<meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Unix)"> <style type="text/css"> </style> Last year, one of our anime club members told about how he got into a heated argument with a representative of another club during the Clubs and Societies Fair. Apparently, the representative of the other club told him that there was no meaning in being a member of an anime club and that it was a silly thing to do. This, of course, led to an angry response from our member and the whole thing turned into an unsightly name calling competition. After he told me about the incident, I promised to write an article about the use of anime in real life in response to the claims made by the other club representative. I admit it's a bit late but better late than never. While I don't claim that anime or manga would have a life changing effect, I must stress that they can have a really positive effect on the life of the individual depending on how that individual uses them. The true power of anime and manga is that they are arts that can inspire people to improve. History, Geography and Culture Any self respecting anime and manga fan knows that the stories in those two mediums can (and do) take place in every imaginable place on this planet. This means that the cultural settings of those arts are as varied as the arts themselves. Only people who are not fans of anime or manga would make the mistake of thinking that all the stories in anime and manga take place in Japan. I've mentioned many of these titles in previous articles but I'll mention titles like Monster, Gunslinger Girl, Rsitorante Paradiso, WMT titles, Yugo the Negotiator, Otoyomegatari, Historie, Master Keaton, Black Lagoon, Michiko to Hacchin and Emma as examples here in addition to the countless titles that take place in Japan or neighbouring China (I'll talk about the significance of China in a later post). This unique feature alone opens the door to countless learning possibilities. A curious anime or manga fan would start reading about a particular culture/country because he/she was impressed by the anime/manga story that that takes place within that culture/country. He/she can then easily start a conversation with a another person person from said culture/country if they happen to meet such a person simply because they have read about said culture/country. There is even a high probability that the anime/manga fan will start learning the language of said culture/country and I don't need to stress how important the skill of mastering foreign languages is in today's world. In short, anime and manga help bring people from different backgrounds together. New Skills and Knowledge Just as the variety in anime/manga story settings encourages fans to learn about other countries and cultures, the huge variety in the story topics and themes also encourages fans to learn about many other things. The stories in anime and manga fall under every imaginable genre and cover every imaginable topic you can think of. This provides a golden opportunity for curious fans who enjoyed the theme in a certain title to pursue that theme further or learn more about it in real life. I can think of some very good examples which I will outline below. There are a ton of sports related anime and manga tiles and some of them are of very high calibre like Bamboo Blade, Ashita no Joe, Hajime no Ippo, Yawara!, Happy!, Slam Dunk, Major, Taishou Yakyuu Musume and Evil Heart. These titles present the sports in an attractive and interesting manner and that could certainly encourage fans to pursue these sports in real life (if they are of the type who are not sports inclined). I don't think the importance of sports in daily life requires any justification. Another interesting example is the unique place the art of cooking holds in the world of anime and manga. Only god knows how many anime and manga titles deal with the art of cooking, be it general or specific. From the ultimate authority in bread making, Yakitate Japan to the sweet romantic cooking story of Kitchen no Ohimesama to the ultimate saga in global cuisine, Oishinbo; there is a title for every imaginable form of cooking. Such titles can easily inspire fans to try out one form of cooking or another which is always a very useful skill to have (not to mention it's always satisfying and healthier to make your own food). The final example I would like to mention is more specialised. I started reading the Hikari to Tomo ni manga for personal reasons. I have to admit that it's one of the most powerful and engaging stories that I have ever read and I would recommend it to anyone. I also have to say that this manga opened my eyes to a mental condition that I have often heard of in the news but never quite understood. I think you can learn more about autism from this manga than you would ever learn from a medical book. Even parents of autistic children around the world acknowledged that the manga gives a realistic depiction of the condition and what they had to go through to raise their children. A manga that promotes an understanding of a medical condition that is a mystery to most people can't be a bad thing now right?! I can give other topic related examples but there isn't enough space here to go through all of them so I'll leave it at that. Drawing Anime and manga has influenced many fans lives in a more direct manner by inspiring them to pursue the arts of drawing, painting and sketching or graphics arts in general. Drawing lies at the heart of anime and manga and it's not an exaggeration to say that some of most beautiful works of art can be found in anime and manga. This beauty has left a deep impact on many anime/manga fans and led them to pursue drawing seriously and refine their skills in this field. Some of them have even managed to have their work published in Japanese manga magazines. Writing Another aspect in which anime/manga help to improve a person is exemplified in this article and in all the articles in this blog. The passion for anime and manga can inspire people to write! I can not stress enough how much my writing skills have improved since I started this blog! Writing in this blog has trained me in writing in a well structured and attractive manner. That's why, to this day, I feel more comfortable communicating my ideas in writing than verbally and even some of my emails tend to look like detailed reports. I don't need to stress how important the skill of good writing is in modern society or where it can get you in terms of advancing your career (as many of the non anime fans know very well!). Some Interesting Anime/Manga Applications Over the years, the Japanese have found some very interesting applications of anime and manga which go beyond telling a good story. I have listed some of the recent ones below: 1) Using manga to summarise world and local news 2) Using manga as official company manuals 3) Teaching citizens about the newly introduced jury system 4) Using manga to educate children about the work of the Japanese Foreign Ministry 5) Using manga to promote the Nuclear Non-Proliferation cause 6) Using anime to encourage Chinese tourists to visit Japan 7) Using manga to explain the 2008 G8 Summit in Hokkaido 8) Using anime/manga to promote safe travelling 9) Using anime to promote local tourism I have to say that the P. A. Works videos are quite nice as one would expect from this new yet highly energetic animation studio. Well done P. A. Works! 10) Using anime to celebrate the UN 60th anniversary OK, Robotech is not a pure anime as most fans know but it's still an amalgamation of 3 anime titles so it still counts even if the work was done by an American company. 11) Using manga to explain technical subjects I'm not sure how good these books are but apparently they were written with direct input from a specialist in each of these subjects. I still prefer to use regular textbooks since I'm an old school type of guy. 12) Using manga to make fun of George Walker Bush and his good for nothing father! This last one isn't really an application but I decided to include it anyway since it's quite funny. It really made my day when I read it (^_^) I hope the benefits outlined above are enough to convince “non believers” that anime and manga can truly have a positive impact on one's life. I have to stress, however, that it depends on the person in the end and that the fan must make the effort to make the most out of his/her hobby or he/she will, otherwise, be missing out on a lot. The final wisdom of the day is: “Anime and manga are what you make out of them”.
