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「Dissolve」
Given how people tend to say anime is always a rehash of the same stuff over and over again, I’m almost tempted to stop blogging all my other shows and only cover RAINBOW so that it gets the attention it deserves. This series is utterly awesome and if you still haven’t checked it out after I’ve been saying that week after week, I honestly think you’re doing a real disservice to yourself as an anime fan. This goes doubly for those who primarily watch their Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, FAIRY TAIL, and Fullmetal Alchemist shounen series. While those series definitely have their place, it always irks me when self-proclaimed fans of anime don’t expand their understanding of the medium beyond those horizons. There’s a reason why I’m continuing to cover 17 different series concurrently right now when it’s clearly obvious that the likes of GIANT KILLING, Sarai-ya Goyou, Senkou no Night Raid, Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru, and RAINBOW are clearly a lot less popular. Those series alone are enough to comprise a full blogging schedule for the season, so I hope you’ll believe me when I say it’s not merely for the sake of proving that I have a diverse taste in anime. There are still plenty of shows that I’m not following, but these are the ones I felt deserved some much needed attention. Hakuouki should actually be among them as well, so I’m actually somewhat disappointed in myself for not trying to cover 18 shows. *rolls eyes*
Out of all the shows I listed however, RAINBOW warrants special limelight since the drama it portrays is so incomparable to everything else airing this season and seasons before. Based on what I’ve seen so far, the story really has the makings of a live-action drama if not a full-feature film. The reason for that is because it focuses on the characters themselves very closely without relying on a lot of shounen “fluff” (as I like to call it) in order to captivate the viewer’s interest. There is a lot of depth and meaningful development every episode, which you rarely see in all the stereotypical series pumped out factory-line style these days. To older viewers, this is a real blessing as the depiction here can be taken seriously all the time without any gag-like comedy to disrupt the mood. On the flip side, it may end up being a lost cause for younger viewers if they have one-track minds that can’t appreciate everything that’s done well in this series. Be that as it may, I actually hope to open a few eyes or turn a few heads in either age group, so that more series like this will be produced in the future. So hey, it’s as much for me as it is for everyone else.
Now for those of you already on board, this follow-up episode to the fire that Baremoto started last time and sold out his cellmates to was a jam-packed emotional roller coaster ride with huge ups and downs. As I mentioned last time, the only way Baremoto could have possibly redeemed himself in the eyes of Sakuragi (An-chan) and the others was to find the cell key that the warden Ishihara (Ishii Kouji) threw out the window. While charging into the burning building with key in hand was enough for Mario and the others to renew their faith in him, the real redeeming moment for Baremoto came when he admitted to Ishihara that they’re the first people he’s ever considered as friends, before enduring a beating to hang onto the key. With his sense of guilt far from fading even at the very end, it was nice to see Baremoto realize what it’s like to have real friends and act like one in return after seeing how Sakuragi will go out on a limb for anyone of them. Likewise, with how Sakuragi knew that Baremoto felt guilty about the whole ordeal, but wouldn’t let him go through the humiliation of admitting it in front of the others when he already suffered to correct his mistake. Now that’s what you call a senpai worth looking up to.
Aside from that, I found the sudden revelation of the backstory involving Sakuragi’s father a bit bone-chilling. Quite honestly, I wouldn’t know how to deal with a situation like that, where your father goes missing during the war, suddenly returns ten years later after spending a good eight of them as a prisoner of war, and is a now completely different person who’s no more than a violent alcoholic. With Sakuragi’s boxing career about to take off with the warm support of his mother, I imagine it was like having a long-forgotten family with a mental illness dropped back into your life. As such, I can’t really blame Sakuragi for venting out his frustration to his father for returning in such a state, but it still seems a bit much for him to feel responsible for it leading to his suicide afterward. Evidently, the regret over not trying to better understand his father’s situation and how he lost his five brothers during the war still weighs heavily on Sakuragi’s conscience even now, which just goes to show what a good-hearted person he is deep down inside. It also explained why he holds Mario and the others so dearly, which really cemented the foundation of his bonds with them.
Next time, it looks like An-chan’s close to being released from prison, but with the way the doctor was eyeing him at the end along with his evil-looking face in the preview, this is clearly not the last we’ll see or hear of the tyranny that stems from that hell hole.
* It’s worth noting that the nurse Koike was played by drama actress Kanjiya Shihori, with the other one talking to her off screen being voiced by Paku Romi (Suppon). In Shihori’s case, she was actually listed second overall in the cast credits, only behind Oguri Shun (Mario).
