tamers
(season 3, 51 episodes, aired 4/2001-3/2002)

The first series that starts the trend of Digimon series not being connected to each other. Tamers starts the story anew, with new characters and a new premise of the digimon appearing in the real world first before they must go to the digital world with their human partners later on. With only three main kids and digimon in this series, lots of effort is put into developing their relationships and personalities. Since the plot of Tamers isn’t as complex as the previous seasons, the growth and struggles of the characters is focused on, which I thought was well executed.

Digimon Frontier
(season 4, 50 episodes, aired 4/2002-3/2003)

Once again, this season of Digimon has no connection to the previous ones. Unfortunately Frontier didn’t stick in my head very well. I do remember that it revolved around another new premise of the kids themselves becoming digimon instead of having digimon partners, which I didn’t like. Much of the great characterization in previous seasons came from the kids and digimon bonding and overcoming their struggles together, so lack of this was disappointing. But regardless, I remember Frontier still being a decent show with decent characters and an emotional ending.

Digimon Savers
(season 5, 48 episodes, aired 4/2006-3/2007)

After four seasons of Digimon aired continuously for four years from 1999 to 2003, the series went on a three year hiatus until 2006. At that time, Toei decided to revive the franchise and reach out to a broader audience (like the older kids who like Naruto and Bleach) by making Digimon Savers (Digimon Data Squad in the dub) which again featured new characters and a different story. In order to reach this broader audience, they made the main kids older, the character designs less childish, and the overall tone of the series more shonen-ish. Unfortunately, as many fans will agree, it ended up being the worst of all the Digimon seasons. I personally found the main characters cold and unlikable, particularly the obnoxious, aggressive main protagonist, Masaru. Compared to the other seasons, nothing about Savers was memorable to me except for how disappointing it was.

Digimon Xros Wars
(season 6, 30 episodes, aired 7/2010-3/2011)

After another three year hiatus, Toei once again decided to revive the franchise last summer with Digimon Xros Wars (Cross Wars). It seems they learned from their mistake with Savers and made Xros Wars more like the original four series, with more kid-friendly characters and a lighter tone. Unfortunately, I felt they went overboard with the kid-friendliness in this first part of the series. Compared to the originals, any drama in Xros Wars is noticeably mild and the characters are way under developed; most of them are nothing but one-shot gags or “characters of the day.” And I waited thirty episodes to see backstories and relationship development between the three main kids, Taiki, Akari, and Zenjirou, but they were ultimately left very one-dimensional. The villains were forgettable as well and the plot was pretty repetitive until the end…

Digimon Xros Wars: Aku no Death General to Shichinin no Oukoku
(currently airing)

…which brings us to the second part of Xros Wars that started airing a month after the cliffhanger ending of the first. While I was expecting more of the unengaging and obviously child-aimed antics of the first Xros Wars, I’m currently six episodes into this second part and its actually…getting good! Right from the get go, Xros Wars part 2 seems much more like the original four series – the atmosphere is still light but not as childish and the characters are becoming less one-dimensional. I believe a lot of it has to do with the more interesting former side characters, Nene and Kiriha, replacing the insufferably bland Akari and Zenjirou as the main kids. The new characters introduced, such as Mervamon and the foreshadowing of Nene’s little brother, look promising too. Also, the Death Generals are kind of reminiscent of the Dark Masters from season 1.

So yes, after being disappointed with Digimon since 2006, now I can finally say “Good job Toei, you’re finally getting it right with Xros Wars part 2! I hope you can keep it up~”

———

My interest in Digimon can’t even touch my love for Pokemon, but I still continue to enjoy the anime despite its fluctuating in quality these past few years. For anyone who still thinks Digimon is just a Pokemon rip-off, the two are as different from each other as any series that happens to have a similar theme. There are some obvious things – digimon talk and (most) pokemon can’t, digimon can be nearly human in terms of actions and design while pokemon are very animal-like, digimon evolve but can go back to their basic forms while pokemon can’t, and the villains in digimon are often digimon themselves while there are no “evil” pokemon. But honestly, you wouldn’t call Lucky Star an Azumanga Daioh rip-off just because they’re both based on 4-koma manga about the daily lives of high school girls, or call Bleach a Naruto rip-off just because they’re both long-running Shonen Jump series? It’s the same with Pokemon and Digimon – they’re similar in being children-aimed series about magical monsters, but that’s where the similarities end.

And for a bonus point of interest, I’m always surprised at how many “sexy” digimon there are, despite the franchise being aimed at young kids. While the majority of digimon do look like monsters, there are a handful that are very…well-endowed…

Angewomon

LadyDevimon

Rosemon

Mervamon (seriously, whose idea was it to give her that bust size?)

I prefer the more “moe” Lillymon myself

These lovely lady digimon must be Toei’s way of subtly reaching out to that broader audience without making it too obvious ;) Just some final food for thought.

