Nobody's Boy Remi, or "Sans Famille" in French is one of the monoliths of classic anime. Coming from the 1970's, directed by the prolific Osamu Dezaki and equally prolific art director Shichiro Kobayashi; written by famed French writer Hector Malot known also for his sister novel En Famille, or the 1978 anime adaptation Perrine Monogatari by Nippon Animation - Well known for their adaptations of classic literature under the moniker World Masterpiece Theatre or at the time of its airing, Calpis Family Theater. Helmed by two of the greatest studios of their era MADHOUSE and TMS, you have a show with so much riding on
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it that you could only count other anime with the same level of prestige on about two hands.
Put simply, this anime is critically acclaimed and the question remains whether or not it deserves it.
Chronicling a portion of titular character Remi's early years, this story follows him not quite as a teenager yet upon being sold by a travelling performer and learning to survive as what is essentially considered for the era as an extravagent beggar. Trekking across the harsh landscapes of France with no ensured stability, Remi and his master Vitalis are tasked with a simple yet incredibly arduous task - To live day to day. Like providing everyone with shelter on a rainy night, or having enough bread to split evenly between the entire troupe; always moving towards a new destination of aspiring onlookers that are willing to throw you a morsel of financial reprieve. The life of one who performs from town to town is difficult and many people don't look upon you with envy, but rather pity.
Remi is a sad but endearing story that provides a look into a life that truly isn't a fair one. Remi experiences more loss, heartbreak and hardship than most people experience in their entire life in the span of a few years. Melodrama that doesn't happen because it has to, but because it's inevitable. The journey of life isn't a straight road, but a rough pavement filled with potholes. They may appear easy to avoid when looking at them objectively, but the human heart doesn't think objectively nor does it allow itself to easily perceive those potholes. So you fall, grab on at all costs and do everything you can to climb back up.
The question that someone may ask themselves is "why continue to be a travelling performer? Why not find a job in a mine or farm or something more stable"? What purpose is there in living day to day, town to town, extravagently scrounging for money off the goodwill of others? Why practice a hedonistic sense of purpose that can very well lead you to a path of obscurity? There are questions that you can't answer definitively, and trying to find the answer isn't the goal. Vitalis' goal with Remi isn't something you summarise with a sentence to accentuate his aspiration to do so. He wishes to share his love, passion and regrets in life to give another the chance to survive in a brutal world willing to cut you down when you least expect it. He desires to teach Remi of life itself, and the many kinds of joys that exist within it.
The truth that Vitalis offers isn't an objective one, but of many truths that he learned through a long, hard and fulfilling life. One that allowed him to appreciate and love an aspect to life. It's a commonality for older people to hand down their wisdom to younger generations. It may appear as bothersome, presumptuous or out of touch to many younger people, but the reason is often because they've simply lived longer. The older you get the more you realise just how much you can appreciate the sanctity of a satisfied life. And it's interesting when you consider that he's the oldest recurring character in the show.
So Vitalis brings Remi up to follow his passions, but he does so not as a watchful hawk. Remi lives his life with Vitalis' upbringing keeping him in check, but never to dictate how life should go. Remi always reminds himself of what Vitalis would tell him in his moments of hesitation. Vitalis represents Remi's conscience and moral compass.
It goes without saying, Osamu Dezaki + Shichiro Kobayashi is arguably the greatest pair of old anime. No director understands Kobayashi's truly emotive, naturistic vision as well as Dezaki does. As someone who popularised so many directing techniques he's able to bring out every bit of Kobayashi's potential as a visionary. It's shot composition galore. Despite being 51 episodes this show almost never sees visual compromises in the layout or storyboard. All forms of stylistic and tasteful budget cuts are used to avoid overly complicated animation. Now sure, a more modern eye may look at all the still frames and think they're looking at a slideshow. Despite Dezaki being known for popularising the postcard memory technique among others, I would hardly regard anime directed by him as lacking in the animation department.
