Sasami-san@gambaranai

Sasami-san@gambaranai: B+

Our seasonal offering from Studio Shaft and Akiyuki Shimbo, who, as you will recall, I have an Akiyuki Shimboner for.  Despite that, grading this show was difficult because it's SO WEIRD.  Like, makes Bakemonogatari seem coherent in comparison.  "Sasami-san is a character, the @ is never adequately explained and 'gambaranai' is a word which literally is a negative form of the verb 'to do your best', probably best translated as 'lazy, slacking' or sometimes 'not trying'.

It's... well, let's start with this:  In the first episode, clearly for a reason, but without explanation, the entire world turns into chocolate, and three sisters, whose names are very clearly references to the Three Treasures of Imperial Japan (the sword, the mirror and the jewel) have to fight a giant demon dragon thing made of chocolate.

I mentioned Bakemonogatari, and another reason that's a valid comparison is because if Sasami-san@gambaranai is about anything, it's about Japanese mythology, in a very interesting way: the idea of generations of gods, and transitional periods between old gods and new gods, and holding on to the past.  That's a very poetic way of talking about the series, which is also a lot about being a shut-in and never going outside, and also is a lot about the Japanese as a people and how weird they are (and by extension, how weird their gods probably are).

At the very least, it's solid evidence that the Japanese don't just treat Christianity as being fun to twist into knots for the mythology, they'll do it to themselves as well.

If you'd like a very odd look at Japanese mythology which manages to be, by turns, very light and meaningless and also very deep, dark and thoughtful, Sasami-san is a strange but fun watch.  Really the only reason I would think people couldn't get into it is because it's just so weird and out there, and because to really fully understand what's going on you'll need to do a bit of reading up on wikipedia about some of the more obscure shinto mythology.

Nekomonogatari (Black)

Nekomonogatari (Black): A+

I really just want to hold down the A and + keys for this, but that would be unprofessional.  Instead I will be unprofessional by squeeing wildly and bouncing up and down about how much I loved Nekomonogatari (Black).

As long-time followers know, I'm a huge fan of the writer (Niso Isin) and director (Akiyuki Shinbo) of the Monogatari series in particular and the Monogatari series in general, so it should be no surprise that I loved this as well.  The reason it's Nekomonogatari (Black) is because there is, later in the series, a Nekomonogatari (White), which has not yet been made into an anime yet.

Nekomonogatari is a prequel to both Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari, and unlike many prequels, builds on them intelligently and deliberately: Neko (Black) is meant to be watched AFTER Bake and Nise, and watching in in that order spreads a thick, gooey, delicious layer of fucked up over both of the chronologically succeeding series (though Bakemonogatari more than Nisemonogatari), something that retroactively makes both series much better, as it dawns on you that the characters knew all this happened, and did what they did later regardless.

In short, Neko (Black) adds tremendously to the Monogatari series as a whole, and gives me great hopes for the second season that is being released in 2013.  I literally could not contain a shout of triumph when I saw that there would be more this year.  If they continue to build on prior material the way Neko and Nise have, the Monogatari series as a whole may actually grow into an S rank series by virtue of brilliant writing.

If you liked the intelligent writing of Bakemonogatari and the off-color but honest sexuality and humor of Nisemonogatari, you will adore the emotional tragedy of Nekomonogatari.  If girls in their underwear, older brothers sexually harassing younger sisters or coldly psychological child abuse are triggers for you, you probably shouldn't watch it, the last especially is done in a manner that shows the activity and the result, not the in-between part, and I found utterly chilling.

Dance in the Vampire Bund

Dance in the Vampire Bund:  B

Yeah, the title sounds really weird to the English-speaking ear.  According to dictionary.com a "Bund" is either an embankment or dyke or an alliance or political society.  Both are fairly accurate descriptions of what the Vampire Bund in the series is.

