Binged & Finished Anohana via Netflix
I finally binged and finished Anohana in English via Netflix after adding it to my Crunchyroll queue ages and ages ago but never starting it.
You know from the very first episode which includes a ghost girl, Meiko "Menma" Honma (本間 芽衣子 Honma Meiko), that this anime series is going to be about grief, loss, depression, survivor's guilt and recovery. The Peace Busters Gang were a bunch of childhood friends. One of their members seemingly took a fatal fall from a nearby bridge and died. They never really spell it out entirely....either that or she slipped on a wet rock and took a fatal blow to the head.
The gang grows apart and we rejoin them near the end of their High School years. The former leader of the gang, Jinta "Jintan" Yadomi (宿海 仁太 Yadomi Jinta), has grown moody & distant....not only did he lose the childhood love of his life but he also lost his mother, presumably to cancer or some other unspecified terminal illness. He lives alone with his widowed father who works construction jobs to support the both of them. Then one day a ghost version of his dead childhood friend appears...only she's aged up to perhaps (late) Middle School age with hips and developing breasts. He can see and touch her as if she's alive, and she's a very boisterous and energetic spirit, literally. She even gives him an involuntary erection in one early scene that is laugh out loud funny. He doesn't want to tell anyone about his ghostly visitor but eventually spills it. His former friends are skeptical and think he's hallucinating. He thinks so to and yet Menma persists. He knows that a ghost that hasn't passed on is haunting him because she has some unfinished wish that she has to see through before she can ascend to the great beyond. The series is basically a journey of discovery into finding out what that final task for ghost girl Menma actually is...for most of the series Menma is only visable to Jintan. She is basically an unseen poltergeist to the rest of the Peace Busters for the vast majority of the series. They can begin to detect her presence indirectly, but some are more accepting of her ghostly existence than others.
My favorite character far and away is Naruko "Anaru" Anjo (安城 鳴子 Anjō Naruko), who has been secretly in love with Jintan all these years and still loves him even though it hurts sometimes.
In time we learn that Jintan's mother didn't want her son to embrace a kind of sullen "macho" facade to deal with her eventual death. She doesn't want her son falling into a form of walled-off, closed-down toxic masculinity to cope with the loss. So she makes Menma promise her she won't let that happen, that she'll make sure Jintan learns how to cry and be okay with his emotions. Menma is only a little girl and doesn't fully understand what has been asked of her by this dying woman, but she takes her mission very seriously and tries to devise a scenario that would provoke tears from Jintan. She basically sets him up into being pressed to confess his real feelings for Menma (which she suspects already) in front of the group, figuring the surprise and stress will provoke the tears Jintan's mother asked for. Instead, Jintan has an angry outburst and says meanly that Menma is "ugly" (she's beautiful) but then blushes and storms out of the clubhouse....confirming for all present that yes, he loves Menma. Menma, concerned for Jintan, goes racing after him. Another boy who also loves Menma and has been hiding his feelings takes the opportunity to confess to Menma when they have a quite moment alone on the trail. This is Atsumu "Yukiatsu" Matsuyuki (松雪 集 Matsuyuki Atsumu) who in the present still resents Jintan and is particularly incensed that Menma's ghost chose to appear only to Jintan and not to HIM. He is college bound and arrogant and lords his academic success over Jintan to taunt him. This is all the precipitating events that lead to Menma's untimely death at the riverbank so many years ago. This anime is very much a tear-jerker and at times seems to milk it a bit excessively....but I still enjoyed it for all the character interactions and rooting for my favorite ship (Anaru x Jintan). Binging this series is probably not the best idea, but once I started it on Netflix I simply could not stop until I was done at last, even though it meant staying up until 2am Sunday morning. You will definitely have a good cry watching the series. The characters are all suffering, even years and years later. But one gets the feeling that one of Menma's undying wishes post-mortem is for her friends all to be friends again like they were in the old days. The conclusion does involve a small miracle but it doesn't detract from the loss & pain. Memna is finally able to ascend to heaven to seek reincarnation, but at long last she's finally able to give a tearful goodbye and ALL of them can finally see her in the fading light of twilight. Not sure I would bother to seek out the movie version of Anohana but I definitely enjoyed the series in English.
