Mono no aware

I’ve not been exactly filled with an overwhelming urge to write anything lately. In all honesty I’ve not been watching much either. There’s something about the time of year that makes evenings slip past and leave me with no time to watch, read or write a thing before I have to get ready for the next day.

Maybe it’s a surprise that Kimi ni Todoke is one of the few shows I’m currently following: there isn’t much that’s compelling about it. It doesn’t scream “Watch me!” It’s shoujo, it’s derivative, it’s uneventful…the flipside being, it’s undemanding and easy to digest on a regular basis when my get-up-and-go has got up and left.

While it was relatively easy to whittle it down to fifty the individual order was a last-minute hurried effort so don’t read too far beyond the general place they have relative to the others. I know certain names are cropping up a lot but that’s more to do with my admiration for certain directors and writers than studios and genre boundaries.

I hope the short descriptions speak for themselves; the awesomeness of the titles themselves certainly ought to. Before the word count becomes too excessive then, here’s the final ‘cut’…

Belated Christmas greetings and all the best for 2010! Things have been quiet of late, but I loved what Gaguri did recently and really ought to reply to that and Sasa’s version. I hate to sound like an episode of Q.I. but the decade actually ends, strictly speaking, at the end of 2010. Not that it matters: I was worried about having actually watched enough to reach the Festive Fifty, but the reality turned into some tricky decision into what I had to leave out.

For the sake of simplicity the likes of Trapeze, Bakemonogatari, K-On!, Ergo Proxy, Mouryou no Hako, Texhnolyze, Shikabane Hime, Gurren Lagann, NieA_7, Detroit Metal City, Code Geass, Planetes and Beck didn’t make the list, as much as I like them. Some titles had to go, and “I haven’t finished it yet,” seemed to be a fair enough reason. On with 50-26.

I found myself staring dumbly at a blank screen for quite some time before being able to type a single word about this film. My feelings mirrored the closing phrase of Takami’s Battle Royale, “…but of course they’re part of you now.” I followed the characters through thick and thin; I felt stunned, drained and somewhat overwhelmed. Rewatching the series in its entirety didn’t lead me to believe this instalment is flawless but I was able to view it as the final(?) component part of the greater whole.

Not many of the scenes were brightly-lit enough to give decent screencaps

I believe it’s unfair to judge the Kara no Kyoukai adaptations against the other Type Moon productions when its source material pre-dates them all, but the fact remains that in terms of storytelling, presentation and character dynamics it’s a classic in the making. I’m not using that term lightly either: I’m choosing my words carefully here, even though I’m using so bloody many.

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.

Ah, that time of year again…as much as I’d have liked to have taken time off work for the full duration of the festival and watch as much as time allowed my finances wouldn’t stretch (especially since it’s an hour away by train). It became more of a social occasion what with the screenings of First Squad: Moment of Truth, Ponyo and Summer Wars forming the perfect excuse to meet up with friends and discuss the movies over a meal and a drink or two.

For some reason I prefer to watch episodic anime and the more headscratch-inducing stuff on my own at home but the feature-length efforts are more enjoyable when the experience is shared with friends and on the big screen. I’m certainly expecting these three to wind up licenced; assuming legal red tape doesn’t get in the way I see no reason why they won’t. I hope.

I often wonder if the problem I have with alternate retelling-type stories is shared by other people: that of my difficulty in holding onto and drawing meaning from what’s retained in case it’s indended to be taken in a different context, while at the same time trying to ‘un-learn’ what I knew in order to accept the new material. This is especially true for a complex and powerful story such as that of Eureka Seven: the attachment I had for the characters and conclusions I drew were deeply embedded in my mind. Perhaps that’s why I find the mixture of new and familiar disorientating.

What is it with Studio Bones and magical flowers?!

If I understand A Pocketful of Rainbows correctly, these events take place in a parallel universe after those of the series so it’s both a sequel and an alternative timeline. The progression of Eureka’s and Renton’s relationship still forms the core of the story but otherwise the original plot is completely reshuffled with familiar faces taking on different roles. This I think is where I fell out with the movie’s approach: a lot of what made the series special for me was lost on the cutting-room floor but what’s left for existing fans to get a handle on is barely recognisable. Even when it remembers love.

A theory of mine is that advances in digital technology and the Internet can really help independently-produced films from the smaller animation studios. Viral marketing, fansites and blogs have produced some surprising success stories in recent years; similarly the mind-boggling leaps in hardware and software mean that small groups or even individuals can further their careers on realistic budgets in ways that were inconceivable a decade ago.

Atsuya Uki’s debut feature Cencoroll fits into this trend in that he’s produced a short film based on his award-winning manga short Amon Game with minimal outside assistance. While he’s hardly the first one to take this route it has its own quirky charm that really grew on me; it’s one of those one-shot home-grown oddities whose indie roots are not necessarily detrimental to their quality, and benefit greatly from online fan exposure for their success. Granted, it’s not *quite* what I expected it to be but even aside from the ‘one bloke made this’ angle, it shows a hell of a lot of promise.

What with Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini, my rewatch of Kuro no Keiyakusha is a primer of sorts for getting back into the the story so I can hopefully breeze effortlessly(!) through. One of DtB’s defining features was the way it held back on explanations for what appeared to be quite significant plot points to make it occasionally frustrating but undeniably compelling. I must admit that even on the second attempt I still can’t say for sure I understand everything but oddly this doesn’t really bother me as much as I expected.

And yes, Shinjuku really does look as awesome as this IRL…

I don’t feel I have to understand the full background to the characters and their situations to understand them because enough of the important things are already made clear, which I hope was the intention of the writers. As is often the case I instead try to immerse myself in the worldview to let the answers reveal themselves in a passive fashion: something I find particularly easy for a show that takes the approach that this one does.

There’s been a lot said about Bakemonogatari just lately, which makes me worry about whether I have anything new and valuable to say. I’d been relatively quiet about it for other reasons too: one being how the middle section of the show left me with mixed feelings. Another is that, as I mentioned in my comment to Gaguri’s excellent recent post, the overall experience of dialogue and visuals combined is so overwhelming that I’ll need a rewatch to appreciate it fully.

Where’s a Reaction Guys-style celebration when you need one?

The problems with the middle episodes were minor ones: mostly the general absence of Hitagi, plus the ‘higher class of fanservice’ (as I clumsily called it) starting to feel a bit exploitative. Fortunately episode #12 made up for whatever I’d felt unsure about earlier on with the only remaining concern being that of the final three episodes. As in, how could anything follow on from this without feeling like a let-down? It was as fitting as it was surprising – I wouldn’t have minded too much if the series ended there and then.