When you compare a similar show like Anne of Green Gables, the most apparent detail in Remi is how lively the animation itself is. Many shows of the era had far less in-between frames than you may typically see in anime today as animation is considered the most important visual detail for newer anime, but Remi manages to have more detailed animation than most TV anime that came out years after it. Part of the impressive nature is how it so cleverly hides the use of reused animation. Unlike say an anime with transformations, Remi's obviously far more grounded and exists with real world settings in mind. But as long as you're placing these animations within appropriate contexts you can use a completely different setting and you would never notice the same dancing animation is being used. These are treated as you would a transformation or signature attack in other anime, they're the animations given extra attention likely animated on more 2's instead of the usual 3's or 4's (in layman's terms it's animated more smoothly) for the purpose of being reused. It allows any typical animation not reused to particularly pop out with a lot of movement.
Now animation is all well and good but the real star here is Kobayashi. No contest. I'm not going to speak on all significant anime he's worked on as I haven't yet seen them all so it's not my place to make declarative statements accounting for general readers, but I will say that up to this point in all his anime I've watched this is my favourite work of his. This is including Rose of Versailles, Berserk, Windy Tales, YKK, Castle of Cagliostro and Utena, to name the most notable ones I have seen. You could chalk this up to my obsession for rural, early/pre-industrial settings or if you want a word to search up, cottagecore. I know I'm biased, but I think there's more to it than just that. This does in heavy part credit Dezaki for his incredible sense of constructing a scenario for Kobayashi, and needless to say that practically every anime Kobayashi's worked on looks great. But there's something deeper, more profound to be discovered within this experience to me.
I've watched an interview with Shichiro Kobayashi (toco toco ep. 17 if you want to look it up) and while many quotes stuck out the one that struck me the most was "I love this scenery, because there is nothing" which cuts to a simple footpath, a tree overhanging the pathway, shrubbery on the right and the left with a hilly terrain, and a man carrying a package with his pomeranian following closely behind. He then proceeds to stop in his place and sketch what I described in his own image. Kobayashi deeply understands the intimacy of art. A landscape portraying a rural footpath isn't just that to anyone, it can be heavily nostalgic; a pocket of time that's captured forever. It can be sad, reminding you of walking your dog during a dark time in your life. It can even bring a tear to your eye in ways you can't describe with logic. Art captures the emotions of an artist and presents itself to the viewer in however way their mind wishes to perceive it. It can reveal emotions you may not have realised you even possessed.
Shichiro Kobayashi's love of "nothing" is a love for his surroundings. Landscapes that you pass by everyday. Mountains, trees, footpaths, lakes, houses, towns of all sorts are pulled from his heart and transported onto paper. Remi is an anime that spends most of its time walking past these places just beyond your bank of memories, around the corner of that cliff or beyond the horizon and by god does it show in this series. There are so many still frames in this show that belong in official art books. From the many breathtaking parallaxing landscapes, astounding colour palettes that capture the warmth and harsh cold perfectly, to the postcard memories that are probably the best and most well utilised I've ever seen - Remi is a visual marvel that not only stands above and beyond practically all anime of its era and a few years following it, it represents a pure romance that goes beyond its story and directing. I feel like this is one of the reasons why Figure 17 is another one of my favourite Kobayashi anime, his sense and passion for naturalism within art is unmatched in anime which is what gives him the reputation of being quite likely the greatest art director anime ever saw.
I hate to end this segment on Kobayashi transitioning into Takeo Watanabe, cause I've already established Kobayashi as the undisputed MVP of this show. But no, I'm not doing this to undermine him at all (it just happened that way.) While a far lesser name than the aforementioned two, Watanabe is by no means a no-name and his work on this show is absolutely nothing to ignore. Most well known for his work on Heidi and Mobile Suit Gundam, Watanabe has a very distinctive style I believe most who've seen any of his shows would recognise fairly quickly. The use of accordion and mallet instruments in many of his tracks are a definable trait, creating a warm European innocence that often comes with the casts of shows he's involved in. There's a modest optimism - a sense of relief that makes you feel comfort in the story's direction. Until the tension rises. Watanabe's mastery of stark tonal shifts is his greatest strength. When the music is happy, you feel happy. When the music is tense, you feel anxious. This is a technique that can be expressed towards many soundtracks, but personally I've always found Watanabe to have an extra element that I can't pinpoint. When you're crying just by LISTENING to Heidi, Perrine or Remi's soundtrack and remembering the atmosphere, you know the music has successfully dominated your emotions.