Vampires have just come out publicly to humanity, in the interest of extending an olive branch, though on the other side of things they have so much financial and political sway (plus the advantage of decades and centuries of planning) that if their offer of peace is not accepted, they'll crush humanity anyway.  At the center of this "peace" movement is Mina Tepes, descendant of the legendary Vlad and Queen of the Vampires, a spiritual and social position, as if she is killed, all vampires will be destroyed.

The story is told mostly through the perspectives of two ordinary (?) high school students, one of whom has a strange and severe case of amnesia and the other of whom has a massive crush on the amnesiac.  The plot unfolds and we learn more about the sinister and strange history of the Vampiric Royal Family, its traditions and the reality of life as one of the creatures of the night.

I'm not a connoisseur of vampire fiction in general, but I really liked how DitVB got across the passion, dispassion and tragedy inherent in the vampiric condition.  Mina is a heartless tyrant, but she also loves and seeks friendship.  The dangerous, predatory and sexual side of the Vampire myth is also on full display, as well as the accompanying myth of the Werewolf, and overall the story, while rather typically anime, appeals to me personally as a story about vampires.

The really most painful thing about this series is the title, which is just awkward to try to tell anyone about because it sounds so bad in English.  The series itself is Akiyuki Shinbo doing his thing, with vampires.  If a good, if short vampire anime appeals to you, DitVB will totally satisfy you.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko:  A

The title translates to "The Radio Wave Girl and the Adolescent Boy."  There are a number of other ways to translate "Radio Wave" and "Adolescent," as both are used as kind of symbolic terms, but this way makes as much sense as any.

Yet another show directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, but lacking a lot of his trademark audiovisual weirdness.  And yet, I find, it's still breathtaking to watch and its animation is of the highest caliber.

Dotso (as it abbreviates to) starts out slowly, with our Adolescent Boy, obsessed with cataloging how successfully he is living his young life to the fullest, moving to the city to live with his aunt while his parents work abroad.  From there, he meets our Radio Wave girl, his cousin, an extreme hikkikomori (one who hides from society) who claims to be an alien and wanders around with a futon wrapped around her.

What begins looking like it might be a Haruhi Suzumiya-esque manic pixie dream girl scenario evolves into a story about perseverance, recovering from one's mistakes and the self-imposed hurdle of impossibility, put non-invasively into the context of a fairly non-invasive harem.  The cast remains very small (the main cast is only 6 characters), and while a lot of threads (the romantic aspect and Erio's re-integration into society) are left dangling at the end of the series, the story nevertheless has an ending.

Also, contrary to a lot of other series that I've found myself really liking, Dotso isn't nearly as mean to its characters: the trauma is fairly minor and doesn't happen on screen, no cathartic scenes of screaming or crying or rage.  Which isn't to say that the characters aren't realistic (Ryuushi's jealousy is some of the most honest jealousy I've ever seen), just that the situation doesn't warrant quite the same level of suffering as say, Madoka, Evangelion or Ano Hana.

Don't watch this show if you don't want to have to remember long titles in Japanese, or if you're more interested in action and physical conflict.  But if you like stories about people growing, pushing forward and being rewarded for trying to do something they thought they couldn't do, you'll find Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko to be quietly inspiring.

Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari

Bakemonogatari:  AA++
Nisemonogatari:  A

So first let me say that Bakemonogatari is pretty much my favorite series of all time, right now.  Nisemonogatari is the 'sequel' series, and aired earlier this year.  There's going to be a prequel, a movie, called Kizumonogatari released later this year.

The titles are all portmanteaus of the world 'monogatari' which means 'story.'  'Bakemono' means ghost or monster, Nisemono means a fake or an imposter, and Kizumono means 'damaged goods'.  If I had to anglicize them, "GhoStory" and "ImpoStory" come fairly easily, though I don't know what to do with Kizumonogatari.

Like most series which I recommend highly, my primary way of recommending Bakemonogatari is to just say "Watch it."

