I like different. Different is good. It’s refreshing. Granted, a production that’s out of the ordinary for its own sake is probably past the point where it becomes pretentious but in Trapeze‘s case the love-it-or-hate-it approach works so well because the oddness has a clear sense of purpose. You can be forgiven for not digging its unique (I don’t use the term lightly) style but those of us who enjoy shows that do things their own way are in for a treat.
To be honest I’m not following many currently-airing shows, partly because putting my new PC together coincided with the beginning of the new season so I’m still playing catch-up. I’ve learned to pay close attention to the noitaminA schedule though because it seems to cater for the tastes of more ‘alternative’ and eclectic viewers. I’ve noticed some real favourites came from there; Trapeze (a.k.a. Kuchu Buranko) is another one of them.
It is indeed fabulously good at giving injections. I suspect Mayumi is around for Irabu’s benefit more than anything judging by his reaction to her regular vitamin shot administrations, not to mention the fact that they have no medical benefit whatsoever to the patients. Nice subversion of the gratuitous fanservice thing there (although I’ve spotted a few other potshots at otakudom every now and then too. Merely looking unconventional is an act of rebelling against the industry norms, right?).
I have to wonder what the deal is with Irabu; it’s like watching an episode of House if someone had slipped some disco biscuits into his vicodin because his psyche is almost as scattershot as those of his patients’. One moment he’s a young guy then he’s a manic older fellow with a bear’s head mask; his character has two separate VAs too. Considering how animal heads superimposed onto human bodies is one of the show’s metaphors for their respective conditions it wouldn’t surprise me if he wound up on the couch himself by the end.
Mayumi’s role is an interesting one. She doesn’t know how to dispose of clinical sharps correctly so I can’t help but question her professional credentials but one or two episodes showed her providing more appropriate counselling than her superior (which isn’t saying much, I know). They’re an interesting double act – I honestly think calling Irabu a manic genius is giving him too much credit unless future episodes prove otherwise, and as for why it has a tsun-tsun gothic-lolita nurse, I’d reply with “why the hell not?” ^_^
To be perfectly honest, even thought I have no specialist knowledge in the field of psychiatry and psychology Irabu’s methods vary between the merely bizarre and the downright unconvincing to me. I’m sure there are plenty of you who are more informed on these matters but it’s fair to say there’s a lot of artistic licence employed in depicting the conditions and the recommended treatments for them. Fortunately good old Fukuicchi is on hand to peep around the door in the fourth wall (literally, I might add) and remind us that it’s just a TV show.
The treatments may not bear much resemblance to reality but what really matters is how much humanity runs through every episode. I’ve started to notice how the events of different episodes play out in the general vicinity of the others (which incidentally makes rewatching quite rewarding) despite the fromulaic self-contained structure, so it’s something I can enjoy consistently every week in an episodic fashion. It really is something I could blog about every week if I could be arsed find the time for it because every episode is a separate tale with its own messages and meaning.
As we find out the background of each individual’s condition the explanation and resolution that follows is even more interesting because the viewer learns so much about them as people. It’s an unconventional way of introducing characters to be sure, but as obvious as it might seem in saying how psychiatric treatment gets into a character’s head I’m surprised every time at how I feel I’ve got to know them so quickly.
That’s testament to Trapeze‘s knack of reaching beyond the constraints of its formula, really: twenty-five minutes after meeting the case of the week for the first time, I not only feel that I know what makes them tick but also care about what happens to them. And I can say this about every one of them to date. I guess that’s the only drawback with the episodic structure at this stage: I wouldn’t mind a follow-up episode for each of them to find out how they get on after Irabu and Mayumi intervene.
Trapeze deserves kudos for using some great Denki Groove tunes in its soundtrack; it also should be congratulated for its innovative artwork, especially the rotoscoping and psychedelic colour palette that Masaaki Yuasa would be proud of (the director worked for him on Kemonozume, unsurprisingly). There’s method in the madness once you tune your mind onto the director’s wavelength in order to see how the themes and ideas are meant to be interpreted; after that you start to appreciate how the art and animation must be more labour-intensive than its jerky, lo-fi appearance may suggest – reminding me of another innovative director, namely my old fave Akiyuki Shinbo.
