It’s no more an eroge than Tsukihime and F/S N are if I’m honest. I would’ve thought the story-to-smut ratio would have to be lower for it to qualify since, like those Type Moon forays into the genre, Katawa Shoujo involves a lot of reading to get to the H-scenes so it’s plot-driven before anything else; outside of fiction written for a young audience, characters end up in bed together every now and then in many romantic drama stories anyway.

Thinking about how it approaches the themes it addresses, it’s less of ‘a story about disabled people’ and more ‘a story about people who happen to have disabilities’. The distinction is a subtle yet important one. It goes hand-in-hand with the idea of the storytelling being respectful and tasteful; I don’t think KS is intended to be an exercise in challenging people’s perceptions of the disabled in society per se. The problems and challenges that the characters face are not their respective disabilities: they’re connected, but are nevertheless separate.

Each affected character has overcome the obvious problem, but where KS gets interesting is in its portrayal of the knock-on effects. The core messages of this VN for me then were “look beyond the obvious” and of course “this is a story about people, not their disabilities.” Once I understood those facts of the writing, I was able to really appreciate what it sets out to do.

On my first read-through I ended up reading Emi’s route. It was in retrospect a good one to start on because it was relatively uplifting and comedic, and as a character Emi is likeable into the bargain. There were dark undercurrents later on but it set a nice direction for me in showing a character who has overcome her challenges, and in being by her side Hisao is able to move forward in life.

My favourite route overall though was Hanako’s, although it was somewhat darker and more tense in tone. It was for me the most well-written, mainly because the characterisation and the way Hisao brings her out of her shell were so cathartic and satisfying. It also subverted the common trope of ‘rescuing’ the girl from the situation she was in (by pure chance, a recent comment on my rather old post about the Heaven’s Feel route of F/S N reinforced my thoughts on this).

You’d expect Hanako’s route to get to know her and consistently help her…except, if you go too far into ‘knight in shining armour’ territory you hit the Bad End. Paying attention to the hints from Lilly and old Mutou-sensei though, you realise that the school is a means for preparing the students for the outside world so the pity of others is not helpful to them at all. Simply put, the only way to save Hanako is to give her the means to save herself.

I found this to be not only a clever bit of writing in terms of gameplay mechanics, but a realistic and true-to-life portrayal of the problems encountered by people affected by such things. Haruki Murakami references and character design aside (again, in another case of the “look beyond the obvious” mantra, she’s actually very pretty), I loved Hanako’s story: it goes on to use the H-scene as a plot device in an unusual way and delivers a Good End that is…just read it. It’s great.

Rin’s route was a bit of an odd one because unusually it’s not really about getting to know and understand the heroine…as a matter of fact, Rin doesn’t understand herself either. To make matters even more complicated, the decision points were very challenging so despite the emotional payoff I didn’t enjoy it as much in the conventional sense: I was unable to mentally work backwards through her background to get a grasp of why she’s the way she is, so the full force of the storytelling was a bit lost on me.

No story is perfect, especially when the narrative is branching and each component branch has a different writer; Shizune’s route for me highlighted how some are bound to be weaker than others. As a character she’s pleasant enough; I know there are fans of her character type out there even though I’m not one of them, but the issues I had were more to do with the character *development*, inconsistent pacing and relative lack of decision points.

In contrast, Lilly’s route was…pleasant is the best way to describe it. Again, I was fortunate in my choice of reading order because it had a warm, serene vibe and the final act actually felt more ‘final’ than any of the others. There was the additional benefit of the other heroines featuring prominently too: an issue I often have with multi-path stories is a difficulty adjusting to the shifted focus in each. I couldn’t start a route on the same day as finishing the previous one, for example, due to my sentimental attachment to the characters but when Lilly’s route features Hanako and even includes a lunchtime scene with her, Emi and Rin as well as Lilly I didn’t feel as though I was ignoring them.

Although it’s a closing thought, mentioning the hero at this point is actually rather appropriate; the protagonist of first-person perspective VNs is usually a tabula rasa figure in order for the reader to project his or her own thoughts and points of view onto him, but in this case Hisao has a backstory of his own and often the story is as much about him overcoming his issues as it is the heroines overcoming theirs. It adds to the interactive nature of the story in that we see Hisao help the heroine of each route, but at the same time the relationship benefits him as well. It’s a time for Hisao to mend his broken heart, in more ways than one.

VNs translated into English aren’t exactly commonplace, and in terms of subject matter I daresay KS is unique. I’m tempted to call it an experiment in open-source teamwork, and a successful one at that, but I’d be selling it as short as I would be if I were to call it “that 4chan dating sim about the disabled girls.” It’s not perfect – perhaps because of the voluntary and amateur nature of its creators or simply because no work of fiction ever is – but as a piece of storytelling it’s still impressive.

Maybe 4LS were mistaken in keeping a title that needlessly throws up extra preconceptions, or maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference; I don’t know. The VN format isn’t for everyone of course, and KS embraces certain tropes and aesthetics of the Japanese medium that inspired it so it’s not really intended for the mass market anyway. For the record, I found the experience of reading it very rewarding indeed, and my gratitude goes out to the people who helped to bring it to completion.

Final notes

I wrote some short-ish commentary on each route as I went along, in the order that I read them in. They go into a bit more detail than I did here and I’d only be repeating myself if I were to do a long copypasta, so here are the links in case you’re interested.

• Emi’s route
• Hanako’s route
• Shizune’s route
• Rin’s route
• Lilly’s route

Source: Alafista (click image for full article)

Maaya is one of the few VAs I’ve paid much attention to: after seeing her name crop up so frequently a while ago, I checked her ANN profile and realised how often I’d heard her voice, both as a singer and an actress. Similarly, Kenichi is another industry veteran and it turns out that they’ve often worked together and have known each other for some time. Compared to, say, the negative reaction to Aya Hirano making certain details of her private life public, the messages of goodwill from the fans at this piece of news are both heartwarming and completely justified.

