Random Curiosity

Well, well, that turned out a lot more interesting than I expected. For one, I definitely wasn’t expect Madara to actually jump in and prevent Hashirama from killing himself, let alone actually agree to the truce shortly afterwards. I guess after seeing someone do nothing but negative things really makes you a bit pessimistic eh? In the end though, I guess if there’s one thing this moment shows, it’s that the Uchiha aren’t exactly people that are guaranteed to succumb to the power of their Sharingan per se. There seems to be a bit of leeway depending on the situation and the person involved, and given the context with which this story is being told, it’s quite interesting in how it could potentially be a kind of foreshadowing in terms of Sasuke’s future role. On that note though, it also shows not only that even Madara himself had some semblance of sanity before (and was in many ways, just another ninja), but also why Hashirama would ultimately make the best choice of Hokage…

…which brings us to the other development of note this chapter: the fact that Hashirama actually wanted to make Madara the Hokage. As such, there was actually a chance Madara could’ve been the one whose face was carved into that wall as the first Hokage, which really makes you wonder how things would’ve turned out if that actually happened. It’s admittedly strange to think about it now, but one can’t help but think that if Madara actually was given the chance to lead, and was supported in doing so by the people in his clan and Konoha — whom incidentally, he was the one who actually gave the name to — showed their support, it’s possible that Madara would’ve never ended up the way he did — regardless of the Sharingan’s curse. Of course, there’s a chance it would’ve ended up similarly either way, but hmm… definitely worth a moment’s thought.

Regardless, it looks like the story’s finally come full circle, and we’re finally at a point we can pretty much say we know virtually everything that we’ve needed to know about. As such, I couldn’t help but feel a kind of finality with this chapter — a kind of atmosphere that just said: “Look, here we are. Look how far we’ve come. After all these years and all these chapters, the pieces of the puzzle are finally all together, and what’s left is just to wrap up the final battle and the story.” Indeed, the chapter just hammers in the fact that the series seems to be “fast” approaching its conclusion, and it’s something that has me admittedly pondering how strange it’d be not to have a weekly Naruto chapter to read. Though, I suppose it’s something that just had to come eventually.

In any case, that’s about it. This chapter likely wraps up the flashback into Konoha’s founding and I reckon we’ll get shifted back to the present day sometime in the next few chapters. Until then, I’ll catch ya guys around.

「年の計は元旦にあるらしい」 (Toshi no Kei wa Gantan ni Arurashii)
“Start Planning Your Year From New Year’s Day”

Well, that was surely one of the more random episodes of Minami-ke ever.

I haven’t said it in a while, but it really fits here: needs more Mako-chan. I mean really, how could you deprive us of a chance to see Mako-chan in full kimono for New Year’s? Not to mention another opportunity for swimsuit misunderstanding (though no Haruka-neesama on this trip, at least, and no suntan oil in the indoor pool).

This episode was full of the Minami sisters – as if to make up for their minimal participation last week they were involved in every scene this time. It was also full of some of the most esoteric and culture-specific humor in any episode – and this is a show that spends a lot of its time having fun with Japanese traditions anyway. It was also some of the most low-key comedy I’ve ever seen from M-K, relying on wordplay and random weirdness for most of its punch.

For starters, the entire first sketch was pretty much the three sisters spinning each other around in their kimonos – seemingly all a set-up for Kana to say "Now I can never be a bride", which in itself sets up a running gag for the episode. The rest of the chapter consists of a run-through of Japanese New Year traditions like Hatsumode (first shrine visit), eating red bean soup with grilled mochi, and New Year’s money. Again, very culture-specific. Out of this we have Kana noting that Uchida has a strong tendency to come to the Minami estate, eat and go to sleep – but her plan to expose Uchida’s newfound belly flab goes a-wanting when a trip to the indoor pool reveals that Uchida’s belly is as flat as it was on the beach visit. It’s only her belly that’s flat though… I have to ask – and there’s no way to do so without being crude, so apologies in advance – what the heck is up with Uchida’s chest? I sure didn’t notice it being that big before – I actually thought she’d slipped in Mako-chan’s falsies in the beach photo, but the same anatomy was on display at the pool.

A trip to the middle school soon brings is yet more inside Japanese humor, as Riko has mysteriously lapsed into Kansai-ben after a Winter break trip to her Grandmother’s house in Kyoto. Worse, it’s catching, as soon Miyuki and Reiko start following suit – and they’re already talking in pounds and miles after being overseas. This is surely one of the oddest and silliest Minami-ke sketches ever, but it builds to an even more silly game of wordplay as Touma, Uchida and Yoshino visit Casa Minami after a snowfall and everyone starts saying "I might not look like it, but…" before every sentence. It’s funny, I suppose because it’s so utterly random. There’s also a lesson for Kana – don’t mess with the Banchou, when it comes to snowball fights or anything else.

Finally, we do get a brief visit from Mako-chan, and a dissertation on an even more insider topic – Mamemaki. It’s part of the Setsubun festival that comes near the beginning of February, marking the start of Spring in the lunisolar calendar. I did a blog post about it this year, but just why anyone who isn’t in Japan or a complete geek for the culture would know any of that I can’t say – again this is pretty much aimed right at the home audience – but having experienced Mamemaki this year I got some pretty good laughs out of it (especially Mako-chan’s "Wai!" reaction after he got the extra piece of roll cake while wearing the oni mask). Wearing the oni mask also got Makoto to second base with Kana, so now he’s officially been there with all three of the Minami sisters. And let the record show – even oni have to eat their carrots.

Full-length images: 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 24, 27, 35.

 

Preview

Omake

End Card

「さくら荘へようこそ」 (Sakurasou e Youkoso)
“Welcome to Sakurasou”

To me, the best finales are those that wrap up everything we’ve dealt with so far, but leave the future open to be whatever we, the audience, want to imagine it will be. Clean up the dangling plot threads, but leave endless opportunities ahead. In this, and by the soaring, glorious feelings that filled me for damn near every second of this episode, made this one of the best finales I’ve seen in a long time. Consider me thoroughly biased, but I say it nevertheless. Here’s why:

Symbols of Love

In romantic fiction, a kiss is something to be held back, hoarded, so that they can be deployed for maximum effect later on. Rare enough is the show that has this many couples that are all equally likable, interesting, and important to us viewers, but rarer still is one hat is willing to give us not just one, but three kisses within a single episode! I’ll talk about the first two, and something else besides.

First is Ryuunosuke and Rita. Oh my gods, I almost fell over cheering at that!! I have alluded to this before, but this kiss actually happened earlier in the source material – during Valentine’s Day I believe, though don’t quote me on that. They saved it for here though, and I’m glad. A good adaptation is one that tweaks the source to better fit the different medium, and this is something that the Sakurasou anime has done well, such as when they gave Nanami a larger role in the first four episodes than she had in Vol 1. Here they saved this kiss to help deliver an unending onslaught of romantic moments, and end the series on a high note. I love it! Only you can tame a dragon, Rittan. And Meido-chan too! Don’t give up, you.

Then there’s Misaki and Jin. I don’t have words enough to properly describe how ecstatic this scene made me, but I’ll try. Jin stealing a page from Rita’s book and going in for the kiss was fantastic, mostly because I was still preoccupied by the last kiss and didn’t expect to be hit by another! Then he went so far as to give her back the marriage certificate, with his information filled in!? She was so anxious to be apart from him, but he blew that all away in one go. This is how you do a finale. They’re giving us everything we ever wanted, all in one final burst. This is the way you end things – with a bang!

Oh yeah, and that something else besides – Chihiro and Kazuki. I still feel that Chihiro has been criminally underused as a character, but the good news is that this meant it didn’t take a lot to give us some measure of closure for her. An innocent little lie as he tries to catch her on the “rebound” after all her kids have left…took you long enough, Fujisawa! Now treat her right, ya git.

Hard Work vs Innate Talent

Let’s talk about Nanami. Nanami has been the poster child of the Hard Work vs Innate Talent argument, on the side of Hard Work. Yet I feel compelled to say once again that this dichotomy is bullshit, and I finally have proof from the series to prove why. (I’m going to get a bit philosophical here, so feel free to skip to the next section if you want.) It can be said that the real dichotomy is in Hard Work + No Talent vs Hard Work + Talent, and that’s closer to the truth. Yet I think we all do ourselves a disservice when we think this way. As humans, we each seek to find those things we’re innately good at, those things we’re “talented” at, under the assumption that these were the things we were “meant” to do, and that we could never become world-class in anything but that which we’re talented at – that it is, in effect, impossible to become great at anything else. This is limiting, and limiting is not always a bad thing – in a world of infinite choices, humans often end up choosing nothing, because we get overwhelmed. So we limit ourselves. We box ourselves in so we can decide.

But just because it’s useful doesn’t mean it’s true. Yes, there are some things each of us will never be able to do – a 165cm tall man probably doesn’t have a bright future as a basketball player, whereas I, who stands at 200cm, had a better shot. But that list is small, the minority. When it comes to the work of our brains – which includes creativity and art – the main ingredients are hard work intelligently applied, and passion that never dies. Did you notice how, by this last episode, Sorata and Nanami – our scions of hard work with no talent – seemed quite, well, talented? Sorata is churning out game ideas with confidence – he’s even making a demo for the review stage when he hasn’t even passed the presentation yet! – while Nanami is scaring people just by reading lines from a horror script in her kitchen. If you just met these character, I bet you would think they were talented. They might disagree. You’d both be right, and wrong as well – they are talented now because they worked insanely hard, lived in a nurturing environment, were passionate about their dreams, and because they never, ever gave up. That’s my kind of talent.

Hard Work, Rewarded

But I got a little ahead of myself, and sidetracked as well. On the hard work front, the problem that many of you pointed out was that, for a few episodes there, it looked like Mashiro was going to get everything, while Nanami ended up with nothing – she would be shipped off to Osaka by her father, losing both her dream and her love in one fell swoop. It seemed like hard work was going to lose to talent (and hard work). And I agree, that would have been terrible. The dissonance implied in such an ending…no, that would have been no good.