Posted at 10:15 PM in 2010s, Buddhism, Coming of age, Drama, Dubs, Empathy, Friendship, High School, Japanese culture, Love stories, Mystical powers, Mysticism, Netflix, Psychology, Reincarnation, Relationships, Slice of Life, Streaming | Permalink | Comments (0)
Finished Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So I devoted Saturday night to watching in full the Blu-Ray edition (from Bandai Entertainment) of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. I paid a hefty sum to acquire this Blu-Ray, and I'm happy to report it did NOT disappoint. The visuals are simply stunning, with jaw-dropping detail, a carefully crafted blend of 2D animation and CGI 3D animation. Definitely watch the "Special Features" included on this disc, they are well worth your time.
Of course I watched the English dub version, which utilizes the original television cast from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. That said, this movie, according to Mamoru Oshii, is a direct sequel to the original Ghost in the Shell movie, which I own and have also seen. Or more precisely I've seen Ghost in the Shell 2.0 which was a re-release by Oshii utilizing more CGI, with mixed results. I saw this version on Hoopla Digital some time ago, but I also own a copy of the original Bandai release of the original Ghost in the Shell movie without the "2.o" edits.
Having just finished the movie Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, which is set 2 years after the events of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, 2nd Gig, in my own "head canon", although the actual movie of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence was released before Solid State Society, and even though the movies and the television series are supposedly separate fictional universes, to my mind, and given the chronology of all the fictional iterations of the Ghost in the Shell multiverse, the events depicted in Innocence, in particular The Major's ongoing evolution into ever higher states of being, are logically consistent with the directions indicated by the conclusion of Solid State Society, such that Innocence is a perfectly plausible future for Solid State Society as well, besides serving as a sequel for the original movie...at least to my mind it is. The only plot wrinkle that would need to be hand waved away is that Tohgusa is in a greater position of authority in Solid State Society than he appears to be in Innocence. But in any case, the real stars of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence are actually Batou, Tohgusa, and Ishkawa, and to a lesser degree Chief Aramaki as well. The Major serves more in the background as a "guardian angel" type figure, her ghost fully merged with the future internet without corporeal form, guiding the protagonists along but avoiding direct intervention until the very end. This is a film about a series of murders by malfunctioning gynoid sex robots (a callback to Season 1 of Stand Alone Complex, incidentally) that points to a wider conspiracy. Batou, Ishkawa, and Tohgusa must join forces yet again to unravel the mystery and stop the conspiracy, which seems to involve foreign threats emerging from the nearby Chinese mainland. There is plenty of philosophical musings that are on par with the original movie as well as other anime shows like Serial Experiments Lain, which Innocence triggered many memories of, for me at least. My words can't do justice to just how breathtakingly beautiful and complicated the visuals are in this movie. I easily see myself watching it again and again for the visuals alone. There's just so much there to take in that I doubt one sitting is enough to do it justice. This should be enjoyed at home on a widescreen HD television off the Bandai Blu-Ray. The music used is a callback to the original movie, with the score partly reused but also expanded for this film. The special features are well worth watching in their own right, with extended interviews with Mamoru Oshii and his animation staff and also his Japanese voice cast. The English television cast does a great job with their performances as well. It sent chills down my spine the first time I heard Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's voice as The Major in Innocence. It's a very short line and you can miss it if you're not paying attention, but I was and noticed immediately. I recently watched the next Arise film and enjoyed it, and I understand why Mary Elizabeth McGlynn was not cast to voice the younger version of The Major for those prequels, but it is nice she was recast as a rival character to The Major, as a way to symbolically pass the baton, so to speak, by playing a slightly older and wiser "noble adversary" type character. The third Arise film's concluding shot is a hat tip to the original opening of the original Ghost in the Shell movie. Watching Innocence fills a gaping hole in my knowledge of the Ghost in the Shell fictional multiverse. I feel I belong to a special class of anime fan now, to have seen all these different iterations. I have yet to read any of Shirow Masamune's original manga, however. I hope to remedy that someday.