This is an appropriate time I think to explain my opinion on why Maaya is one of my personal fave VAs, and why she’s so worthy of fans’ respect. Firstly there’s the range and diversity of her roles: getting her big break as a young fantasy heroine (Escaflowne), she’s worked in SF and mecha shows (Gundam Seed Destiny, RahXephon, Gunbuster 2), offbeat comedy (Arakawa Under the Bridge) and more serious and demanding series (Usagi Drop, Mushishi, Kara no Kyoukai). It’s also worth remembering that she has been able to consistently find work and do her job well in an industry that’s often fickle and rarely sees its stars spending long periods of time in the limelight.

She also has an impressive back catalogue as a music artist, working with the likes of Yoko Kanno and occasionally co-writing her own songs. Again, my scant knowledge of Japanese prevents me enjoying the vocal/lyrical content as much as I want to, but she has one of those pleasant and easy-on-the-ears voices with a wide range of pitch and expression. Everywhere is a good compilation of her work to date, but the studio LP Shounen Alice is my personal highlight and one I especially recommend.

Kenichi is a seiyuu who I must confess I’m not nearly as familiar with (I’m one of the few people who actually enjoyed the Tsukihime anime adaptation, so maybe that counts for something? ^_^), although he’s won a few awards and enjoyed some success as a music artist as well. Part of the reason I think why their pairing has put a smile on so many faces is that he and Maaya have been such a good match professionally: in hindsight, it explains why the on-screen chemistry between the two leads in KnK for instance felt so natural and convincing.

From the fans’ perspective then, this is probably one of those pairings that has many fictional parallels (life imitating art and vice-versa) but I’m now reaching a time of life when people my age seem to be getting hitched left, right and centre; stepping away from the otaku point of view it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling of “it couldn’t have happened to nicer people.”

In closing then, my sincere congratulations to them both and best wishes for a happy life together.

My personal opinion is coloured slightly by a personal run-in I had with them a while back but before saying anything else I need to point out that my opinion on the site is more complicated than simple approval or disapproval of what they do.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is that, on certain issues, I’m actually on their side. “The standard of my writing should match what I myself find interesting and would want to read,” is a rule of thumb I try to work to (sometimes I read an old post of mine and think “urgh, that’s shite…”).

That is to say, if you don’t see enough interesting writing, put your money where your mouth is and try it yourself. I must admit that 1. there’re a lot of episodic-style blogs around already and I’m not interested in them and 2. I’ve no incentive to either read or write episodic posts for that reason. I regularly read and enjoy Hanners and the Sea Slug Team as ‘episodic’ blogs that stand out from the crowd, but otherwise it’s a case of “other people’s idea of ‘interesting’, not mine.” (Re: the rule of thumb in the previous paragraph).

In that sense I can understand how CD wanted to write differently from what they themselves were used to seeing elsewhere; it was a gap in the market that needed filling, so to speak. Quite a few of the blogs I read are of the more eclectic and unusual but many of them have succumbed to Hiatus Disease; bucking the trend(s) and striving to write something different is a good thing, because you can’t have too much good content around.

In regards to showing everyone else how it can be done and done well, the fandom would actually benefit from someone who has thick skin and innovative ideas…someone who grabs it by the shoulders, gives it a good shake and looks it in the eye to say “this is boring! You can do better than this!” Being a vocal detractor of the status quo but failing to actually provide an alternative simply won’t cut it: just ask Yutaka Yamamoto after he made a grand speech about saving The Industry before going on to disappoint viewers with Fractale.

Combining intelligence and humour is a difficult balance too, and at first glance a well-intentioned stance of “You guys can do better! We have the balls so show you how!” can come across as arrogant or condescending. Even so, I can make a list of things I agree with these guys on:

• Macross Plus is awesome.
• Gurren Lagann is fun.
• Madoka Magica was surprisingly good.
• A lot of anime isn’t interesting to me.
• Many anime blogs aren’t interesting to me.
• It’s possible to write intelligent and fun articles about anime.
• Some anime fans make me shake my head in bemusement and then click the “back” button on my browser.
• It’s all too easy for satirical/sarcastic humour to be misunderstood.

I’d also like to point out that they’re articulate and experienced in the fandom, and I enjoy reading quite a few of their posts: Loups=Garous was indeed a godawful film and deserved to be panned as such; Redline is a blast and Satoshi Kon was a genius at filmmaking. My opinion on the site though is still mixed and even though I can understand where they’re coming from better now, I still have issues with their methods.

The best analogy I have unfortunately comes from British TV, so bear with me on this one. Jeremy Clarkson’s public persona in his newspaper columns and on the Top Gear TV show is that of the opinionated, vocal alpha male. This on-camera attitude won’t be exactly the same as his real-life personality but even though it’s not an act, there’s a definite sense of it being tongue-in-cheek and playing on his own reputation. The CD staff came across as less, well, angry in interview but they admitted that their colourful blogging language is part of their attempt to get people to sit up and take notice, and also an attempt to be entertaining.

I’ve seen numerous instances where Clarkson and the other Top Gear presenters have offended people; similarly, I can appreciate that CD play the Angry Old Fan card and risk offending people to emphasise a valid point…or simply for the lulz. In my view, satire can’t fulfil its full potential if it avoids offending everybody!

Irony and sarcasm is easily misunderstood though, and it’s possible to argue “the writer fails at conveying this effectively.” just as easily as “the reader fails to get it.” An important issue here then is that of the target readership: according to CD’s perfectly reasonable goal of setting an example through posting interesting and entertaining content, they need to connect with people and encourage them to improve. Their irreverant style however implies that their readers must be of a certain level of intelligence and understanding, if only to stop them thinking “what a bunch of embittered old arseholes,” and going elsewhere.

I felt I was receiving mixed signals from the interview responses: do the CD staff aim to use their controversial approach to shock fans into being more thoughtful, interesting people? If their writing style is intentionally a “rabid dog running around the neighbourhood,” do they recognise that the implimentation of these aims can actually drive people away?

If people are intelligent and grown-up enough to understand CD’s humour, surely those readers aren’t part of the fan community’s problem? Conversely, if the blog is a campaign to make fools sit up and think, the last person you’d expect to appreciate a writing style that’s full of easily-misconstrued sarcasm is a fool who doesn’t like thinking about stuff. What concerns me, and may or may not be clear to the CD writers, is that it’s not just the idiots who dismiss them out of hand. It goes without saying that I’ve no intention of telling someone else how to run his or her blog, but I’d be interested to know if they realise that fact.