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<meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Unix)"> <style type="text/css"> </style> I had an argument once with one of my friends (who is also an anime fan) about what it is that makes anime stand out from other forms of animation and whether there is a so called “anime style”. I then decided to write a post about this issue since it is of great interest to me (and possibly to other fans as well). Let's try and break the problem down to various subsets and deal with each one individually. Any anime show has the following elements: story; art and animation; music; characters and voice acting. In the case of manga; the elements would be story, art and characters. Let's examine each element below: 1) Story (Narrative Style) Any seasoned anime and manga fan knows all too well that there isn't a single topic (both real and fictional) that was not covered in anime or manga in one form or another. All story genres known to man have multiple anime or manga manifestations. The stories can range from something as light as “having fun with your friends at school” (see School Rumble) to something as serious as “raising an autistic child” (see Hikari to Tomo ni) and from something as simple as “making curry” (see Curry naru Shokutaku) to something as complex as “understanding human nature” (see Monster). Yes, anime and manga have it all. I would like to point out something important at this stage. Many people who are not truly familiar with anime and manga (I.e. lay people) tend to associate them with “giant robots and ninjas”. This is of course a sad result of how the media tends to portray anime and manga. The trend has started to change only recently but in the past, most TV stations would only screen shows that belong to the mecha or samurai genres and video shops would only stock titles that belong to these genres as well (in addition to hentai titles) (-_-;;). This general climate has helped create the impression that anime and manga are only stories about fighting ninjas and giant robots. A lot of the blame falls on anime and manga fans themselves. Most of the time, people who become anime and manga fans, become so because they are exposed to these two genres during their childhood and, as a result, tend to focus entirely on titles that belong to these two genres until they leave high school. It's only when they grow older that they start to discover the huge variety of genres and storylines that anime and manga has to offer. Naruto, for example, is not popular because it has a better story than say Monster but because there are a lot of teenagers out there who think that it is the coolest thing in the world and, as such, are willing to follow and buy the manga religiously. It will take quite some time to change public opinion about the nature of anime and manga and it will also take a lot of effort from seasoned anime and manga fans around the world. Returning to our original topic and on the basis of the wide variety of storylines that anime and manga titles offer; I can't really say that there is a definite narrative style that distinguishes anime and manga from other cultural media. If I had to say anything, I would say that narrative style of anime and manga is “to have no fixed narrative style”. In other words; everything is fair game in anime and manga stories and no stone is left unturned. 2) Art and Animation (Visual Style) Does anime and manga have a distinctive visual style? There are many aspects that need to be considered here. The first aspect are the character designs. Many people think that there is one unique character design style used throughout anime and manga which is what I would like to call the cute style. While this style is evident in many anime and manga titles; my previous post has proven that it is not the only style used and that some of the finest titles in anime and manga prefer to use more realistic designs. It also doesn't really help when the character designs used in Shounen titles differ significantly from the designs used in Shoujo titles and both in turn differ significantly from the ones you see in Seinen and Josei titles. The second aspect concerns the visual conventions in anime and manga. These are conventions that were originally developed and used by manga artists to convey the emotions of the various characters in a story or to portray the atmosphere in a particular scene. All these conventions are visual in nature and are quite simple but very effective in conveying the intentions of the author through to the reader. Examples include the sweatdrop, the zooming panels, the twinkling eyes and the keyhole sigh cloud and the falling crown. Naturally, all these conventions found their way into anime later on. All these conventions are unique to anime and manga and, if they are present, can be used to tell a certain anime or manga title apart from other animation or comic titles. The only problem is that most of these conventions feature heavily in comedy titles but are rarely found in serious titles. The third aspect involves the animation style. While there are many anime titles with poor animation quality, there are also many others with highly fluid animation. I don't think I'm being unfair by saying that the best animation titles outside Japan have yet to rival many of today's anime titles in terms of animation. So, in conclusion, relying on a single visual aspect to identify anime and manga titles will prove useless since that aspect may or may not be present in the title in question but using a combination of visual aspects will prove more successful. 