I don't want to forcibly convey a sappy message of this show down your throat. Everyone knows that this anime is sad, besides it's significantly less depressing when you look at the big picture. Remi rewards your emotional investment. It's not aggressively stomping on your heart and leaving it out in the rain. It may do so occasionally, even frequently. But the message and lessons learned throughout Remi's journey are a testament to human endurance. This doesn't just apply to Remi, but to Perrine which by extension refers to Hector Malot as a writer. Both shows are reminder that people are good deep down. If you're willing to reach out, whether you're desperate for a helping hand or not you'll learn how valuable a bond between two living beings can be.
I don't think Hector Malot ever intended to have Remi summarised as depressing. The point is to understand how emotionally powerful all beings can be when they lean on each other and put their everything in living. When life is hard you work harder, and in turn learn more about the world and yourself. Being a traveling performer isn't about being an entertainer to Vitalis or Remi, it's about challenging yourself in life in a fulfilling way. Hardship brings growth, and growth brings enlightenment. True hardship that comes from living out in the world and getting to experience the best and worst of nature and people. No one can say for sure if enlightenment brings happiness, but maybe your own version of enlightenment will bring you closer to it.
Remi is a boy who doesn't belong to a predetermined fate, because life isn't predetermined. Despite being sold by his adopted parents, his life isn't the subject of pure misery. His life is his own to be decided, and his sense of purpose is something that cannot be understood until he experiences the pain to value and cherish life. And perhaps, maybe when you finally experience happiness, even that might not be enough to understand it. There is no way to know how or when you'll be truly happy, the only thing you can know is to follow your heart at all costs. Your mind may often lie to you and tell you to give up. But your body and soul will always remain intact as long as you cherish yourself with purpose and optimism.
Move forward, Remi.
Mar 4, 2023
Ie Naki Ko
(Anime)
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Nobody's Boy Remi, or "Sans Famille" in French is one of the monoliths of classic anime. Coming from the 1970's, directed by the prolific Osamu Dezaki and equally prolific art director Shichiro Kobayashi; written by famed French writer Hector Malot known also for his sister novel En Famille, or the 1978 anime adaptation Perrine Monogatari by Nippon Animation - Well known for their adaptations of classic literature under the moniker World Masterpiece Theatre or at the time of its airing, Calpis Family Theater. Helmed by two of the greatest studios of their era MADHOUSE and TMS, you have a show with so much riding on
...
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 18, 2022
Turn A Gundam
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When it comes to the Gundam franchise there are many problems that arise no matter what entry you're watching. They have a habitual issue of not being able to realise their full potential and usually the runtime is more a detriment than a strength as there are either clear portions of a show that is significantly better than the rest or episodes that feel like entirely pointless and, more importantly, dull. This even happens with shorter entries like 08th MS Team, an OVA that has a first half that's bombastic, a rich narrative, intense atmosphere unlike any other Gundam anime and an interesting
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underlying romance plot developing between two characters on opposite sides. In the second half, the high quality storytelling is lost and devolves into a messy albeit entertaining romance story missing the meticulous yet seamless narrative it once had (not entirely faulting it as the director famously passed away after episode 6 but it doesn't make it any less relevant of an example.)