I agree with the intention to use sharp, dry humour, the desire to write high quality content and I recognise that the signal-to-noise ratio in the anime blogging community could be improved. Even so, this interview didn’t convince me that CD’s not also a thinly-veiled excuse to merely vent their frustration at the areas of the fan community that annoy them. I’m in a situation where I want to be mindful of what motivates them but at the same time I have a lingering feeling that it doesn’t need to be this way…and given the limited shelf life of any joke, it can’t last forever in any case.

The simple truth is that when people are angry with your attitude they are less inclined to listen to what it is you have to say. You be witty and clever, discuss issues others either ignore or are unaware of, but as long as you project yourself as an arrogant ass it runs the risk of falling on deaf ears. I understand why CD are annoyed at the fandom, why they want to show the world “a blog that doesn’t suck” but when tough love is mistaken for being a jackass it can actually be counterproductive.

I have no idea about what could possibly be relevant and break the wall of text, so here is a pic of a bear with a gun instead

Incidentally, when working for a team blog you also need to be mindful that what you say is going to affect opinions on the team as a whole. I personally find that responsibility constricting because my co-writers might get into trouble if I said something stupid, hence why this has always been my blog and mine alone. This is a point worth remembering; not just when you’re reading something CD posted, but when you’re reading any team blog or similar joint venture.

Whether a united front is present or not, it’s still comprised of individual human beings rather than some hive mind. Just thought I’d toss that general observation about the blogosphere in there (this observation also partly came about from a post on Shameful Otaku Secret!, when I congratulated Mike on a job well done then found out that Digiboy was the one who had written it. *headdesk*).

Believe it or not I’m actually considering putting Colony Drop on my blogroll, despite the flaws in their M.O. being so obvious to me. And on that bombshell…goodnight.

Think of it then as my writing of stuff that wouldn’t otherwise get written at all. The name, by the way, is a pun on the title of a song by 65dos combined with a few more layers of double-meanings of the sort that I’m constantly amusing myself with. Self-indulgent but eh, isn’t that what blogging is all about?

What I’m constantly trying to break is the usual routine of writing a 1000+ blog post in a cycle of Draft Rewrite Hell spread across several evenings, going something like this:

1. come up with an interesting idea in the shower or during a boring spell at work
2. start a draft that reaches around 600 words
3. leave it for a day or two then do other things
4. add more paragraphs until a critical mass of around 1100 words is reached
5. cut out ‘unecessary’ and repetitive bits
6. rearrange a couple of paragraphs to improve the flow
7. agonise over suitable screencaps/illustrations
8. repeat steps 5-7 until I want to punch myself in the face
9. add screencaps, check for spelling mistakes, say “bollocks to it…” and hit Publish
10. grin with satisfaction when it appears on my feedreader
11. spot a dumb typo that survived x draft rewrites. Raeg.

Needless to say it’s liberating to either post one pic or churn out three or four paragraphs right off the bat and only checking for spelling mistakes than going through what’s become an unbreakable habit over the past four or so years. Writing is a compulsion for me so stopping entirely would be like losing a limb, but there’s no escaping the fact that I put myself through a lot of aggro and come out of it less than satisfied with the results.

There are things I’ve grown to love about the WordPress approach though: categories, tags, page layouts that are easy on the eyes and most importantly the commenting system. I’ve no idea of people’s opinions, if any, on my Tumblr posts…I could be speaking into an empty room for all I know. The WP comments thread is the easiest way of getting the two-way traffic of Web 2.0 and I’d hate to walk away from that entirely.

The career business is depressing as hell which saps more of my energy than I’d like but the music-related project is finally getting moving at last…I even have a couple of proper blog posts in the pipeline in the next week or two but in between the usual schedule, Tumblr or GRSI are where you’ll find me. Beats suffering full-blown Hiatus Disease, right?

I’m sure the obituaries and tributes to Satoshi Kon from his family and friends will be formed as I type and my sincere condolences go out to them. I’m afraid I know nothing about who he was as a man: I sadly never had the opportunity to meet him. His work however is something I’ve become very familiar with over the years, and it’s my love of this that I want to express, as my way of acknowledging what he achieved.

What grabbed me straight away about Perfect Blue was the assured storytelling and startling realism. Because my anime experience at that time was limited to Gainax SF, family-friendly Ghibli and the usual newcomer’s “anime=cartoons” prejudice, it was a revelation to see an animated film so sophisticated, so complex and so…grown-up. It’s a notorious yet rewatchable film that I still recommend to this day as one of the greats. Hard to believe it’s a directorial debut.

Next up for me was the Magnetic Rose short, part of Otomo’s Memories anthology. Again, the realism was striking – especially when it’s set in outer space in the future – but its aesthetics and blurring of reality and illusion can largely be attributed to Kon. Then I saw Millennium Actress at a convention, expecting another Perfect Blue, but it’s nothing of the sort. It uses that classic Kon-ism of seamlessly connecting what’s real and what’s imagined to tell a biopic-style tale of one woman’s life that’s very different in tone and content, if not techniques.

The sumptuous visuals of Millennium Actress and the tenderness of its story made it another one of my favourites, in no small part because the romantic element was handled with such subtlety, and because it felt like a filmmaker’s love letter to the medium of cinema as a whole. His ability to draw the viewer in, allowing me to enjoy it as a movie rather than mere animation, was uncanny and a rare gift.

Tokyo Godfathers was different again, taking on the uncool and somewhat taboo subject of homelessness and weaving it into a somewhat fantastical and heartwarming story. For all my talk of how Kon’s direction and writing is imaginative and mature, this title highlights another important element. Again, I can’t comment on how fun he was to be around in real life, but this and all his work exhibits a wonderfully dry and sharp sense of humour. Often it’s very dark and pokes fun at society and human frailties, yet there’s a firm grasp of hope and a celebration of humanity in there.

Paranoia Agent is the black sheep of the bunch, being as it is a TV show. Regretfully, my final three discs of this went missing shortly after I watched it so my memories of it are hazy. I recall a lot of social commentary tied in with the mystery thriller aspects though, showing Kon’s sharp satirical eye on the world around him as well as his keen sense of what makes for an immersive fantasy world.