Not that I ever really thought that was going to happen. Logically, at least.

Here’s the thing: if Nanami had her dream crushed but she still got together with Sorata, she still would have lost. Love, until it’s at the levels shown by Jin and Misaki, should be secondary to one’s dreams, and should never be considered a consolation prize. No, the path ahead was always clear to me – Nanami would return to Sakurasou for the next semester, her dream still alive. That was why Mashiro and Sorata’s good bye to her on the train platform was so perfect. It was not “farewell”, but a “see you when you get home.” Even in the face of the two kisses that preceded it, that was the perfect way for her to go. Nothing else would have fit.

And she came back! My heart sang when she reappeared, and I’m glad they took the time to show us that, because not doing so would have been the kind of dangling plot thread that would have made me rage. She returned back home, her old dream still alive, only now with her father’s (begrudging) blessing as well! Chihiro-sensei was right when she said Nanami took the child’s way out of just saying “screw you!” and doing it anyway, but, as I expected, it was good that she did that, since that was what enabled her to convince her father. Now she’s back, with her dream still intact, and maybe her love as well. Which brings me to…

It Can Be Whatever You Want It To Be

I said that the best finales wrap up all the loose ends, but leave the future open. It is clear that Sorata’s eyes are firmly turned towards Mashiro – he even admits himself that she has him wrapped around her little finger. Oh yeah, and there was that love confession the other day too. Yet even so, they didn’t kill off the Nanami ship entirely, and that’s okay. Here’s the thing – now that it’s over, each of us can decide how we’d like to imagine it going from here. He’s turned towards Mashiro, but maybe they’ll date for a while, break up, and then Nanami gets together with Sorata. I wouldn’t bet on it, but then again I quite like Mashiro x Sorata. Who’s to say that’s not in the future? Until the author himself (trope!) shuts off a possibility, we can imagine whatever we want.

That’s why Jin said “There’s no need to give up. That means on Sorata too.” Oh, Nanami! That was also why the kiss we got between Sorata and Mashiro wasn’t the full dealio. Mind you, I would have liked to see a full kiss from them, because even that would not have stopped those who wanted to from imagining – hell, even a true Mashiro End wouldn’t have done that, though it would have made it harder. Plus, it would have been soooo great to see! I have to admit though, the long lead up to the almost-kiss, which Hikari broke up (damn jealous cat!) made me howl with frustrated laughter. What a cat tease! But they roped me in good, enough that I had to laugh to avoid cursing. (Okay, I did some of that too.) And now we can even better decide on the future each of us would prefer, even if all signs point to a certain painter/manga-ka for the time being. For the time being. You can imagine whatever you want from here.

Be Weird

The leap forward to the new semester was wonderful, because it provided the true closure that this series needed – not just of the romance, but of the great group of friends centered around a certain old building. A Sakurasou that’s not lively isn’t the Sakurasou we’ve come to know and love, and for this series to end the way it must, we needed that back. Enter Hase Kanna (Yamazaki Haruka), the highest scorer on the entrance exam who can’t sleep with someone else in the same room, and Himemiya Iori (Shimazaki Nobunaga), i.e. Hauhau’s little brother, who got caught trying to peek on the girls’ bath on his very first night in the regular dorms. As soon as these two were introduced, I knew this would only get better. A pervert and a serious girl to be disgusted by him? Great, love it, just what we needed! And then Yuuko is there too!? I loved her exchange with Sorata: “If you say it was actually 66, I’m not your brother anymore.” Hah, of course! It would have been a shame to not use such a hilarious character, but it’d be no fun to have let us know she was coming so far ahead. And as I alluded to before, Misaki-sempai is back with her new house right next door. Erh–that is, Mitaka Misaki is here, since she got a little impatient. Seriously, from the second that Kanna and Iori met, I was laughing non-stop. Just a wonderful way to end it all.

But best of all may have been how Sorata, Mashiro, and even Nanami were freaking out the newbies like the true Sakurasou residents that they are. Apparently it only takes a year living in Sakurasou to become totally weird. Good! It’s better than being boring. Bring on the nabe party! I have a feeling there will be plenty more of them in the year ahead.

The Ending

While I would have liked to see a full kiss from Sorata and Mashiro, I couldn’t help but love it when the old 「DAYS of DASH」 came on, and they went through what I think was probably every single one of Sakurasou’s best lines and moments, all in one go. It was a rocket ship down the street named nostalgia, as everything I loved about this series literally hurtled right past my eyes. And that pause – just to remind us of how much these characters have gone through, to remind us of all their pain and effort, they made us wait, made us wonder what was going on – and then the music came back, and exalt! It’s a brand new day my friends, and a glorious one at that! DAYS OF DASH! Needless to say, chills aplenty were had, my friends, chills aplenty, right up until the credits finally ran out.

In concluding this episodic portion, the one thing I always worried about this show was that it would follow in Toradora’s footsteps and rush the ending. Gladly, Sakurasou’s ending, especially these last two episodes, was some of the greatest work they put out. This series ended on a note higher than almost any it reached, and it reached some damn high ones, which were matched only by how deep the lows were (in emotions, not quality). This series was a roller-coaster, and one I’m…but I should save all that for the final impressions below.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – A wonderful finale. All the loose ends were tied up, while the future could be anything we want it to be #sakurasou

Random thoughts:

• “It’s interesting because there’s more to come.” Was that a sequel hook, Mashiro? Ufufu~
• Did you catch how Yuuko said she “spent last night with Kanna-chan”? Ahhh, it all makes sense. Now we know who her really noisy roommate was!
• Also, how about that Nanami blushing when Sorata leaned against her? Fear not, Nanami shippers! She definitely hasn’t given up, that’s for sure.

Full-length images: 11, 23, 30, 31, 35.

Epilogue:

Final Impression

Expectations were not especially high for Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo going in. Its art made it look a like Toradora, but the degrading-sounding premise turned a lot of people off. Even I wasn’t sure about it, and when I heard it was 2-cour, I was honestly worried – I wasn’t used to covering multi-cour shows, at least not without a break in between, so I wasn’t sure if I had gotten myself into something I would end up regretting. So what’s my verdict now, here now at the end of it all?

Love & Art

Damn, I’m glad I picked this one up! (I know, you’re surprised.) Sakurasou has been a wonderful trip all the way through, starting from the very first arc, which shattered all my expectations and drove the progressively higher. It would take me too long to list off all of the things I loved about it, but here are a few: art that beautifully suited the atmosphere; the strong emphasis on B-couples rather than a single harem; the spot-on humour, especially Sorata’s tsukkomis; the intense drama that pulled me in and made me love the characters; the fact that characters actually failed, and it made them grow stronger; the slight tweaks to the source material to make it fit the screen better; how much it made me smile, cry, and feel all the emotions usually denied to me in my everyday life.

Sakurasou has been a good romance, and if it was only that then I would have enjoyed it. But it delved deeper, and tackled themes that are both far-reaching and near to my heart. Sakurasou was at its best when it spoke to the nature of art, on pursuing one’s dreams, of dealing with failure, and on working insanely hard on what you’re passionate about. The end of episode 8 still shines as one of the moments of any anime that most resonated with me, when it talked about trying with all your might, and failing, but enjoying it because you dared to try, and picking yourself up to do it all over again. I too love people who live as hard as they can! And that’s only one of many times they spoke on what it truly means to be an artist, to chase after your dreams, to persevere through rushing failures. These were themes deeper than I’ve seen in many a story, and they were treated with deep respect. That helped to elevate Sakurasou to something greater than just a romantic comedy. It elevated it to art itself.

Flawed Genius

I once read an article where Paul Barnett, the creative director behind Warhammer Online, said the following: “I believe WOW is a work of flawed genius. When you dismantle [these works] you can never be sure whether you get genius or flaw.” To me, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is a work of flawed genius. I think most of you will agree that there were certainly flaws – even if we ignore the rather cringe-worthy title, it had a habit of trying to force the drama, to the point of handing characters – especially the male ones – the idiot ball (trope!) and making them act seriously out of character in order to propel the story along, or just stretch it out for a little longer.

And yet, there was genius here as well. Even if the drama was sometimes forced, it worked more often than not, giving us some of the deepest lows and highest highs, crushing us with the characters’ depression and then uplifting us with their triumphs. There was undeniable power in this series, at least for those of us who let ourselves be drawn in by these characters who were so real and alive, we who allowed ourselves to ride along with their torrential lives. I watch a show like this, and then I think of the ones that KyoAni makes. Though I have had the pleasure of covering the last two, there’s always something so clinical about the stories they tell. They check off all the boxes and do everything right, but in trying to be perfect, some essential spirit is lost. They’re good, but I don’t feel the art in them, the passion – they feel like they were designed by a group of very smart people, not by one passionate person who slaved away at their kitchen table trying to bring their singular dream to life. Sakurasou was flawed, but it had spirit, and a soul – it was the artistic expression of one man trying to tell the story he wanted to tell. This adaptation brought that forth well, and I love it for that.

Find Your Dream

A good story can be the kindest teacher we could ever hope for. If nothing else, one of the best things that Sakurasou does is exactly what Mashiro did for Sorata – it gives us all, the audience, permission to chase after our dreams. True, it is a story. It is fiction. Yet the themes in it are very real. Through all the trials and tribulations, the best times in Sorata’s and the others’ lives were when they were working wholeheartedly towards their dreams, and let me tell you, they are right. I have had jobs I did not like, schools I did not particularly enjoy, and there was nothing fulfilling about them. But when the lessons sang, when the challenges were interesting and evocative, and when it was my own dreams I was working towards, those were very fun indeed. For some of them, they still are.

