Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「あらなみ」 aranami by tacica
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“Episode 1”
In the spirit of Minare, this review was written with a glass or two of spirits. Nami yo Kiitekure’s first episode shows a lot of promise as a seinen anime about the highly relatable feeling of venting your personal frustrations with the world around you. Koda Minare’s transition from an easily irritable waitress to a high-profile talk radio host taps into the fantasy of discovering your true calling through the dedication and tenacity within yourself.
The first half of Episode 01 has a unique yet meaningful twist to it as Minare’s symbolic fight with a bear ends with her conquering it in a one-on-one fistfight. It begins with a future scene where Minare has to stage an encounter with a bear while she reads listener letters. But while she was meant to be torn apart by the bear from what the producers came up with, she creates a scenario where she uses all of the strength she can muster to face off against the bear and comes out on top through her refusal to give up.
It’s what gives the anime that admirable shounen-like affirmation for the older crowd that would aspire to be able to use any creative endeavors as an outlet to let out all of our bottled-up feelings. Talk radio alone is a great subject for such analysis considering how much of talk radio is unleashing one’s id to vent and create a character around your impulses. For Minare, it ends of being exactly what Matou Kanetsugu sees in her stage presence since her impulsive desire to tell-it-like-it-is is the kind of personality that is emblematic of what people seek out with talk radio. From political pundits to shock jocks, the most prominent in talk radio are people who express their inner feelings to a wider audience no matter how outrageous or bawdy they sound.
It’s for this reason that Nami yo Kiitekure makes for a wickedly fun anime based on its concept alone. The first episode introduced us to Minare as a person, a waitress, and a radio host. But what it accomplishes is setting the stage for her to completely tear the world around her to shreds as she vents about the trials and tribulations of getting older, trying to hold an unstable job, and having bad luck in the dating scene. It’ll be exciting to see what comes of the series as the rest of the episodes roll out.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「Pride」 by Harumi
Great premise imo. A unique series without a doubt.
The show is worth it for the epic rants alone.
I have a feeling this is going to be a good show. There is a lot of subtleness mixed into the absurdities. There have been many shows in the past that were quite verbal/ word heavy and they didn’t garner much following which is a shame, then again I guess shows like this aren’t for everyone.
What year is this based on? The dumb/flip phone says it’s pre-smartphone era, but then you see that old guy dragging an e-cig. O_o??
E-cigs were introduced in the early ’00s. Flip phones were still in use then. The overlap is not anachronistic.
It’s also possible that a flip-phone is used to signal something about the owner: low cash flow; lack of desire to “keep up” with others; less concerned about tech/internet/connectivity; doesn’t pay attention to what everyone does/has.
The manga started in 2014. I personally still used a dumb phone in 2014 and I wasn’t alone. I recommend basing your expectations in that timeframe.
Oh, one more thing I had forgotten about the pre-iPhone era.
A japanese flip-phone was much more advanced and capable than a “dumb” phone sold elsewhere. The japanese cell phone and system was highly enviable and had a lot of smart phone features a decade before the iPhone was introduced. I expect flip-phones remained common in Japan for a lot longer than dumb phones were commonly used in the US.