I've been watching Gundam for a little over a year now and while it's definitely taken hold of my tastes in that duration I feel that besides War in the Pocket and Encounters in Space there's always something that I have a problem with or the runtime feels unnecessary as it rarely gets to do anything meaningful with it. The one other exception I've managed to find is Turn A Gundam, which not only is my favourite Gundam anime it might be my favourite anime period. The thing about Turn A is that there is a hell of a lot going for it right off the bat. Between its setting meshing the mecha genre together with a victorian early industrial era, one of the most iconic video game character designers ever in Akira Yasuda who worked on Street Fighter III: Third Strike and Darkstalkers, Syd Mead's fantastic mecha designs famed for the art direction of Blade Runner and Yoko Kanno the composer of Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus and Wolf's Rain to name a few of her highly impressive repertoire you have a show that's not only visually and auditorily enticing but carrying on its back 20 years worth of Gundam continuity while still providing itself as an accessible entry point or standalone series to the franchise. Turn A Gundam conceptually is highly ambitious as it attempts to intercorrelate all the preceding timelines into one taking place thousands of years after them all in an era that long since had giant mobile suits roaming the earth in bloody wars now replaced by the advent of automobiles, trams and jet fighter planes being the extent of technological innovation. That is, except for the Moonrace who have for thousands of years retained the advancements of humanity's darkest eras and ire to descend back down to earth to reclaim it as their birthright. This quickly turns into a battle between two sides of extreme technological differences akin to something like War of the Worlds. A battle of utter hopelessness and brimming with raw energy depicting something that we can only imagine in a fictional landscape. Everything seems doomed until the ceremonial White Doll crumbles--from the shaken earth or out of a solemn duty, it's hard to say--nevertheless revealing a strikingly unique mobile suit with a distinctive mustache shaped feature, or an upside-down A, if you will. Piloted by chauffeur Loran Cehack, a boy who descended upon earth during a moon-to-earth orientation, the fight between earth and moon of which history has long since left behind continues once more. Turn A's strength lies in many aspects narratively. As a stark departure from the Gundam franchise, in the first episode there's zero combat or mobile suits in sight and instead focuses on the lives of the aforementioned Loran Cehack as well as his two other colleagues and friends Keith and Fran Doll adapting to the unfamiliar earth landscape and establishing their places in the world as well Loran's relationships with key characters that shape the war to come. It sets an atmosphere that's dissimilar to other entries, presenting a world that's far separated from the very idea of war, let alone journeying into space. At least on the surface. While Gundam tends to focus on both sides to present that it's not always as simple as good vs evil, in this case it's far more distinctive as both sides are full of people with good intentions only acting out of the human instinct to fight to protect. It's the antithesis in many ways to Gundam and mecha anime alike, where at times battling is seen as an excuse or means to an end - Whereas in Turn A, battles often feel like a last resort or due to a misunderstanding. Until it eventually devolves into a larger scale war in which the primary goal is to stop it rather than fuel it as a select few seemingly dedicate themselves to repeating the tragedies of ancient history believing their means will elevate humanity. Turn A often gets the reputation of being light on action compared to other Gundam entries and upon my first watch that was the takeaway I had down the line. But after having watched it again I realised that this is a fairly overplayed narrative for seemingly no reason. Granted the action is less violent and there's more episodes without it altogether but all things considered there's quite a lot of it throughout the whole show. The difference is that the action is generally pretty disconnected from the scenes that come before it. Unlike 0079 this isn't a large scale war spanning across the earth and multiple space colonies where all actions are considered towards moving to the next goal that will inevitably lead them into battle. The battles that occur on screen are largely the extent of the war making for something far more intimate as we see what their actions end up causing for commoners and soldiers alike. While on the topic of battles it's worth speaking of the animation. Turn A's action is the series at its most expressive and detailed, in many ways but beginning with the titular Turn A Gundam itself. Loran Cehack as a main character is a departure from a few things, one of them being that he's a pacifist and it's reflected in how he fights. As such he relies on using the beam saber or projectile weapons much less and more on hand-to-hand combat to avoid killing his enemies. It makes Turn A's form a lot more robust and fluid, utilising grab techniques, hand chops and kicking which is pretty rare to see in other entries. The animation for the Turn A is consistently fantastic and intricate, with perfect articulation and shading to it as well as other mobile suits. Syd Mead's work on the mecha designs use sharper shapes and more considered shadows than usual which I imagine would've made for animation more difficult than usual to execute, yet somehow they nailed mecha movement perfectly. There's total sense of inertia and impact and the sound effects