However, Bakemonogatari isn't an S rank, for very specific reasons: it's extraordinarily dialogue-heavy, it's rather perverted, it revolves deeply around japanese mythology, language and symbolism, it's much darker than it looks on the surface and to really get everything out of it it requires a thorough analysis of actions vs words: most of the characters lie or are mistaken, and it is only occasionally pointed out directly that they were lying or wrong in retrospect, it is simply shown that they were wrong or inaccurate.

This makes it the kind of series that you have to let yourself get involved in to fully appreciate.  However, the characters are flavorful, the art is absolutely stunning and the writing is clever, it's not difficult to get yourself wrapped up in it.

In short, if you're like me, you'll absolutely adore this series.

Nisemonogatari is overall weaker than the original series, I feel, but is still very good, as it expands inter-character relationships as well as providing substantial character development and further explaining certain characters' history and even more quiet, disturbing implications.

Natsu no Arashi!

Natsu no Arashi!:  A/B+

It gets two ratings, one for each season: Season 1 is an A, Season 2 is a B+.

Natsu no Arashi is a series directed by Akiyuki Shinbo which means I'm already mandated to think it's amazing, but when I first heard the title (which translates to "Summer Storm!") I was unimpressed, and was further unimpressed by the series' concept pitch: Outspoken, nerdy 13-year-old Yasaka Hajime meets a gorgeous 16 year old Arashiyama Sayoko ('Arashi'), who turns out to be a ghost, and falls into very boisterous, childish love with her, after which she begins drawing on his life energy to sustain herself.  The ghost girl has a number of friends from her time alive who died around the same time that she did who gather around the small cafe where Arashi and Hajime work over the summer, as well as several living employees and regular customers who get up to amusing antics.

The series has Shinbo's traditional excellent cinematography and adroit use of angles and visual suggestion, and makes clever references to other anime and overall is a silly light-hearted comedy.

Then Arashi reveals that she can use Hajime to go back in time, and we find out that Arashi died during the bombing of Yokohama in World War 2, as did the other three ghost girls, and much of the first season has a quiet undertone about the difference in attitudes of people of the war era compared to modern times.  Like most Japanese war stories, the war is a very personal experience, and used as a backdrop, it never plays a major part in the plot, but is unmistakable in its flavoring of the story, and for that, I find its use to be both appropriate and fascinating.

The second season loses some of that, and so is simply a delightful slice-of-life comedy with romantic elements, but is still enjoyable and worth your time.

Arakawa Under the Bridge

Arakawa Under the Bridge:  C++

I had a tough time rating Arakawa, partially because I've had a tough time describing Arakawa.  Ultimately I couldn't quite give it a B, it's just too damned weird.

The basic idea is that a very by-the-book, ordinary young man who has been raised to never be in debt to anyone has his life saved by a girl who lives under a bridge over the Arakawa (a river).  Naturally, as he cannot be in debt to her, he asks what he can do to repay her, and she says that she would like him to be her lover, because she's never had one before.  Unfortunately, the girl also is from Venus, and will forget about him if he leaves for more than a few hours, so he has to live under the bridge as well, and get along with the impossibly strange group of people who also live along the banks of the Arakawa, under the bridge.

That's the basic description, but that doesn't tell you much about the show itself at all.  Instead, imagine taking the characters from two or three especially bizarre Monty Python sketches and, instead of disposing of them at the end of the sketch, making them all live in a town together.  This begins to give you an idea of what you're getting yourself into.

Arakawa is deeply absurd, but the humor has a very thorough poker face, and it may be very difficult for a Western audience to appreciate a lot of the humor.  The art and sound are all delightful, and the voice cast is positively stellar, but its incomprehensibility makes it a little inaccessible, though if you can get into it, you'll have yourself some laughs.

Hidamari Sketch (Including x365 and ☆☆☆)

Hidamari Sketch:  B

I began rewatching Hidamari Sketch after being reminded of its existence by a visual reference while watching Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei with a friend of mine.  It has the questionable honor of being the tamest show that I've seen Akiyuki Shinbo direct, though it's also proof that his bizarre, dreamlike style translates well into the playful, calm joy of the Slice of Life series.