Here’s the lesson I take from Sakurasou, and I hope that each of you will take it as well. Even though most of them failed – Jin, Nanami, and Sorata did, and most of them twice or more – they still enjoyed it, and were grateful and happy to have tried. I guarantee that if you put your full and honest effort into your dreams, if you pour your personal, irreplaceable, and vulnerable passion into your work, even if you fail, you will not regret it. Human beings are not meant to slave away at jobs they hate! Better to risk failure, because you also risk having a life you might genuinely enjoy. You don’t have to quit your job and draw manga or create games, though those are fine if you want to. No, you can find art in any profession, as long as it’s one you’re passionate about. When you find that, when you really care about the results – not because it’s your job, but because you actually care, because it is important to you yourself – then your days will be a lot happier. That is art, and it is worth the risk.

Final Words

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is a work of flawed genius, a piece of art that sings all the louder for its imperfections. These are characters I have come to love. I loved watching them find romance in one another. I loved watching them come closer to accomplishing their dreams, and have learned more about my own dreams in the process. This has been a wonderful ride, and I am truly glad that I’ve gotten to write about every one of these 24 episodes for you. Thank you for allowing me to do that, and for reading my words.

Now, my fondest wish is that each of you – every single one of you – would heed the lessons of Sorata and the others, and go out and chase your dream. Whatever you do, care about it with your full heart, or find something to do that you can. It’s scarier that way, but the rewards are all the greater for it, because it’s only when you embrace the fear and do what you’re really passionate about that your life can truly sing. It’s only then that you can shine.

Hey. What colour do you want to be? Because it’s your choice.

「(鈴ちゃんが幸せならわたしも幸せだから」 (Rin-chan ga Shiawase nara Watashi mo Shiawase dakara)
“If You’re Happy, Rin-chan, Then I’m Happy Too”

It’s always interesting with a conspiracy tale like this one to wonder whether the style of the series has changed, or just the way I perceive it.

I’m seeing ghosts in every corner and hidden meanings behind every phrase in Little Busters now, while in the first cour there were long stretches where I never even thought about the underlying mystery behind the series. I don’t think it’s all me – LB really has gotten more blatant about dropping hints on our head like 16-ton weights, I’m sure of it – though I wonder how much heightened sensitivity (hey, Hisoka got me thinking about it) has to do with it. I also suspect, however, that drunk with its newfound power LB is also dropping a few red herrings in there too, just to throw us off the trail.

I have to start on this episode by saying that for me a little Komori goes a long way. Well, I’ll be honest – any Komari goes too far, really. I find her pretty intolerable (and don’t ask me to justify why I do and still love Kud – if you have to ask you’d never understand). So stylistically speaking for me there were chunks of this episode that were pretty much a write-off just based on personal bias, but that said, I still think it was a pretty good one. And really for the fist time I get the sense of how Komori fits into the big picture vis à vis The Secret – or at least that she does fit into that big picture. The episode also featured a very funny bit featuring the usually serene Mio showing a whole different side of herself (well, we’re used to that in a somewhat different context) once she’s got puppets in her hands.

While this episode was mostly about Rin, I’ve been getting the feeling more and more that Rin is an outlier in this world, just as Riki is. She’s an odd one – nominally the main girl, but her role seems to come as a sort of constant that runs through stories that focus on everyone else. That’s true of Riki too, of course, though he’s more critical in all those other arcs and he’s the POV character, besides. Then there’s Kud-o’s comment last week about how she “has to help Riki and Rin” – further cementing the notion in my head that those two are connected in a way the others in this cast are not. The fact is that although the plot of this episode revolved around Rin and her knee-jerk decision to promise a puppet show the next day in response to another cat-tail message (seriously – don’t do that, Kids) it was Komari whose involvement seemed to speak more directly to the conspiracy.

What seemed odd here? First of all Komari’s story: not the diabetic-coma inducing tale of the try-hard Penguin, but the one about the eight dwarves who each get helped by a boy and girl, and then disappear after their problems are solved. That there was deeper meaning behind that was about as subtle as a sack of hammers to the head. Then there was the group of kids who Rin and Riki bumped into and for whom she performs the puppet show. They’re not the l’il Little Busters – the details don’t match up exactly – but they’re close enough to make me wonder whether or not it’s just a matter of character design. I mean, we even had the small, sickly-looking quiet boy and the tough kid with the wild black hair. As for Rin’s panic after the show when she was looking for Komari – only to find her on the roof, staring into the sunset – there was a trollish but not-trollish quality to it that leaves me wondering whether it was foreshadowing or a head-fake. Of Komari’s gift to Rin of one of her wishes – and her promise to “think of a great one” – I have no such uncertainty.

Of course Riki has finally figured out the weird thing about these notes with assigned tasks – they seem to imply knowledge of future events (such as the need for puppet shows or emergency cafeteria help). I can’t help but be put in mind of Kyousuke when I think of assigning missions, though I can’t figure out just yet why he’d choose such a method to do so when he’s perfectly willing to openly assign them face-to-face. And indeed, the first season is seemingly going to end with the Little Busters finally starting to fulfill the big one he laid out for them – playing a baseball game. Given how much attention that premise has gotten it would have been odd to break without something happening with it, so baseball seems like a good landing-spot for the season. And there’s certainly no shortage of possibilities for the second, if JC Staff does indeed announce it as a full two-cour one like the first – we have at least two major characters whose arcs could be covered, and Rin seems like a given – and then there’s that little matter of unraveling the mystery underlying the entire series.

 

Preview

「新世界より」 (Shin Sekai Yori)
“From the New World”

How do you end a show that went to the places Shin Sekai Yori did? A couple of episodes back, I started pondering this question, but up until the moment before I watched this last episode, I still didn’t have a clue what kind of a world it would eventually bring out characters to, or whether the final outcome would adhere to the themes and characterizations in the story. Having watched this final episode now, I find myself wondering why the conclusion to the series feels strangely predictable, but by no means is it any lesser than the alternatives they could have brought out.

Coming off the mixed feelings I had about the two Noitamina endings to this season, there are two things I am immediately grateful for in this conclusion. The first is that in being adapted from a full proper novel, Shin Sekai Yori had a definitive ending to its story. Of course, I lament the fact that there remains so much potential story in Shin Sekai Yori’s world just waiting to be explored, but in this era dominated by incomplete adaptations and sequel hooks, (coughcoughpsychopasscoughcough) it’s ridiculously fresh to find a series definitively concluding on a particular note, after telling the story it needed to tell. The second, of course, is that the series didn’t rush headfirst into its conclusion. I personally didn’t think any less of it, but some might find the fiend’s death too rushed, maybe a little less bombastic or epic than it should’ve been when it ended in the opening minutes of the episode. Regardless it is thanks to that we got something arguably better in exchange, something I all too rarely see in a show when it’s one of the most important things an ending should get right: a proper conclusion to the story. Where every major character, dead or alive, is conclusively addressed in the aftermath of the failed invasion. Too many times I’ve seen a show puts its climax right at the very last moment, and as a result ends up a rushed, disappointing affair (coughcoughroboticnotescoughcough) that only offer brief glimpses into the aftermath of its characters, which is why I’m really grateful for Shin Sekai Yori using its final episode to give us proper conclusions on the remainder of its characters.

In the end though, Shin Sekai Yori remains as unrelentingly nihilistic and cynical as it started out, which for some reason I always felt might’ve ended up being the case. Humanity has averted its most dire catastrophe yet, and the village will eventually rebuild itself, but by no means does the story want us to think humans have changed for the better. More than that, the show outright vilifies the remainder of the village’s humans as they mock and demean Squealer in his hearing. Even if the queerat is hardly a saint, the display was easily the cruellest in the show; stripped naked as the animal he is perceived to be, his intellect demeaned and mocked, the hearing being made a farce of, and being subject to a torturous fate worse than death. The actions of the villager are downright disgusting, and highlights just how little really has changed in human nature over the millennium since the fall of the old civilizations, and over the course of the series. That the queerats are really non-pk humans after all (finally confirmation of that on-off theory!) only deepens this feeling of humans already having gone beyond redemption in their actions. Really, who are the animals, and who are the humans in the end? You could make a case for both sides, and no one ends up on the moral high ground. If anything, the ending somewhat of an anti-climax; with the eradication of the queerats, that rift between the remainder of both species only grows larger that ever, and both sides end up worse for wear.

But finally, the show leaves us with something new: Hope for any kind of change, even if minuscule. Humanity has been characterised by tragedy and loss, abhorrence in their actions, but in Saki and Satoru, we see small steps of a new direction. “There are things more important than the rules”, muses Saki, as she burns the miserable lump of living flesh that was Squealer out of pity. To me, its more likely the statement implies there are more important things than survival, the traits that separate humans from animals, the aspects that give us our humanity, and this is embodied in Saki’s actions to spare Squealer his fate, as well as in repaying the debt to Kiromaru and saving his colony from eradication.

The new life conceived by Saki and Satoru, now wedded, becomes symbolical of this new hope. For this first time there is something undeniably positive in the outlook of story, even amidst the bleakness surrounding the characters. And as we find, within the story that has just been recounted to us is a small prayer for a better future. It’s incredibly fitting then, from a symbolic and emotive standpoint, that Dvorak is the one to play this show out, as the piece by now is synonymous with loss and tragedy in the show, but at the same time the end of the day and the possibilities of the unknown future. As we’re treated to a haunting final sequence of the time where the children were in the prime of their innocence, a time now lost to the unforgiving world, the show leaves us with one final statement: “The power of imagination is what changes everything.” A testament to the tale we’ve just been told, and the new hopes Saki and Satoru are left with. Because when humans can’t imagine anything beyond survival, when humans can’t imagine a better way of life, how can it ever be attained?

Epilogue:

Final Impression:

Once again it’s finale time for the season, and I confess, I had a lot of trepidation going into the final write up for Shin Sekai Yori. For one, this is the first double-cour series I’ve fully covered, and after some 6 months it being a constant part of my life, only now do I realise how hard it is to have to finally close the book on a show I’ve grown to really connect with. And how hard it is to actually close the book itself. Which brings me to my other point, that when a series as dense as Shin Sekai Yori ends, my thoughts end up a dazed mess. I haven’t the faintest where I should be starting from, not even as I’m typing this. There’s so much to discuss about that I feel anything I end up writing would be a disservice to what this wonderful show actually brought out.

