We all have issues that make us see red, things that have us flying to our keyboards to pen strongly-worded rants at whoever had offended our sensibilities. An interesting thing is that these topics are almost always charged in both directions – you think X appearing in Y manner is something to get worked up over, and someone else might think that you getting worked up over it is something to fly off the handle over! I’m going to share several such issues that bother me within anime (and elsewhere?), and then move on to how you might wish to discuss these issues yourself.
Our knee-jerk reaction to perceived opposition and hot-buttons.
Part 1 – An Example Hot-Button Issue:
Valvrave the Liberator Rape Apologism:
Note, this section will contain some Valvrave the Liberator spoilers, mainly that a certain scene exists in a certain episode.
Tomorrow I’m going to post the anime moment that had left the deepest impression upon me this past year. I’ve already written of 10 moments, but here are nine more moments that I thought merited a paragraph each, of an exciting, impactful or “other” moment in my anime-related life from the past year. Why nine? Because tomorrow is the tenth, the big one (Order of following moments is arbitrary).
Moments will be included for: Sword Art Online, Samurai Champloo, Oreimo, Little Witch Academia, Suisei no Gargantia, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, Valvrave the Liberator, ToraDora!, and Kyoukai no Kanata.
This sense of wonder, isn’t this why we’re here?
1. Little Witch Academia – A Simple Joy: This had been 20 minutes, and, well, just like the previous moment, it filled me with inexpiable joy. I felt like the character had in the opening sequence, I felt like I did when I’ve been taken to the cinema to watch Disney films as a child. There’s nothing extraordinary going on here, but as an experience? It struck me to the core, and I’ve rewatched it several times since. It’s not simply childish, it made me feel like a child, a much worthier feat. Every time I rewatch it, I get more excited, this is probably my #2 moment of the year.
So, another season of anime reached its half-point and it’s time to watch my mid-season impressions, where I talk a bit of the show and rate it. This part’s shows have some really catchy OPs/EDs, so you’ll get more of them.
Due to how many shows I have to cover (15), I’ve cut them into two halves, sorted alphabetically. The shows within each episode are sorted roughly by excitement generated within me or how good they are. I’ve also bolded in the following lines what shows I’ll recommend people without reservations. The first post will cover: BlazBlue: Alter Memory, Coppelion, Galilei Donna,Gingitsune (Silver Fox), Kill la Kill, Kyoukai no Kanata (Beyond the Boundary), and Kyousougiga (Capital Craze).
The second post (this one!) will cover: Log Horizon, Nagi no Asukara, Outbreak Company, Samurai Flamenco (Samumenco), Strike the Blood, Tokyo Ravens, Unbreakable Machine-Doll, and Valvrave the Liberator’s 2nd season (Kakumeiki Valvrave).
Samurai Flamenco:
Samurai Flamenco in a striking pose, telling us all we need to know.
I think this show is a classic in the making, which isn’t as surprising since the art style, the direction, they all make me think of shows from the glory days of Manglobe shows such as Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo.
Well, putting that aside, the characters have great chemistry, so the show is enjoyable to watch. The mixture of naivety and cynicism amongst the characters and within each characters helps make them interesting, both as people and as characters, and further enriches their relationships.
The comedy in this show is pure gold, in a manner similar to Genshiken Nidaime last season the comedy isn’t reliant on gags that’d work in any show, or references to outside material, but is actually built on the solid foundation of the characters’ personalities, relationships, and situations.
The exploration of growing up, ideals, and wishful thinking also lend this anime a more serious side even during moments of high hilarity, and help me in thinking it’s a great show not just for younger audiences, but older ones as well.
Episodes Watched: 5/22. I’d marathon this show right now if I only could. Current Grade: A to A+. I think you should be watching this.
Well, I’m watching a lot of shows this season, even more than last season, about 20. So I’m going to split this post into two parts, the first will go live today, and the second will likely go live in a couple of days. I will not post this sort of list every week, certainly not for this number of shows. I intend to cut down the amount of shows I’m watching to 10-12 by next week or the week after, to leave me more time for other things.