Which brings me to Paprika, his most recent and therefore probably most well-known film. I can’t stress this enough: Paprika is pretty much the only occasion when I didn’t find myself thinking “the book was better…” of ANY screen adaptation. Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novel is a fascinating SF effort that delves into what happens when dreams pop into the real world but I can’t imagine a better candidate for directing a movie of this than Kon.

If this film is indeed his last (there’s another that’s unreleased, but I don’t know how close it is to completion) it’s a fitting way to remember him. It’s thought-provoking, imaginative, well-paced and artistically spectacular animation for adults; just watch it if you haven’t already. Really.

I honestly don’t know what else to say. We often hear that there aren’t enough good directors around, and the likes of Miyazaki and Takahata are old themselves. Forty-seven is really too young for anyone to go but in that time Kon has made a big impression on a lot of people, and I can say with absolute sincerity that every title he’s directed is downright excellent.

I hope this conveys how important Kon’s work is to me, but more importantly I hope it encourages those of you reading this who haven’t seen any of them to look them up. It’s a shocking tragedy that he’s gone so suddenly but everything he did from Perfect Blue to Paprika is still brilliant. So go watch ‘em.

The current attempt at a solution to the fansub/piracy problem is through the streaming with region-locking and paid subscriptions, i.e. Crunchyroll’s model. I’m not aiming to criticise what CR are doing here: they did great things in giving Eve no Jikan exposure, made last year’s Global Shinkai Day even more special and are so far the only independent site that has made a high-profile attempt to seek the middle ground.

BUT…not every English speaker lives in the US. Yes, there’s only 60 million of us on this damp little rock, but there are fans here. And elsewhere. Region locking is a pain, but unless the contracts between CR and the Japanese licence-holders change, I suppose that issue will stay with us for a while yet. They also dropped the DTO service for reasons that I sadly can’t recall, and don’t offer as much HD content as I’d like either.

Above all other points I make in this post, I firmly believe that the fansubs debate would move forward if the fans/fansubbers and the licence-holders/distributors talked more and eyed one another with suspicion less. Studios don’t want to deliberately piss their viewers off, and fans don’t want to see the film-makers and actors they admire out of work. There IS a compromise here somewhere – I’m strangely optimistic about that.

What would I ask for in an anime streaming/downloading site? If it’s a series or movie I really, really like I’d want a DVD/Blu-Ray so this post isn’t about DVD/BD piracy, or issues associated with packaged media and licencing/distribution thereof. For ‘casual’ viewing, I’d want to watch it like I’d watch an ordinary anime show: being able to see it subtitled every week.

Good sound and picture quality are desirable. Much of Youtube’s content has godawful pixellation and artefacting, which is an experience I find somewhere between staring at the sun and being stuck in a lift with Harriet Harman in terms of discomfort. Newer PCs can cope with 720p and even 1080p, and quite a lot of currently-airing anime is at least 720p, and it looks great.

Broadband speeds vary worldwide. The UK is pretty shabby in that regard but again, not every part of every country has the same speeds as urban areas of Japan and the US. Streaming can be a bit choppy in many places, which is even more infuriating than ropey video or poor resolution; downloading the episode then watching it off your hard drive solves this but (quite rightly really) the Industry types of wary of it. DTO makes it hard to stop piracy since it’s a system open to abuse from unscrupulous viewers who can all too easily ruin the fun for everyone else.

So, what would I do if I were a programming genius with execs from Shaft, KyoAni, Madhouse et al waving contracts at me? The criteria would need to be:

• Decent quality video and audio that can deliver 720p and at least 2.0 stereo, using formats that are compatible with current standards
• The option of live streaming for people with reliable, fast connections and DTO for those who haven’t
• region-locking that *works*…a bit of a bummer, but that’ll have to be thrashed out later
• The option of setting a limit to the timeframe in which the content can be downloaded and viewed
• a system that allows revenue to pay for new licences and site maintenance

The last point is an important one: my personal feeling is that good entertainment is worth paying for. Not necessarily the eye-watering prices those poor Japanese fans pay for their Blu-rays, but a subscription fee is fair enough; CR already uses this, and it’s not a bad idea. The other criteria might sound like a tall order but why do I think it’s possible, at least from a technological/software standpoint? Because the tech already exists, and has been used by millions for some time now.

The answer is obvious for UK residents, but for the rest of you it’s this: BBC iPlayer. To clarify, this is an online service that give access to a lot (not all, due to copyright reasons) of programmes broadcast on BBC TV and radio. After a show is aired it is available on iPlayer streamed, or to download if you prefer.

I personally think iPlayer is one of the best ideas the BBC has ever had. I don’t have a TV so don’t pay a licence fee, but there is some good quality stuff that’s worth watching; if iPlayer required a subscription fee, I’d rather pay it and watch the programmes I like via the internet. It’s a neat way of watching stuff without requiring the infamous TV licence; which is effectively a blanket tax for merely owning a TV set…a stupid idea in this day and age. But I digress.

The clever bit of the iPlayer service is that, if your connection speed can’t reliably support streaming, you can download the programme and watch it later. There’s a timebomb-like feature built in that automatically deletes the file from your machine after a given period, and there’s even a security measure that somehow prevents you taking screencaps (I don’t know how that works, but it does. I tried it). There are even some programmes in high definition, that match the standards of picture of the BBC HD channels.

The iPlayer Desktop application uses on Adobe Air, and can run on Windows or a Mac. Long story short, it works, and fits all the criteria listed above apart from the payment system. So then, the technology exists for viewers to watch their favourite shows but it also has security features built in to allow the site’s webmasters to control who can access the content, and for how long.

I’m suspect there are a lot of other, legal rather than practical, reasons why Crunchyroll’s site and terms of service aren’t ideal and why the fansub/piracy debate rages on. I must confess I’m ignorant to many of them, because right now I’m thinking “what’s stopping it?” If it’s physically getting it to work, there are real-life examples of film and television that is viewable publicly and legally. It works for the viewers AND keeps those corporate folks happy.