3) Music (Audio Style) The music element is an interesting one. Unlike music used in other forms of animation, the music used in anime covers the full spectrum of music genres from Hip Hop to Classical and from Jazz to Traditional. I suppose that is to be expected since this huge variety of music reflects the huge variety of storylines one sees in anime (remember that the producers of any animated work often choose music that best complements the story). It doesn't only stop at that. Many anime music singles and albums have reached very high positions in the Japanese Official Music Charts (Oricon) over the years. I was also told that many famous Japanese bands started their careers by composing and singing anime songs before going mainstream. If you also add in the fact that some of the most famous Japanese singers also work as anime voice actors (Nana Mizuki for example) then you truly have an element that can be used to distinguish anime from other types of animation. 4) Characters and Voice Acting (Characterization Style) While it's true that there are certain character stereotypes that appear in some types of anime and manga, looking at the anime and manga landscape as a whole, it's quite hard to find a common pattern. The only general thing I can say about the characters in a good anime or manga title is that they are interesting and you tend to sympathize with them or absolutely hate them as the story unfolds. It's even common to sympathize with the bad guy in an anime or manga story because he or she are far more convincing than the good guys. This viewer or reader polarization is quite a common phenomenon in anime and manga fandom and is solid proof to how interesting many of the characters in anime and manga are. The characters also come from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds and need not be Japanese. This international aspect in anime and manga characterization has increased significantly in recent years and it's probably a response to the increase in anime and manga popularity outside Japan. The voice acting in anime is generally well planned and well performed. By that I mean that the producers tend to pick the right voice for each character and the chosen voice actor manages to convey the true personality of his/her character in a highly professional manner (which is more than I can say for the English dubbing effort of anime). There is another important aspect to voice acting in anime. Voice acting in Japan is a well respected job that is on par with regular acting. Many of the voice actors in Japan are well known personalities. That, however, cannot be said about voice actors in other countries. On a side note, I generally find the voices of Japanese voice actors easy on the ears except for a couple of actors whose voice acting causes ear bleeding like Haruko Momoi, Rei Kugimiya and Kappie Yamaguchi. But even those annoying actors manage to pull off an amazing performance every once in a while. I'd like to add another element that pertains to the identity of anime debate and that is: 5) Origin of Anime and Manga It's no hidden fact that anime and manga originate from and are created in Japan. The references to Japanese culture in anime and manga are more than can be counted. In fact, one could say that anime and manga are a mirror that reflects the mentality of the Japanese people as it evolved over the past century or so. The question is: are there really international anime and manga titles? This question is motivated by the increase in graphic novel titles over the past few years that are collectively termed “International Manga”. These are titles written by non Japanese authors who claim their work was influenced by Japanese manga. I had a look at many of these titles and I have to admit that many seem like cheap imitations but I also have to admit that a few of those titles were well written and drawn that it's actually quite hard to tell the author is non Japanese. There were even international authors who won the privilege of publishing their works in well established Japanese manga magazines (like this artist for example). Even the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is encouraging international artist to draw so called “International Manga”. It's still a controversial question because, as we have shown above, manga and anime have a myriad of narrative, visual and characterization styles and you can't always associate one of them with anime and manga alone. Does that mean that if you imitate one of those styles; you actually created International Manga? Or should the term Manga only apply to graphic novels created in Japan? I don't really have a definitive answer to this question but I do have an opinion. My opinion was actually expressed very well in a famous scene in episode 8 of Code Geass R2. In that scene, Zero asks Suzaku about what makes a person Japanese and Suzaku replies saying its what's in his heart that determines that. Zero then says that he agrees. Applying that answer to our question, we can say that International Manga is manga that stems from the cultural background of the author but uses the conventions and various styles found in Japanese Manga (i.e it has a Japanese heart). By stressing the cultural background of the author, the manga can then truly be called international instead of being just a cheap imitation. The analysis leads us to the following definition: Anime is a form of animation that originated in Japan which is characterized by narrative approach that does not shy from tackling any subject known to man, a visual style that is as varied as its narrative style but often adheres to certain visual conventions and stresses fluid animation, an audio style that spans all genres of music and a characterization style where characters are unique, interesting (most of the time) and instrumental in moving the story forward. A similar definition can be applied to manga: Manga is a form of printed graphical storytelling that originated in Japan which is characterized by narrative approach that does not shy from tackling any subject known to man, a visual style that is as varied as its narrative style but often adheres to certain visual conventions, and a characterization style where characters are unique, interesting (most of the time) and instrumental in moving the story forward. 