always do a great job at making everything sound and feel as weighty as they are. Taking place almost entirely on earth you get a real sense more than usual that they're massive machines of destruction towering over humans that can cause tremors just by punching the earth. The angles that the storyboardists frame the mobile suits make them appear massive and the high level of detail adds to that feeling of overbearing power. Tomino Yoshiyuki, the creator of this anime has stated before on the impracticality of giant mobile suits. While he is undeniably correct, it's nice that despite that he always has a desire to depict them with the realism he theorises they would be like were it conceivable. Animation isn't just the singular visual strength either. As mentioned earlier Turn A's setting is absolutely stunning. It takes place in a late Victorian era aesthetic well into the industrial revolution where airplanes and cars are starting to become reliable methods of transport and where architectural establishments remind you of the historical buildings of London or France. Earth society as a whole is still quite young in this era though as cities like Nocis which contain buildings briefly mentioned prior aren't far away from farmlands of endless greenery and plains. Life in these cities is very similar to the era it represents, most characters represent the more common occupations you would expect back then. And high society gatherings involve the upper echelon at dance parties in lavish adornments with enough frills to curl you into a pretzel (that was a horrible joke ignore that). Turn A does an extraordinary job at immersion and establishing an atmosphere of a world that feels like it could've belonged in a historical book and yet separates itself from that with the inclusion of the highly advanced technology of the moon and remnants of what earth left behind long, long ago. And despite two vastly different technological cultures existing within the same space of each other, the characters feel so at home with whatever the show throws at them. Akira Yasuda, more commonly referred to in the fighting game community as Akiman was the character designer and I think the most beautiful thing about it is how much it shows. As someone that's played hundreds of hours of all the Street Fighter games and a bit of Darkstalkers it just brings me so much happiness that such a fantastic artist created the character designs for one anime and that it was able to be Turn A Gundam. His artstyle has an ethereal quality, like his characters are made with a greater intention. It's funny to say that cause Street Fighter's plot is a fiesta just like every other fighting game but it still rings true even in that franchise. There's so much purpose and expression in their faces while also telling you that a character can't be determined solely by their appearance but by their actions. Dianna and Soriel's faces despite being so similar always have this feeling of duality, like they're championing each other's struggles. These are blanket phrases that all vary from person to person, but I really find his style to be a true work of art. The dude made Morrigan and Chun-Li man, I don't know what else to tell you. He's one of the best artistic talents Capcom ever had. Speaking more on visual merits it's time to discuss the soundtrack. Turn A's soundtrack is as mentioned prior composed by the legendary Yoko Kanno, known for Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus, Zankyou no Terror, Ghost in the Shell: SAC and many more fantastic shows. The woman's an angel and she creates magic after magic in every show she works on no matter the quality of the work it's present within. And yes, I'm being serious when I say Turn A's soundtrack is her best work. To put simply, it perfectly understands the source material. It feels like it belongs in Gundam so perfectly yet is so undeniably Yoko Kanno that it brings together something that really separates all of her other work from it while also creating many of her finest musical moments that speak to me as a musician. Compared to Cowboy Bebop or Macross Plus which display her varied style through jazz, art pop or trance, Turn A's focus lies more on the militaristic and ethereal qualities of the narrative and setting. It has an appeal from country bar music, bombastic orchestral pieces, melancholic string sections to even tribalistic choirs. The soundtrack perfectly captures the essence of the show. There are many motifs that make appearances throughout multiple tracks, one of the most significant being "Moon". A track considered by many to be the best in the entire series which also contains the military drum line which is a repeated element throughout the soundtrack. The way it's able to weave together otherworldly qualities that make you feel the breadth of thousands of years coalescing as well as the immediate sense of huge action set pieces and modest farmland makes the show connect with your immersion on a level that's unlike anything I've ever experienced. There are so many tracks that get used at particular moments and you know they're coming because they were made with that moment in mind. It invokes a degree of emotion that only my absolutely favourite shows can hope to get out of me. Touching more upon the characters, the cast is varied and an absolute treat to watch. Turn A characters are complex but aren't executed in an abstract or pretentious way. It's a complex narrative and as such the characters involved have their motivations and personalities explored deeply so that by the end you know their ins and outs. I think one of the most evident reasons on why the cast is so liked by fans is that there aren't really any evil characters but people that all have varying good but flawed intentions. There's a desire for earth to remain autonomous from