Baccano! and the unfortunate paradox of innovative storytelling

I had planned to write about Chihayafuru for the next two weeks…but the last few chapters of the manga (specifically, 90-92) have thrown a spanner in those works…

Well, that’s one of the reasons I’m tackling Baccano! first – the other being that it’s been on my backlog for way too long. Baccano! had slipped under my radar until I watched the adaptation of creator Narita Ryougo’s other notable series, Durarara!!, whereupon almost everyone who’d seen the former lamented that the latter had not quite lived up to the high standards it had set. And now, more than two years later, I’ve finally sat down to find out why.

"You must throw it away, the illusion that a story must have a beginning and an end."

But where to begin? That is a brilliant question. And one that cannot be answered. As the Gustave Saint Germain intones in the final episode

Stories have no beginning, nor do they have an end. All they have are people connecting with each other, working with each other, affecting each other, and the expansion of those connections throughout the world. Stories must never have an end.

Similarly, there is no main protagonist. Or perhaps, you could say that everyone is potentially the main protagonist, for the perspective of any story changes depending on the the position one views it from.

But let’s give it a shot anyway.

Contemplating Nisemonogatari: …and the controversial…

Some of the scenes in episode two set off the critics, but it was the fourth installment of Nise that really lit the fireworks. This being the episode where Shinobu, in her 8-year-old form, is shown bathing for a good half of the episode, in Araragi’s presence.

Why is there a Degas picture here, you might ask? Well, read on...

Contemplating Nisemonogatari: …the bad…

Warning: slight spoilers for Kizumonogatari included…

This scene says it all really...

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words…but I’m not in any way inclined to post screenshots of what I despised about Nisemonogatari. And no, unlike with a number of other fans, it wasn’t actually Shinobu in the 4th episode that offended me – explanation for this coming soon. Rather, it was certain shots of Karen spread over various episodes. If I had to put it into words, ‘the pervertization of the viewer’ might work.

Contemplating Nisemonogatari: the good…

Back in 2008, Bakemonogatari captured the attention of many fans, probably for a number of reasons. However, the reason you hear bandied about most seems to be the crisp and refreshing dialogue, which has the characters flirting, trading jokes, sprouting their idiosyncratic verbal trademarks, and the occasional thought-provoking way of thinking. Most people who did not spoil themselves with the novels were expecting the same out of Nisemonogatari, its chronological sequel.

This is flirting? Well...yes.

Whilst that expectation wasn’t, IMHO, the smartest thing to take into this series (as I will attempt to discuss over a few more posts), I contend that Nisemonogatari actually one-upped its predecessor in one particular area. By this, of course, I’m referring to the battle of words between Kagenui and Araragi about the value of a fake.

Bakemonogatari: the core of an obsession

So here’s the first of the two ‘biggies’ that I’ve just never really figured out how to write about. One guy, six girls, two little sisters and some rather disturbing animation in the first episode. I really didn’t expect to fall in love with this series.

I love you.

Macross Zero: the dawn of a new era

Perhaps fittingly, it’s been 10 years since the first Zero OVA – it was made in celebration of 20 years of Macross after all. A decade of Macross for me…that’s nothing compared to the 20+ years that some of the old hands have enjoyed, endured, and perhaps, slaved – for it is arguably thanks to them that the rest of us are now able to appreciate much of the franchise. If not for them, I may never have come across this OVA, which ended up being my gateway to Macross.

New faces...ably supported by some old hands...

Karigurashi no Arrietty (aka The Borrowers): Magic at the theater

If you pass your gaze over the tiny spaces where human eyes seldom look, perhaps you will catch a glimpse of the little people who ‘borrow’ from humans the things they need to live. But it might be best not to let them know that you are aware of them, should you want them to stay…

「C」: Dream as though you will live forever, live as though you will die today

The noitaminA timeslot and its Fuji TV producer got a tonne of flak last year for some of the shows that showed up in the timeslot. Fractale is one. 「C」 – or, to use it’s subtitle as well, 「C」: the money of soul and possibility control – is another. I don’t really remember all the different things they lambasted 「C」 for, but some of the criticisms that stand out were that the female character designs were generally too ‘moe’, and the one-on-one bouts were a little too reminiscent of shounen fighting anime like Dragonball and Bleach.

Personally, I wonder if this preoccupation with how 「C」 represented a further step away from the noitaminA they wanted to see blinded these viewers from looking for value in the show itself. Frankly speaking, 「C」 is arguably the only anime – perhaps even the only TV show – of 2011 that has presented questions so relevant to life in the countries of the developed world.

No. 6: if only it were that easy…

This short commentary will be built on some of the themes Asano Atsuko talked about in this interview, so do read that first.

The ideal city, No.6. A perfect city-state where everything is provided for, where everyone knows their place, swears their loyalty to their state, and questions nothing. A city where nothing that is imperfect is allowed to exist.

In this environment, Shion has been raised as an elite, having passed many stringent tests since the time he was a child. A successful and privileged future lies ahead of him, despite the strange uneasiness, the discomfort that lies in the pit of his stomach. On his 12th birthday, an encounter with Nezumi, a boy that lives outside that privileged system, sets the wheels of fate turning…

Otome Youkai Zakuro – now THAT is romance!

Feels rather strange writing that description for an anime adapted from a seinen manga. It just blows my mind, especially considering that Zakuro’s mangaka, Hoshino Lily, is actually known for her BL works more than anything else… I haven’t actually read it, but if it’s anything like the anime, I really wonder just what kinds of stories seinen works are comprised of. Or perhaps it’s like shounen manga which is aimed at boys but also read by girls: seinen manga is aimed at more mature male audiences, but is also read by females…

/end tangent!

A beginning that's uncertain and tentative...

What I really like about Otome Youkai Zakuro is that it takes a few tropes about romance and actually gives them a deeper and more rounded application. For female audiences, the prince-like character who’s actually a wimp is quite an amusing cliche, but the back story that explains his fear of spirits, coupled with an almost contradictory mix of naivete and sensitivity, won me over. I should probably admit though, that the voice was yet another factor…