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<style type="text/css">!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } A:link { color: #0000ff } --> </style> I've heard a lot of people who don't know much about anime and manga say that you never see any oriental (or East Asian) character designs in anime and manga and this issue is often used by many as a pretext to look down on the arts of anime and manga. I have to admit that this issue is thought provoking. One cannot deny that there a ton of anime titles out there that use the so called “moe” character designs (large eyes, small mouth and nose...etc) but there are also many titles that don't use such designs at all. The question is: among the titles that don't use any “moe” character designs; are there any that use oriental designs? This quetsion got me thinking so I decided to do some research in order to settle this issue once and for all with concrete proof. My research led me to compile a list of titles that have used oriental character designs in the past. The list is shown below: 1) Monster 2) Kurau Phantom Memory 3) Rurouni Kenshin OAVs (Trust & Betrayal and Reflection) 4) Otogizoushi 5) Happy (Naoki Urasawa manga) 6) 20th Century Boys (Naoki Urasawa manga) 7) Zipang 8) The Spirit of the Sun 9) Planetes 10) Like the Clouds, Like the Wind 11) Seirie no Moribito (it is set in a fantasy world but I will include it nonetheless) 12) Mushishi 13) Paranoia Agent 14) Texhnolyze 15) The Gokusen 16) Old Boy (Manga by Nobuaki Minegishi) 17) Cromartie High School 18) Jin-Roh 19) WXIII: Patlabor The Movie 3 20) FLAG 21) Solanin (manga by Asano Inio) 22) Ciguatera (manga by Furuya Minoru) 23) Summer Holiday with Coo 24) Only Yesterday I believe that is a fair amount of titles that covers a large range of genres. There may be more titles that I don’t know about or I forgot to include so if you know of any such titles, by all means tell me in the comments section or via email and I will update the list. The interesting thing is that all the titles listed above are not only examples of Far Eastern character designs but all of them represent some of the finest titles that anime and manga has to offer (and I’m talking about top quality here!). What's more fascinating is that all the people who use the character design issue to attack anime and manga haven't even watched or read any of the titles above despite the fact that all these titles are critically acclaimed. Of course all the serious anime and manga fans out there know that the main reason those people make such accusations is because they never bothered to look for such titles in the first place. It's always easier to make false accusations than to search for the truth. There is another interesting issue I want to raise regarding character designs in anime. I’ve heard many people say that the widely used cute character designs that feature large eyes, small noses and small mouths are actually Caucasian character designs. I completely disagree. There are no Caucasian people with these facial features because if they did exist, they would be in museums and science labs by now because they are different from the norm. Those widely used designs in anime were applied to Caucasian, Mongolian and Black races without exception. A famous example of this (though not something that I would call a quality example) is Plastic Little. That single episode OAV featured characters who belong to all the major human races but all of them were drawn using the same character design format mentioned above. Now that I laid out all the facts, it’s time to tell you what I think and what I hope for. I believe that realistic character designs (Far Eastern designs if the story setting is Japan / Far East or other appropriate designs if the setting is outside the Far East) are best suited for serious titles while the cute design format is suitable for comedies. The number of anime and manga titles that feature Far Eastern designs have increased over the years and my guess is that it will continue to grow in the future. I don’t agree with other people who say that the cute character designs should be abolished because those designs are beautiful in their own way but I believe that their proper place should be in comedy and light titles. All in all, I think this cocktail of styles helps to enrich anime and manga and make them the captivating arts that we all know and love.
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This is the continuation to my last post but this time it covers the comedy shows of the 2007 spring season.1) Seto no Hanayome This show is absolutely MAD and that is exactly why I love it. The best comedy show this season. I must admit that I've always hated Haruko Momoi's voice but for some strange reason, she did very well playing the role of San chan. I love it whenever she gets serious and starts talking about the chivalry of mermaids (one of the staples of each episode). The ending animation reminds me of the Genshiken ending animation (I wonder if that is intentional?!). Of course, the title of “coolest anime male character” this season must go to Masa san (he's got an afro after all!). 2) Nagasarete AirantouMy second favourite comedy this season. This show is so childish but that is exactly why I like it. Even the fanservice is childish. A bunch of quirky characters and a bizarre premise makes for an enjoyable watch every episode. The opening and ending songs are great and Yui Horie's role as Suzu brings back pleasant (not so distant) memories of her role as Manabi in Manabi Straight. Incidentally, did anyone else notice that the character design of the main male lead in this show, Ikuto, is not that different from the character design of the main male lead in Seto no Hanayome, Nagasumi?!! I guess Japanese animators ran out of ideas for male character designs.