the moon as is the case on the other side, moon people who wish to fight for their right to land or vehemently oppose the descent to earth, earthlings who wish to take control of the moon's technology so that they can have the strength to fight off the moon should they decide to keep trying. Most characters don't have the desire for destruction, though certain plot points build up to that point that reflect upon the series and franchise as a whole. Turn A isn't about praying for the era where people can find peace and understanding without the need for battles, Turn A IS that era. The characters being slightly less animated compared to Zeta or 0079, slightly less exaggerated in their ambitions and more in line with real people that experience real horrors that aren't romanticised the way they usually are. A character's death in 0079 for example may be due to their ardent loyalty as a soldier or war accomplice. Civilian deaths are just a part of the endless trail of violence left in war's wake. Deaths in Turn A happen less between soldiers and shine light more on the people who don't fight to remind the characters and the viewer that the battle isn't about what you win, but what you lose. Soldiers can be replaced, but people can't. Turn A is about the healing process of humanity and the earth itself making every death feel regretful, like we're falling down our usual path of error. I've talked about Loran Cehack before but I feel like I haven't given him and the main cast enough credit that isn't vaguely distributed on them. Loran is of course the main character in this show and the pilot of the aptly named "White Doll" or "Moustache" as it's called throughout most of the show. Personally I've always found Gundam protagonists to be a massive strength to any entry directed by Tomino Yoshiyuki due to their outspoken personalities that convey the heart, soul and salvation of war. Amuro Ray, Kamille Bidan or Judau Ashta always have consistently strong dialogue critiquing the actions of not just the side they're fighting but the side they're fighting for. They're soldiers that expect no thanks because they're always thrown into a battle they have no interest in fighting as they watch their loved ones and comrades die senselessly. Loran is the pinnacle of this style of protagonist and in addition to it innovates in a few ways. Loran loathes violence and desires to fight even less but unlike the aforementioned characters he's willing to put himself on the line to get his message across. The three Universal Century protagonists tend to repeat a few character arcs that involve them rejecting the war they're in until eventually realising or coming to terms that even if no one wants to someone has to be there to fight those battles, because in the end people are going to die and they had the power to make less die. What differentiates Loran is that he doesn't fight because he has no choice or because he's trying to save someone or a certain side, what he desires is for the violence to stop. Coming to earth made him realise how beautiful of a place it is but he still cherishes his homeworld on the moon. It's hard to execute characters that are neutral but endearing because you wish they'd just pick a side and defeat the other. But Loran's actions as well as the characters surrounding him make his actions feel like the right thing to do. No side is wrong, as opposed to the Earth Federation vs the Principality of Zeon where both sides had no interest in seeing eye to eye and Zeon was very clearly in the wrong at the start of the war. The moon race only fled earth as a necessity and those left behind were simply unlucky or not a part of the high society granted rite of passage to the moon. It's reasonable to believe earthlings aren't affable to a group that left earth for dead and attacked them upon their initial return. The political discourse of this show is fantastic just for how much you hate that these two reasonable sides think that they have no choice but to fight each other. And Loran knows how bullshit it all is, which is what eventually leads him, Dianna Soriel & Kihel Heim into influencing the landscape of the war the way they do as characters change sides, gain new ambitions and eventually led down a path of understanding. Also as an aside to bring up it's also kind of great that Loran crossdresses a few times. Dianna and Kihel are the other two characters that are central to the plot, possibly more so than Loran. While Loran does play an important part at conveying his message to the viewer, Dianna and Kihel are the ones who are able to spread their words to the masses. It can be easy to look at how Dianna and Kihel are handled believing that it's unrealistic for them to be able to portray each other so quickly but this is something that I actually respect the show for how it's executed. They're both given more than enough time to get to know each other and both take fairly prestigious positions. And besides that they do almost get caught in the lie, it's just assumed that there's no way a civilian would swap places with a queen. The swap is one of the reasons why this narrative works so well and how it truly succeeds. 