And so ends arguably the most popular anime to come out in recent years. Even though I rarely write more than one post in less than a day, after watching the last two Madoka Magica episodes, I just couldn’t keep my fangasms about the ending to myself…

A few minutes after watching episode 12, I couldn’t decide whether I liked the ending or not. I think I was just too stunned to decide since the finale blew my mind and was completely different from anything I expected. But after giving it some thought and reading up on things, I’ve come to the conclusion that I find the ending great.

Madoka Magica is one anime where I feel that just about everything was explained and wrapped up decently. Obviously episode 12 leaves a lot to be debated, but what actually happened was pretty clear. There are several interesting observations about the finale that I’d like to comment on (most of which can be found on The Puella Magi Wiki):

- Madoka as a “Reverse Evangelion”

In Evangelion, all of humanity becomes a perfect being but the protagonists don’t, while in Madoka the protagonist becomes god-like while humanity returns to normal. But I personally think of Madoka as simply “the Evangelion of magical girl anime” because it too transcends expectations for its genre; on the surface, Evangelion may be a mecha anime and Madoka may be a magical girl anime, but by the end they’re all about the internal struggles of the characters, with some becoming gods, some becoming demons, and all leading up to a jaw-dropping post-apocalyptic ending. Madoka is like Evangelion in terms of redefining its genre and giving us way more than “what’s on the cover.”

- Jesus Madoka died for our sins. Our prophet is Homura…

Although I’ve never seen Serial Experiments Lain, I heard that it has a similar ending as far as these Christian metaphors. Madoka is a Jesus figure, Homura is her prophet, and Kyubey is the tempting Devil (the final episode aired on Good Friday too). Whether Shaft created the story with this precise metaphor in mind, I couldn’t say. Looks like the Church of Madoka wants to compete with Haruhiism!

- Madoka’s wish

For a while I was thinking that when Madoka becomes a magical girl, she should wish for Kyubey and his kind to never have existed, which at first seemed like it would solve everything. But in episode 11, we learn that just about all of history’s major events had to do with the relationship between humans and Incubators, and without that, according to Kyubey humans would still be living in caves. So Madoka instead wishes for witches to not exist, forcing her to transcend time and space as she goes back to countless moments in history to appear before soon-to-be-witches magical girls to purify their Soul Gems before they die. This also allows her to have a pleasant farewell with Sayaka before she too disappears. Since witches no longer exist, Mami and Kyouko didn’t die (though only Homura seems to retain memory of Madoka). I guess I couldn’t think of a better wish for Madoka to make. Could you?

- Everyone’s a magical girl

Showing even Cleopatra, Anne Frank, and Joan of Arc as magical girls was a bit over the top, but I did like the fact that we got to see what the witches looked like as magical girls, as well as magical girls through the ages. The very last scene of episode 12 showed our five main girls standing together before showing a bunch of other magical girls (whom we had seen as witches). The scene closes on Madoka’s ribbon and Soul Gem. I couldn’t interpret this more than just reemphasizing her importance to all magical girls. And with that, Madoka Magica is almost like the ancestor of all other magical girl anime. Being a magical girl was at first a hopeless, cruel, and terrifying ordeal, but thanks to Madoka there’s now hope for magical girls since they no longer have to worry about their negative emotions turning them into witches.

- Homura’s fate

There seems to be a few different interpretations of the final sequence of the show in which Homura is fighting “demons” (I think) in a desolate land. Some believe this is taking place in an apocalyptic future while others believe she’s in a barrier similar to the dimensions that the witches were in. Still others believe she’s about to exhaust her powers and die, since she can hear Madoka’s voice as she comes to cleanse Homura’s Soul Gem. I’m partial to yet another theory that part of Madoka’s “spirit” is inside Homura, which is why she can hear her voice and has wings and other cool new powers. I don’t think that where or when she’s having this battle is important – what matters is that she’s continuing to protect the world that Madoka protected, and even if she dies, she’ll get to be with Madoka again rather than become a witch. Or maybe she can use her powers to continually go back in time so she can’t die and can keep on being “Madoka’s prophet.” Or did she lose her time-traveling powers after Madoka changed the world so witches never existed. Ah, still so much to debate…

…which leads me to what I feel is the final message of Madoka Magica. I agree with Scamp that “hope” is the ultimate message the series is offering. Madoka was not able to bring absolute salvation to the world – even though she erased witches, there are still plenty of other curses in the world, with demons being the new ones introduced at the end of the series. Incubators still create magical girls, though now they harvest the defeated demons’ energy rather than witches’ Grief Seeds. Magical girls still must fight and eventually die. But, as Scamp pointed out in his post, the hope Madoka was able to bring to them is that even though they’re still exchanging their lives for a wish, they will die as a human being and not live forever in despair as a witch. I feel that the final message Madoka is offering is that although there will always be negativity and tragedy in this world, even a single act of hope can seem like a miracle.

All in all, Madoka Magica is an incredible series with a mind-blowing ending that will forever be debated amongst fans. I believe it deserves all the praise and popularity it’s getting and it’s certainly found a spot among my top 20 favorite anime (top 10 maybe though I’d have to rewatch it). A creative, suspenseful story, sympathetic characters, and an ending that’s intense but still stays true to the elements of its plot. It’s definitely a must-see for anyone interested in an anime that’s both a good series and an unforgettable defining point of its generation and genre.

