At this point, they’ll thumb through it, and then look up with a look of surprise on their faces. They’ll take in my greying hair (and, I’m sad to say, crows’ feet – although I’ve promised the SPCA to stop collecting them) and generally grown-up surroundings – ok, apart from the Sabre figurine on top of the TV – and say, “But it’s a comic!”

It’s around this point that the tension rises, as I struggle to fight both my inner otaku and the Fist of Death, whilst retaining a calm exterior. However, I can’t help but sound like a terrible snob when I reply, “It’s not a comic, it’s manga.” There’s always a standard reply to this – “What’s the difference?” and to be honest I’ve never really sat down and thought about what the differences are between “comics” and “manga”, normally preferring to crush a glass in my hand in frustration and silently wish a painful death upon the Philistine I invited into my home.  http://www.blogsurfer.us/

So, then I decided to sit down think about the differences between “comics” and “manga” and what makes one readable to somebody of my age and leaves the other strictly in the realm of kids. (And before everybody jumps on me – “graphic novels” are not “comics” ok? Sandman is still one of the greatest things ever drawn and written.)

After a bit of research, it came down to the fact that the Japanese have never had a problem with using manga as a valid form of entertainment for readers of all ages. It’s also been around for a very long time. Some say that the tobae of the 11^th century are the great-great-great-etc-grandfathers of modern-day manga, so they’ve had a lot of time to practise. They’ve also been able to operate without a great deal of regulation. Outside of the pornography law, which prevents the display of genitalia (often overcome by the tiniest of black stripes over the offending organ… er… so I’m told); they’ve been pretty much left alone. This has resulted in its own problems, especially amongst the doujinshi market, which is a hydra the authorities are going to have to tackle.

Now don’t get me wrong, there used to be some wonderful comics floating around. I still remember sitting in dusty swap-shops reading things like Tales from the Crypt and even Superman – who seriously kicked ass in those days, unlike the wimpy namby pamby we have today. So what went wrong? Well, here’s my take on it.

The Golden Age of comics was the early 1950s. Around that time there were around 100 million copies of various cartoons being printed every month. To put it into perspective, 12% of teachers admitted to reading comics – find me one that will admit to that today. There were over 650 various titles available. Things were good in Comic Publishing Land.

Then came the real advent of TV, which by the 50s had evolved to the extent that most households could now afford one. Suddenly people could watch their heroes on TV, instead of having to read about them, with the effect that sales plummeted. Within two years, the 650 titles had become 250 – and the publishers were getting nervous. So what did they do? Turned to what sells – sex. The comics were seriously sexed up and heroes like Captain America suddenly found themselves fighting evil alongside the curvaceous and nearly naked Atomic Lady.

However, at the time this was happening, along came Dr. Frederic Wertham, who clearly had a thing against comics – and probably against teenagers too. He published a book, called Seduction of the Innocents, in which he accused comics of “promoting violence, torture, criminality, drug-taking and *ahem* rampant masturbation” although one hopes – as Bill Bryson so wonderfully said – not all at once. Clearly sex was on his mind; as he went on to describe Batman and Robin as being the “wish dream of two homosexuals living together.” Then again, I’ve always been worried about superheroes running around in tights.

At the same time, you had a Senate Committee on Juvenile Delinquency (at which Wertham testified), as well as somebody called Robert Linder accusing teenagers of suffering from a “form of collective mental illness” thanks to Rock ‘n’ Roll. Clearly comics’ days were numbered and indeed it wasn’t long before the Comics Code was introduced in 1954 and by 1955 the publication and distribution of comics was being regulated by law in most US states. The sole purpose of this Bill was to suck the soul out of the comic industry. I’ll publish the points at the end, but just reading them gives you a pretty clear indication of why when you think “comic” you think Archie & Jughead, Richie Rich and Scrooge McDuck and when thinking “manga” you come across such gems such as the gentle melancholy of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, the human drama of Gunslinger Girl, the disturbing Bradherley’s Coach, the charming Azumanga Daioh etc, etc. – all of which are clearly aimed at an older market, which thanks to the Comics Code, barely exists outside Japan. There, for every gawky teen hanging around Akihabara, there’s a tired salaryman reading the latest chapter of his favourite manga, as his train rattles home.

Simply put, their creativity was not stifled at birth and they went on to create some of the most entertaining, thought provoking, intelligent visual media around. And strangely, people on both sides of the Pacific still engaged in violence, torture, drug-taking and – no doubt – rampant masturbation too.

Just looking at the list below, it’s clear why manga stands head and shoulders above comics. Criminals can be sympathetic creatures. Why shouldn’t they be? They’re people too… although in comics they’re more apt to look like Doc Octopus than the guy next door. Just another way to dehumanise the bad guy, I guess. Sometimes the good guys aren’t necessarily nice people either. Gunslinger Girl’s Social Welfare Agency is there to fight the bad guys, but the way they do it hardly qualifies them as innocents. Likewise, it’s very hard to feel sorry for Satou, the recluse shut-in from Welcome to the NHK, yet you do, especially when you realise that those around him are even more messed up.

Crime is sordid, and more often than not, is depicted as such in manga. After all, even if the world in which the manga story takes place isn’t real, it still takes place in “reality”. Actions have consequences; if the hero is going to blow up a building, people are going to die.

Likewise people have sex in manga, just like in real life. It could be graphic, without being pornographic (like Believers), funny (like Owari To Hajimari no Miles) or even delicately danced around (as in the wonderful Mysterious Girlfriend X).

Even social issues don’t escape attention – from the phenomenon of the shut-in in Welcome to the NHK, to a whole raft of Japanese social ills covered in Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei. Hell, even the girls’ names play around with things like stalkers, shut-ins, illegal immigrants, anime fangirls, etc, etc.

That’s what makes manga special – it operates in a world that people can relate to. No matter how great the hero of the tale, at the end of the day they’re people too, with their own flaws.