Posted at 12:04 AM in Action, Bandai, Blu-Ray, Body image, CGI, China, Computers, Dolls, Drama, Dubs, Dystopias, Empathy, Friendship, Japanese culture, Love stories, Reincarnation, Religion, Sci-Fi, Shinto, Soundtracks, Visuals, Voice performances, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
Gasaraki completed
So, I finally finished the 1990s Mecha series GASARAKI. It does a good job of trying to depict the combat robots realistically, the actual problems they would face on a real-world battlefield, and what would be needed to overcome the inherent
difficulties of the bipedal design. The series interweaves Japanese mythology and Medieval History with the present day, hints at reincarnation, etc., and even integrates cultural practices like ceremonial dancing in very awkward and unintentionally comedic
ways. I might react differently if I were Japanese with a better understanding of the social and historical context, but as an ignorant
Gajin, I can only point and laugh and snicker at some of the clunky dialogue. The ADV Films crew deliver their lines with sincerity, it's not their fault that what they're saying is at times patently ridiculous.
The film is also very politics heavy and the greatest weakness by far is just how goddamn talky the story is; it really wrecks the pacing of the anime and there are many extended scenes of characters sitting across from each other giving
deeply thoughtful lectures to each other about the philosophical underpinnings of their project and their critical analysis of what's wrong with contemporary Japan and how it can learn from the past to build a better future for itself.
The villains of the story are Japanese elites of a very traditionalist and nationalist mindset, very arch-conservative and right-wing, but the story lets them expound their views and seems to lend some tragic sympathy to their views. Indeed,
there is a possible segment of the audience who would view the villains as tragic heroes who fail rather than cheer for the ostensible young protagonists. The main antagonist, Mr. Nishida, wants to provoke a confrontation with the United States and also usher
in a period of economic devastation to Japan that he hopes will break the amoral, narrowly consumerist ambitions of contemporary Japanese and return them to a more noble, purposeful agrarian past that eschews technology altogether. However, he's undermined
by an ally, the head of Gowa clan, for whom although they share a common goal to smash the existing Japanese state, and launch a coup'd'etat together, their ultimate goal is the advancement of their own power and absolute dominance, much in the manner of his
medieval ancestor. His ambitions are stopped by his brother, Yushiro, and a female mech pilot, Miharu, who have a special affinity beyond normal humans for piloting the robot mecha.
It seems in this version of Medieval Japan there were terrible Mecha-style monsters resembling Golems, known as the Gasaraki, that could also be piloted by a certain class of knights and were capable of wreaking great destruction upon the
land. These Gasaraki were sealed away deep underground, never to be used again, but the Gowa Corporation has uncovered their ancient burial grounds and brought these Gasaraki back into the modern world. The ancient, Golem-like Gasaraki are even more powerful
and terrifying than modern Mecha known as TAs, or Tactical Armors. There are a few flashback episodes of the Gasaraki operating in Medieval Japan, and we can see that Yushiro and Miharu lived in those times as well, their contemporary namesakes being reincarnations
of their ancestors. Yushiro is a civilian contractor and test pilot assigned to a JSDF mecha unit testing their TAs. He is more skilled than any of his military counterparts and the Gowa Corporation tries and fails to find a way to reproduce Yushiro's special
abilities via drugs, with disastrous results for the unfortunate test pilots.
The Gasaraki re-enters the plot one final time, but more as a gateway to a mystical realm than as an actual combat unit. Mystical things happen and the heroes are judged worthy and returned to earth to live out their natural lives, while
the wicked are annihilated by divine judgement.