Most importantly though, it has some really life-affirming demonstrations of the human spirit triumphing over life’s obstacles that makes for surprisingly feel-good television. Whether it’s Irabu’s treatment, Mayumi’s vitamin injections or even the motivation for self-examination that results from the events of each episode, the end result is that the patients learn a bit about themselves so can turn their lives around. It’s surprisingly sympathetic too - even the episode dealing with erectile dysfunction cracked me up…but I was laughing with the guy at the absurdity of his situation rather than at him, which is I think where the storytelling really shines.
I have to confess that I wasn’t too sure about this series from its first episode – It seemed like it was trying too hard to be different without any real end goal. Thank goodness I persevered with it – Although it’s slightly hit and miss in terms of the quality of each story arc, generally speaking its served up some fascinating and entertaining fare that has actually proved to be pretty thought-provoking on occasion.
As for Irabu’s multiple identities, my guess is that this is his personality demonstrated as a Freudian ego, super-ego and id arrangement. Irabu’s mouse suit is his id, his “normal” appearance is his ego and his child-like self is his super-ego. And that’s about as far as my knowledge of psychology can take me. :p
Well, from my completely unprofessional perspective, Irabu is a total crock. It’s like he does the exact opposite of what the patients need and forces them to arrive at the solution themselves, but that would be giving him way too much credit. But it’s a very entertaining, fit for TV kind of methodology that keeps us guessing and coming back every week.
As I mentioned before, I do like how the show makes the patients work through their problems themselves. At least a couple of them first came to Irabu looking for a quick fix, a pill or drug that would solve everything with a snap, but when they only got a bogus “vitamin shot” and a useless doctor, that forces them to dig deeper and really understand that their ills are not so easily fixed. This soul searching immediately gets us to the core of each character in a surprisingly short amount of time, and I’m finding myself a bigger fan of this series and its style with each new episode.
I guess there could be some speculating about Irabu’s different forms, maybe like Hanners said the Id, Ego, and Superego, but at this point it could very well be just the animators’ whimsy as well. There’s also the patients with their regular anime head, an animal head, and live action head, and I’m not really perceiving much of a pattern there either.
As I said somewhere before, I’m not a big fan of “disease-of-the-week” shows, and because of this I wasn’t enjoying the stories, at least at first. Oh, I was dazzled by the sheer style of the thing, but it felt like a formula show wearing a glaring neon coat and disco boots. But I loved ep5 even though it was more of the same. It felt like everything they were trying to do with the story and art and music came together for the first time. Ep6 dropped, but only slightly.
I’m learning to enjoy the ways the patients make their realisations about themselves. As for Irabu, it appears his favorite treatment is to simply shake the character up, prod him, nag him, cause him trouble. This bugged me at first, but now I’ve grown to like it. His strategy in the “Cell” episode fit into this pattern, but he could do it from his cell phone! Excellent!
I agree that it’d be nice to see how the patients do later, but at least they’re tossing out references to previous eps, like Bandoooo! in ep5, and Mayumi reading that “serious” book by that author/patient in ep6.
Is that what they’re called? Clinical sharps? Interesting …
@Hanners: there are great episodes and less great ones, but I’m glad I took the advice from you and others that I shouldn’t judge it off the first one alone. By the end I think we’ll look back on it as one of the most interesting and innovative offerings of the year. Your Irabu theory is duly noted…time will tell if you’re right or not!
@kadian1364: absolutely. Irabu and Mayumi are fun to watch but what it boils down to is the patient somehow reaching the resolution themselves, which is much more rewarding for me too. The way their heads are depicted may be significant or it might not…I recall odd imagery used in ef that eventually turned out to be significant…
@Peter S: yeah, clinical sharps (used needles, etc.) are supposed to be discarded in specially-designated yellow containers (I only know this because I work in a hopital and know to avoid them!). Dunno what Japanese hospitals use but I’m guessing they’re a similar thing. I loved the way Mayumi kicks back with a book all the time though – it’s as if she’s going against the airheaded bishoujo cliche somehow. Irabu is still a nutter!