Even if it’s sci-fi, like Plantes (which is about trash collectors in space) or Moyashimon, the science is sound. In Planetes, space is silent – no rocket ships roaring off into the distance – and Newton’s laws work. Moyashimon will teach you everything you need to know about microbes and the art of fermentation (ok, and cross-dressing and loli-goths). Even the largely silent and gentle picturescapes of The Walking Man or Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou are there specifically to transport the tired salaryman away from the troubles of his working day and crowded subway into a world where he can stop and smell the sakura.

I’m by no means saying it’s all good. Believe me, for every Hidamari Sketch, or K-On!, there’s a dozen Narutos and Dragon Ball Z’s. After all, as somebody once said, 95% of everything is crap. It’s just that much of the 95% of crap manga still has far more to offer – both story and artwork-wise – than the top 5% of comics. And the top 5% of manga is, frankly, peerless.

1954 Comics Code (pinched from here)

• Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
• If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
• Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
• In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
• Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
• No comic magazine shall use the word horror or terror in its title.
• All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
• All lurid, unsavoury, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.
• Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
• Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
• Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.
• Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure.
• Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
• Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
• Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Violent love scenes as well as sexual abnormalities are unacceptable.
• Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.
• Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
• Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.

So with that said, let me venture forth back into semi-familiar territory – the classroom. Or should that be the clubroom?

Sketchbook ~ Full Color’s ~ (スクッチブック ~Full Color’S~ )

We’ll kick off with one of the gentler comedies to come out in the last two years. Please bear in mind that “gentle” does not mean “not funny,” it’s just that it’s not in your face. Rather, much of the humour lies in what they say, rather than what they do (and for which I am eternally grateful for the skills of the subbers). This is more evident in the pun-intensive 4koma manga the series is based on. Sadly, many of these puns are virtually untranslatable, which means much of the humour in the manga is lost. Fortunately, this is toned down in the anime, which makes the humour far more accessible. It also scores from being from the same stable as the wonderful “Aria” series and has inherited much of the same easy-going feel from that gentle tale of Martian gondoliers (so much so, in fact, that Aria-Syatyou makes a sneaky guest appearance early on in the show). http://www.blogsurfer.us/

Sketchbook revolves around the members of a school’s arts club, in particular our four heroines (with a few exceptions, four appears to be the magic number in this kind of show). Foremost amongst these is Sora Kajiwara, who is aptly named because she is a dreamer, with her head almost permanently in the clouds. It’s not so much that she’s a dreamer, it’s just that she really seems to have a very vivid imagination and over-thinks things and then drifts off into her thoughts. A good example of the way she thinks can be seen in her reasoning when confronted by a black cat.

“People say,” she thinks to herself, “that when you see a black cat, you’re supposed to take three steps backwards. However, if you do that, then you won’t be able to stroke it.” And thinking thus, she gives centuries of superstition a kick in the trousers and goes on to pet said cat. Actually cats – far from being the evil, hand-chomping beasts of Azumanga Daioh – play their own important role in Sketchbook. We are often privy to the cat-conversations of Mika, Ha-san and Kuma-san (who calls himself by the archaic and arrogant “Wagahai”), which provides an extra layer of fun on the proceedings.

Sora is also terminally shy, to the point of having her name written in her ever-present sketchbook to show strangers (accompanied by much nervous trembling), rather than have to talk to them. That also forms the thread that binds the series together, as Sora – with the help of her friends and club-mates – gradually learns to deal with the world and gradually emerges from her cocoon… just I time for the final credits, of course.

So what of the friends? Sora’s immediate circle of friends is made up of Natsume Asou, who is by far the most outgoing of the quartet. She’s the boisterous one, always the first with an opinion, or to rush headfirst into a situation. She also uses home-made puppets to do much of her communication.  Hazuki Torikai is calm and level headed. She lives alone and on quite a tight budget, although her life seems to be tormented by finding things she bought for ￥200 the day before, are now on sale for ￥100. She also spends much of her time having to deal with Sora’s thought patterns, or Natsume’s actions.

Then there’s Kate. She’s an exchange student from Canada, who can speak Japanese (albeit with an almost unintelligible accent) an who claims she knows how to write kanji. The problem is, she thinks everything can be written in kanji, hence the confusion when she writes her name. Instead of the katakana ケイト (Keito), she writes the kanji 毛糸, which is also keito, but means “knitting wool.” She’s cheerful and happy… and very gullible, as she tends to respond to anything she gets told with an accepting, “Sou desu ka?!” She also serves to illustrate the difficulties of learning Japanese, such as the time she complains about having to learn katakana. The kana for “petrol” (gasorin) is ガソリン. “The last three characters all look the same,” she complains.

Added to all of this are their assorted senpai of the art club – all of whom stand out with their own little quirks and distinct personalities. Ujo Sugyo is the very serious and studious club president, and judging by his permanently creased brow and world-weary expression, he’s had to put up with the antics of the club members for far too long. Asaka Kamiya is creative… and not much else; her brain seems to dance to a differnt tune, beat, instument and planet to everybody else. Little Kokage Kuga always makes me think of the class Goth (it’s probably her hair and the fact that the first time we see her, she’s painting “Night” – yup, a totally black canvass.) She also has the habit of sticking her head through the curtains and pretending to be a lift (I know – it sounds odd, yet, scarily, it’s something I remember doing way back when!). Hiyori Kasugano loves nature (especially bugs) and wants to run a reserve one day. She’s best friends with the reserved and quiet (but musical) Juju Sasaki. Lastly, there’s the short-tempered and noisy Daichi Negishi. All of the characters provide the perfect backdrop for our four heroines, blending perfectly into the story.