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Below is a short evaluation of some the 2007 spring season shows that I'm currently watching.1) Victorian Romance Emma ~Second Act~Even before the current season started, I had a strong feeling this would be my favourite show of the season and it did not disappoint in that regard. Why did I think so? Well, it's because I adored the first season and considered it as a masterpiece. The first season was emotionally overwhelming (at least for me) and words fail to describe the main character of the show, Emma. It's no surprise then that the second season continues the successful record of the first season. The first episode of the second season even brought tears to my eyes which is something that never happened to me before when watching the first episode of any other anime show. Let's hope the second season continues it's strong run and conclude the story in a satisfactory way.2) Seirie no MoribitoThis show is by far my second favourite show of the season. I only watch fantasy shows if the story and art quality are high and this show fits that bill perfectly. It has all the signs of an epic tale and the story has elements of political intrigue and a background setting that resembles ancient china, all of which make this show more appealing to me. Balsa is also a very strong, wise and admirable character and all the other characters are also interesting. The art quality doesn't disappoint as one would expect from Production IG. I also love the opening because it gets me excited over the show.3) Romeo x JulietI'm really enjoying this show so far and I think the changes made to the original play make the story more interesting (I'm always weak for stories of rebellion against tyrants). My only complaint is that the political side of the story is not moving as fast as it should be. I know this is meant to be a romance story first and foremost but I really want to see developments in the political side of things (i.e. Putting forward plans to overthrow the Montague regime). I absolutely love the opening and the ending is great as well.4) Bokura noI decided to watch this just to see how shocking it can be since I heard that the manga story is very shocking. The progress was a bit slow and the story didn't really pick up until episode 5 so I have yet to give my final verdict on this. I absolutely love the opening because it gives an ominous feeling about the show.5) The Skull ManStories about revenge tend to be powerful and that is why I became interested in this show. The mystery aspects are also appealing. I generally hate superhero stories but this is not a story about a superhero but rather a mysterious man with an agenda (probably revenge). After watching the first 5 episodes, the story is still intriguing but I still can't tell how the show will end as there are still a lot of mysteries to be solved (albeit I have some good guesses regarding some of the mysteries). I really like the ending and I believe the animation used in the ending contains clues about the tragic past of the man behind the skull. I love the old school character designs and I guess they fit the story very well since it takes place in the 1950s (or was it the 1960s?). The two main characters, Hayato and Kiriko, are very likable and I guess they complement each other in a funny kind of way.6) HitohiraI can't really give a decent evaluation about this show since I only watched the first 2 episodes. I can, however, say that I liked what I have watched so far (especially episode 2). The story concept is quite interesting and I always have a soft spot in my heart for stories dealing with the theatre (I am a big fan of Daddy Long Legs after all). The character designs are average but palatable. The music is great (I love the opening and ending). The characters are interesting enough and even a character like Kana turned out to have an interesting side when I thought she was just there for comic relief purposes. The secret that Nono is trying to hide is another interesting aspect of the show. It might be related to some throat condition she might have (like cancer or something) but that is just my guess.
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One of the pleasant surprises this week was the release of the first episode of Perrine Monogatari (The Story of Perrine), courtesy of C1 Anime. In case you're wondering, Perrine is one of the World Masterpiece Theater projects (the project of 1978) and one of my favourite anime shows. The quality of the art is exactly what you expect from a 70s show so don't expect anything fancy but having said that, the art is actually very good for the era that it represents.The show is 53 episodes long (which is typical of early WMT shows) and most of the events take place in 19th century France but a lot of the events at the beginning take place outside France as Perrine and her mother travel through Europe on their way to France. The title characters is very likable and has a very strong personality. Be aware though, like most WMT shows, this show is very sentimental so the warning posted at the C1 anime website about the need for a tissue box next to you is very valid indeed. Following the ups and downs of the life of Perrine is like riding a rollercoaster and is no laughing matter most of the time.Anyway, I encourage people to watch this show and my gratitude goes to C1 Anime for bringing this gem to the fan community in its original language.
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Now where do I start? I'm actually lost for words here. To say that the conclusion of Manabi Straight was good is an understatement. To say that the conclusion was great is an understatement. I guess I'll just have to express myself through the following paragraphs in the hope that my true impressions of this show will reach the readers in as clear a manner as possible. What follows may seem a bit disjointed but please bear with me.Review Summary The Bad: That shameless and unwarranted scene in episode 6.The Good: Everything else!StoryFor a slice of life show, Manabi Straight actually has a story...and a solid one at that. Don't let the cute character designs fool you (but I'm not one to talk since I had low expectations of this show when I first started simply because of the character designs). The show actually gets very serious and touches on a lot of themes. Themes like school politics, the generation differences between young people and adults, the choice between education or earning money through work, loyalty and the sense of belonging to a group, career choice, personal insecurity and trusting others and most importantly...friendship (or solidarity as I like to call it).These themes are generally covered in tandem and the drama content is quite high. From the first scene in the series to the last one, the directors show remarkable competency in executing the story.I have talked about the politics of the show extensively