In which case, I feel inclined to restraint myself. First of all, the philosophy in the show is perhaps better left to the discussions in comment boxes and forums; framed in the ambiguous ethicality of the humans and their coexistence with the queerats, we saw existential ponderings of our humanity and base instincts, explorations of social paradigms and conventionality, even (brief) challenges to our preconceptions on the highly personal topic of sexuality. There’s no lack to what Shin Sekai Yori brought to the table, and similarly so of the many opinions it provoked. Trying to summarize the entirety of that intellectual experience would then be doing the show a true disservice. Rather, letting the audience explore its numerous themes by themselves seems the better alternative, as the show had so challenge us. As I’ve said at the start, this is a show that goes places, and it reaches quite a few that’s been going unchallenged in anime for far too long. For the intellectually curious, you could certainly do worse than Shin Sekai Yori.

Instead, I really just want to talk about show did right by me, and the first on that checklist is that it tell a fantastic, compelling story. Which, surprising as it may be, doesn’t come quite as often as I would like it to. Much of the credit really should go to novelist Kishi Yusuke here, who realized this tragically beautiful tale about the human nature that provokes not just intellectually, but emotionally in equal amounts. This is a story of some very human characters in a very inhuman time, and as we chart their life journeys over the span of 14 years, as we watch the group suffer through the loss of members and the tragedy brought about by their world, it gets intensely dramatic. I’ve talk at length about this before, but this is also a show that breaths believability into its setting in a way few show actually do so, where the heft of a millennium in time (and not just during the Tokyo climax) can actually be felt throughout the presentation of this familiar yet alien world. It’s here where the intricacies of Kishi Yusuke’s novel shows; details about it’s history, environment and society, both implicit and explicit, really helped flesh out this setting that he’s built. As a storyteller, Kishi Yusuke’s a genius at keeping the story completely unpredictable while never quite making it too far-fetched; solid exposition and foreshadowing, and a remarkable awareness of the plot direction makes the story stay true to its vision as his spins his tale of a world gone wrong.

But really, equal credit should go to director Ishihama Masashi here, who in his breakout directorial role here got skyrocketed to my list of “to-watch” directors. Don’t discount the efforts of his team simply because this was an adaptation; contrary to the popular opinion, I often feel adaptations are far greater a challenge to produce for than an original screenplay. The way I see it, greater constraints are placed when translating a story between two different mediums as opposed to a story crafted specifically for the medium. Kishi Yusuke’s sci-fi epic at 3 volumes long, with its world and themes and characters and all its little literary details, was far from simple to adapt into a 24 episodes series, the same way it still boggles the mind as to how the game of thrones was condensed into 12, or the way the Lord of the Rings was cut into 3 feature lengths. What to keep in, what excess to trim, and what to do in order to adhere to the vision of the story? It can’t have been an easy task asked of Masashi’s team, especially given the fact that they were working on a skeleton budget –and I’ll get to this shortly– but still he rose to the challenge magnificently. Shin Sekai Yori wasn’t afraid to experiment and break away from conventional storytelling paradigms to tell its full breadth of its scope, and damned if it actually cared whether people could follow it. I’ve wrote at length before, that the show’s direction is at once its greatest strength and weakness, and I still stand by that. Shin Sekai Yori can often take on a wild, erratic direction in an attempt to get its as many of its points across, and more often than I liked, these were lost on me and -as I suspect- many others. At the same time, it’s because the direction ended up being so unique that made Shin Sekai Yori as compelling a watch as it was; explicit and implicit details often intertwine in unexpected ways –such was the case when we first found out about the mindwiping– and a barrage of foreshadowing and misdirection kept up that air of ambiguity till the very end of the show.

Fact is, Masashi and his team were short-changed, and it shows in the inconsistencies in animation and varying production values. But it doesn’t change the fact that its presentation is one Shin Sekai Yori’s strongest suits. If animation wouldn’t work, the team would show mastery over other aspects of the cinematography: artistic direction, audio mixing, camerawork, among others. I cannot emphasize enough how important it’s been to this show, and I can honestly say that I wouldn’t have felt quite as strongly had the cinematography not been so effective in conveying the show’s palpable atmosphere. We talk about tension and fear, of tragedy and loss in the show, but without the beautiful, sometimes terrifying imagery –really, kudos to those unsung artists– and the amazing score to punctuate those key moments, Shin Sekai Yori would’ve been so much lesser. Masashi and his team’s contribution to the work cannot go amiss in crediting the realization of Shin Sekai Yori’s world. Case in point: What was the last show you remember where a piece of music could become as symbolic and iconic as Dvorak’s New World Symphony was here?

And of course, rounding out the holy trinity are the voice actors themselves. The main cast was populated with typical big names, with fan-favourites like HanaKana rocking the solid performance you’d expect. But really, as I’m sure anyone would agree, the queerats were the real stars. You just can’t go without crediting Namikawa Daisuke – who comes from roles like Fate/Zero’s naive Waver to chillingly deliver the show’s standout performance as Squealer – and Hirata Hiroaki – breaking away from his lovable joe typecast and showing similarly amazing range here as the majestic and noble Kiromaru. Fresh faced Taneda Risa, the most unnatural of choices out of the entire cast, also proves her chops amidst these stars by bringing a weak and flawed Saki through an emotional maturation process into adulthood.

 

It’s always hardest to put the final line on a wrap-up. What to say to sum up the experience that was Shin Sekai Yori? I could say it is the most creative, provocative and compelling piece of work I’ve seen in the medium for a long time, but that’s 3 buzz words too many already. I could say that ranks among the Tatami Galaxies, the Dennou Coils and Ghost in the Shells, those shows that had the perfect blend of complexity and depth in their themes, those shows that were impeccable in the presentation of their creative vision. But that’s just describing my own taste in shows, and besides, I bet a number of you never watched a single one I mentioned.

Why is closing the book so damn hard?

Screw objectivity then. I love this show. I love its incredibly flawed cast of characters. I love the world it has so amazingly realized, a future vision of our world that is indescribably beautiful, and yet completely horrifying at the same time. I love how it constantly made me ponder, think and question this vision. And I love those damn queerats. Hell, I love Squealer, for all his ambition, twistedness, and flaws. There’s quite simply nothing like Shin Sekai Yori that I’ve ever seen in the medium, and it’s been a long time since I felt so strongly this way. It’s the shows like this, the show that pushes the limits of creativity in anime to deliver something truly fresh, that resound with me long after they end. It’s this experience that made me start on animes, when I first saw the extents of the medium’s creative power in Spirited Away, and it’s for experiences like what Shin Sekai Yori delivered that I continue to watch them.

Author’s Notes

Sorry folks! Normally, I’d pull an overnighter and get the entire post out in one go, but I’ve got work in the morning. Rather than waiting for the final impressions to be done, I’m putting up the post with the episode review first, so knock yourselves out with the ending discussions. Check back at the same time in the next two days for an updated episode review and a proper final impression! Final Impressions are up! And thanks to all you readers for following my ramblings these past 6 months! SSY’s been one of the most amazing shows I’ve had the fortune to watch and blog, and its a blast writing the posts and reading all your insightful comments!

「迷えるチキンな俺」 (Mayoeru Chikin na Ore)
“I’m a Confused Chicken”

With the last episode just a week away, I can’t get over how impressed I am with how exciting things are getting!

Seeing how every character has had a short arc dedicated to them, it makes sense that the only male lead would get one as well. But boy, in Kodaka’s case there’s just so much that the writers could do to flesh him out. We’ve already seen that he’s a good person who cares deeply for all of his “acquaintances” and family. But really, how much can you actually care for someone when you’re unwilling to reciprocate their feelings? Be it affection or comradery, all the mixed signals that he exchanges with everyone must get tough to handle.

Which is why I loved how the story continued to shine the spotlight on Rika and Kodaka. As we’ve seen, Rika’s been the only member who’s been actively trying (and recognizing) that the people who she spends most of her time with are actually her friends. And after witnessing just how far Kodaka is willing to go to avoid creating bonds with anyone, Rika may be the only person left who can help him overcome his fears.

And while I’m ready to hopefully watch Kodaka get over his fear of connecting with others, I can’t overlook my strange love for Yusa Aoi — one of the cutest characters to appear since Kobato. Not only do I give her credit for trying to take on both Yozora and Sena in a one-on-one battle but all those little quirks like taking her shoes off before leaping on the couch or complimenting Kodaka for all the things he’s stereotyped for somehow rocketed her up my favorite list. And let’s not forget that she’s super short, has messy red hair, and just has the perfect voice (provided by Ise Mariya)!

Getting back on track — who’s excited for the finale? With Kodaka’s fears finally thrown into the open, I’d like to see him try to run away this time. Judging from the preview though, I get the feeling that he may take things to an extreme and outright avoid going to clubroom. At the same time, it seems like the student council president and Yusa are going to play some instrumental part in helping Kodaka come to some realization that forming bonds won’t leave him worse than when he started. Something which doesn’t make a whole ton of sense but I’m down for more Yusa! But in the worst case, I suppose the writers could leave things up in the air and use it to make a third season — but if that happens I’d probably end up on the ground writhing in pain thinking about how I’d translate my disappointment into words.

P.S. Did the end of the episode bring out a deep emotion reaction in any of you? For me, the moment I tried to criticize Kodaka’s actions was the moment when I started remembering all of the dumb things that have happened to me in the past year. From relationships to botched friendships, I started to think about how different things might be if I had just walked away instead of going for it. And for a good half hour, I was thinking that following suit with Kodaka may have brought happier results — until I remembered all the things I learned from those crappy experiences and how I use it to keep my spirits up today.

P.P.S Full Size Rika just for you!

 

Preview

End Card

「戦略の結末は修羅場」 (Senryaku no Ketsumatsu wa Shuraba)
“The Result Following a Scheme is a Battlefield”

Hi all! Stilts here. In my ongoing quest to cover all of the shows (and because Zani has been super busy and requested some help), I’m taking care of this week’s OreShura. And as luck would have it, this may be the perfect episode to have me around for. This week it’s all swimsuits and liars, and who better to talk about that than the perverted marketer? Let’s get to it!