It's a really weird show and worth watching, I guess, but I only saw it because it's available on Hoopla digital through my local library. I wouldn't recommend going out of one's way to acquire used copies of the original ADV Films DVD
Posted at 12:12 PM in Action, Buddhism, Computers, Feudalism, Historical drama, Historical fantasy, Hoopla Digital, Japanese culture, Love stories, Mecha, Middle Ages, Mystical powers, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Reincarnation, Religion, Samurai, Sci-Fi | Permalink | Comments (0)
Log Horizon (Dub) -- Better than expected!
I just got back from a screening of the first 4 episodes of the new Anime series from Sentai Filmworks known as Log Horizon.
It was actually MUCH better than I expected, and I must admit, having seen all of the original SAO and a bit of "Dot Hack", I walked into the theater a bit jaded and cynical, doubting that I'd like much of what I was about to see. I have to admit I was wrong. Log Horizon was good--really good. The characters in particular were very likeable and memorable, and their chemistry together really hooks you and makes the show enjoyable to watch. Some immediate differences between SAO and Log Horizon, Log Horizon drops the SAO pretense of "if you die in the game you die in real life"...the characters ARE indeed trapped in their favorite MMO after a new DLC upgrade. But if they "die" (run out of hit points), they simply re-spawn in the temple of the territory where their character was originally created. It's not the end of the world, but it can be an enormous pain in the ass. The world of Log Horizon is said to be exactly 1/2 the size of planet Earth. Towns that are 8 km apart in the real world are only 4 km apart in the world of Log Horizon. There is eating & drinking in this MMO, but the food is bland and all tastes the same, regardless how it looks. The story is very vague about how the characters came to be stuck in the new DLC version of their favorite MMO, or why they can't log out, or what's "really" happening to their bodies in the "real" world. They don't seem--at first--to be the victims of any wider conspiracy, there's no all-powerful Dungeon Master who controls their fate, it's just more like an accidental glitch that's preventing everyone from logging out and nobody knows why or how they're supposed to leave the game. Also, the "jump gates" of the former game world no longer function in this 3D VR version, so all transport must be done on foot or by beast of burden. Horseback is fine, but eventually our heroes upgrade their ride to Griffins and stuff. The game in this world of Log Horizon (ログ・ホライズン Rogu Horaizun?) actually goes by the name of Elder Tale (エルダー・テイル Erudā Teiru?).
The story focuses on main character and protagonist Shiroe (シロエ Shiroe?) who is best known as "Shiroe the Strategist" or the "Villain in Glasses" (腹ぐろ眼鏡 Haraguro Megane?) from the Elder Tale game. His real name is Kei Shirogane (城鐘 恵 Shirogane Kei?). After he finds himself in the upgraded version of the game and rather nonplussed as to how he got there or how to get out, he decides to check his friend list and at least hang out with someone he knows. He meets up with Naotsugu (直継 Naotsugu?), who is Shiroe's best friend and was also a member of the now disbanded Debauchery Tea Party group. His real world name is Naotsugu Hasegawa (葉瀬川 直継 Hasegawa Naotsugu?). He's a bit of a shameless horn dog and always lusting after the ladies. Shiroe also adds to his burgeoning party Akatsuki (アカツキ Akatsuki?), a trained assasin whose skills he's very familiar with from past raids & alliances. However all this time, he never realized that Akatsuki (アカツキ Akatsuki?) is actually a girl. She asks Shiroe for a transformation potion and manages to use it to change her in-game avatar to be female and conform with her biological and mental gender. Although her in-game avatar looks like the body of a young teen girl of perhaps middle school age, she's actually in her mid-to-late 20s, same age as Shiroe who is a graduate student in Engineering in the real world, on the verge of earning his Master's degree.