There’s also the two insane (well I think so) senpai, Fuu and Ryou, whose basic role is to pop up as a link, make some really obscure comments and disappear again. They do get their moment to shine in the spotlight, when called in to fix Hazuki’s radio… which they do by performing an exorcism! We’re also not let down in the “inane anime teacher” department. The club’s advisor, Kurihara-sensei, walks around with a pet chicken, called Pi-chan. This poor creature (the chicken, not the teacher) has to endure such torments as its owner saying, “You look good enough to eat!”

Besides Sora, story-wise there isn’t really an underlying plot. The characters just do… stuff. Sora and Kasugano spend a day walking through the fields sketching stuff, they have club outing… at the school (and if you don’t like cockroaches, this episode will traumatise you for life!), the girls attend a festival, or ask their senpai for their study tips 9with interesting results) etc, etc. It’s really just a slow, quiet, slice-of-life show (with some really nice laid-back music to go with it), that offers some good laughs and a perfect way to unwind at the end of a busy day.

K-On! ( けいおん!)

K-ON! (けいおん!)

The title of this delightful little comedy comes from the Japanese for “light music” (軽音楽 keionga) and that’s exactly what it’s about – the members of an all-girls’ school’s light music club. Yes, it might sound a bit trite, but I was sold the minute Detroit Metal City’s Krauser II made an unscheduled guest appearance – that’s when I had a feeling there was something special lurking here.

I call it delightful for two reasons, firstly it is seriously funny and secondly, it’s as cute as hell (and I’m such a sucker for cute). Don’t let yourself be put off by the moe though, as a comedy, K-On stands head and shoulders above everything else this season. It’s not all laugh-a-minute stuff, but there’s been plenty of punchlines that have had me laughing out loud – and that doesn’t happen often. Being the product of a 4koma seinen manga means that the underlying comedy isn’t wildly silly, nor does it rely on cheap fanservice for laughs. Ok… the one exception might be Ritsu and Yui’s reaction to Mio’s *ahem* somewhat better development in the chest area, shown during the obligatory beach episode.

What K-On also does well, besides immediately introducing us to a cast of immensely likeable characters, is break with the usual plot device. It’s not about somebody lacking talent trying to break into the music club, but rather the members of the music club wanting to keep the talentless one around, in order to keep the club going. This is done with copious amounts of tea and cake… something the club spends more time eating than actual practising. Hence the band’s name – “After School Teatime.”

Obviously, the story revolves around the initial four band members. Heading up the pack is Yui Hirasawa. Our introduction to Yui involves her slipping and landing on her backside and the viewer pretty much gets the picture that she’s spent most of her young life falling, or sitting, on said backside. She’s sort of drifted through life, with no direction and only ends up joining the club, because her level-headed friend, Nodaka, half-jokingly suggests that people who don’t join clubs become NEETs later in life. Luckily, it turns out she’s a bit of an idiot savant (as a friend described her) when it comes to the guitar, which although a very convenient plot device, is played for laughs, as she tends to forget things the minute she’s learnt something new. She’s also oblivious to things like tuning the guitar or playing vibrato… these things just happen naturally to her. As Mio describes her, “She’s the kind of person who plays games without reading the manual.”

The other band members comprise Ritsu Tainaka, the drummer, club leader and impetuous hothead, and Mio Akiyama, her long time friend, who plays the bass and generally tries to be the cool, calm and collected one amongst the general mayhem. The only problem is, she’s as flaky as the rest of them – she’s terribly shy (and goes to pieces at the mere thought of having to sing lead vocals, but manages to overcome this and step up to the plate… er… mike when required), cowers in terror at the mere hint of scary stuff (especially barnacles for some reason) and worries that she isn’t “cute.” Fortunately, the Internet in general… ok, and me… thinks she is. The interplay between these two, with Ritsu often sporting an impressive array of head lumps, as she tests Mio’s patience once too often, provides the comic links between scenes.

Making up the quartet is the keyboard player, Tsumugi Kotobuki (she of the incredible eyebrows). Sadly, her character doesn’t quite get the same treatment it does in the manga, and more often than not, she sort of fades into the background. You see, young Mugi-chan is a rich little princess, who seems to have lived a sheltered life (although she has had piano lessons since age 4, which makes her a natural for the club). Little things like trying to earn some spare cash to buy Yui’s guitar (the fact that her family owns the music store in question greatly simplifies matters) and eating at McDonald’s are all wonderful new adventures for her. However, whilst the anime portrays her as being uncomfortable about her wealth around her friends, the manga portrays her in a slightly different light. Here, she knows she’s the boss’ daughter and isn’t afraid to use that knowledge on cowering staff. After all, nobody said “cute” has to be “nice,” right? The manga also hints that Mugi-chan is slightly confused when it comes to relationships. Um… actually… scrap that last sentence. It seems it’s pretty clear which team Mugi bats for. Ah well, it’s all good in the end.

Just to throw in another useless piece of trivia, ANN tells me that all the character’s family names and the instruments they play, are taken from the members of a now defunct J-Pop group. So now you know.

K-On also does something odd in adding a new central character two-thirds of the way through. This is the intense little junior, Azusa, who signs up in their second year. Unlike Yui, Azusa knows her way around a guitar, but joins up thinking Yui is a genius, based on her performance at the opening ceremony. Despite soon learning the truth, and being horrified at the club’s “tea-and-cake” method of practising, she becomes the fifth member, deferring the role of lead guitar to Yui, to whom she still looks up, despite being a musical klutz (wonderfully illustrated here). Although the story probably could have carried on without her, her addition does make the double-edged point that there’s more to club life than just practising, whilst reminding the others that there is a time and place for everything.