Swimsuits & Breasts – I Love the Beach!

Fanservice is a tricky thing. Muscle it in where it doesn’t belong and it’s not only jarring, but it can destroy what would have otherwise been a great story. Good fanservice requires either a delicate touch, or to be completely and utterly shameless. So, how did they do here?

Awesome! Not only did the fanservice not intrude on the story, but it was plentiful, funny at times, and let’s not forget, super friggin’ hot. Am I the only one who keeps forgetting how stacked Himecchi is? Not that I am complaining. Of course, this feat was made easier by the fact that this was a beach episode, and swimsuits are one of the best excuses to toss in fanservice without it interfering with the story. Still, credit where credit is due. This was fanservice at its finest, and I enjoyed it heartily! Also, boobs. Lots of boobs. Good times!

Lost In The Lies

I’ve long had my suspicions about Masuzu, but this episode confirmed them. To me, there are three kinds of liars. First are those who lie pretty frequently but don’t admit it, maintaining that lying is intrinsically bad. They also believe that “white lies” are a thing. These people are delusional, but mostly harmless. Most people fall into this group. Second are those who lie to others deliberately. They can be dangerous or wonderful, depending on the content of their lies – after all, aren’t stories nothing but beautiful, interesting lies? – but I have no real problem with them. Marketer, remember? The third type, though, are the worst of all, and also the saddest – they are the ones who lie to themselves, and there is nothing more tragic than that. Lie to others if you’re willing to take the risk, just never lie to yourself. There’s simply no benefit in it, an it leads to nothing but trouble. Damn, I preach as much as Eita does, don’t I? I’ll take my harem now please.

Case in point, Masuzu. I couldn’t help but feel bad for her when Mana revealed that she was nothing more than a trophy daughter – just well-mannered eye candy who was there to make her father look good. For her father she lied and pretended for so long that she lost herself, forgot who she was beneath all the artifice. I’m reminded of Kokora Connect, only without quite so much forced drama, and to me this is a good thing. It’s less so for Masuzu – it’s hard to love someone who hates themselves, and that’s definitely where she is right now.

The End Game

The real question is, where does the story go from here? It’s possible that Masuzu really will release Eita, but I don’t see it. Or rather, that could happen, but I don’t think the battles will stop even then. I see two options: 1) Masuzu comes clean with her honest feelings and releases Eita, only to pursue him on even ground with the others, or 2) Masuzu comes clean with her honest feelings and does not release Eita, only now their relationship will become less of a lie.

Consider my money on option #2. The funny thing is, I would love to see that happen even though I think Eita should end up with Chiwa! Concerning Chiwa, even though I like some of the other girls better than her, I think she and Eita fit together the best. I mean, he’s becoming a doctor for her! If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. Even so, I like Masuzu, so even if she were to lose Eita I want her to find herself. I want her to come clean and realize that she has love on the brain too – and if not that, at least realize that she likes Eita, and Chiwa and Hime and Ai as well. She may not want a lover yet, but she has friends, and I’d like to see her embrace that – and them – openly and honestly. If that happens…well, fuwa fuwa feelings will abound for Stilts-niinii, lemme tell ya.

Looking Ahead

From the sound of the preview (“Our next super-popular item is our honest feelings”), some amount of guts-spilling will be happening next week. Whether Masuzu will get part of the way to the truth or make the whole leap, I do not know, but I’m looking forward to finding out. Oh, and more Saeko-san too, please. She’s the best!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – An episode full of swimsuits and liars. I…I love this episode so much, I just may cry #oreshura

Random thoughts:

• I loved the camera positioning this episode. Why hello there!
• “Ahn~!” I will never make Yukarin let out a sexy moan. FOREVER ALONE!!
• Normally I’d harp about how Mana just showing up was convenient, but I’m going to let it slide. There are few storytelling sins I hate more than that, but I’ll always forgive a few transgressions when a story doesn’t depend on contrivances too often. OreShura hasn’t done that, and this one pushed the story forward to what I hope will be a satisfying conclusion, so I’ll allow it.
• To answer the inevitable question, yes – I totally loved it when the ED began playing before the episode was finished. The more studios that treat OPs and EDs as opportunities to help tell a better story, the happier Stilts will be.

Full-length images: 09, 10, 19.

 

Preview

「ここからは、俺たちのゲームだ」 (Kokokara wa Oretachi no Geemu da)
“This is Our Game Now”

Oh where oh where do I start to discuss the finale of Robotics;Notes? Was it up to my expectations (or rather lack of expectations)? To be frank, the ending was even more anticlimactic than I imagined (really?!) and the closure to the story came even faster than I thought possible. I feel like I’ve been really critical of Robotics;Notes for the past 3-4 episodes and that’s only because I’ve been expecting such great things for the final stretch… but its honestly been quite a letdown.

The final battle scene was a little bit slow for my taste. I understand that the whole scene was meant to reunite Kai, Aki and Misa. It’s meant to be the big showdown between Misa, Kai and Kou and it’s supposed to tie everything together. In the end, I almost felt none of that. I saw a giant modified GunPro-1 and the SUMERAGI going head on, in a slow motion battle for 20 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of a failed rocket launch and 5 minutes of the aftermath. Not only that, but I still have a ton of questions that are left in my head that make me think – well why couldn’t they do this or that or where was that 5 episodes ago? For half a year I’ve been anxiously awaiting the confrontation between Misa, Kou, Aki and Kai and unfortunately, those final minutes just didn’t do justice for a grand finale and there was far more that could’ve been explained and said.

I actually have a laundry list of questions left for this show, but my biggest complaint is how quickly the solution comes around; it’s all too perfect for my taste. I can accept things at face value – like the monopoles falling from the sky and Kou’s brainwashing abilities (he’s probably really charismatic for all I know!) and even Kona’s (still) missing mother. However, I just cannot accept the fact that Kou can be so easily destroyed. I know that he’s not “dead” since he’s a piece of data that is still floating in some virtual space, but to simply “delete” him away makes me just want to say, “Well I could’ve thought of that!“. Sawada (who hasn’t been seen in 3 episodes) could’ve even made an appearance to say so but everything was communicated to Frau and almost too simply. I always thought there’d be more epic way of saving Misa from her own demise and perhaps “locking Kou” in a file that can’t be accessed.

I always assumed that the ending would tie the big picture together and unfortunately, that is never fully realized in this finale. There are a ton of characters in this series with multiple personalities coming together and I actually would’ve appreciated seeing how it all made a difference. What is Junna’s role in this series again? Why does it matter that Subaru’s father hates robots? And where did Frau’s mother go? I’ve always imagined that somehow, all these things would tie together to give our Robotics Club a reason to build this GunPro robot together. Perhaps Aki was the glue that they needed to accomplish a mission that helped them overcome their individual issues. As cheesy as it was, I still didn’t feel the individual characters each contributing to the bigger picture. In the end, they all seemed to just blend together and become a mob of people that charged out to stop a rocket launch (and conveniently had the help of JAXA). When they confronted Misa, just what exactly happened there? How does this repair their sisterhood bond? How does Aki reach her sister now, but not when she was destroying robots at the convention?

Anyway, there are a ton of things I can nitpick the show on but when it comes down to it, the finale has come and gone. It is what it is and whether there are satisfied or unsatisfied viewers, at least there was an ending. Seemingly, all problems are solved and the world isn’t going to end. The epilogue doesn’t give very much indication where the world is headed now, but from what I can see, it seems like the kids are just going to keep doing what they love – build robots.

Full-length images: All about robots!

Epilogue:

Final Impressions:

When I started blogging Robotics;Notes, I had no intentions of watching it for a Steins;Gate sequel. I enjoyed Steins;Gate, but I never judged Robotics;Notes based on its predecessor. I think that’s why I thoroughly enjoyed the buildup in the beginning and I liked the cast for what they had to offer. They were different but each of them had their own quirks and with each episode, the audience learns more and more about this looming plot to destroy the world. As the plot thickened and there were more concepts and realities that surfaced, Robotics;Notes became less of a story about high school students, but more of a story about how their existence ties in with Kimijima Kou and all these other outliers in the story. Many times I was left wondering how it all makes sense and I tried to fill in the gaps on my own as the story progressed.

Not to worry though, halfway through the series you start to learn more about each of the Robotic Club members. My favorite episodes focused on Frau and Airi but Junna’s was emotional too. Then the final arc comes along… and it literally comes like a speeding train right at you. “The secret plan” is revealed and unfortunately, I also think that’s when the series started falling apart. What I loved most about Robotics;Notes was the interaction between characters and how I thought that this was an entire mystery that would be solved in the end. However, what actually ends up happening falls short of my expectations because of the show’s lack of attention to detail. Rather than giving me the interconnected stories and why each person is the way that they are, I think the show focused too much on what was actually happening and that took away from a lot of the earlier buildup.

As a whole, I think Robotics;Notes has a great story and I can tell that there’s a lot of potential there for a well told mystery. I felt that sense of urgency from Kimijima Kou’s reports and the first half of the anime set a whole new bar for the show. Whether or not the ending met the high expectations is debatable. Personally I still think it’s worth the watch and it’s a fun ride while it lasted, but please – word of caution – do not watch it expecting it to be something else. It is what it is – students building a giant robot to save the world.

「四人の竜（ドラゴン）」 (Yonnin no Doragon)
“Four Dragons”

COME ON!

Wow, what an episode! It has been a while since we saw an episode dedicated to action only and I must say that I’ve really missed one like today’s. I loved this battle in the manga and I love it even more in the anime. I really enjoyed seeing both sides having their moments in the battle. It’s a fair and exciting fight and I’m glad it’s not over yet!