My favorite character by far in the first 4 episodes is the mysterious Nyanta. Nyanta (にゃん太 Nyanta?) is a werecat Swashbuckler and a bit of a ladies' man himself, though far more of a "smooth operator" than lumbering Naotsugu. He's voiced by newcomer Jovan Jackson in the English dub and I was very happy to hear a black actor voicing this anime character...It's been a personal gripe of mine that there's not enough diversity in Anime voice acting. Some of this is the fact that many Japanese anime stories do not include black people or other ethnicities. Nyanta is a large "cat-man", so some artistic liberty was possible and I'm glad that they took the risk and cast a black actor for this role. It basically makes Nyanta the bad-ass SHAFT of the show and I love it. I remember getting into a bit of an argument with an anime voice actor who is also a casual friend, complaining about the production of Moonlight Mile where an obviously black character was voiced by an obviously white actor, yielding a performance that was downright cringe-worthy. My friend's argument was along the lines of "dude, they try, but there's just not that many black VO actors out there."; My contention was and is they don't try hard enough, so I salute this bold move from Sentai Filmworks and hope it is a sign of better things to come. Many of the cast and crew were in attendance at this screening and Jovan Jackson was a crowd favorite generally, but especially among the black fans who were thrilled to hear his character, and I was thrilled for them.
Some white voice actors are able to pull off a black character voiceover...I'm thinking Chris Sabat as Garterbelt in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, say. Or the voice of Dutch from Black Lagoon. White men with deep enough voices and acting chops can pull it off. But Jovan Jackson's Nyanta is on a whole nother level and it's fantastic.
While I'm probably not going to rush out and buy this anime as a new release, I do think I will be adding it to my collection eventually, maybe as a birthday present to myself next year, say, after the first or second price drop. It really was a pleasant surprise and I look forward to continuing the story of these characters and learning more about the strange online world they're trapped in and how they cope and try to find their way back to reality.
Posted at 11:21 PM in Action-Comedy, Computers, Dubs, Fantasy, Food and Drink, Friendship, Magic, Middle Ages, Mystical powers, New release, Reincarnation, Sentai Filmworks, Storytelling conventions/tropes, Swords & sorcery, Travel, Videogame, Visuals, Voice performances, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
Red Data Girl (Ep. 1-4); a slow burn
RDG Red Data Girl (Photo credit: Danny Choo)
So I got to attend the screening of FUNimation's new release
Red Data Girl at Alamo Drafthouse Mason Park. I hate to waste time and space bitching about the venue, but I really hate when our screening gets the noob projectionist who doesn't seem to have a f*cking clue. Oh, and the sound was horribly off,
with a nearly intolerable background hum through all of Episode 1 and most of Episode 2 that made me want to scream out loud GOOD GAWD THIS IS
NOT SERIAL EXPERIEMENTS LAIN! Then when they tried to fix the sound, we lost a good 30 seconds of dialogue altogether, and the projectionist did not rewind to catch the missing bits but just plowed ahead. This really detracted from the
enjoyment of this series.
It took forever for the projectionist to catch a clue and put up the Anime at the Alamo still shot screen that is up as host Rommel does his announcements. It took forever for the actual show to start. They had to shut down the show entirely
and re-start it at one point.
What's worse, this was on a night where the Anime at the Alamo group broke its attendance record…we broke the "century" mark, i.e. over 100 attendees. I hope the horrible audio visual snafus don't deter some of the first timers from coming
back! Those were totally a fluke, most of the time the Alamo Drafthouse puts on a fine show without any glitches. Man did they drop the ball last night.
Anyway, the main difficulty with Red Data Girl is its intolerably slow pacing. It only gets sort of interesting by about Episode 3 or so. This is a show I'd probably watch in streaming via FUNimation.com first, if I had
nothing better to do or watch. I doubt I'll ever pick this up on physical media. If you wait until Episode 4 to try and "hook" me, forget it. You need to reel me in with Episode 1, right out of the gate.
It's a pretty mediocre show so far, and I'm in no hurry to finish it. I have other priorities right now like
Toradora! and Jormungand.
Posted at 12:20 PM in Buddhism, FUNimation, Gods and Godesses, High School, Magic, Mystical powers, Mysticism, Mythology, New release, Reincarnation, Romance, Schools, Spirits | Permalink | Comments (0)