before so I don't need to repeat myself. The only thing I want to say is that the politics is closely tied to the overarching concept of solidarity that I have mentioned above. In a way, the politics of this show has many parallels with an anime classic that is very dear to my heart; Romeo's Blue Skies (RBS). In Manabi Straight you have a team of girls who are striving to serve and improve the life of their fellow students. In RBS you have a group of chimney cleaners in Milan who band together (the so called “Black Brothers”) in order to improve their lives and support each other (a form of trade union so to speak). In Manabi Straight you have confrontation between the Seioh student council and the Aikou establishment. In RBS you have confrontation between the Black Brothers and a group of ruthless nobles as well as with the child slave advocates. In Manabi Straight you have a charismatic leader who helped to bring the student council together. In RBS you also have a charismatic leader (Alfredo) who forms and leads the Black Brothers. In Manabi Staright, the girls ponder and finally decide their future careers. In RBS, the main characters also ponder and decide their future careers. It's remarkable how both shows are similar even though one of them takes place in 19th century Milan while the other takes place in the future Japan of 2035! One must not forget the humour. The comedy in the show is a pleasant aspect that helps to balance the serious aspects of the show. I've laughed out loud many times while watching it and some of the best comedy scenes and punch lines in anime history can be found in Manabi Staright. Episode 7 in particular is very note worthy.The fanservice is there but it is sparse overall and the level of it (with the exception of that scene in episode 6) is nowhere near the shameless sexual references that you see in other shows. The fanservice was never a goal for this show to begin with and the character designs don't help project a fanservicy image either. I'd say about 70% of the fanservice in the entire show is in episode 6.Continuing the ufotable tradition of including cameos of their old shows in their recent ones, it seems the image above from episode 1 is a cameo of the androids May, April and Febraury from Coyote Ragtime Show (a younger version of them at least). It's quite a subtle reference and I wonder if there are any other cameo appearances?Then there is the conclusion. As I indicated in previous posts, my main fear for this show is how the directors will end the story. The previous record of ufotable isn't exactly astounding in that field. The directors decided to silence me once and for all with the best conclusion of any ufotable anime ever. It's not that the conclusion is very good relative to other ufotable conclusions, it's just excellent compared to any story conclusion (anime or otherwise) you can think of. Simply speaking, the conclusion is just right. It seems the strategy of using a group of directors to work on each episode of this show has paid off handsomely. Not only that but by adopting such a novel approach, Manabi staright joins the leaugue of innovative and successful experimental anime shows. There is still an extra OAV episode that will be released with the last DVD volume on the 10th of October and it goes without saying that I'm looking forward to it. I really hope that the epsidoe will be of serious nature instead of being a fanservice episode but I wonder what more can be addeed to the story after the satisfying conclusion of episode 12. Who knows, we might even get a Momoha focused episode (^_^)Art and AnimationThe art is gorgeous...simple as that. That is something to be expected because ufotable shows never lacked when it comes to art and animation. The quality of the art only dropped a few times in scenes that involved a lot of people appearing in one screenshot but even those were barely noticeable. Screenshots of individual characters were well done and the background art was also of high calibre. The art associated with modern devices like computers, scooters and notebooks is very classy and attractive. The school uniforms are unique enough and use the novelty of tartan skirts which I don't think was used in any other school anime before. There is also the novelty of having their personal organisers attached to the sides of the uniform skirt in a reminder that the story takes place in 2035 and not 2007. Having said that, the world of 2035 as portrayed in Manabi Straight is not that different from our world with the exception of using some high tech gadgets in schools and at work. The character designs are definitely cute and attractive (and chubby as some bloggers have put it). Even though the designs have a lot in common with each other, the animators have managed to create a unique design for each character even when you have scenes where a a large group of students is standing together (like in episode 11). The designs have the oddity of making the characters look younger than they actually are because of their short chubby stature but you get accustomed to them after a while (when you are engrossed in the story) and comparisons with the designs of adult characters removes the oddity because the adults are only slightly taller than the students which gives the right sense of proportionality. The animation is no less attractive than the art and makes its mark felt in such scenes as the opening animation, the Manabi concert in episode 11, the water drop scene in episode 7, all the crazy action in episode 1 and the angel scene in episode 3. The water drop sequence in episode 7 alone deserves some sort of animation award. The ending sequence uses the ufotable trademark of clay animation which is a funny and interesting way of ending each episode.By the way, I love how Manabi makes manga sketches of herself and her friends and uses them for student council documents every now and then (^_^) One of the unique and very obvious aspects of the show is the use of low colour contrast for much of the indoor scenes. You would think that this would be an annoying aspect of the show especially if you compare it to the bright colours used in other shows but I never found this aspect annoying at all. On the contrary, it actually gave the show a unique flavour that would distinguish it from other shows. This is another example of the innovation and experimentation approach that was adopted by the producers. Characters and Voice Acting 1) Amamiya Manami “Manabi” (also known as Boss)The charismatic leader of the group and the one who brought life back to the Student Council. Her energy, enthusiasm and “never give up” attitude have always been the driving force behind most of the events in the show. She has a heart of gold and that earned her the love and admiration of students and teachers alike which is a very important asset when leading a group. 