Preview
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Yeah I would really like to thank you for puttin me on Rainbow cause i would have never heard of it and I really like it so far! Also I would like to thank you for puttin me on Angel beats and Durara!! You really have helped me watch some new stuff!
Rainbow’s seriously powerful stuff. :’D
But uh… please don’t do that “stop blogging all other shows”. xD maybe drop like 2-3.
if I have time, I might watch this sometime.
URK. To powerful. *Collapse from sheer emotion*
This show sounds really awesome. But alittle to deep to watch right now.
This show is so different from all the other series out there, it’s like a breath of fresh air.
Damn this episode was good, loved the father/son part.
I think I’ll love this anime. This colors are awesome.
i think the shows you mentionned are not so popular because they are more ”seinen” and most readers of this blog are youngster and prefer ”shonen” ?
Nice speech bro,
This show is the true anime no chikara IMO
honest, I didn’t have guts to watch this twice :'(
I watched almost every show this current season except for Giant Killing and Uragiri (not a fan of BL). Clearly Rainbow is head and shoulders above every other new anime this season. Its like comparing the Boston Red Sox to a little league. There is nothing even remotely close to it in terms of story, characters, and depth.
how long will the anime be???
holy f*cking wow!
the revelation about sakuragi’s dad was indeed a shocker. i was expecting that he was a violent man that did no good for his family, giving sakuragi enough reason to butcher his a** but i wasn’t expecting how he came to be violent because of the hell he experienced through war. talk about literally breaking a person for his entire life.
I’m one of those who dropped Naruto, follow only the manga of Fairy Tail and am in tune to both anime and manga for FMA, but I’m always on for the read of more series tending towards the “seinen” category. My guess is that majority of RC’s audience just really prefer the more lighthearted series you’ve been blogging. Like jsmith1a2000 above, I think they’re just preferring the “shounen” types and not the “seinen” type. Personally I’m the type who would defend Sarai-ya Goyou like mad from the unreasonable and immature people who call it ugly. ^^;;
Anyways, Rainbow is powerful stuff jam-packed in a season that had moe shows in it. It’s the type that’s not for the faint-hearted but it brings out the good old days where we can have anime with real bearing and fantastic realism that we couldn’t help but just adore the whole thing. After the series finishes I’m gonna go on a RAINBOW marathon and watch the whole thing over again. ^_^V
BTW, thanks for blogging this, Divine. And if you’re gonna drop shows, please don’t drop Arakawa, Sarai-ya Goyou and FMA… D:
This series definitely stands far out.
Wow, I seriously feel bad. I’ve been trying to fit this show into my schedule pretty much since it started, but it’s seriously hard to fit it in with around 15-17 shows to watch (although I’m not saying its worse than the others, its just especially hard to watch when a large amount of good shows coincide with life, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Maybe I’ll marathon through the rest of the anime’s I’m missing so far on Friday-Sunday =/
This anime series does stand out from the rest. However, for me to watch this series, I really got to get into a good mood. Sometimes I am having a really bad day cause of massive amounts of essays I have to write, and I don’t want to feel even more depressed when I watch something like this.
Sorry for the double post, but I have to make this clear. That is not to say that I do not appreciate anime the evokes powerful emotions such as sadness, depression, inspiration, hope (i.e. drama). It’s just that I really have to just get into the right mood for these types of things. Watching Arakawa, Working, FMA, K-ON, Mayoi, Angel Beats… are series that I particularly enjoy when I am busy with school cause there is no intense drama that I have to ponder and think about after watching a series like Rainbow. Rainbow is a series that I watch on the weekend when I have free time.
The degree to which this show is able to evoke emotion is nothing short of amazing. I’m feeling things form just READING YOUR SUMMARY! I haven’t even watched the actual episode yet. I have no doubt that it will simply blow me away!
Indeed, this series deserves a much better attention from anime fans. The way each episodes left me with such emotion which strongly portrayed by all the characters, makes me think that if one day I decided to stop watching anime altogether, I’d still remember RAINBOW for all the awesome reasons.
I’ve a feeling that it won’t be the last time we’ll see the nurse (Koike). Don’t you think Koyama Rikiya’s doing a very good job voicing An-chan?
I still picture Yamato from Naruto or Shinigami-sama from SOUL EATER whenever I hear his voice, but yeah, he’s pretty badass as An-chan.
one of best graphics I ve seen very nice colours…
This episode was just mind-blowing! just so good !
Is anyone subbing this? I searched nyaatorrents and isohunt and found nothing… All RAWS..
NVM found one. Though Only 2 or 3 are subbing this. And they’re quite slow.
Commie = slow + bad TLs.