Bakuman is one of the few weekly shonen series that’s devoid of intense, bloody battles and characters with fantastical super powers. Rather, Bakuman tackles the shonen theme of plucky young boys trying to achieve their goals in a more realistic setting. Instead of wanting to become hokage or “King of the Pirates,” our heroes simply want to become manga-ka…

Like their previous work, Death Note, the manga-ka duo of Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba also set Bakuman in real world Japan, starring characters that don’t engage in out-of-this world battles with nasty villains on a daily basis. But that’s where the similarities between the two end. While Death Note is extremely dark and virtually devoid of humor, revolves around mysteries, and has a surprisingly immoral protagonist, Bakuman is light, frequently funny, and revolves around the realistic aspirations of its cast of “normal,” likable characters.

Bakuman’s basic premise is about two high school boys, Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi, who decide to team up and realize their dream of becoming manga-ka and being serialized in Shonen Jack (obviously based on Shonen Jump in which Bakuman is serialized). Such a story might sound boring if not for the way Bakuman utilizes it. Since it’s about the boys creating manga, we get to see a lot of the interesting inner workings of the shonen manga industry, mostly through their editor, Hattori, and various other Shonen Jack staff. I’m sure at least some of what we learn about Shonen Jack operations in Bakuman holds true for the real Shonen Jump.

In addition to this fascinating insider’s look at how manga is serialized, Bakuman also has a lot of suspense. It’s not the “life and death” suspense we see in most shonen series, Death Note included, but more real life suspense such as “will their latest manga idea be accepted?” or “will they win the Golden Future Cup?” There are many episodes in the series where the boys submit a name or chapter of a manga and wait in utter suspense for Hattori to tell them the outcome. These scenes were done very well as I felt like I was right there with them in that atmosphere of excitement and apprehension.

Which brings us to another thing that Bakuman has going for it – a cast of fun characters. For most shonen series, even if you’re not that attached to the characters, you could still enjoy the show for all the cool fights and powers. But Bakuman’s appeal comes pretty strictly from whether you care about the goals of the protagonists and whether they’ll succeed or not. I really couldn’t find anything unlikable about Moritaka and Akito. They’re both determined, well-mannered guys who have distinct personalities despite the fact that there’s only one significant instance of friction between them. And even when they did have this falling out, they didn’t show immaturity or hostility, unlike many other shonen characters I’ve seen in similar situations. Moritaka is more cautious and serious while Akito is more laid-back and outgoing, but they both have that fiery shonen spirit of never giving up, which they put into manga instead of beating bad guys.

Bakuman’s two main female characters – Miho, Moritaka’s girlfriend whom he vows to marry after becoming a true manga-ka while she makes it her goal to become a seiyuu and do a voice for the anime version of his manga, and Kaya, Miho’s best friend and Akito’s eventual girlfriend who later starts acting as assistant to the boys while they work. Like with Death Note, I’ve heard complaints about Bakuman being sexist. While I can understand this sentiment with Death Note, I can’t see it in Bakuman – even though Miho comes off as shy and submissive, she’s obviously intelligent and determined in her goal of becoming a seiyuu and keeping her mutual vow with Moritaka despite not seeing him. And Kaya is very outspoken and helps everyone because she wants to and not because she’s told to. Just because the girls don’t have extremely active roles in the story doesn’t make it sexist.

As the episodes go by, more characters are introduced, particularly rival manga-ka for our heroes, starting with the bizarre genius Eiji Nizuma (Bakuman’s version of Death Note’s L). Later on we’re introduced to Fukuda, who makes very shonen-ish manga, Nakai, an older aspiring manga-ka who keeps trying despite failures, and Aoki, a snobby female manga-ka whom Nakai is head over heels for. I enjoyed seeing all their contrasting personalities and manga styles reflect each other. The Shonen Jack staff aren’t all that developed, at least not yet. The one we see the most of, Hattori, is pretty bland but at least there’s nothing bad about him.

I’ve heard complaints that the anime version of Bakuman dragged on at many points and grew boring after a strong start. I personally didn’t get this feeling at all. I felt the pacing was fine and that the series kept getting better and better. There are a lot of dialogue-heavy parts, but that’s due to the nature of the story. J.C. Staff did well with the pacing of this still ongoing series, and from what I’ve heard, didn’t change anything major from the original manga. They didn’t provide stellar animation for Bakuman, but it’s good enough, and for a series that doesn’t have action or breathtaking visuals, it’s not necessary. For an opening, Bakuman has a gentle, pretty song called “Blue Bird,” quite contrasting to the fast-paced shonen openings I’m used to. The first ending is a catchy little song, while the second didn’t catch my fancy.

In conclusions, don’t let the relationship to Death Note or the Shonen Jump label give you preconceptions about Bakuman. It’s a unique shonen series, or even a unique anime in general. It’s never dark or violent, and fluctuates between being light, touching, suspenseful, interesting and fun, while continually advancing its endearing plot. I look forward to seeing what lies ahead for our manga-ka in season 2!