It’s quite hard to come up with things to write about an episode that focused on one thing only but I’ll do my best. Let’s see, maybe I should start with Sabertooth? As many of you probably are aware of, I’m not a huge fan of that guild considering what kind of attitude most of the people there have. But I do admit, this part of the story makes me see Sting in a slightly better light. That doesn’t mean that I forgive his rude personality though. Still, I liked seeing that a jerk like him also has a heart. Too bad that positive side of his is only limited to his dear friend Lector. Their promise may be a childish one but it was certainly sweet. As for Rogue, hmm… I believe I’ve said before that I see him as the only decent character of Sabertooth. And if I haven’t, there, I said it.

Enough about a guild that sucks, on to FAIRY TAIL! It feels great to finally see Gajeel and Natsu showing what they’re capable of. Their previous battle, the Chariot event, was not entirely fair to the two of them considering what kind of handicap they both have where vehicles are concerned. I really like seeing Natsu using his brain properly in battles. Usually he just throws himself into a fight using all his force but this time, he actually had some sort of strategy. I wonder if burning off that mark hurt… Anyway, Natsu was clever – he studied his opponent fairly well and hopefully the result of his observations will bring us an epic finale to this amazing show.

Having said that, I wish to apologise for the short post, but I don’t have much more to add to this. I can’t believe that this anime is ending next week, but who knows? Mashima has stated that this isn’t over yet so hopefully that means that we’ll see more in the future. Anyway, I need to prepare my heart for the ending, which most likely will be epic!

Moete kitazou!

Full-length shots: 20, 22

Note: I will be away for a while (see the announcements), so all my posts will be delayed. Thanks for understanding!

Special note: This isn’t relevant to anime at all, and probably something very insignificant to you, but please, if you care for this planet, and have the opportunity to do this, then please, turn off the lights during Earth Hour today. It isn’t much but it helps. I’d be very happy if some of you took this into consideration. It’s just for an hour! So if you can, please, turn off the lights.

 

Preview

Omake

「さしもしらじな もゆるおもひを」 (Sashi mo Shirajina mo Yuru Omohi o)
“I Feel As Though My Body is on Fire with Ibuki Mugwort”

Chihayafuru is definitely proving its versatility this season, but I wonder if it isn’t coming at just a bit of a cost.

I’ve been struck more than once that Chihayafuru feels just a bit different this season than it did in its first two-cour run. In much the same way that the last couple of seasons of Natsume Yuujinchou differed slightly from their predecessors, I don’t think this is a qualitative difference so much a change in tone and focus. The two things I can point to that are different this year are that Chihayafuru is dealing with a much larger cast, and so far it’s much more heavily focused on the game of Karuta itself.

So how does that manifest itself for me as a viewer? Well, one of the remarkable things about this series is its innate ability to transcend genres and specific styles, and that’s certainly been on full display this season. You could talk to five viewers who love Chihayafuru and they might give you five different answers about what they love most (indeed, that would be true of Natsume as well). For me, the series feels just a bit less special than it did because I miss the focus on the core characters, and on their character arcs. We’ve seen the camera all over the map this season, focusing on new characters and previously little-explored old ones, on opposing teams, and much more on the sport itself. Chihayafuru is pulling all this off beautifully, as you’d expect, but there’s less emotional heft for me when Chihaya and especially Taichi have become relatively minor players in many episodes. Whatever you may think of him Taichi had the most intense and dramatic arc of the first season, and as a result of his reduced prominence that arc feels rather stagnant at the moment.

My suspicion – at the very least my hope – is that all this broad focus we’re seeing is an investment in the long-term, developing the story and the rest of the cast because they aren’t going to get as much attention when the series returns to its essential nature in the second cour. And I freely admit that just as it was with Natsume’s subtle shift from being centered on its title character’s youkai world to his human one, this is a matter of personal preference and not a change in quality – I still love Chihayafuru and it’s still brilliant. And I certainly applaud the decision to build an episode around Komano-kun – hell, I’ve been crying out for it – because I’ve always felt he was a real unsung hero in this cast. I don’t want to call Tsutomu a forgotten man, but it does seem very often as if he’s taken for granted – his skills not quite on par with his teammates, his personality not as flashy, his main focus always on the team rather than himself.

As I speculated at the end of last week’s post, the cliffhanger was indeed all about Nishida calling Tsutomu’s desire as a player into question. And it’s hard to blame him, really, when Tsutomu showed little desire to fight for his position. Chihaya passes it off as fatigue, recalling an instance when Harada-sensei (why isn’t he here?) told her that watching a Karuta match intently was more exhausting than playing in one. And there’s something to that, as we see when Komano-kun falls asleep as the others begin their match (only to be thoughtfully covered up by "The Empress’ Jacket of Love"). But I think there’s something to what Nishida said, and Komano knows it. At Karuta, he’s the fifth-best on a five-player team. As a scout and analyst, he’s in his element – that’s his home turf and he’s unquestionably their best. We’ve seen this insecurity in him from the beginning, when he refused to play a match in a pout; just as we’ve seen his selflessness when he more than once tried to tweak the order so he’d be a sacrificial lamb against the enemy’s strongest opponent.

This whole episode with Nishida was quite eye-opening, I think, in that wonderful way Chihayafuru has of making events not just plot-drivers, but character-arc drivers as well. I think Tsutomu-kun needed to hear what Nishida said to rekindle his desire as a player, though in the long-term I still think the direction we’re headed is Tsukuba as the regular starter. I was pleased (for obvious reasons, heh) to see Kana be the one to most vociferously stick up for Tsutomu at what she saw as an attack. Chihaya once again shows just how much she’s grown as a player, stepping in when Taichi hesitates at deciding the order and calmly assessing the situation. The Empress made a very telling comment, that Taichi was "under too much pressure" – indeed, that’s how it’s seemed all season with him, that he was on edge and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The quarter-final match is against Shoyo ("Show You!") a team from Kyoto – and I couldn’t help but laugh at Taichi’s comment that all their players looked like "ancient Karuta officials from textbooks". Maybe it’s my fanciful Gaijin imagination but I’m always struck by how different Kyotoite faces look from folks in the rest of Japan – they really do resemble what I’ve always imagined Heian nobles look like. In any event Mizusawa does indeed go with the same order from the group stage while Tsutomu sleeps it off, and they win after a bit of an early struggle, thanks to his notes (we’re never given the individual results) and some world-class feminine wiles from Kanade. For the semi-finals (Hokuo has advanced, too), though, Tsutomu does indeed step into the picture against Akashi Girls Academy – and it seems as if Tsukuba really gets shafted here, as everyone rushes to embrace Tsutomu without a thought for his own efforts in helping the team advance. Akashi features Ousaka-san, the reigning Western Japan champion – and the issue here is Chihaya’s burning desire to take her on vs. the logical notion of trying to match Chihaya against one of Akashi’s three weaker (though still Class B) players. Again she shows her maturity – volunteering herself to follow that plan. But Taichi decides to stick with the same order on the guise that Mizusawa doesn’t want to duck their opponent, though he – and Tsutomu – know full-well that Akashi has been riding the same order because they’re saving any potential changes for what they perceive to be stronger opponents.

Next week should prove interesting indeed, as Akashi seems to be taking Mizusawa for granted and this looks like it might finally be the match where Chihaya loses and everything comes down to the other members (dare I hope, maybe Tsutomu) to save the day. Meanwhile Arata (Shinobu is currently wearing his pants) has indeed gotten a slap on the wrist – his punishment is to skip watching the team tournament and write an essay on what he did wrong. If that somewhat laughable sentence is the last we hear of the incident it’ll be a bit of an anti-climax, given that I thought Arata’s open admission that he deserved to be suspended from the individual tournament was quite admirable, and this seems like a victory for favoritism (and blackmail). Nevertheless this does offer the first realistic possibility of Chihaya and Arata playing in a meaningful match, though I kind of doubt that will happen this early in the season. But then, it isn’t really all that early – after we finish the team and individual stages the season will be more than half over, there’s still presumably the Meijin and Queen tournaments to be covered and we’ve seen very little focus on Taichi’s quest for Class A or on any of the personal lives of the characters. And that does make me a little sad, if I’m to be honest, as much as I love the supporting cast and the Karuta episodes.

「壊したり殺したりするばっかりで、何にも作ってないから」 (Kowashi Tari Koroshi Tari Suru Bakkari de, Nani ni mo Tsukutte Tenaikara)
“I Just Destroy and Kill, Without Creating Anything”

What a busy, fascinating mess. They tried to strong-arm so much in that I got whiplash and was frequently bewildered, but still interested enough to keep going. Some parts were good, some not so much. Let’s go over each.

Seinen Shounin’s Peace

By and far the best part of the episode (to me) was Seinen Shounin and Karyuu Koujo’s negotiations with Shounin Shitei. First of all, two things. Number one: Seinen Shounin x Karyuu Koujo SQUEEE!! Sorry, I just love my B-couples. Secondly, Shounin Shitei sure has moved up in the world. Financial minister? Nice! That was a smart move on Toujaku Ou’s part…I was barely able to keep up with their negotiations, but Shounin Shitei managed it while being in the hot seat. Maou’s students are quite impressive.

Now, I could go into my normal economic treatises, but I’m not feeling it today so I’m going to skip that. That wasn’t the part of these scenes I most enjoyed anyway, though it was necessary to get us there. No, the part I most liked, and the one that gave us the one genuinely stirring moment of the episode, was Seinen Shounin’s answer to Yuusha’s challenge. To quote the master merchant himself:

“Everyone has an opinion as to what’s right or wrong. We will never see eye-to-eye on that, but everyone wants to be a little happier than they currently are.”

Bingo, my greedy friend! Seinen Shounin found his answer – while some may want to go to war, what everyone really wants is to be a little better off than they were the day before. Make trade, not war! This goes back to the old Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention: No two countries that are both part of a major global supply chain, like Dell’s, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain.

This is why I laugh when American politicians talk about the threat of China, or Chinese ones talk about taking back Taiwan – yeah, and lose all that money everyone makes from trade? Unlikely! That’s Seinen Shounin’s plan – once everyone is busy making money off one another, the chances of a war will greatly decrease. That’s his path to peace, that only a merchant could find. When he revealed his plan, and Karyuu Koujo revealed her horns to show how serious they were about this…yeah, got a few chills there. Nicely done.