Tried it, and while Rainbow is not the *worst* show of the season, it ranks near the bottom. The writing is just awful and overwrought, the characters are like walking cliches, the story uncompelling. No thanks.
Of course, all this is based on just watching the first episode; if various bloggers say that it improves after the piece-of-crap first episode, I might reconsider and give it another shot (it would have show a *vast* improvement, though, the first episode was quite unwatchable). What I have seen from the later episodes on this blog and others just doesn’t do it for me.
I *have* given each and every show that has been fansubbed an honest try, and there a couple of surprises that I never would have given otherwise. So far on my “watch list”: Working, Angel Beats, Kaichou wa Maid-sama (unexpectedly), K-On Season 2, Arakawa Under the Bridge, and Giant Killing (unexpectedly). Seventeen on my “dropped” list, and still have a handful of shows to sample (most notably House of Five Leaves and Tatami Galaxy).
“The writing is just awful…the characters are like walking cliches, the story uncompelling. No thanks.”
“So far on my “watch list”: Working, Angel Beats, Kaichou wa Maid-sama (unexpectedly), K-On Season 2…”
:rolleyes:
lol… i rolleyed instantly too XD..
this is a great series.. i love it so far. its not the most original anime ever.. but like people say.. its a breath of fresh air among all that crap anime series..
Honestly, I wouldn’t have taken the time to watch this series if Divine hadn’t recommend it in this article (Having only heard the name, it was quite below my radar). Having caught up on the series, I’m quite thankful to you (Divine) for enlightening me!
While the characters themselves seem rather stereotypical, their histories and situation is not. It’s how well the series captures these harsh moments that makes it a must watch to any serious fan of the medium. With the inclusion of superb art design and fantastic voice acting, I’m almost ashamed at the stance other posters have taken to it. Oh well, at least this past-time isn’t teamed based.
I’m quite curious as to what will happen next episode if they really get out. I had imagined the entire series taking place within the compound. Don’t know where they will go with it from there.
Each episode is WOW
And I love the opening!!
Walking cliches? You must be labeling the characters by archetype’s to make that claim, which could be said for ANYTHING. Didn’t realize Sakuragi fell under the ‘Scarred-juvenile-senpai who tries to act as a mentor for his innocent cell mates by first beating them all senseless to prove his point that ‘anything goes’ where they now reside and must abandon everything they formerly possessed except their guts, hearts, and most importantly, each other’.
Its truly mind boggling how you could think the story is uncompelling. One would either have no respect for the hardships of the past because they’ve been spoiled in more ‘peaceful’ times, or couldn’t get off their high horse to try and understand where the show is coming from. The WHOLE show is risque, just like how it would’ve been living in a shell-shocked country rearing societies ugliest head upon those too good to fend for only them selves–and yet it still manages to emit an almost poetic depiction of ‘darkness may only exist where there is also light’.
– Sharkweek has a point on his quote; K-ON S2 (which don’t get me wrong, I enjoy) is something you watch but apparently RAINBOW is too ‘uncompelling’ and ‘overwrought’ compared to highschool girls drinking tea every afternoon? Your elitist palette is far too distinguished to be understood by us chumps who enjoy such a crap show. [/sarcasm]
Considering though, since you have a sense of humor (working) and compassion (angel beats) I assume my judgements are wrong, and plead for you to give the show a second chance. If not, at least respect it instead of calling it ‘crap’. The mangaka’s own sweat and blood went into the premise behind the story, stuff he first handedly experienced, and if things like these were never depicted for us of the future, people would remain ignorant of the sinful nature that can consume an entire person, no, nation, which in fact has obviously happened before.
Well said. *thumbs up*
above is @mlh’s reply. ^^^^^^
I speed read most of the manga available 21/22 volume, its good but may not be my cup of tea. Maybe someday I will read slowly and also watch the anime.
This story there are 4 parts which is 4 different arc.. at different time with a few years between.
The juvenile jail compound is just part of 1st arc…. its far from over.
Its a strong story, its good…
It shows the society of how after war japan and the 6(7) people and their close friends survive in them. Its a lot of drama and reality.
Koiko and Meg will be feature back in the story. Wonder if the anime will come to this. I wonder how many arc will be animated.
powerful feel of spirit, very touching…. TT
I really love this show, even if I have seen only 4 episodes. It’s really impressive. Normally, people feel sad when the character they love dies. Death is the only thing that makes us cry. But then, I watch this show and I love how it makes me feel connected to them, and I get to feel a whole lot of emotions while watching it. It’s a struggle to live, and it puts me out of my comfort zone. That’s why I love this and I’m happy that you are following this, divine. It’s one of those gems that not many come to appreciate.