Hidamari Sketch revolves around four (later six) residents of a small apartment complex directly across the street from a high school renowned for its Art program.  The apartment complex is renowned for housing the 'weirdos' in the art program, though for the most part the girls (it's a slice of life show, of course they're all girls) are believable individuals with believable eccentricities and relationships.

Beyond that there's not much to say about the plot, like K-On!, it's a slice of life show.  It's about these girls just living their lives.  For the most part, Hidamari Sketch takes a road similar to Lucky Star's in being relatively serene aside from the characters themselves being spazzy.

Hidamari is different from other Slice of Life shows both for Akiyuki Shinbo's amazing creative direction and for being completely non-chronological in its episode order, even between seasons.  The series picks up in the middle of the year as though we've always known these girls and by the end of the first episode you kind of feel like you have.  The "How they got here" episode that comes later on explains early interactions but by then it's all falling into place, and while the specifics are sources of amusement you'll already know everyone well enough that it won't be much of an introduction.  Occasionally the other half of a story that we heard some of will be shown, but the show doesn't have a lot of mystery to it, so if you weren't paying a great deal of attention you won't feel like you missed something.

The laid-back-ness of the series is also my greatest criticism of it, it's a very light and fluffy series, there's not a lot of substance, like most Slice of Life.  It hasn't got a lot of anything, really.  Fan service is tasteful when it appears and mostly absent, humor is adorable but forgettable and there's a distinct lack of schadenfreude, the entire series is soft and unassuming despite its wholesomeness, and that's what prevents it from getting an A rating.

For the sake of alleviating confusion, the three seasons are, in order, "Hidamari Sketch," "Hidamari Sketch x365," and "Hidamari Sketch  ☆☆☆," which is pronounced "Hidamari Sketch Hoshimittsu", Hoshimittsu meaning "Three stars."

If you want something cute, fluffy and inoffensive to watch, Hidamari Sketch is a lovely and giggle-worthy show.  If you're looking for action, philosophy or fan service, this isn't for you.

Shinnen Omedetou Gozaimasu!

That's Happy New Year for those of you too lazy to look it up on Jisho.org.

So, as one of my resolutions, I'm going to be updating this blog at least weekly for the next year.

I'm presently rewatching the entirety of Hidamari Sketch, so I'll probably have a review of that soon, but for now I thought I'd make a Top 5 of some kind.  But I didn't want to restrict myself, so this is the Top 5 series that I thought of while writing a Top 5 Series You Should Watch in 2012:

#5)  Murder Princess:  It's so rare to find a series that is as quite as thoroughly full of awesome things as Murder Princess.  Badass girls with swords?  Check.  Tiny girl androids with rocket fists?  Check.  A rather small shinigami wearing a leather jacket with a badass motorcycle?  Check.  Plenty of J-Rock to keep things energetic?  Check.  It's also only 6 episodes, and it doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not, like deep, thoughtful or slow-paced.

#4)  Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt:  The less said about this series, the more you will enjoy it.  Just, whenever you ask yourself, "Wait, really?" Imagine me there, grinning and saying, "Yes, really."  Also, don't watch it with your parents.  Or... anyone who is offended by cluster F-bombs.  In English.  Even though it's in Japanese.  Or is easily offended in general, really.

#3)  Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei:  Did 2011 leave you in despair?  Would watching an extremely pessimistic teacher discussing the ills of modern Japan with his neurotic class of high school girls cheer you up?  Spoiler alert:  Yes, it will.  It will also leave you giggling and quite certain that the Japanese are crazy.

#2)  Katanagatari:  You know what you like?  You like love stories.  You know what you like?  You like martial arts.  You know what you like?  You like ninja with crazy ninja powers.  You know what you like?  You like intelligently developed villains.  You know what you like?  Tastefully stylized art.  You know what you like?   You like Katanagatari.  You just don't know it yet.