Surrounding them is a small, but equally likeable, cast of side characters, headed up by Yui’s younger sister, Ui, who deserves a paragraph of her own. Now anime generally makes younger sisters adorable – just think of Clannad’s Mei-chan and Hidamari’s Chika-chan – but Ui-chan takes it to a whole new level. She plays the unwitting straight man to her flaky onee-chan, to great comic effect. It basically boils down to the fact that she hero-worships her older sister, can see only good in all Yui’s quirks (which hasn’t exactly motivated Yui to change) and will do anything for her (to the point of impersonating her at one stage)… something Yui takes full advantage of, probably without realising she is taking advantage. Strangely, given her lovely nature, the kanji for her name – 憂 – translates as “sorrow” or “unhappy” (then again, Yui’s – 唯 – translates as “only” or “solely”, so maybe her parents weren’t too thrilled when child number two popped out. Of course, given her lot in life and constant slaving after Yui, it’s quite possible Ui kicks little anime puppies around the garden when not on camera).

The club’s advisor, Sawako-sensei’s presence is a little jarring at times, what with her cosplay fetish and somewhat dodgy interest in the girls’ breasts. I know all anime teachers are supposed to be insane, but she’s just a little too over the top for my liking, given the general tone of the comedy. That said, her exposure, as the demon metal queen of a past keion, was fun. Nodaka-chan, Yui’s childhood friend and student council rep, pops up now and again, normally to play another straight man, or to provide some background on Yui, or to terrorise Ritsu, because of some or other form she hasn’t filled in.

If there’s one real jarring note to the whole series, it comes in the penultimate episode, when – for reasons known only to the writers – they try to inject some drama into the storyline. The problem is, as with most comedies, the characters aren’t developed enough for this to work and you’re left thinking, “Where the hell did that come from?” It’s even more out of place when you consider that K-On pokes deliberate fun at the “evil student council trying to close down the club” dramatic plot device early on.

Luckily, this aberration soon passes and we end not only on a comedic high note, but also with the knowledge that flighty, air-headed Yui is probably going to be ok. As she says to herself, “To the me back then, you don’t need to worry. You’ll soon find something you can do, something you can set your heart on…” Actually, her development is illustrated nicely towards the end, when we see her about to slip again, in almost identical circumstances to the opening scenes, but this time she stays on her feet.

The animation is well done, with surprising attention to little things. We see the scrape marks on wooden floors where doors open; the girls sweat (or should that be “glow”?) when performing; Yui struggles to climb on stage with a guitar bag swinging on her back.  Probably most importantly, they aren’t static while playing – fingers move on fretboards, cymbals to the cymbal thing, Mugi plays chords on her keyboard, etc, etc.; so it’s heartening to see that the animators didn’t try and cut costs there. They didn’t skimp on product placement either. Mugi has a Korg synthesiser, Ritsu plays a Yamaha drum kit, Azusa play a Fender Mustang and Yui’s axe is a Gibson Les Paul… which she bought, not because it’s a Les Paul (R.I.P. thank you for the music!), but because it was “cute” (yes, that’s how Yui’s mind works).

Even musically, the show isn’t bad… which is a good thing, seeing as music forms the backdrop of the whole story. Made-for-anime music can sometimes be dreadful, but K-On’s actually isn’t bad and that goes for the OP and ED (both of which were Top 5 hits on the Japanese charts, according to ANN) as well as the insert songs. It also helps that, as with most seiyuu, Aki Toyosaki and Youko Hikasa (who voice Yui and Mio respectively) can sing… although Aki does sound a little like a chipmunk on helium. You might need to ignore the lyrics which are decidedly cheesy (courtesy of Mio, who comes up with song titles such as “Curry after rice,” “My love is a stapler” and “Fluffy fluffy time”) but musically they’re not bad. Be warned – the OP, like a lot of anime music, is insanely addictive.

K-On would appear to be one the surprise hits of the current season, but given its characters, humour and music (not to mention the most prodigious use of giant sweat drops and head lumps I’ve seen in ages!), it’s hardly surprising. I somehow doubt this is going to be licensed, because of the musical content and royalty fees (God forbid they dub the songs!), so try and track it own online. Oh, and track down the manga too – you won’t be sorry.

As little Yui says at the end, “Keion daisuki!”… yes, we do too.

Hyakko ( ヒャッコ )

I wish I could write good things about all the shows I’m blogging this time round, but I suppose there must be an exception to the rule, and Hyakko would appear to be it. (Quick aside, this is the third high school comedy I’m looking at, and so far not a sailor suit in sight. A colleague did mention that they are being phased out in Japanese schools, in favour of blazers and ties, so maybe anime is catching up with this trend.)

I think the problem with Hyakko is that its underlying concept is not original. Having a bunch of disparate personalities come together as friends within the school environment has been done countless times (although none come close to the brilliance of Azumanga Daioh). Even the class full of dysfunctional (or maybe just odd, in this case) has been beaten to death in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

That said, it doesn’t start badly. Our four protagonists – the timid and shy Ayumi; haughty and abrasive Tatsuki; impulsive Torako and the quiet Suzume actually form a pretty decent team. Then again, it’s the kind of pairing (or quadrupling if you like) that’s been seen in everything from Manabi Straight to Hidamari Sketch to Sketchbook and so forth. It’s a formula that works, so it gets trundled out again.

For the first four episodes the formula works well and there are some genuinely funny moments, most of which involve Tatsuki having to deal with the human typhoon that is Torako. Foremost amongst these has to be and the antics of the openly bi and predatory class president – who has her eye on the student council presidency, as well as Torako. Suzume’s complete unawareness of the havoc her performing an Y-balance pose (with one leg in the air) would cause on her co-ed art class is also worth a mention.

Sadly, the class president doesn’t get the screen time, or the development, her character needed to add some serious comedy to the whole affair. Likewise, the long-suffering homeroom teacher, Sengoku-sensei, has a couple of classic on-screen moments, usually involving Torako but these are, sadly, too few and far between. However, his portrayal of a world-weary teacher, who’s just realised his karma has caught up with him in the form of this flaxen-haired demon, is nicely done.