'The grass is always greener on the other side' or quotes to similar effect - What's believed to be an amusing little joke quickly turns into opposite sides dealing with the trials and difficulties that come with being in the other's role. One scene that I think really makes it clear with how good it is at making you understand the show is a scene during episode 10 that where Dianna instinctively reacts to a situation Kihel has been put in due to the past few battles in her place. Another similar scene occurs past the halfway point where Kihel speaks on Dianna's behalf on the current state of the war. Their growing deep understanding of one another is the main catalyst that brings the war in the direction it eventually leads - The people who wish for war to end, and those who wish it to continue. I'd go further into detail and talk about Sochie and others but I feel that what they represent I've already touched on quite in-depth so I'd just be repeating myself. Instead I'd like to touch on Corin Nander, a minor character but a very strong one. Corin is the messenger of the past, having existed in an unknown time when war did ravage the earth and moon. He fears the Gundam and what it represents which is interesting. He refers to the Gundam as a war machine, which in context almost belittles the past efforts of Amuro and the others. It seems simple to take this information away but the way the story just tells you that hundreds of episodes of war, relationships and sacrifices amount to being nothing more than historical battles is seriously unsettling. Turn A very bitterly explains that the past actions were all pointless and only served as vessals of information to be relayed to future generations as the follies of humanity. Turn A's final act is a form of divine or spiritual retribution. It represents many things; an end to Gundam, an end to Tomino Yoshiyuki's emotional journey of 20 years and a new beginning. A world that for the first time knows uncertainty. Corin's dialogue coincides with this idea being represented by the Gundam itself. Gundam may be a saviour or a hero to the victors, but to history it's merely a destroyer. We never know where humanity is going to go but simply being able to have a positive outlook can be enough to see the steps we can take together. Turn A Gundam is a show that shakes a person's empathy for the human race to its very core. At least, that's what it did for me. I know it's not a perfect show, and I accept that. But either way, for me it's something really, really special. It's a show that's near and dear to my heart. The fact that a pessimist and highly depressive person like Tomino was able to battle his mental health problems and create a Gundam entry that stated after all these years a response to earlier entries that there's something more to life than our stagnancy and reliance on war, hate and to remain ignorant of our past mistakes just made it resonate with me in ways I find hard to describe. People may tell you that being told our past mistakes should be reflected upon is a no-brainer, and yeah it is. But this show asks you that question anyway, because even though you know that the past involves many human errors there's a refusal to actually accept them because it's difficult to. People may also tell you that earlier Gundam entries are necessary for this show and I understand why people believe that. Without them, you lose the journey Tomino created. But I'm not gonna be the guy that puts a gun to your head to do things how I tell you to. Turn A Gundam is a phenomenal show solely on its own merits and it deserves a watch by anyone who enjoys mecha anime or simply wants a story full of adventure and visual creativity that represents many different aesthetics culminating to make something truly unique.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 24, 2021
Watashi no Ashinaga Ojisan
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My Daddy Long Legs is the 1990 advent of the World Masterpiece Theatre based on the book of the same name written by Jean Webster. I haven't read the book but from what I've gathered it does adapt it quite faithfully but differs in some areas. It tells the story of an orphan named Judy Abbott whose granted the opportunity of a lifetime to go to a prestigious all-girls academy by way of the mysterious benefactor John Smith. Judy knows nothing of his character or his identity other than having distinctively long legs and wearing a top hat. It leads her to penning him the
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name Daddy Long Legs and sporting a fitting attire matching her colourful imagination of his appearance.
The story following this summary is of a coming-of-age involving Judy Abbott's growth as a teen into young adulthood as she progresses through school, makes new friends, gains new responsibilities and increases her worldview as a formerly sheltered orphan. It's a simple premise backed up by very simple strengths - Its setting and its characters. It comes down to personal preference but early 20th century is an intoxicating period of time to peer into for me. It has this distinct sense of wonder and romance in an era of uncertainty but assured optimism. A beginning of a new quality of life to be brought to a larger spread of the populace. It's before skyscrapers and other tall buildings tower over neighbourhoods and towns, where the mainstream availability of locomotives was still a new way of traveling. This brings me to the visuals. From their humble beginnings of Heidi to Anne and eventually to the famous 1999 version of Hunter x Hunter, Nippon Animation are highly respected for consistency in their shows and a unique distinction from most other anime studios. If you've seen Anne of Green Gables this show will make you feel right at home with backgrounds that are breathtaking and with quality coming at a rate that's nigh unmatched for shows of similar length during its era. Not many anime have layout as considered and accurate to the era as World Masterpiece Theatre shows do and My Daddy Long Legs stands at the pinnacle of the year it came out in for TV anime. It seems like you can't watch an episode without pausing it at least once to just take in a shot. The colours and accuracy really go a long way to make the show have this romantic atmosphere representative of the promising new era these characters live in. And that's not to say it lives and dies by the layout, the animation is quite consistent and even stellar at times. Because