Delaying the Central Nations

As soon as I heard about all the wine going into the camp, I knew what was going on. Mind you, the commanders are stupid to have fallen for it, but that’s what you get when you have a bunch of nobles running your army instead of, I don’t know, professional soldiers! First they started a war right before winter, and now this…they’re falling for all the oldest tricks in the book. Though I guess in their world these tricks are probably new, so there’s that. You can’t be blamed for repeating history when there hasn’t been any history for you to repeat yet.

They’re still damn stupid, though. Also: poor horses. Beats the alternative, though.

Routing the White Night

Speaking of, fuck you White Night Country! Okay, so it sucks that all those soldiers had to die for their king’s (and their crazy commander’s) petty idiocy, but I can’t help but cheer for the smaller force outsmarting the invaders and sending them packing! Well, I say sending them packing, but by the end of it Gunjin Shitei had his people patching up the enemy soldiers as well. He’s another example of how impressive Maou’s students are. From him taking charge during the fight to his little battlefield promotion to Shogun (though that may have just been a nickname, I’m not sure), he was impressive indeed. Just goes to show you what a great teacher can do.

Onna Mahoutsukai

Wow, Onna Mahoutsukai is finally relevant! I’m still pretty unclear on a lot of stuff though, like…almost everything about her, to be honest. If this series has done one thing, it’s made me intent on reading the manga as soon as the anime ends, because I’m feeling the absence of the these little details I know are out there. Why are there multiple Onna Mahoutsukais (sorta)? Why did she get so angry? Why does she know all that stuff she told Yuusha? Okay, that last one was probably from her conversation with Maou, but still – I’m feeling the lack. I did enjoy her mass teleportation spell though, even if my mind immediately turned to just how lethal that could be. Hey, a lot of the world is water, open air, or the inside of rocks, ya know? So that was good times.

P.S. you don’t have to answer all those Onna Mahoutsukai questions in the comments. I’m going to read the manga soon anyone, so don’t want to be spoiled. Much obliged.

Destroying the Demon Gate

I’ll admit, I was raging when Yuusha nuked the Gate into oblivion. After everything Seinen Shounin did, he just cut off the only way they could trade with the Demon World! Mind you, I wouldn’t be surprised if that gets rebuilt, but that raises the question – why bother blowing it apart in the first place? (From a storytelling perspective.) Especially when Yuusha didn’t appear to know that he could still reach Maou once it was destroyed. In case you haven’t realized, we’re well into the not so great parts of the episode now. Which leads me to…

Evil Maou

Well that’s not the Maou I’m used to! First of all, there was power in the scene where Maou emerged and Meido Chou confronted her, mostly due to Saito Chiwa selling her performance hard. Her pain was clear, and I appreciated the further glimpse into her and Maou’s pasts. I also have to salute her for her little martial arts move that locked Maou back into the room for a while. Power does nothing for you if you can’t bring it to bear, or if your enemy can turn it aside. Nice!

That was the good. The less good past was the fact that Maou went full evil at all. I have to ask – is this anime original? Because to be blunt, I’m not really digging this final confrontation. I get how it could be considered poignant that it’s coming down to Maou vs Yuusha after all, only now they love each other and Yuusha doesn’t want to kill her, but Maou being taken over is such a lazy way to set that up. Partially this is my own prejudice – I’ve always hated mind control plots because it’s a cheap way to amp up the drama, and it’s not that great drama at that. Where is the true conflict without choice? They might as well have had some super powerful demon come out of nowhere and hold Maou hostage, because that’s basically what this was.

On the plus side, I enjoyed how Yuusha entered the palace by smashing through the wall, then the floor, and then the giant door. Doors? Screw em, who needs em! (Also, trope!)

Looking Ahead

As I’m fond of noting, we all know that the good guys win most of the time, so there’s something like a 95% chance that Yuusha is going to save Maou. Did they have to give it away in the preview? Gah! Ah well. Now all that’s left is to see exactly how Yuusha does it, and the effects all these events have on the world at large.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Seinen Shounin’s peace, a war on three sides, & Evil Maou. What a fascinating mess this is #Maoyuu

Random thoughts:

• Look, it’s vividblack! So fluffy~
• Seriously, fuck this guy. I can’t wait until he gets killed.

Full-length images: 12, 32, 40.

 

Preview

This makes me so sad…

I don’t even know where to start, just wow. I’m glad I wasn’t wrong when I suspected that Rogue might be evil. Well, that might be debatable but I think that he did a horrible thing. I know he was probably desperate considering what kind of future he comes from, but I don’t know why he tried to kill someone who is obviously weaker than him. He could simply just restrain her or keep an eye on her. But then again, going against Lucy if she were to stand in his way would mean going against FAIRY TAIL… I don’t know really, but I just can’t stand the fact that someone would kill someone because of “fate”.

I can’t even imagine Lucy going against saving the world from such a horrifying future. I’m trying to figure out what reasons she might have to do so. Is it the fact that Fiore will be wiped out? Which reminds me, what year did Lucy come from again? Is the future Lucy from the same time as Rogue? Did they sacrifice the worlds they lived in by going back in time? Ahh, this is so confusing.

Anyway, I can’t see anyone getting in the way of Eclipse. I wonder if Rogue lost Frosch in that future? He seemed so desperate. I still don’t see why FAIRY TAIL winning the Grand Magic Games makes any difference for what’s about to happen. I guess I should stop speculating and just write about the actual content of this chapter before I end up frying my brain.

Watching Lucy die was truly painful. Even if she wasn’t the actual Lucy, I just can’t stand seeing one of the characters I love dying. She wasn’t even able to defend herself. I felt so sad. And seeing her last moments nearly made me cry. Her being happy about having her loved ones nearby was truly heartbreaking and made me wonder what happened to everyone in the future. Who died? Who lived? What really made me sad was the panel where we saw Natsu looking back at the moment when Lucy got her guild mark. This was truly a sad chapter, but in a way, I loved it because it made things so intriguing.

A lot of people say that characters don’t die in this series, and I don’t know if this death is enough to prove them wrong. For me, characters not dying or losing has never been an issue. I don’t even see why you’re reading this manga if you feel bothered by the lack of character deaths. This is, and always will be, a series about friendship and overcoming hardships together. Perhaps this was a very random thing to bring up, but I’ve been surprised to see so many complaints about this issue. Oh well, some people love to hate and I assume that’s just something I have to accept. As for me, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop loving this series. I find the characters of FAIRY TAIL so respectable and I hate seeing them suffer. Seeing Lucy die was more than enough; I hope I won’t have to see that happen again (to another character I love). Anyway, I look forward to seeing how Natsu will fight Rogue. I assume the person in front of him is much stronger than the one he defeated in the arena. But then again, I doubt anyone is able to stop Natsu when he is that angry.

Moete kitazou!

Note: I will be away for a while (see the announcements), so all my posts will be delayed. Thanks for understanding!

「(はじまりの戦い」 (Hajimari no Tatakai)
“The Battle of Genesis”

I think any worries that Zetsuen no Tempest would slip out of character and go for a subtle, understated ending can safely be set aside…

As guest-hosting gigs go this certainly is a pretty good one, so thanks to Zephyr for asking me to fill in for him covering Zetsuen’s penultimate episode at Random Curiosity. As my LiA readers know (I actually covered an episode at RC earlier as well) this series has emerged as one of my genuine favorites, probably second only to Shin Sekai Yori in the class of Fall 2012 and a very likely bet to end up on my 10 best list for 2013 (unless it’s a truly amazing year). In terms of pure unapologetic BONES grandiosity, a better fit between studio and material could hardly be imagined.

At times like this I’m glad I’m not a manga reader, because I can enjoy the last few episodes of Zetsuen without obsessing over what changes the anime makes. My relationship with Okada Mari as a writer has been a rocky one, a kind of love-hate affair, but as with BONES I think in Zetsuen she’s found a perfect muse for her talents – and I’ve always felt she’s at her best working with a strong director who can reign in her overreaches (Andou Masahiro certainly qualifies). Of course with a series like this overreaching is really a big part of the charm – as I’ve said before this isn’t a show to be watched so much as experienced. It’s as operatic and grand and excessive as any anime in recent memory, and I think it’s the fact that it not only accepts that about itself but celebrates it that really makes the whole thing work. And what better writer to feed the beast in a situation like that but Okada?

It’s been fascinating to watch the way the various characters’ roles in the larger story have shifted over the course of the narrative, with their respective stars waxing and waning as circumstances changed (very much in the Shakespearean tradition, in fact). It seemed quite fitting to me that Mahiro and Yoshino would be the ones to emerge as central to the finale given their essential role in the overall story, but while Mahiro’s place was obvious – he was the one who thought of the plan all of the older and theoretically wiser heads decided to pursue – Yoshino’s was less clear. And it seemed that Hakaze was going to struggle to find relevance in the end, given that her magic was effectively neutered within the likely battle zone surrounding the Tree of Genesis’ central pillar.

So how did Zetsuen find a way around this? Well, in Yoshino’s case it seems to have been getting shot – which is certainly an attention-grabber, especially as it seemed he was pretty much along for the ride in Mahiro’s plan. In fact neither of them were originally going to be involved at all, though they weren’t about to accept that (thankfully, from a dramatic standpoint). Having them be part of a skeleton-crew attack on the survey ships closest to the Pillar seems like a sensibly safe choice, but I’m not really sure why the normally suspicious Mahiro would assume that just because they were science ships the crew would be unarmed – either that, or the boys let their amateur status show though and forget to thoroughly check the crew for firearms before restraining them. I’ll withhold judgment on this development until we learn more about it next week – at the moment it seems a bit forced, but Zetsuen is so good at Byzantine plot twists (and selling them) that I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt on this one.

