With the end of the Summer season at hand, I feel like this is as good a time as any to introduce something of a more informal review series for this site of mine. While I still intend to work on my massive and exhaustively long reviews on the regular basis I've worked to establish lately, I feel like going full scholarly critic all the time limits what I can say and do. So, to remedy that little problem, I thought it'd be an interesting to just go over a few thoughts that crossed my mind over this past season.
Normally, this format will be composed of short little bursts of thought that I hope will make you ask a few questions and explore your own thoughts. Since this is the first entry in this series though, this initial post will feature ALL of my thoughts from this season. Secondly, I also plan to use this series to conclude each season, listing all the shows I watched and dropped as well as my initial scores and opinions. In the interest of fairness, however, I won't score the shows I drop; I'll just give my opinions which will likely encompass why I dropped that particular show. So, without further adieu, I guess I should get his crazy train chugging.
Thought 1: Working Anime are Geared Toward Working Adults
Here's hoping there's at least some amount of coherence within my incoherent ramblings.
While this may seem like a relatively simple and obvious thought, I often have to remind myself of the common perception of our world is that "cartoons are for kids." While that basic statement is true to some degree, considering how many kid-friendly shows are put out each year and how many parents use those bright colors and simple characters to keep their kids occupied and happy, it doesn't mean that every show put out there is meant for kids. Again, a pretty obvious thought, right? Clearly, no kid should watch something gory like Berserk or Blood+, and most kids wouldn't understand even half of what goes on in Psycho-Pass and Ghost in the Shell. Yet there are a few shows out there that aren't nearly as extreme as those examples that incorporate those bright and cheery colors kids love while appealing to adults as well.
While I could list a couple dozen examples of this group, this season had two solid shows that speak to my point: Sakura Quest and New Game. While every season has one or two shows about people working, I've rarely seen ones that stick so true to life. While a children's character might simply have "courageous" written into his character profile, Sakura Quest's characters prove how courageous they are, taking on the task of saving a rural town from extinction--a very real problem in Japan. They get depressed at failure and they struggle with finding purpose and direction in their life, yet they still keep getting up to face the next day because that's what is necessary and expected of them. They have a job to do, and one that could easily fall apart if they give up or lose hope in what seems like a hopeless situation. If that doesn't sound representative of basic working life, I don't know what is. Yet this show just expresses the trails of the working world and the drive necessary to keep going and eventually succeed, if all goes well.
In the case of New Game, much of that same drive to succeed is present, yet it falls into a similar category as children's shows in that "has a solid personal drive" is likely written into the characters' profiles. I'm not sure I mind that though. While New Game isn't all that representative of real life, considering how soft and forgiving it makes the corporate world look, it had some of the best work-based character interactions I've seen yet. Bottom line, it was personally relatable for adults in that it acknowledged the struggles. It understood the frustrations of climbing the corporate ladder or just finding satisfaction in your work but did so while presenting it with a kind of calming escapism expressed through its cutesy characters and forgiving reality. In a way, it kinda expresses what could be considered an ideal corporate setting--a place where employees and managers alike are encouraged to grow and develop but are also challenged in such a way that they won't lose faith in themselves or their workplace. While it might be a bit overly simplified at times and appeals to the moe crowd, I can't ignore how grounded New Game, Sakura Quest, and other shows like it are in the real, adult world. As a kid, I would have liked the colors and characters, but as an adult I'm able to take the lessons this show has to offer a working adult and apply it my own corporate life, bolstering that personal drive that can be so easily quashed in the real world. So, again, it just seems pretty obvious how idiotic and limiting that "cartoons are for kids" argument can be.
Thought 2: Escapism vs. Realism
What would you rather spend your day with: an office full of moe or an office full of real people?
I think my choice is pretty obvious.
While I acknowledge this concept comes down to personal preference and how well each is handled, I think anime shines best as a form of escapism. Yes, I know that idea limits the medium in much the same way the "cartoons for kids" idea does. But I can't ignore the fact that anime is just another way to relax from the worries of the world in the same way books and games serve that purpose. Granted, one person's form of relaxation is likely to be very different from someone else's. Personally, I'd rather snuggle up with a light and easy moe title, like New Game, than a title so grounded in reality that it hurts, like Konbini Kareshi.