There will be spoilers of episode 1-2 of the shows discussed, but that’s part of the premise, honestly.
Shows covered in this part: Kyoukai no Kanata, Valvrave the Liberator S2, Log Horizon, Unbreakable Machine Doll, Galilei Donna, Walkure Romanze, Miss Monochrome, Super Seisyun Brothers, Golden Time, Sekai de Ichiban, and Samurai Flamenco.
Click here for part 1, covering the following shows: Coppelion, Nagi no Asukara, Gingitsune, Yuushibu, NouCome, Strike the Blood, BlazBlue: Alter Memory, Tokyo Ravens, Kill la Kill, Outbreak Company.
Well, let’s dive straight into it. Again organizing it by how well I like them thus far to make it easier to read. Will also use some keywords to describe each show.
Got Me Hooked:
Samurai Flamenco – Also known as Sumamenco, this is definitely the most surprising show of the season for me. The show covers a young man who dreams to be a superhero, and the show bears definite similarities to kick-ass. He meets with a slightly more cynical cop, and that’s episode 1.
This show is drawn in the classic way, and I mean the near classic, think Samurai Champloo, which can trace itself back to Cowboy Bebop, and from there we’re solidly in the early 90s. This show oozes style, and charm. Everything about this show makes me nostalgic, which isn’t enough, right. It’s drawn in a gorgeous way where there’s attention to details. The attention to detail is noticeable elsewhere as well, with the actors all doing a splendid work in their roles, delivering believeable lines and characters, with solid character interaction and chemistry as well.
If I could, I’d have marathoned this show here and now. There’s no single part of the show that is “extraordinary”, but the whole composition is superb, especially as the show doesn’t try to be anything it’s not – neither zany, nor moefied, it knows what it wants to be, and it goes about it with panache. Watched: 1/22 Keywords: Old School, buddy cop show, delusions, sentai?
Log Horizon – A bunch of gamers suddenly find themselves locked within an MMORPG, and though it seems to have resembled a game of the sort we can play in our world until now, now they seem to be there in person. We also get some really neat sci-fi moments, and signs that show the writers like and play MMORPGs.
I’ve played various online games since 1999. I remember reading the comic USER. In other words, this is exactly the type of show I enjoy. We had good action sequences, we had the players thinking about their humanity, what it means to live in this reality, and reflecting about their goals, about motivation – meaning this show will have definite themes for us to bite into, while also actually exploring the rich premise that we have, rather than ignoring it for yet another battle royale. We also had plenty of Akatsuki.
The characters continue to be human, in a good way. A solid show, thus far. The pacing is quite slow, but I think we’re still setting up our characters and their situation as relatable, as well as providing exposition to non-MMORPG players. For a 25 episode show, this is fine. Watched: 2/25 Keywords: MMORPGs, Comedy, Economics?
Also, this OP certainly has a lot going for it, and the English is even worthy of being called English, I present to you “Database!”
Well, I’m actually watching a lot of shows airing right now, so I’ll give each one a paragraph to help everyone else navigate this season’s shows. My opinion might change – there are more than a few series which were amazing until 4-6 episodes and then went downhill, but at 4-6 episodes you also get to feel you begin to see what these shows have to offer.
Let’s begin with new series:
Valvrave the Liberator / Kokumeiki Valvrave – We have a mecha show that really reminds me of Code Geass. Considering how much I love Code Geass, this is a good thing. We have kids running their school/country, we have mecha and inhumanity, we have an oppressive military empire opposed by a jackass capitalist empire… everyone is a jackass in this world, and thus far everyone also has redeemable qualities and isn’t a caricature villain. Good job thus far.
Only complaint is Fukuyama Jun gets a minor adversary role of A-Drei when giving him L-Elf who’s bound to get more time in the show would’ve been perfect. Watched: 5/12 episodes. Second season already slated for Fall 2013. Current Grade: A. Worthy of your time, unless you dislike school shows, dark shows, mecha shows, and political shows. In that case, what anime are you watching?
Valvrave the Liberator