2) Inamori Mika “Mikan” (also known as the Cat)She was the glue that kept the whole group together. She kept performing the student council duties alone for some time before Manabi came in and that in part shows her dedication to her work and her diligence. She also managed to establish a good relation with all the members of the council (including Mei) and that has protected the council from falling prey to personal rivalries between members. She is too innocent for her own good and extremely sentimental (which is why she cries a lot) but that has proven beneficial in a way because it made the other members look after her thus forgetting their differences.3) Etoh Mei (also known as the Chancellor)My favourite character and the leader in the shadows so to speak. The true intellectual in the group. When things start sliding into disarray, you can always count on Mei to correct things and put them back to order. Her technical and managerial abilities were invaluable to the group. A character with a sad past, she finally found true solace and friendship after joining the council (thanks to Manabi). The scene where she is lying on the grass with Mikan near the end of episode 5 is a stark reminder of the famous scene in episode 17 of Mahoraba where Tamami is also lying on the grass with Kozue and gazing at the sun. With retrospect, there are indeed many similarities between Tamami and Mei's pasts.4) Uehara Mutsuki “Mutchi”The grassroots populist character. Athletic and strong (personality wise and physically). She is always willing to give a helping hand to anyone in need. That attitude coupled with her tomboyish character has earned her considerable popularity amongst students. Her openness to others is demonstrated by the fact that she was Mikan's first friend when she enrolled in Seioh Acadmy and was Mei's only friend before Manabi joined the school.5) Odori Momoha “Momo”The public relations officer if you like. A very cheerful and weird girl who likes to wander off and do whatever she pleases. While not officially a member of the student council, she nonetheless shadowed the official members and provided support most of the time (as long as she is not playing around somewhere else (>_<). An amateur journalist at heart, her video recordings provide a real biography of all the major student council activities since Manabi took over (thereby making her the official council biographer). It may not seem obvious but she is actually a very rich girl. That however hasn't changed her friendly attitude towards her friends. She loves to tease Mei every now and then and a lot of the humour in the show is associated with her. (^_^)6) Shimojima sensieThis great guy deserves special mention. He has always been on the student council side and supported them in every way possible (unlike the other teachers). He even donated his lunch money to the council at some point! Yet, for some reason, he was the subject of the student council member's wrath whenever something goes wrong (a sort of scapegoat)!! Despite all this, he never gets mad and continues to support the council to the very end! Is this guy great or is he great?! If you ask me, a golden medal is the least they could offer him.7) Seioh School PrincipalShe sympathised and supported Manabi's efforts from the shadows. She would often intervene in favour of the council members whenever they get into trouble. Her memories of being a student council member herself have given her a different perspective on student issues than other teachers in her school. The voices for all the characters fit them perfectly. If I was to pick a favourite then I would say that Yui Horie's role as Manabi and Aya Hirano's role as Mei were the most memorable but honestly, all the voice actors and actresses involved in this show did very well indeed.Manabi Straight RankingsSo, after all that has been said above, where does Manabi Straight stand in comparison to other shows.Well, I don't know about you guys, but, as far as I'm concerned, this show is:1) The best ufotable show ever.2) The best show of the 2007 winter season.3) A strong contender for the title of “Best Show of 2007”4) One of the finest slice of life shows out there. Utopia So, in the end, was the school of Manabi a utopia like the title suggests? I don't think so. It was no different from your typical modern Japanese high school and very similar to school environments in many parts of the world. You're not meant to suffer or experience troubles in a utopia but that is exactly what happens in the show. I think the show was trying to say that you don't really need a utopia to live happily and you can always strive to improve your conditions and the conditions of people around you through sheer sweat and hard work which is what Manabi and her friends have come to realise. Another important issue here is the fact that nothing will ever change unless you decide to take action and change it yourself. Just sitting there, ignoring the problem and not caring will lead nowhere. Well, if you have read this far then you have my thanks for your perseverance and my apology for the length of the post. I think I've said enough. I'll be looking forward to the DVDs once this show is licensed. This is Mohammad, webmaster of Oyasuminasai Anime Blog, signing off. (^_^)
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Legions and legions of tartan supporters! If this is not true fandom then I don't know what is! Scotland be proud; even the Japanese are mad about you. I still await the day when Scotland becomes an independent nation and then the celebration will be complete. Heck, I might even create Manabi posters for that occasion.Lost My Music There is no doubt that the highlight of episode 11 was the Manabi led concert. A true milestone in its own right, the event reminded me of one of the most memorable events in recent anime memory; the concert of Suzumiya Haruhi in episode 12 of the show (original TV order).Now I have to say that Suzumiya Haruhi was an annoying and lame show in general but I did enjoy 4 of the episodes; episodes 1, 2, 11 and 12 (or episodes 11, 1, 13 and 12 according to chronological order). Why did I enjoy those of all the 14 episodes? Simply because they were focused on comedy instead of trying to be serious. Episode 12 featured one of the best anime concert performances that I have ever seen and surprisingly enough, it was led by the cold queen herself. That episode was the only time throughout the entire show when I though that Haruhi was a decent if not likable character (unfortunately, she returned to her annoying self after that episodes). Her performance and that of her band was incredible indeed and I have to admit that the song was more exciting than Manabi's song. That is not to say that Manabi's performance was bad. On the contrary, she performed like a real pro. She started out on a slow tone in order to give the instrument players a chance to adapt and pick up the rhythm and the animators actually show that the instrument players have indeed