The reason I say escapism is better than harsh reality in anime, though, is because it allows for more thought and growth as a genre. For example, let's consider the thought behind a realistic high school drama like Konbini Kareshi. Because the show is so heavily grounded in reality, it has to stick to situations that are both believable and believably dramatic so that it will serve its intended purpose. The basic human experience isn't really all that interesting or varied in my experience though, which in turn limits what shows like Konbini Kareshi can accomplish before the medium grows intolerably boring. Fantasy and Sci-Fi scenarios, the bread and butter of escapism, don't really suffer from that limitation though. Honestly, the only limitation there is what the human mind is capable of imagining and whether or not the ideas born from it can engage other people. With an imagined world, unhinged from our reality, pretty much anything is possible so long as it's engaging. That means you can go as crazy as you want, as noted with shows like FLCL and FlipFlappers which fully embrace the insanity inherent in total freedom, or keep things mildly grounded in reality so you can talk about our world today, as seen in Psycho-Pass and (for a time) Paranoia Agent. Either way, there's just more to be had from the kind of unhinged reality that encourages escapism. So much more can be said and appreciated when the constraints of reality don't drag things back down to our mundane world. Again, however, I'll acknowledge that's just my preference.
Thought 3: How to End a Show and the Purpose of OVAs
Man, no matter how weird an ending it was, I still love the rainbow-filled ending to Eureka 7.
While I might complain incessantly whenever a show deviates from its source material to wrap up a show with new material, I have to say I'll take that kind of half-assed bullshit over the kind of endings shows like Centaur no Nayami and Gamers! got this season. To elaborate, both of these shows ended on what might as well have been OVA episodes. They had no plot, added nothing to the story, and just didn't fit well with the image the show had previously established. Rather, they served kinda the same purpose these little bursts of thought do--building something around a single idea. Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against OVA episodes. In fact, I usually like them despite their usually being an inferior product because they usually occur well after the show's conclusion. They're a nice reminder of a show I liked in the past, giving me one last adventure with some beloved characters before I close their story altogether. Yet all that touchy, reminiscent impact is lost when a show ends with that same kind of "let's all go to the beach/spa/amusement park" kind of bullshit typical of an OVA. When separate from the series, the inferior OVA doesn't impact my enjoyment of the original show itself since it is its own, separate product. When attached to the show, like in the case of Centaur no Nayami and Gamers! though, it comes across as a black mark on what might have been a fine series. In short, don't to that shit! Ending a show on an arc and never touching it again (RIP Spice and Wolf) is better than that so cut it out!
Thought 4: Is a Bait-and-Switch All it Takes to Engage Me?
Yes. The answer is yes.
I've noticed lately that I'm strangely inclined to LOVE shows that give me a bait-and-switch gimmick more than ones that are straightforward. I mean, I've only gotten that through School-Live! and now Made in Abyss, but I think that's enough of a sample size to determine my reasoning. Put simply, I think it boils down to the fact that deception is just a great storytelling tool. Corny though it may sound, I usually equate good storytelling to fishing. A story is typically fashioned so that it will engage a certain kind of audience. Just like how there are die-hard fans of certain genres, there are kinds of fish who will snap at a type of bait no matter how low-quality it is. The real romance of a tough catch though is that you need a special kind of bait to nab a more skeptical or discerning fish. So, you'll need bait that is constructed from the fish's favorite food, but it's best to ensure the bait is also crafted in such a way that you're more able to ensure the catch. So, imagine that fish's surprise when they get lured in by their favorite food and then BAM you catch them with a net before they even get a bite. That's basically what I amount a bait-and-switch to. It's crude, a bit strange, and is jarring for everyone involved, but it's no less effective than the straightforward calm of just fishing normally. More than that though, it adds something of a new dimension to classic storytelling that's much more amusing and engaging to trick an audience than to just tell them a story.
Thought 5: What's With All the Jojo Openings?
Man, I love Jojo openings.
This isn't a complaint; I'm just seriously curious. As every Jojo fan knows, every season of the newer series ended with the opening getting some sick, dramatic SFX played with the action in the opening.
It was a solid reward for people who stuck around for the high-octane insanity, but there were two shows this season that also decided to use that little gimmick. What they didn't do though is use it at the end. Knight's & Magic and Mahoujin Guru Guru just kinda incorporated the SFX into their openings halfway though, and have kept them since. While sure, it loses a little impact, I don't find it annoying. I just want to know why they did it.
Season Wrap-up: Completed Shows
Re:Creators. An interesting and nuanced take on the isekai genre that takes characters from anime and manga and makes them fight over the fate of our world. While it was a great action anime in its own right, it lost itself in its own deeper concepts so deeply that the show's end felt rushed and missed the mark. 8/10. 3/5.
Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun. A pretty lackluster soccer anime that has little to no soccer action in it. In fact, I'd say it's best when the show's sport is at the forefront. Most of the time, however, this just ends up being a worse version of Sakamoto desu ga?. 6/10. 2/5.
Isekai Shokudou. A simplistic episodic series centered around a restaurant that opens its doors to a fantasy setting world one day a week to serve an interesting clientele. While I call it simplistic, I mean it as a compliment this time. This is a food show that's good for the soul. A satisfying "soul food" show, as it were. 8/10. 5/5.
