Monthly Archives: July 2009

Backlash tennis and the flipside of popularity

Posted on by
34

My first thought on the notorious Endless Eight portion of the new series of Haruhi Suzumiya was “thank God I’m not watching this too!” and proceeded to skim-read the blog posts, which is probably more fun than actually watching the episodes themselves. It reminded me how something that’s popular can divide the fans so strongly and produce the old shitstorm of hype, bitching and RAEG that springs up every time. In some ways it’s as predictable as the “The new season sucks!” posts that ironically crop up every season but the observations are interesting.

haruhi-lelouch
What do you mean “the first season was better…”?!

Haruhi Suzumiya is a texbook example of how these things happen although I’m a bit spoilt for choice of other examples. Naruto is an obvious one although it’s the stereotypical Narutard that upsets most people, probably even more so than the filler episodes. To a lesser degree you get a mirror image of this carry-on with notoriously bad shows but the general pattern is the same: a wave of opinion for A New Thing creates a reflex reaction in the opposite direction, forming another retort of the initial enthusiasm and so on. Like the old fave “Toilet Tennis: look left” and “Toilet Tennis: look right” scrawled on the opposite walls of a toilet cubicle, this is Backlash Tennis.

Read all...

Reading stats: 1073 words, 3 images; estimated reading time 4:18 mins

Miyazaki’s Laputa (from the POV of my younger self)

Posted on by
5

I always find the “How did you get into anime?” discussions fascinating. Way before my first proper anime experience I watched an obscure animated feature film that gave me great memories. I mentally filed it under Something I’ll Never See Again and almost fooled myself into thinking I’d forgotten about it, so it was quite something when I spotted a familiar-looking image on the front of a DVD case over a decade later and bought the thing on the spot. The DVD in question was Miyazaki’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky, which I later bought again on Japanese import because that was the edition that contained the older English language dub I remembered so held the real nostalgia value.

laputa-sakura-edition
I wonder if the quoted value of 5cm per second for sakura petals is altitude-dependent

While I normally blog from the point of view of the cynical 27-year-old I am today the reason why my opinion of it is the way it is stems from experiencing it through a child’s eyes; it is after all a kids’ adventure story so that tack makes more sense to me. I’ve done a very simplified run-down of my favourite bits from my original viewing, with numbered annotations to include the benefits of hindsight. It’s an unusual approach for me, so I hope it works here.

Read all...

Reading stats: 1442 words, 3 images; estimated reading time 5:46 mins

Tony Takitani

Posted on by
3

tony-takitani-cover[Reposted, with edits, from my old side-blog. Much of the other content on there has now been moved to my revamped front page]

This post is partly inspired by Bateszi’s observation of how little those of us in the English-speaking world hear of drama- and realistic fiction-style Japanese cinema, and partly because a review for the movie adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story Tony Takitani is long overdue. The original story, by the way, is currently available in the Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman compilation of his short stories; another book on my ‘To Review’ pile.

The man of the film’s title is a graphical artist with a solitary life and an unconventional childhood. His mother died when he was born and his often-absent father is a travelling jazz musician; a man “as unsuited to being a father as Tony was to being a son,”. Tony Takitani is skilled and successful professionally but despite an agreeable personality and lucrative career he is something of an introvert. This life of solitude changes when he marries a woman with a passion for clothes and understands the true meaning of loneliness.

Read all...

Reading stats: 786 words, 4 images; estimated reading time 3:09 mins

On reflection, FLCL still rules (part #1)

Posted on by
12

Another post inspired by a group viewing of an entire series, but this time prompted by a challenge to write about the one show I never actually thought I’d ever be able to write about. The series’ very nature had me lost for words for years: how the hell can I possibly put my thoughts on FLCL into one article? I can get around part of the challenge by leaving the character study segments for a second half, but even so…

mamimi-wtf-lol
My thoughts exactly

The problem with FLCL is that it’s heavily reliant on the reaction of the viewer for its impact: when I try to rationalise the events and themes I worry that the essence of what it’s trying to say will be lost. My love for it can perhaps be explained by the fact that I marathoned all six episodes every time because quite honestly I don’t think you can appreciate it any other way: instead of getting bogged down in the details you have to throw yourself into the thick of it with a very, very open mind to appreciate its twisted genius. Even better still, take some friends and a few cold ‘uns for the ride.

Read all...

Reading stats: 1118 words, 5 images; estimated reading time 4:28 mins

Having a lazy summer

Posted on by
14

As my old laptop undergoes a slow and inexorable descent into ruin (image a geriatric getting slower, creakier and clumsier with increasingly serious memory problems before the ever-nearing collapse) I’m finding less and less that’s in standard def and therefore playable. Not to mention playing catch-up on a lot of old shows and recent weeks being busy with Real Life things. My watchlist has grown shorter and things are settling down with plans for putting a new PC together in the next couple of months so I feel ready to watch more again. Recommendations here plz.

fuuko-and-why-not

Read all...

Reading stats: 970 words, 4 images; estimated reading time 3:53 mins

The Clannad movie, Key’s forgotten child

Posted on by
5

Now I’ve finished Clannad ~After Story~, with the exception of Kyou’s episode which is currently in my ‘to do’ folder, I felt I could finally watch the feature film adaptation. This turned out to be a good idea spoilers-wise since the movie covers events from both seasons of the TV show but in retrospect I think it’s a better introduction to the franchise than KyoAni’s effort. I’m not implying it’s the better of the two full stop, but it would probably be more rewarding to sit through the more heavily edited hour and a half version before the longer one; although I daresay the subset of ‘people who have not seen any Clannad before but plan to in the future’ is very small at this point in time.

a-dere-dere-tomoya

The feature-length film covers the same ground as its younger counterpart but inevitably leaves out the side-stories and, interestingly, wraps it up with an alternative ending. Most noticably the art style and direction are different thanks to a Toei production crew, although the only change in terms of casting is that of Tomoya’s VA (i.e. Kenji Nojima as opposed to Yuuichi Nakamura). The result is different for sure, but I’d hate to think a KyoAni bias would stop you giving it a fair chance.

Read all...

Reading stats: 1131 words, 5 images; estimated reading time 4:31 mins

Kara no Kyoukai #5: Mujun Rasen (paradox spiral)

Posted on by
8

Of the five Kara no Kyoukai instalments on the fansub circuit the most recent, Mujun Rasen (a.k.a. Paradox Spiral), has been the one that fans have made the biggest fuss over. It’s certainly the longest: clocking in at a full two hours it uses this time to weave a convoluted and disorientating story that keeps the viewer on their toes from the first moment to the last. No wonder really that so many cite it as their favourite so far – it’s the most confusing and shocking but it’s a headfuck in the best possible kind of way.

location-location-location
Be honest now. would YOU live there?!

The editing and scene compositions, in addition to the tense atmospherics and poetic dialogue that have already made the series memorable for me, are particularly outstanding. I don’t want to over-emphasise a certain point I made a while back but even next to the previous four this one comes across as particularly cinematic and sophisticated. It takes longer to set out its intentions and see them through, throws out more intertwining story threads and also has a brazen desire to play mind games with the viewer on a scale that Satoshi Kon would be proud of.

Read all...

Reading stats: 1244 words, 6 images; estimated reading time 4:59 mins