The bottom line is that there needs to be freer dialogue between the people who make the shows and the people who watch/buy them. The physical act of getting the content available online however is the easy part…if the rest of the obstacles are insurmountable that’s fair enough, but how cool would it be if the fandom could pull something like this off?

yes, I’m an idiot. I get it

Any minute now, someone’s going to make a point that will make me feel incredibly dumb. I’ve already braced myself for a facepalm that it’ll give my unborn grandkids nosebleeds, so fire away and stop me daydreaming like this. But I at least wanted to try and make a constructive suggestion, because the *real* stupid questions are the ones you don’t ask.

Uh, this. As in, trying to sort out my ongoing soundcard issues by buying a twin-channel preamp mixer and new headphones. About time too I might add

Back o/t my opponent is Astrobunny…a blog with an Aria-themed header, guitar chords to anime songs and whose posts include such things as “Nowadays with so many people crossdressing, maybe parents should rethink their view on dressing their boys as girls as “just for fun”. It might have some interesting effects, such as on the fetishes they develop.” So yeah, I don’t really mind if I don’t win when I’m up against that. The dates seem to be US time rather than GMT, so there should still be time to go vote for whichever one of us you think is cooler.

Given the context, “What she said.”

I’ve rewatched the various bits of the Shinkai back catalogue but it was nice to have an excuse to marathon them all in one go (She and Her Cat, Voices of a Distant Star, Place Promised in our Early Days, 5cm Per Second and Neko no Shuukai, in that order). This time the anchor point for my scattered thoughts was a truly stellar AMV (link after the jump).

She and Her Cat

The simplicity of this piece makes it a nice introduction to his style and subject matter, born from necessity rather than artistic reasons, but nevertheless the monochrome artwork and short length serve their purpose just fine. I can see the ideas he uses later on – communication, love, loneliness, a feeling of wonder at the ordinary world around us – on a smaller scale, like a songwriter’s first demo tape. He’s setting out his signature style right from the get-go – some directors try out a number of topics and techniques before settling on what works for them but what strikes me here is how Shinkai knew how he wanted to express himself from the start, found his individual aesthetic and stuck with it.

And of course, this is when we meet good old Chobi for the first time. Considering how he makes a cameo in most of the later features, I wonder if he’s a subtle self-insertion on the part of the director.

Voices of a Distant Star

I don’t mean this to sound like negative criticism here but Hoshi no Koe is probably his most derivative work in that its inspirations are more obvious. Although the mobile phone concept it’s based around is original, the time dilation thing was a central theme to Anno’s Gunbuster OAV and other details, such as the later battles between the humans and the Tarsians, remind me a lot of a certain female mecha pilot who leaves her friends behind to fight alien monsters in space. I’m guessing Shinkai grew up on the 80s sci-fi anime shows like many of his contemporaries so it’s hardly surprising. As well as being a genuinely heart -rending little story (I still get a lump in my throat from it) it feels like a tribute to the old classics, such as…

This. Good to see he remembers love. Maybe it’s the Macross fanboy in me speaking here, but there’s one franchise that’s the last word in interplanetary romance stories. I also noticed the attention to detail in the rendering of Agharta – the Miyazaki influence hit me there with the alien buildings and surrounding landscape. Part of me wants to see a sequel that explores this but the biggest limitation of the movie – the length and details merely alluded to – are part of the charm.

Place Promised in our Early Days

I often cite this as my favourite of his, although objectively I’m probably mistaken. The science fiction element is woolly and poorly-explained but I love how it all takes the influence of Arthur C Clarke and Haruki Murakami – two very different writers, but also two of my own personal favourites – and ties their influences together in one place. The tower of the title and its high-tech composition remind me of The Fountains of Paradise and the alternate universes, this time employed in a sci-fi rather than metaphysical context, are a common plot device of Murakami’s novels.

The screenplay is probably only one rewrite away from employing its constituent parts to their full effectiveness but the story works for me on a more subconscious level – glossing over minor inconsistencies and plot holes to give a more general feeling on the events that transpire and how they shape the characters’ lives. Tenmon’s piano- and violin-driven music score is the most effective so far in my opinion, being more varied and emotive than previously but not thematically tied to a particular song (namely the tune that formed the finale of 5cm/s).

5cm Per Second

This movie poses an interesting question: how much more polished can Comix Wave make their artwork when this is already hyper-realistic? I absolutely love the Shinjuku cityscape but even on a bright summer’s day in good weather, it never looks as good as this. Perhaps the fact that the environs look better than a photograph is part of the message of the film: memory and reminiscence sometimes give a rose-coloured tint to everything that no real-time impression can match.

It even makes a branch of MacDonalds look pretty, for crying out loud!

While the previous works deal with the distance and longing thing, 5cm/s offers a different ending that’s a departure from the brave declaration of Hoshi no Koe or the idealised ‘movie ending’ of Place Promised; it’s more realistic in that sense. If I’d seen it at the age of, say, 18 I wouldn’t get it: thanks to experiences that I’m not comfortable with sharing right here and now, the 5cm/s ending is more mature and easy to relate to. It feels like it’s made by a more mature writer (even though Shinkai probably grasped the idea of moving on and ‘getting over it’ in personal relationships much earlier in his life) and the use of the song at the end, despite its domestic popularity being lost on me, is unusual yet wonderfully powerful.

Which brings us to the next film, currently in production after the director spent a spell in London, realised how much he missed his cat and returned to the sunny high-rise cityscape of Tokyo. I must say I find the little bits of news so far encouraging because three feature films based around one set of themes is a nice number and a fourth one would be a little…monotonous? from a viewer’s point of view. Even though he is one of my favourite directors I still see him as a rookie filmmaker who still has more to say – of course, he’d be the first to admit this because the quiet-and-sensitive types are prone to modesty (a trait which Japanese people seem to exhibit in public anyway).

I believe the man himself has shown a bit of bemusement in the past and is surprised that so many people are making a fuss over an inexperienced director. For this reason I feel a bit hesitant to repeatedly draw attention to someone who is, in person, uncomfortable with the limelight and is more happy being at home with his cat and making films.