Aho Girl. A comedy that I'm in a bit of a love-hate relationship with. On the one hand, this is a show with some excellent slapstick. On the other, the show's characters are the worst kind of people. 7/10. 5/5.
Tsurezure Children. A romantic comedy centered around several less-than-functional relationships that are no less adorable. I love what this show does, yet it blatantly ignores some of its couples and doesn't go far enough with others that I felt feeling lacking. 7/10. 4/5.
Sakura Quest. A fantastic drama centered on a group of young girls working to save their rural town from going extinct. Quirky, thoughtful, and a lot of fun, this is definitely a personal favorite. 10/10. 5/5.
Kakegurui. A really unsettling show about a school where everything is determined by how good you are at gambling. Juxtaposing the naturally beautiful with disgusting natures of "living the high life," this show caught and held me for how...different it is. 7/10. 5/5.
Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu. As a kind of answer to the success of Kantai Collection, this show about sword boys saving the past just proves that UFOTable can turn anything into a work of art. 6/10. 5/5.
Centaur no Nayami. A kind of slice of life monster girls show that's weirdly intellectual. It's kinda like if an otaku sociologist tried to make a slice of life anime, for better and worse. 6/10. 3/5.
Knight's & Magic. An isekai mecha anime that made me want to fall in love with mech design and the mech genre as a whole, despite the fact that I usually dislike mecha anime. 7/10. 5/5.
Princess Principal. A spy anime for fans of the moe genre and loses any and all impact because of it. While lying is a big part of a spy's job, it becomes kinda hard to invest yourself into a protagonist who compulsively lies. 6/10. 3/5.
New Game!!. A moe comedy centered around a group of characters in a games company. Thoughtful, cute, and relatable, I have to say this show surpassed all my expectations to make something impactful and relaxing at the same time. 7/10. 5/5.
Gamers. A dysfunctional rom-com that hit a little close to home for me in terms of how socially awkward and incapable the characters are. While it was a lot of cringey fun, it fell flat in the end. 7/10. 4/5.
Konbini Kareshi. A down-to-earth high school romantic drama so simple and realistic that it bored me to death in its worst moments and frustrated the hell out of me at its best. 4/10. 3/5.
Nobunaga no Shinobi. A saccharine comedy about the ambitious nature of Oda Nobunaga. While I wouldn't call this an effort of historical revisionism, it does try to humanize the devil history remembers by turning him into a clown. 6/10. 5/5.
Jigoku Shoujo Yoi no Togi. A wholly unnecessary addition to the Jigoku Shoujo series. It only had about 8 new episodes to offer and the rest were just reruns of the series more notable episodes with some weird picture puppet comedy thrown at the beginning. 4/10. 1/5.
Made in Abyss. A childish-looking adventure story that is most certainly not for kids. While it is centered on kids and often smacks of something like Spirited Away, this show is not nearly as forgiving to its young cast of characters. 10/10. 5/5.
Boku no Hero Academia. A school life action anime that is based heavily on more Western ideas of what makes a superhero. It's an action-packed, funny, and pretty thoughtful shounen battle title that has a lot of good things going for it. More than that, though, it's a solid adaptation of the manga with some great original content thrown into the mix to liven up the world and its characters. 8/10. 5/5.
Season Wrap-up: Still Airing Shows
Mahoujin Guru Guru. An irreverent adaptation of the classic Dragon Quest story Japan loves so much. I'm a little unnerved by how young the cast is in contrast to some of the more sexual jokes the show makes. 6/10. 4/5.
Season Wrap-up: Notable Dropped Shows
Ballroom e Youkoso. Often compared to Yuri on Ice, in that it's a show that acknowledges dance as a serious sport, I could not stomach this one. From the blatant sexism to the Shini-esque main character and the copious amount of dance partner cuckolding, there was always at least one moment each show that would send me on a 30-minute tyrade about how much I hate this one. So, for my own sanity and mental well-being, I dropped it 9 episodes in, certain I'd sooner commit murder than watch 15 more episode of Ballroom.
Fate/Apocrypha. As a show that is eventually going it end up on Netflix, this become one of those hard to get titles that just ended up more effort than its worth. While I found this show's version of the Grail War interesting, I just couldn't get over the poor quality and dropped it four episodes in.
Hina Logi ~from Luck & Logic~. A female-centric magical girl series based in the Luck & Logic universe. While I wasn't big on this one and only got about 3 episodes in, due to the lack of connection to the original series, I might just go back for this one if things don't pan out in Fall.
Hitorijime My Hero. A series of homosexual romance stories that were initially interesting in they subverted classic ideas of romantic couples, like the helpless princess and her prince charming, by making the couples homosexual. Unfortunately, things got boring for me eventually and I dropped it after 5 episodes.