picked up the required rhythm at the last few seconds of Manabi's solo part (bonus points go for that part alone). Manabi then launches into the fast rhythm version of the song accompanied by the rest of the band and we get a performance of a lifetime. Furthermore, the Manabi concert marked and celebrated the completion of critical stage in the show timeline (the school festival) while the Haruhi concert was a one off event that didn't any marks later on. It's also obvious from simple comparison that Haruhi was tense during her performance while Manabi was relaxed and was smiling all the time. Needless to say, if I was asked to choose between the Manabi or the Haruhi concert, I would choose the Manabi concert with my eyes (and ears) closed. Incidentally, in case you don't know, the voice actress for Haruhi is Hirano Aya who also did the voice of Etoh Mei. It make me wonder what would have been the result if Mei was forced to sing instead of Manabi?! The Little House on the Prairie It's amazing how relationship between the members of the student council has developed throughout the course of the series from this... to this... When I was young, one of our teachers at school used to tell us that we spend more time during the school year with our classmates than what we spend with our own families. As a result, he said, we should at least treat our classmates in the same manner as we treat our family members. In other words; your classmates and teachers are your second family. It may not be as romantic as he put it but you have to admit that he makes a valid point to some extent. At times, some students find that school is their only sanctuary especially if things at home aren't working well.Manabi and her friends have been spending long times (and sometimes staying for the night) in their own little house on the prairie (the old student council office overlooking the grass field on top of the school building) and that has increased and strengthened their mutual bonding.Deja VuIn a beautiful scene, Manabi reiterates what she said in the first scene of the series but this time from the top of the school building with all her mates standing next to her. It is the start indeed.The Cat Returns We get to see Mikan chan (also known as the Cat) practice her feline talents at eating some freshly made Yakisoba. (^o^) Parodies We also get to see Mutsuki do her best Ichijo Karen impression while saving a girl who oddly enough resembles Suzuki Nana from Seven of Nana (or is it one of her alter egos?!). Next stop...the finale
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While checking the latest news on Anime News Network last night, I came across this news item. My heart immediately skipped a beat. I knew it was just a matter of time before this would happen because the story was begging to be animated. Needless to say, I'll be looking forward to this show. The only thing I'm worried about is the company that will handle the animation. The company wasn't revealed in Kodansha's statement but I really hope it falls into the hands of capable people like JC Staff, Madhouse or Production IG. Falling into the hands of Toei Animation, Gainax or even Sunrise would be disastrous. We'll just have to wait and see. Incidentally, I did write a review of what I read so far of the manga if anyone is interested in knowing more about the story. This news item also came as a wonderful coincidence. I was checking the ANN manga encyclopedia a few days ago and I discovered that there was no entry for Shion no Ou so I decided to add one. The plot summary on that page was written by yours truly (^_^)There is something that really annoyed me though. I decided to see the reaction to the news post on ANN's forums. Someone using the user name Andrew Cunningham wrote a very amusing post. Apparently Shion is a moe character and Ayumi is a transvestite!! He also seems to think that the manga Yume Tsukai is far better than Shion no Ou which I find extremely amusing since that manga has a character who is openly pedophillic and is not ashamed to say it (not to mention the notorious content that this manga is famous for but was downplayed in the anime for obvious reasons).It's really sad when all anime and manga fans think about is moe whenever they see a young girl in a story and it gives a sad picture of the state of anime fandom.
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Let's talk politics...Just like the principal of Aikou Academy said, the student council of Seioh Academy failed to obtain 70% of the student body signatures for the school fair petition. Instead they obtained 76% of the signatures. If this was an election then the media would call it a Landslide Victory! Indeed, a result like this would be the cause of envy amongst most of the political parties of the world.In a way, the result above is that of a referendum on the performance of the new Seioh Student Council since Manabi took over as president. The initiated remodeling of the old school clock tower and the eventual destruction of that tower and the student council office with it has rallied the student body (the masses so to speak) behind their council (government so to speak) and they overwhelmingly decided to help the council in moving in to their new home (which turns out to be a new building. How cool is that?!).As ironic as it might be, there is nothing that brings humans together like tragedy and misfortune. These conditions tend to ignite a sense of bonding between members of the community and force them to act as one since they are all affected by the misfortune. It's the will to survive and fight on.In the end, the student body decided to give an overwhelming thumbs up to the student council because they remembered how the council was good to them and how it strove to make student life better. Good governance always pays (well, sometimes it doesn't but that's due to certain political circumstances and we don't need to go into that).So Shimojima sensie was part of the student movement in the past! I always knew that guy was a leftist at heart. He also has one big appetite. I'll talk more about Shimojima in my post after the series ends.Poor Momoha. She tried to be friendly with Mei and what does she get?! I'm a big fan of Mei but she should try and be more friendly with others. I guess she was searching her heart at that time because she finally decided to open her heart to strangers in a scene that I consider to be one of the highlights of the whole series (and a cute scene as well). That smile on Mei's face was priceless.We also get to see Manabi do one of her trademark frog impressions. I can't get enough of these faces (^o^)Let's hope Seioh Academy will continue to thrive under the auspices of the new Number 10. I'll end this post with a nice screenshot. Note: This is the first post I've written using Writer from OpenOffice.org. I'm very pleased with the results (^_^)
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