#1)  Puella Magi Madoka Magica:  I didn't keep up with a lot of the late-season releases in 2011 (or much of any releases in after about July 2011), but I have heard nothing which would make me think that Madoka was anything less than the most impressive piece of animation that the year produced.  Do yourself a favor and watch it.  And then, you may want to hire yourself a psychiatrist.

Pani Poni Dash!

Pani Poni Dash!: B+

Another series directed by my favorite director in the Anime business, Akiyuki Shinbo, though one of his earlier works.  Like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (which Shinbo also directed), it is a slice of life series taking place at a high school and focusing on a very unusual teacher and their collection of very unusual (and predominantly female) students, and, like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, it makes extensive use of cultural reference, non sequitur humor and absurdity (though for the western viewer, cultural reference and absurdity often seem like the same thing).  Pani Poni Dash! (a name which does not make sense after you've seen the series) revolves around the students of Rebecca Miyamoto, a ten-year-old genius who has returned to Japan to teach high school.

As a slice of life series, there isn't enough plot to speak of, which does make room for more humor, misunderstandings and general comedic sociopathy among the cast.  It's fun and doesn't take itself seriously, the characters manage to be both caricatures and individuals at the same time and overall the humor holds up very well so long as you don't try to catch every single reference the series throws out.

All that said, it's a difficult series to recommend to people.  It's not brilliant, but it's good for a laugh, it's not lavishly animated but it's never painful to watch, and while I have very few criticisms of it I'm not entirely sure what sort of person absolutely must see this series.  I suppose if I had to criticize it I'd say that it doesn't really go anywhere: not that it really has anywhere it needs to go, it's a slice of life show.

So I guess in short: if you're into watching truly bizarre high school-ish antics, check it out.  If you're looking for something with a bit more story and meaning, skip it.

Maria+Holic

Maria+Holic:  B

So, I believe I've mentioned my love of the director Akiyuki Shinbo before (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari).  It's to the point where I will watch anything he's directed simply because he's directed it, and so, with some reservation, I finally started watching Maria+Holic.

I was reluctant because the pitch for the series gave me reservations: a lesbian schoolgirl named Kanako attends an all-girl's catholic school (in Japan, this is a bigger, slightly more comedic deal, due to the relative non-presence of Christianity), where she encounters a lovely girl named Mariya who is actually a boy in disguise.  Having found out his secret, he promptly browbeats her with the fact that he is the former headmaster's grandchild into keeping his secret and generally tolerating his abuse.

I don't think it's difficult to see why that pitch would raise the heckles of forward-thinking audiences, and indeed, for the first two episodes I was a little on edge around the entire subject.  But as the cast is introduced, the series focuses more around Kanako's difficulties keeping her fantasies under control and trying to make friends and be accepted and surviving having her heart broken by her mostly-straight classmates, while doing her best to avoid Mariya's wrath.  Kanako is portrayed as so outstandingly weak against pretty girls (and, in fact, Mariya, when he's acting girly and dressing sexy, which he does extensively) that it's very difficult to accept her suffering as, if not quite truly deserved, at least as being partially her own fault.

The series also makes extensive use of Akiyuki Shinbo's traditional style of layered reference, fourth-wall-busting humor, extensive art shifts and downright surgical use of fan service, all of which I, personally, find extremely interesting to experience.

Overall, Maria+Holic is an odd concept written very well and brilliantly executed.  The comedy is full of schadenfreude, and anyone who is looking for a genuine and honest look at the difficulties of homosexual teenagers will be disappointed, anyone who can appreciate a little black humor at the expense of a girl who thinks like a 30-year-old man will find something to laugh at.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Puella Magi Madoka Magica:  S

Congratulations to Studio Shaft for being the second studio I've ever given an S rating to, after Gainax.

Like every series that I rank S, I have very little to say about Madoka.

It's excellently crafted, stunningly animated and deeply thought-provoking.

Watch it.