After the first four episodes, however, it all starts to fall apart. We are introduced to more of the oddball classmates, which is all well and fine, if you left them to do oddball things. The problem is, they all have issues, which Torako & Co try to resolve. It’s a bit like Clannad’s “introduce-a-broken-chick-and-then-fix-her” motif, but at least Clannad has the decency to put some flesh on the character’s bones, so we know who they are and what makes them tick, before breaking them. In Hyakko, the viewer just isn’t made to care enough about the superficial characters to introduce that kind of drama and make it work. It gets even worse, when additional characters are suddenly out of the blue, in order to resolve Torako’s arc. It ends up messy and feeling very contrived.

The soundtrack is also forgettable with a poor OP and an even worse ED. Aya Hirano, who I like as a seiyuu and who voices Ayumi, would appear have a pretty good deal, as she sings at least one song on whatever series she’s in. The problem is she obviously can’t choose what she sings and they tend to be generally bad and not at all suited for her voice. Maybe she should just stick to voice acting.

On the whole, Hyakko was a disappointment. It never really set out to do anything that hadn’t been done before. It suffers from what I call “not knowing what to do” syndrome – if it wanted to be a comedy, then it shouldn’t have introduced drama and if it wanted to be a drama then it needed to flesh out the characters far more than they were. There are far better comedies in this genre out there and you won’t really have missed anything if you don’t watch Hyakko.

It was born on the beaches of Goa, India, by expatriate hippies (such as Goa Gil), who combined the sounds of late-60s and 70s psychedelic rock with the beat intensive rhythms of house and techno, spilling out from Detroit and Chicago. (Further evidence that the US dropped nukes on the wrong 2 cities). Thus it has morphed into layers of weird sounds, over an 8-, 16- or 32-beat drum-line and what is called a “driving” bassline (However, the author has not seen its license and is not sure if its allowed to drive).

Once they realised that if people take enough drugs, they’ll dance to anything, they added the twisted sounds from the Roland TB-303. This piece of musical gear was supposed to be a bass line synthesizer, at which it failed miserably, but when the knobs are turned all the way up, it produces an unearthly (and allegedly “trippy”) wailing sound, much like a cat being fed tail-first into a blender. Of course, any electrical device that has its knobs turned all the way up, will do the same, even a microwave oven, but the 303 had better marketing.  http://www.blogsurfer.us/

From Goa, the music spread around the world, except for America, where its arrival coincided with the Crack House Laws, which made anybody organising a gathering involving loud, repetitive music decidedly nervous. Not as nervous, however, as your average rave bunny, suddenly finding themselves surrounded by hairy, dreadlocked, pierced, tattooed hippies… and the men were even scarier.

These days, psytrance producers who aren’t lying face down on a beach in Goa, can be found lying face down on the beaches of the UK, Japan, Russia, Croatia, Italy and South Africa. However, for reasons known only to them, 99% of all psychedelic trance comes from Israel. Famous bands (producers? frustrated electricians?) delight in subtle names, such as Infected Mushroom, Hallucinogen, Astral Projection and 1200 Micrograms to name but a few.

It’s also acted as a magnet for every type of New Age loony and it’s impossible to move at a party without having your chakras cleansed, your crystals read, a cup of chai with all the trimmings and if you’re really lucky, a pizza baked by Hare Krishnas, who offer a convert-you-while-you-wait service. Some have even cashed in on the woo-factor and there are now two Trance Institutes, studying trance (duh!). Most of the studies, however, appear to involve staring at the pretty pictures in the corner, or sitting on the floor saying, “Whee! I’m a tangerine.”

Required listening

Although these days, psytrance appears to have branched off into two subsets – one which sounds like an angle-grinder raping a combine harvester and the other which sounds like the bastard offspring of Euro-Trance (“Go on, swim into the light, fondle the dolphin, you know you want to…”) there are several notable classics that anybody who wants to be “with it” (i.e. not being stared down by a mob of glassy-eyed hippes) should know. These include: (Artist name first, because some of them are weirder than the song titles)

…and so on…

I’d quite happily say that both could easily find a place amongst any Ghibli fan’s collection, however, or for that matter even fans of well-produced, slice-of-life animation. So let’s have a look at a couple of offerings that maybe… just maybe… had Miyazaki-san thinking, “I wish I’d thought of that…”

Miyori’s Forest

(Miyori no Mori ミヨリの森)

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I think what makes Miyori no Mori all the more remarkable is the fact that this is a made-for-TV movie. Despite this, they haven’t skimped on running time (140 mins) or the artwork. As you can see, both the fantastically detailed backgrounds and the character design – especially that of the forest spirits – are stunning. This is probably where most of the budget ended up, as the actual animation and music are pretty ordinary, although the BGM for the final “battle” is pretty decent.

Story-wise, well… it’s a troubled-kid-comes-to-terms-with-her-situation, mixed with a healthy dose of mythology and an ecological message. Seeing as the whole story revolves around Miyori, it needed her to be a decent character, both in terms of characterization, development and acting – and luckily she more than delivers on all departments. http://www.blogsurfer.us/

She’s already a somewhat precocious and withdrawn 11-year old, which isn’t helped much by the fact that her parents are going through a messy divorce, which results in her being dumped with her grandparents in a little village, far from the Tokyo lights. Needless to say, she has… issues. However, watching her grow accustomed to her new surroundings, dealing with classmates at the one-classroom school and the realization that she is not only the granddaughter of the village witch (the good kind!), but has also inherited the mantle of “guardian of the forest,” is a joy to watch. Miyori really shines as one of the nicest all-round characters I’ve come across in an anime feature for a while.

The film could have worked solely on these elements alone, but there’s also an ecological message lumped in with this, as the forest is threatened with destruction from a proposed dam. All well and fine, except the bad guys are just that – bad guys, who pop up to do bad things and get their collective butts whipped. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but you just know Ghibli would have given them some more depth – just think of “Mononoke-hime” and the fact that there was no true “good” or “bad” – just people doing what they must to get by.