As for Hakaze, the way her role in the plan is handled is much more obviously ingenious. Having she and Hanemura switch places – she posing as the Mage of Exodus, he as the “Dancing Princess” (yes, Okada-sensei – you finally managed to get Kaji Yuuki in drag after all, but I’ll forgive you this once) is a darn good idea by that scamp Mahiro. Not only that, but having Hanemura swap places with Tetsuma in the middle of the battle – very clever indeed. It allows Hakaze to use her magic in an effective way, in a place where it can still be used – and allows the “Mage of Exodus” to appear to be a greater threat to the military fleet than would have been the case if Hanemura had taken them head-on. As with pretty much all the major battles in this series it was handled beautifully from an animation standpoint – it’s quite simply a joy to watch BONES indulge their passion for good old-fashioned hand-drawn action sequences, and Andou Masahiro is a director who excels at the broad canvas as few others in anime do.

This episode is full of the touches that make Zetsuen no Tempest such a majestic and quirky series – the food porn, the sweeping orchestral background music, the use of Samon as one of the most unorthodox yet brilliant comedic devices of the year. But it leaves us with many questions still to be answered in the finale, and that’s not even factoring in Yoshino’s condition. I for one refuse to believe everything will come down to a one-on-one between the Tree of Genesis and Hanemura, a second-tier character – it just doesn’t fill like something Zetsuen would do, and his “It’s my fight and no one can help me” speech had the feel of ironic foreshadowing. We still know little of Samon’s role in the final plan, though there are hints it might be a suicide run. And I continue to believe that the mysterious girlfriend card is going to be played – though time is running out – or else it’s one of the great red herrings of the anime year. Add to that the fact that Aika hardly seems like the sort of character who’d let everything play out without directly impacting it in some way, and certainly guesses could be made – but we’ll find out soon enough, and at the very least we’ll surely see the contents of her “posthumous” letters to Yoshino and Mahrio revealed.

Whatever happens I expect it to be preposterous, spectacular and probably better suited to Puccini (or Shakespeare) than conventional anime. And I wouldn’t want it any other way, because it’s that quality that makes Zetsuen no Tempest stand out so boldly in a medium where shows that truly break from the pack are all too rare. Ultimately, I suppose, the question comes down to what it’s seemed likely to be all along – are we watching a tragedy, or a comedy, Hamlet or The Tempest? Zetsuen is a series that excels like few others at juxtaposing the mundane and the grandiose to great effect, and the title of the final episode – “To Each, Their Own Tale” – suggests that it’s going to deliver a conclusion that transcends the distinction altogether, and gives us something that’s neither (and both).

 

It’s that time of year again: the Spring 2013 Preview and Poll is online at Lost in America. Please stop by for a read and share your most anticipated series for the upcoming season.

 

Preview

「つたえたい想い」 (Tsutaetai Omoi)
“Feelings and Words”

Hello Vividred fans! As you may have noticed, I am not Zephyr. He is currently off having fun at PAX (was I supposed to say that? Oh well, too late now…find him and mob him!!), so I’m filling in this week. And as luck(?) would have it, this is the one episode without a vivid-style ass shot. Dammit!! Oh well, I guess I’ll talk about the plot instead.

Gathering Their Resolve

From the second Akane and the girls visited Rei’s room, I knew what they were doing – gathering their resolve. They didn’t go there with that express purpose in mind or anything, but their assault on the headquarters was a foregone conclusion the second they were barred from talking to Rei earlier. Butt-service aside, what Vividred is really all about is friendship, and there was no possible way they were going to betray theirs with Rei, just as the professor expected. Love that ojii-chan!

The Right Answer

Speaking of friendship, I had to cringe a bit when the “adults” called for Rei’s disposal. Seriously? Tone aside, it was obvious that such a thing would not be allowed to happen. It’s not real smart either – the danger of the Alones aside, imagine what they could learn from a girl whose body is built so fundamentally different that she can bounce around like a superhero with no apparent effort! They should have just moved her to some remote location and studied her there.

Fortunately, it did give ojii-chan another opportunity to be totally f’n badass. His speech about water, air, light, and friendship was a bit cheesy, granted, but I appreciate someone who isn’t about to kill a young girl just because she’s inconvenient. That’s not the kind of thing that civilized people do. Civilized talking stuffed animals, either.

What I didn’t expect was that being the right answer to the bird’s game. That was a nice moment…but when she came out and said that the test wasn’t designed to be winnable, and that the results were “mistaken”? Bah! If the test can’t be passed then don’t waste our time testing, just wipe out the damn world and be done with it! Unless…unless that’s part of the test as well? AHHHHH! Stop with the mind games and just kill the damn bird already so you can get Black-chan back!!

Looking Ahead – A Bum Game

Rei-chan made a bum deal with a deluded liar, so it’s time to quit and get on with her life. Fortunately, rather than give up on her, ojii-chan is determined to invent a way for her to stay…if only they can get her back from the last boss first. One more fight – let’s do it vividly, girls!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Akane & the girls gather their resolve & launch an assault to talk to Rei. But what is that bird–HOLY @#%^ DID THAT JUST HAPPEN!? #vividred

Random thoughts:

• I know it wasn’t really her episode, but I just want to say this because it cannot be said enough – Yellow is best vivid, especially when she’s with Green. Himawari-chwan~!!
• When they were invading, you know they all totally could have gone ahead with Akane. On the plus side, we got a fun “You shall not pass!” moment from the others. WTB Lord of the Rings with Gandalf replaced with a flying Japanese schoolgirl. And some of the hobbits too. Hell, replace the whole damn cast with vivids! *throws money at the screen*
• I think I speak for everyone when I say WTF JUST HAPPENED THERE!?

Full-length images: 03, 10, 32.

「まさかあの娘がプリンセス」 (Masaka Ano Musume ga Purinsesu)
“Who Knew She’d Be a Princess?”

Finally, after 10 whole episodes, we have the one thing we’ve never seen before – a Tamako episode! With the “Tamako-sama” bomb dropped, all eyes are on her, and she doesn’t seem entirely comfortable with the attention.

An Unexcited Tamako

As word about the prince spreads, quite a few characters were excited about the news. Well, at least Shiori was – oh Shiori, you romantic you! For everyone else, that’s not quite the right word. They had strong reactions, let’s say that. Mochizou, Midori, all the shopkeepers – they were all surprised, to say the least. But Tamako?

“Choi-chan’s just mistaken.” Tamako really isn’t your stereotypical, brainwashed-by-Disney protagonist, is she? What struck me most was that she was much more excited about the medal than she was about this potentially life-changing revelation. It makes sense – dump something like that on a girl all of the sudden and what is she supposed to think? Besides, Tamako is a humble girl, to her eternal credit – she doesn’t need to become a princess to be happy. She’s plenty happy right now.

What I also found interesting was how two particular males didn’t seem too excited about the prospect if Tamako becoming the princess either. The most surprising was Dera, who seemed very skeptical about the idea. It’s worth remembering that, as silly as he may be, Dera is a very perceptive bird, and he has lived with Tamako for nearly a year now. I think he knows that Tamako belongs in her market. As for the other, that would be the prince himself. In the opening scene it didn’t seem like he was all that excited about their customs, or the upholding thereof. There might be hope for you yet, Tamako…and Choi-chan as well.

We Want Her To Be Happy

The principle arc of this episode can be summarized as “I want her to be happy, but I don’t want her to go!” From tsundere papa to Mochizou to Midori and all the rest, the thought of Tamako leaving was not one they were happy with. KyoAni drove this point home pretty well, though I had a problem with one point. When Midori, Kanna, and Shiori were outside talking about how they were a bit scared about this sudden change, the music kept getting in the way! I wanted the scene to be more reflective, so that I could worry with them and feel their unease, but as usual it seemed like Tamako Market was determined to blunt anything that threatened to raise the emotions to high. Feh!

Better was when Mamedai talked with the Master afterwards. (Irish Coffee? Master truly is the best!) To quote everyone’s favorite record store owner:

“There are some things you can gain by letting some things go. Happiness isn’t just what you have here and now.”

By the end of it, everyone was willing to let Tamako go if that’s what it took to make her happy…even if that’s not what Tamako wanted at all.

Uncertainty

The point of this episode was uncertainty. I spoke about this last week with Sakurasou (and I really need to write a Stilts Out Loud on this – those will return soon, sports fans!), but let me quickly summarize – even if we “know” how a story is going to end, as long as the writers can make us doubt it – even for just a second – they can elicit an emotional response. After all, we know the good guys are going to win (excepting horror stories), but sometimes things get so bad we’re not sure, right?

That’s what they were doing here by having everyone “let go” of Tamako. To take Tamako out of her market…it’s unthinkable, right? But now, it’s almost like she would grow more by leaving. It’s almost like, maybe her happiness is out there somewhere, perhaps with this prince? Compounding that is the fact that the prince is a really nice guy, making it hard for us to say “Screw that bastard!” Hey, just maybe…

No, probably not. They still gave us several outs, such as the prince’s apparent reluctance and Choi not having read Tamako’s fortune before, not to mention Tamako’s own far more obvious reluctance. What’s more, an effective use of uncertainty requires a level of emotional impact which Tamako Market only brushed on (one might argue accidentally) during episode 9, and has never come close to reaching before or since. No, I still think Tamako will stay in her market, at least for now. We just have to wait to find out for sure.

Looking Ahead

Final episode ahoy! There’s not much left to say other than point to a relieved Dera in the preview. I suspect that will be for Tamako’s sake, but could it be for his own. Could we be looking at a confession scene!? Dera x Tamako? Oh noes!!

…Juuuust kidding! Probably. Definitely certainly probably. (Maybe!)

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Everyone is shocked &/or excited that Tamako (may be) a princess, except for Tamako herself. She’s happy, but…!? #tamakomarket

Random thoughts:

• D’awww, Tamako loves mochi! Nom nom nom.
• Loved how Tamako was singing the song her dad made for her mom, and how it made him all embarrassed. Tsundere dad remains best dad!
• Oh Kanna, you and your support beams! If the prince is taking Tamako, can I have Kanna? Please? …pretty please?

 

Preview