So, yeah. The AMV that got me out of hiatus mode and made me want to write about Shinkai movies again. I’ve said in the past that the vague, serene and sentimental atmosphere of his films reminds me of the music of Explosions In The Sky (a fantastic instrumental guitar band from Texas that you should all listen to) if their vibe were set to a film. They’ve done a bit of soundtrack work in the past but somebody had a flash of inspiration and married the first part of 5cm/s, the Oukashou segment, with the closing track of their third album (which I stole for the post title).

It’s funny how two pieces of completely unrelated media work so well together. Anyway, enjoy.

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’…

25. Tokyo Marble Chocolate

I’ve voiced my affinity for stories about grown-up characters, and my soft spot for a tale that appeals to my half-buried dere-dere sentimental streak. This two-parter ticks all those boxes really, with a whimsical approach to showing how relationships work (or not) in today’s world. It has all the hallmarks of a slushy also-ran but the vibrancy of the characters and its visual panache make it a prime candidate for a rewatch around mid-February.

24. Rebuild of Evangelion: 1.0

Say what you like about how deserving the franchise is of the hype and sickening levels of marketing that surrounds it, but I still have an attachment to the first proper anime show I enjoyed. In fairness it does improve on the story by streamlining the narrative, placing emphasis more appropriately and generally looking prettier. The only downside? This is the only Hideaki Anno-directed production on this list. Not that is a shame.

23. Le Portrait de Petit Cossette

Why do they have to mangle French grammar like this? Anyway. This was my first encounter with Akiyuki Shinbo’s unique directorial style, and although it’s a case of making the simple obtuse from a narrative standpoint it’s still an impressive visual tour-de-force (who’s misusing French now?). The gothic aesthetic, porcelain doll heroine and that goosebump-inducing Yuki Kajiura music score really make it worthwhile for me.

22. RahXephon

The ‘Evangelion rip-off’ reaction was so misplaced. Granted, it takes itself very seriously and challenges the viewer but I’d rather my intelligence were challenged than insulted. If nothing else this one deserves a special mention for pushing the envelope in what to expect from a mecha show, and has excellent characterisation as well as looking lovely. As for the movie…let’s move on, shall we?

21. Denno Coil

While a lot of anime really is for kids, it’s rare that a kids’ show knocks the spots off its po-faced, made-for-grown-ups competition. It’s so ahead of its time that even the latest tech is only just beginning to catch up…the re-imagining of childhood issues – and beyond – in the Information Age has never looked this good, or tugged the heartstrings so hard.

20. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

Almost a decade after the landmark movie that gave Western anime fans something other than Akira to rave about, Headscratcher-In-Chief Mamoru Oshii picked the story back up with even more philosophical musing and even more impressive CG artwork. It’s pretentious as hell but the pure cinematic experience cannot be ignored. Anime is Serious Fucking Business. Seriously.

19. Monster

The fact that it follows its source material scene-for-scene is as much a testament to Naoki Urasawa’s genius as a manga-ka as it is an indicator of how effective an adaptation it proved to be. Whether I’d physically have the time to watch a series of this length in my current lifestyle I’m not sure, but at the time it was a revelation to see an animated show sustain itself across more than seventy episodes with not a single episode of filler whatsoever.

18. Aria

I’m a cynical kind of guy. I like holidays though. This is a holiday from all cynicism, doubt and general down-heartedness; I’ve never seen a series so unashamedly upbeat, optimistic and calming. A cheery spiritual younger sibling to Yokahama Shopping Trip in some ways, it has memorable characters, easygoing comedy and an infectious feelgood sense of EPIC HAPPY.

17. Ghost in the Shell: Stand-alone Complex

This is where I might ruffle a few feathers: a made-for TV alternate retelling that deviates further from its source manga rates higher than it’s big cinematic counterpart. Except, this really is more enjoyable for me: it has all the intelligence, social commentary and cyberpunk shininess but it’s more character-driven and accessible. It also has the tachikomas, and who doesn’t love them?

16. Pale Cocoon

While people were hyping Shinkai as the new Miyazaki, I was looking upon Yoshiura as the new Shinkai. While the themes and storytelling differ, this short piece had sci-fi underpinnings and an impressive indie CG sheen that was as welcome as it was familiar. Nevertheless Yoshiura’s effort was striking in its gloomy atmospherics and with a great Clarkian twist at the end; a dazzling early effort.

15. Macross Frontier

As a general rule, Macross OAVs and movies look great while the TV series…don’t. While this did suffer from budgetry constraints and hence lacked the visual consistency of its cinematic and straight-to-video predecessors, a new Macross is always an important event and it did reunite Shoji Kawamori with Yoko Kanno again. I know it’s self-indulgent but I’m including it here because it was such fun for that reason. DECULTURE!

14. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Mamoru Hosoda broke away from the Totoro-shaped shadow of Ghibli, took on a well-known (at least in Japan) franchise and added his own individual stamp on the result. Perhaps surprisingly it was imaginative, moving and crucially entertaining while capturing the profound in the everyday. One of the most pleasant surprises of recent years, it even featured Yoshiyuki Sadamoto’s expressive character designs. Win.

13. Paprika

Not quite the most deep and meaningful Kon effort, this was nevertheless an adaptation that captured the essence and imagination of another Yasutaka Tsutsui novel. It really allowed Kon and his team at Madhouse to let their imaginations run riot; the maniacal Susumu Hirasawa soundtrack also gave one of the most exhilarating and arresting (as in, inducing cardiac arrest) opening credit sequences of recent memory.

12. Eureka Seven

Bones somehow breathed new life into a crowded mecha genre with Kawamori mecha designs and a keen sense of youthful cool but didn’t pull its narrative punches when the gravity of the situation demanded it. The sharp characterisation, with a genuinely sweet and moving romance at its heart, ultimately made it work but a soundtrack featuring the likes of Supercar and Denki Groove didn’t hurt either. And yes, it did need to be as long as it did.

11. Darker than Black

Funny how Bones and Yoko Kanno crop up so often, but there you go. As long as it works as it does here, doesn’t that speak for itself? Tensai Okamura’s dry humour and penchant for old-school sci-fi clashed with film noir sensibilities and a novel approach to character dynamics with a sense of constant suspense and layers of hidden meaning. Watch it twice, it helps.