There’s nothing here that would turn Ghibli fans away, and plenty that fans of say, “My Neighbor Totoro” would love. With its realistically developed characters, exquisite animation and solid storytelling, it’s worth tracking “Miyori no Mori” down.

My Beautiful Girl Mari

(Mari Iyagi 마리 이야기)

It might not be fair to compare “Mari” with Ghibli movies, especially seeing as it’s not even Japanese, but rather the product of the small, but impressive South Korean animation industry. For a while now, anime studios have been employing their Korean (and Vietnamese too, on occasion) counterparts to do the “grunt” work, but releases such as “My Beautiful Girl Mari” and the more recent CGI spectacular, “Sky Blue” seem to indicate that there is something special lurking within the animation studios in that little peninsular.

You also can’t really lump the film in with anime (but I’m going to anyway), as everything about it is quintessentially Korean – from the character design, its artwork, its pacing and even the interaction between the characters. What adds to that is the fact, that opposed to Japanese – where I’ve reached the stage where I can recognise some words and phrases – I know no Korean, which almost recreates that aura of “mystery” for the viewer, now totally dependent on the skill of the subbers.

It also unfolds at a wonderfully leisurely pace, gradually rewarding you with a very gentle story, interwoven with some imaginative fantasy scenes, solid slice-of-life story-telling and loads of little things happening in the background, that you might miss if you’re not careful. This is most apparent during the opening sequence, where a seagull glides over a snowy Seoul. As much as we’re drawn to that image, there are a herd of little aspects of life happening in the corners as the bird passes by. I’m not going to tell you what they are (heh heh heh), so you’ll have to watch it for yourselves.

The film as a whole is essentially a flashback to the youth of Nam-woo, currently working in an office in Seoul. It was a time of uncertainty and loneliness for him. His mother is widowed and a new potential suitor seems to hovering around, his best friend will soon be transferring to a Seoul school and more than anything he needs some form of comfort during this trying time.

It arrives in the form of Mari, who lives in a fantasy land contained within a marble. He is drawn into her world, which consists of fluffy cotton wool-like rain clouds, puffy flying creatures with tiny wings, a giant fluffy dog, and enormous flowers litter a landscape, that for some reason reminds me of the world of Tortov Roddle all over again (it might be the colours). Mari herself, is a pale-haired girl, clothed from ankle to neck in white feathers, and it’s her silent, but clearly deep and meaningful, interactions with Nam-Woo, that provides the comfort he needs.

There are some negatives in this film. Nam-Woo – for a central character – has about as much personality as a wet paper bag. Yes, he’s shown as being an adventurous kid, but you also know that if you had to talk to his character for any length of time, you’d be bored to tears. The fact that he gets upstaged by a silent girl and his cat (if nothing else, watch it for the latter two – the cat alone steals more scenes than it has lives) speaks volumes. That doesn’t mean it’s bad – it’s just that I think they could have done much more with him. Luckily, the supporting cast is interesting enough to make up for Nam-Woo’s deficiencies.

The character design also isn’t great, possibly due to the fact that the movie is 100% computer rendered. So whilst that makes for great backgrounds, the characters are pretty much devoid of any noticeable features. Still, I’m sure that’s something only hardcore animation fans would really grumble about.

“Mari” is worth watching, not just as a beautiful piece of gentle story-telling and animation (although its pacing might test your patience), but also as an insight into Korean culture and what could be another promising animation industry, if it does ever decide to stop doing the anime industry’s dirty work and go it alone.

Leave it up to the world of anime to present us with some excellent examples of the War, as seen through Japanese eyes. In keeping with the rules of good story telling, they don’t tell the story from we-were-right-and-they-we-wrong perspective, but more in a matter-of-fact-this-is-what-happened way. They don’t thrust a point of view on you (I think most people already have their own anyway – personally, I believe whoever ordered incendiary bombs to be dropped on cities consisting mostly of wooden buildings deserves his own special place in hell), but rather tells the story simply, yet brilliantly.

So, let’s look at some Japanese war stories. Oh, maybe a word of warning before you continue – some of the screenshots are a bit graphic. I don’t apologise for that – war is not pretty, nor is it romantic – especially for those on the receiving end.

Grave of the Fireflies

(火垂るの墓 Hotaru no Haka)

Let’s start off with the premise behind the tale. Seita, who I’d guess probably hasn’t reached his teens yet, and his much younger sister, Setsuko are living with their mother in Kobe towards the end of WW2. Their father is away, fighting with the Japanese Imperial fleet. When their mother is killed during the firebombing of Kobe, the two are taken in by relatives. However, as conditions on the homefront worsen, he leaves, taking his sister with him. However, as much as they try, they are clearly incapable of looking after themselves – especially in an environment where food is rationed and becoming scarce – even more so if you are living outside of the system. As we watch, the story unfolds to its inevitable, tragic and somewhat harrowing conclusion.

Grave of the Fireflies is quite possibly the most emotionally moving film I’ve seen – animated or live action.  I think there are a few reasons for this – firstly, because like (hopefully) anybody with a heart I hate seeing horrible things happen to innocent children, secondly when my research for writing this turned up the fact that the original author wrote the story as an apology to his sister and thirdly because it’s so well told. At no point does the story try to blame America for the bombing, or to glorify Japan, it simply tells a story of innocents caught up in the horror of war. It’s also a story that without a doubt played out across the world, from Leningrad, to Hamburg and even London.

Possibly the most horrific element of the story, is Seita’s pride. Homeless, orphaned and dependent on the help of others, he seems unable to grasp the concept that the people around have far more serious things on their minds than being burdened with two children and that he is expected to pitch in and assist in whatever way he can. This, coupled with his childish selfishness, results in him “going it alone’ with his sister – at a time when he is clearly incapable of caring for her, and society as a whole cannot support those who turn their back on it.

However, despite all that, the story is essentially about a brother and sister and their love for each other. That is why they stay together, that is why Seita does everything in his power to look after her, from performing acrobatics to distract her at the makeshift hospital, to robbing houses during air-raids in search of food or items to barter for food. Their relationship is portrayed so brilliantly that it makes the inevitable climax all the more heart-wrenching.

Watching events unfold, thanks to a combination of masterful storytelling, great animation (what else would you expect from Ghibli) and skilful voice-acting (Setsuko’s in particular) makes for some sublime viewing. If anybody says that animated films cannot tell a good story, sit them down and make them watch this. It will either change their mind, or prove that they have no heart.

Anyway, suffice to say, the story is about poor old Rakka of the Haibane’s Old Home, who finds herself having to look after the new batch of Haibane… which inclide NieA, Lain and Mayuko (clearly this was drawn by an ABe fan)... and the inevitable stress this causes her. I’ve been lucky enough to find a translator willing to help out, so combined with my meagre editing skills (don’t expect a professional product – I’m doing this primarily to satisfy my own curiosity, but thought I’d share it anyway.) here are the first few pages for your reading pleasure. I’ll add the rest as they get translated and edited.

Enjoy!

However, occasionally, they throw out wonderfully bizarre English lyrics, such as Hirano Aya in the ED for Daughter of 20 Faces, which concludes out of the blue with “Naked half… there’s a shiny way…”.

“…”

No, I have no idea either, except that seeing as she’s also Suzumiya Haruhi’s seiyū, it does conjure up some *ahem* interesting Haruhi-based mental images. Time for me to visit my shrink again, methinks.

However, top of the list at the moment, has to be Puffy’s “All Because of You,” with its wonderful, foot-tapping chorus:

“It’s all because of you…
I just run into walls
Since you bought all my shoes…”

Puffy… shoeless…

Well, that’s what it sounds like… although my evil alter-ego insists the last line is “Since you barfed on my shoes,” but it couldn’t be… could it?

Anyway, excuse me while I kiss this guy…

I’ve somehow managed, instead of deleting one spam comment (Die, spammer scum! Die!) to delete ALL my comments. So to those of you who have commented in the past – thank you, and I really wanted them to be there and it wasn’t done intentionally.

Sorry! (and a word to WordPress – if I don’t select a comment, it would normally mean “do nothing” NOT “delete all”. Please take your programmer out back and shoot him.)

So, what’s on the menu this time round? Well, I thought I’d have a look at some of the more unusual productions I’ve managed to pick up during my trawls through animedom. They’re strange, somewhat rare – having escaped the attentions of the legions of fanboys and -girls out there, and generally very, very good. They also seem to straddle several genres, or none at all, which is probably another reason why they’ve flown under the radar – Western reviewers do like to compartmentalise their anime so.

I’d also like to think that one day, if I’m ever asked “Why do you still watch anime?” I can reply in all honesty, “Because of these…”

The Diary of Tortov Roddle

Yes, I know, I’ve already spoken about this one here and I’m not one to repeat myself needlessly. Still, it deserves it’s place in this post, so there’s a few more screen shots above to whet the appetite.

Angel’s Egg

By far the strangest of the offerings here has to be the dark and surreal “Angel’s Egg”. It’s also probably the oldest, dating back to 1985. In it, we meet an unnamed girl, living in an abandoned planetarium within a dark, gothic and equally abandoned city. She is the protector of a large egg and spends her days roaming the area, collecting glass bottles, which she occasionally uses to drink out of.

At the same time, a large “spaceship” lands nearby, covered in thousands of statues. A soldier, carrying a large cross-like sword disembarks and eventually meets the girl. Few words are spoken, except for an often repeated “Who are you?” and although he protects her during a surreal incident where giant shadow-carp swim through the streets of the city, pursued by harpoon-wielding statues that come to life, he eventually smashes the egg while she sleeps. We are never shown what was in it, but the girl, distraught, chases after him, falls into the river and drowns. Her dying breath’s bubbles turn to eggs as they reach the surface. The soldier returns to his ship and as it departs, we see a new statue of a girl clutching a large egg, has joined the others. http://www.blogsurfer.us/

On the whole, this can only be described as an “art-house” anime. It’s surreal, bizarre, silent (maybe 10 lines of dialogue in an hour), but the artwork is beautiful, possibly even more so given its vintage. Propelled by a haunting, choral soundtrack, it draws you into its world, regardless of the fact that you really do have no idea what’s going on. It’s one of those anime, like Haibane Renmei (which I’ll be writing about soon) that raises far more questions than it answers. Most people will hate this, but if you like your art movies, or you want to watch something totally out of the ordinary – have a look for Angel’s Egg.

Kigeki

Ok, simple question: Can a ten-minute anime be good? Simple answer: If it’s “Kigeki”, then yes. Oh, hell yes. It’s not just the lovely artwork, or even the story, or the music (there’s a rendition of Ave Maria that would bring even the most hardened atheist to his knees) – it’s the fact that it does so much in 10 minutes, you feel you’ve been watching something that’s lasted much, much longer. Strangely, “Kigeki” means comedy and yet, a few scenes aside, this is anything but.

Set in Ireland in (I assume) the middle ages, a young girl – whose village is being threatened by English troops – runs off in search of the mysterious “Black Swordsman”, who only accepts books as payment for his services. Upon finding him, she hands him a book she took from home, knowing “it was the book he’s been looking for all his life”. There follows an almost-amusing interplay between the two, as the young girl, clearly in awe of this mysterious stranger, silently pesters him, while he peruses her offering. Finally, he smiles and agrees to help her.