Take a deep breath folks, almost there! ^_^

10. The Place Promised in our Early Days

I wanted to place this higher, but in interests of fairness on everything else I reined my enthusiasm in a bit. What’s to say? The Comix Wave Sky Shots? Haruki Murakami-esque parallel universe metaphysics and a sense of inner loneliness? Clarkian science fiction (the Tower reminds me SO MUCH of The Fountains of Paradise)? No matter: it looks and sounds spectacular, and even after numerous rewatches the ending still has me crying buckets.

9. Gunslinger Girl

This was a case of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. On paper the idea of teen girl assassins sounded like moe-ified Luc Besson but in reality the gunplay and mystery-thriller aspects took a back seat to a heart-rending character study. I’ve rarely experienced such painful empathy but it’s handled with such a tender and sympathetic touch…the Mediterranian locations are stunning, the animation is smooth as silk and the soundtrack is breathtaking too.

8. Eve no Jikan

After Pale Cocoon Yasuhiro Yoshiura and Studio Rikka proved that they could; here, they proved how well they could do it. Picking the well-trodden concept of robots and A.I. in everyday society was a risky move but the surprise of how much comedy, drama and morality could be wrung out from this tired premise was half the fun. The CGI was nigh-on flawless, the comic timing impeccable and the pacing head and shoulders above humble made-for TV efforts.

7. FLCL

“What the fuck was that?” was my first impression of this, at a time when I’d seen very little anime at all – showing it to other people is fun in itself, just to see the looks on their faces. Shinkichi Mitsumune’s score, buoyed up by classic tunes from The Pillows, adds to the edgy sense of teen energy that almost, but not quite, pushes it over the edge. The good news: it was the thematic and artistic high water mark for Gainax. The bad news: it still is.

6. Summer Wars

Madhouse know how to nurture talent, don’t they? A reunion of Hosoda, Sadamoto and co inevitably led to comparisons but as both pure visual escapism and a love letter to the trials and tribulations of family life it’s hard to beat. The emotion is genuine, the deeper meanings are numerous and profound but overall it’s a testament to what animation can do with the will and the talent to do so.

5. Millennium Actress

This is my personal Kon fave, even though it lacks his dark humour and satirical eye. It’s purely because as a cinematic experience it’s almost unparalleled: the multiple layers of meaning that colour the life of Chiyoko Fujiwara make it not just the life of her but that of a film industry that Kon obviously loves, and an entire country. Fundamentally it’s a tale of lost love and looks beautiful.

4. Kara no Kyoukai

Less sprawling than Tsukihime and more personal Fate/Stay Night, the act of bringing Nasu’s early novels to the screen was so dazzling I don’t know why it hadn’t been attempted sooner. In any case the dark, immersive world of the Nasuverse is effectively captured by Ufotable’s attention to detail and Yuki Kajiura’s finest soundtrack to date. Repeated viewings allow you to appreciate the complexity of its study into morality, inner turmoil and, ultimately, an unconventional yet convincing romance subplot that devastates the competition with a graceful flick of the knife.

3. 5cm per Second

From here on it gets tough. Is this one deserving of #3, given the quality of the last few listed above? Purely for personal reasons, this movie holds a special place in my heart for its ability to tap into universal sentiments, build on themes explored in Shinkai’s earlier work, only to take on deeper relevance with the viewer as he or she moves on in his or her own life. It’s beatiful to the point of hyper-realism, but matures like a fine wine.

2. Mushishi

The series that got me blogging, even though I gave up on episodic commentary. In turns dark, bright, suspenseful, restful but always with a keen eye on both humanity’s relationship with  the natural world and our relationships with each other, it was a timeless journey that offered moments that I swear will stay with me for life. This transcends mere animated TV entertainment: with every episode it transported me to another place and for that I love it.

1. Haibane Renmei

The most contentious position of all, perhaps, but very few stories have spoken to me as profoundly and clearly as this one has. The Murakami-inspired setting was masterful but its memorable imagery was spiritual without pinning the philosophy on anything other than the viewer’s individual interpretation. Kou Otani’s score was spellbinding and it felt like a genuine labour of love for Yoshitoshi ABe too; his distinctive character designs bring life into a haunting yet stunningly rendered other-world. Not everything was answered but that’s part of its unique charm: talking in riddles with a thoughtful sense of melancholy, it’s one of those stories that allows you to connect with the characters by encouraging you to look within yourself for answers.

And there you go. I somehow exceeded the wordcount of even my KnK fanboy rave but these 25 titles deserve it I think. I can forgive you for disagreeing with the order here: even I changed my mind several times during the draft stage. I recommend you all should watch all of them, anyway. Happy 2010!

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.

50. Hataraki Man

I’m a little fed up with high school-based fare; I asked one day “what about stories of people of my own age with proper jobs and adult responsibilities?” The answer given to me was this, a tale of a stressed-out office worker and those around her who struggle with the work/life balance…and each other. An incomplete adaptation of Moyoco Anno’s seinen/josei manga serial, it has something many animated productions cannot attain: realism.

49. Macross Zero

Not the best of the franchise, but arguably the prettiest. It’s a little lacking on the characterisation front, but in terms of CG it was cutting edge and the dogfights still look awesome today. It also has Roy Foker, a beautiful Pacific island setting and floating rocks. Win.

48. Clannad/Clannad After Story

I never really expected to enjoy this at all: I was (at the time) unconvinced about visual novels and the saccharine moe aesthetic of Key works didn’t appeal to me either. Just as well then that it had some genuinely laugh-out-loud and heartstring-tugging moments, before going all grown-up on us in the second season. The controversial ending was a surprisingly inventive take on how to resolve a branching VN structure with a linear TV narrative too.

47. Lucky Star

While we’re on the subject of stuff that I expected to hate, this was a genuinely lulzworthy piece that was moe-ified otaku-fodder while simultaneously ripping the piss out of the said genre of moe-ified otaku-fodder. Fine by me. It also picked out little everyday details and occasionally pulled some quite moving moments out of its pastel-coloured KyoAni hat.