The English duly arrive and are beaten back by the stranger and this is where things take a darker turn. It’s apparent that not only have the English been beaten, but something rather unwholesome has happened to their bodies. In addition, before leaving the swordsman makes a terrible promise to the girl, ensuring her silence. It ends as we see her, now grown, reflecting back on that day, as she stares at a field of red flowers.

Another largely silent offering, but which doesn’t need much dialogue anyway, and once again with only two characters shown on screen. It is the interaction between these two, as well as the story’s ability to stretch time, that make this a worthwhile project to watch.

Hotori – The Simple Hope for Joy

I saw a forum posting on ANN that described this as “AI without the suck” and whilst it made me chuckle, I also thought just how much the makers of that clunker would have benefited from watching this first. It’s a gentle and touching story that deals with the trauma of loss and hope rising from despair.

We start off meeting Ryou, who is actually an android, designed to have memories implanted in him, so that he will one day replace a couple’s lost son. He is currently undergoing this process as the story starts. He meets Hotori, a human girl (and the institute director’s daughter) who has the opposite problem – she has a disease that is gradually eroding her memory. The two become a symbol of hope (especially once Ryou’s “parents” see how far he is progressing towards becoming their “son”) and despair, as Hotori becomes more fearful of forgetting those dear to her. Finally, she decides that she would rather die with her memories intact and enlists the naive Ryou to help her.

Obviously I’m not going to give the ending away, but this really is a powerful piece of storytelling, beautifully acted and written. You sympathise with the characters (once again, the two central characters dominate proceedings, which occasional appearances from others) and the interaction between the boy-robot, who only knows what he’s been taught and the girl, able to see the bigger picture is masterful, especially as at no time does either slip out of their child persona.

Pale Cocoon

I think I’ve been gradually wandering closer to the beaten path as I’ve written this, so probably best to end off with one that’s right next to the well-trodden track. Pale Cocoon is not without its flaws – too much use of a voice over and wildly-swinging camera shots make up most of those – but they shouldn’t detract from what is a special little story.

Set at some point in the future, it’s an apocalyptic tale based on the premise that humanity has reached the point where they have been forced to live in an artificial structure constructed round their planet, as the planet’s surface has become uninhabitable. Over the years, the historical records have been lost or become corrupted and the story revolves around a couple (hmmm 2 characters again…) who work in the archives (Ura in reconstruction and Rika in analysis), trying to restore images and information to a usable state. However, it would appear as if humanity is giving up on itself and people no longer care. More and more employees are simply not arriving at work and interest in what the archives contain is waning.

At this point, they find and start to restore an old video clip (interestingly enough, they don’t recognise a book shown in the clip as a book – everything has become digitised in their world). As the restoration progresses, Ura (who might be described as an Earthophile – he keeps copies of every image he decodes) realises there is a very important message contained in the tape. Realising that the current crop of humanity are wrong about why they are living where they are and that all their history has been forgotten over time, he races for the upper levels of their living space, to be confronted with a symbol of hope (not to mention one hell of a plot twist. (Here’s a spoiler-intensive picture for you – open at own risk and don’t blame me if it spoils the story for you).

Despite the flaws mentioned earlier, the graphics are sublime (Shinkai-esque in a way), the soundtrack sparse and beautiful and the storytelling sound. Another to look out for, if you want to take a stroll outside the norm.

Tower of Druaga – One joke series, which they showed in episode 1. Dropped

Special A – Not bad, could be another Ouren HSHC. Hasn’t quite got the funnies Ouren did, but shows promise and hasn’t annoyed me yet. Watching for now.

To-Love-Ru – Every bone in my body says not to watch this, and I’ve finally decided to listen to my bones. Used up whatever passed for humour in the first 2 episodes and now relies on rehashed plots and mindless fanservice. Dropped.

Kurenai – Excellent artwork, engaging characters and an interesting story. My pick of the season so far. Watching.

Golgo 13 – Hmmm… gritty & dark… but worth 50 episodes? Probably not. Dropped

Kyouran Kazoku Nikki – Silly, stupid and annoying. Avoid. Dropped

Amatsuki- Monsters, time travel and Meiji Japan. First episode was interesting and it’s come on in leaps and bounds since then. Another of this season’s very good offerings. Watching.

Kaiba – Experimental, surreal, off the beaten track and very good. No 2 pick of the season. Watching.

Soul Eater – Really like the artwork in this show (very Burton-esque) and quirky characters. Will watch for now, but story needs to improve – currently not sustainable for 51 episodes.

Himatsu – the Revelation – police scan victim’s brain for last images of killer – neat concept and a tight first episode. Watching.

Daughter of 20 Faces – Good story based on ‘Thief of 20 faces’. Given the decent pacing this is going to be a winner this season. Watching.

Real Drive – Sennou Chosashitsu – Production IG & Masamune Shirow. Miss this and you’ll probably miss a classic. Watching.

Crystal Blaze – Other blogs seem to enjoy this, but first episode and half (despite an interesting opening sequence) irritated the hell out of me. Dropped.

Library Wars – I’ll give this one a few more episodes. Strange concept – library armies fight government over free speech type thingy. Watching for now.

Not watching:

Kanokon (*shudder*)

Code Geass (haven’t seen 1st season, so pointless)

Blassreiter (bike & racing fans might enjoy this, but I won’t)

xxxHOLiC: Kei (haven’t seen 1st season, so pointless)

Vampire Knight (bishie vampires at school. Yawn)

Itazura na Kiss (might still have a look at this, if I have time)

Zettai Karen Children (*double shudder*)

Neo Angelique ~Abyss~ (bishoujo meets bishounen. Pass the bucket)

Kamen no Maid Guy (I haven’t finished with the bucket yet)

Junjo Romantica – (Shounen ai (boy lurve). Not my kettle of fish.)

Still to come

Hidamari Sketch x365 (but that’s already on my list to watch, given the brilliance of S1)