46. Fate/Stay Night

Next to its epic, exhilerating visual novel source material this can hardly compare but nevertheless it was a lot of fun to watch. Now the UBW movie is imminent I can think of it as the adaptation of the Fate route alone, which makes the necessary omissions of two thirds of the original story not just understandable but perfectly acceptable.

45. Spice and Wolf

Consistently entertaining but included here as acknowledgement of the superior second season, this sweet little tale of two lonely travellers had me coming back for more every week with a peaceful grin on my face every time. A delightful refreshing change and textbook example of how character chemistry can make the world of difference.

44. Eden of the East

Another sterling effort from the noitaminA slot, this was an exciting mixture of politics, romance, technology…and several shipping containers of naked blokes who our hero tempted out of the dole queue and into a new world order. With two new movies coming up under the watchful eye of Kenji Kamiyama, I don’t think I’ll tire of Akira’s and Saki’s adventures just yet.

43. true tears

The idea of originality and a borderline harem premise threatened my enjoyment of this, a romantic drama from a virtually-unknown studio. Fortunately the quality of the characterisation and its stunning attention to detail made it more than just another teen angst fest, instead becoming a little gem to add to the genre’s finest.

42. Kurenai

Speaking of characterisation and attention to detail, this one was a fine example of how a sharp script and a little shake-up to the traditional roles and tropes can make something refreshing and thought-provoking. A bit of an oddity, but it was brave and unconventional enough to make me respect it quite a lot.

41. Kaiba

Masaaki Yuasa is one of the industry’s real mavericks and this felt to me like the most coherant and complete work of his to date. Visually outstanding, thematically inventive with human emotion fighting for supremacy over a fairytale sci-fi backdrop, it took the idea of anime==cartoons and totally, wonderfully, screwed with it.

40. Hidamari Sketch/Hidamari Sketch x365

The idea of taking a 4koma story of normal high school girls doing normal things is possibly the most un-original idea in anime but fortunately Akiyuki Shinbo added his own unique flair to bring its gentle brand of lighthearted comedy to life.

39. Natsume Yuujinchou

A male lead who’s likable and not in the least bit wimpy, a magical cat, quintessentially Japanese folk spirituality and story arcs that were heartbreaking and heartwarming in turns made this a real sleeper hit for me. Now I need to watch the second season…

38. Xam’d: Lost Memories

Studio Bones have a knack of being consistently imaginative and artistically impressive, and this one was no exception. The characterisation was superb and the vivid worldview made up for the numerous scantily-explained side stories. One of the few productions where I want both a sequel AND a coffee table-style artbook.

37. ef -a Tale of Memories/Melodies

Listed as one here mainly because it feels like two halves of the same whole (although I liked the first half slightly more). The risky business of adapting an eroge VN ended up as not only tasteful and visually striking but actually made more sense than more straight-up made-for TV shows. Shinbo’s supervision didn’t hurt either.

36. Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei

I must confess I’ve only seen the first season to the end but the episodic, sketch-based structure helps a lot. More SHAFT x Shinbo goodness: wordplay that makes me wish I could read kanji, outrageous characters and humour that’s dark, sharp and satirical. Just how I like it.

35. Voices of a Distant Star

Famous as Makoto Shinkai’s cinematic debut, it draws from classical science fiction with unique home-grown storytelling and CGI to wring heartfelt emotion out of a shaky and straightforward premise. An OAV of this length and simplicity shouldn’t be nearly as good as this…and I don’t even have the space to write about the adorable She and Her Cat short that’s included in the DVD extras.

34. Spirited Away

The fact that this is so acclaimed and well-known means that I never bothered to blog about it before but I need to show that Miyazaki has done some great things in the past ten years. His older work holds the most charm and complexity for me, but this one didn’t get an Oscar for nothing.

33. Tokyo Godfathers

A mix of social commentary, drama, humour and a bit of festive magic; a movie you should watch over the Christmas and New Year period to really get you in the mood for the season of goodwill. Satoshi Kon tackles some taboo subjects but gives his unlikely heroes a whole truckload of humanity and pathos.

32. Wolf’s Rain

Another solid Bones effort, pacing issues (namely the notorious recap episodes) and a redone ending being the only major flaws in this post-apocalyptic worldview married to the old story of tentative friendships and an epic journey. The human characters often outshone the wolves but it holds itself together with a surprisingly understated Yoko Kanno score.

31. Last Exile

Gonzo can make pretty shows and well-written ones, but this is the only time I’ve seen them manage both at the same time. It looks spectacular but the plucky heroes in a steampunk era of Miyazaki-esque flying machines is perfect escapism. Nice twist at the end as well.

30. Ghost Hound

A wonderfully peculiar sci-fi piece that makes use of an excellent music score and an eclectic variety of hard science and philosophy, this made a huge impression on me but kinda faded from the fandom’s collective consciousness. Ryutaro Nakamura and Chiaki Konaka gave an old Shirow manga an entertaining David Lynchian twist.

29. Sword of the Stranger

Sometimes you just want to be entertained. Bones’ first movie that’s genuinely outstanding was this, a historical action-fest filled with swordplay, unlikely friendships and the most badass dog in anime history. No, it ain’t deep but I was having too much fun with its honest, no-nonsense approach to care.

28. Kaiji

Another un-anime looking anime show, it’s 100% moe free and doesn’t feature high school kids. It does however feature mafia bosses, criminals, blood-soaked violence, drinking, gambling and epic mullets. It’s a shitload of fun in other words and had me on the edge of my seat with every turn. Zawa zawa!

27. Paranoia Agent

I’ve always wondered what would happen if Satoshi Kon decided to lend his unique style and storytelling to a TV show. This effort was basically a Kon movie stretched across thirteen mind-bending episodes, and succeeded in keeping me guessing from the first episode to the last. This is what sharp, intelligent TV looks like…not even the BBFC could handle it.

26. Kino’s Journey

Anime can be Serious Business. Certainly in the hands of Nakamura and Konaka, anyway. The almost-exclusively self-contained episode structure somehow gave a vast number of quietly philosophical and memorable studies of the human condition and our place in the world. There isn’t enough love for this around these days.

And it’s shorter than my previous post! The second half of the run-down will follow soon. ^_^