it's the kind of show that doesn't need a lot of movement there was time to make most character animation detailed and smooth. Judy being a very energetic character lends to some very expressive character animation and she gets that chance to shine on multiple occasions. Some scenes involving the girls playing basketball have animation that is so absurdly smooth it could pass for a movie of its era. The character designs are a personal favourite of mine across the board. It has this distinctive slightly western influenced style blended in with traditional anime art of the late 80's. It feels wholly unique of its peers but anyone with a little knowledge of older anime could instantly pick up the country it was made in. It's a nice differentiation of the more Ghibli styled WMT shows like Anne and Heidi that indicated they weren't doomed to follow in the shadow of Takahata and Miyazaki's massive influence on Nippon Animation. Rather they were able to reiterate and build in other directions. My Daddy Long Legs is often considered quite similar to Anne but if you put the two next to each other they're significantly different shows only sharing familiar ideas and settings. Judy is less eccentric than Anne for instance and the drama is a lot more romantic. The central cast is older so it deals more closely with the prospect of growing up into young adulthood and acquiring the desire of seeking love. And while Judy is an orphan the setting is that of a suburban America rather than rural Canadian farmlands; as such locomotives, upper class parties, dances and the smell of industrialism is prevalent. Essentially what makes My Daddy Long Legs such an impressive work is that it can take a different source material that could not only stand alongside Anne but also be compared to it despite its obvious differences. On the topic of character designs I'll touch upon the characters themselves. This is My Daddy Long Legs' greatest strength. Judy is an amazing main character who would initially remind one of Anne, but her more uncouth and wild nature shows you that she's someone who's a little more bombastic albeit a little more predictable. Her struggles and story are endearing, being a girl who wants to fit in with a class of students dissimiliar to her upbringing. The other two main characters Sally and Julia are perfect at complimenting Judy's character. Sally being a little more shy but considerate while Julia on the other hand is more outspoken and snobby who initially considers Judy an outsider. Watching their dynamic transform throughout the show is both entertaining and heartwarming as they slowly turn into close friends looking out for each other and sharing hard times together. And in addition to the main cast is has a very strong side cast. Jervis, Jimmie, Bob, Mr and Mrs Semple and Miss Sloan just to name a few all offer something different while never feeling remotely out of place. And they maintain a lot of agency, they don't exist to make the story work at certain points. Mr and Mrs Semple are great at offering a setting that isn't represented much in this show as well as allowing Judy to find solace in a world that makes her feel alone sometimes. Jimme, Jervis and Bob are the designated good boys. You feel for them even though Bob isn't as important as the other two and even when they make human errors it's believable enough that it never turns into genuine frustration over their character or personalities. I even left out a character among those mentioned who offers possibly the best episode in the show who's voiced by none other than Hiromi Tsuru, the voice of Meryl Stryfe and Bulma. It's a cast that feels alive and makes you want to see more of them. Seriously if there's one thing that has to be said about the fantastic work put into this show, it's that it was done with a staff of nobodies. The most significant person who worked on this anime Kei Wakakusa, most well known for the soundtracks of Hikaru no Go and Kemonozume. And while the Storyboardist and Scriptwriter have been regulars for WMT for years it's just very impressive that a director who up to this point had only directed a handful of Anne episodes and to this day has directed barely anything else was able to put the visuals and writing to screen in such a captivating way. One piece of criticism I do want to give which I believe is more contentious is I didn't initially like the way the story shifted into a romance focus which heavily sidelined the simpler episodes of growing and experiencing new things. All the characters involved are great but I think the drama was a little too melodramatic that served to be pretty jarring compared to the earlier more endearing episodes. Once it shifts into gear going full throttle with the romance however that issue begins to wear off. Really what point needs to be made is that the earlier content where everyone's still growing up is absolutely fantastic. Up until around episode 27 I was very confident in giving it a 10/10 which I very rarely do and have never done for a TV anime. The scattered focus allowed for more ideas to come to the table and make more varied and fun episodes which was lost when the romance started being the meat and potatoes. I don't want to detract from the romance plot because it is well done, it just suddenly shifted away from the stuff I truly loved a lot rather than intermingling the romance with the everyday activities and struggles. I want to avoid going into spoilers as this is a fairly obscure show so I'll leave it here. I just wanted to express my love for this show that I did not expect to love as much as I did. It's without a doubt a staple in WMT anime and a very interesting peek into a style that acts somewhat as a predecessor to modern slice of life anime. It's a true slice of life with a female main cast hidden in the guise of an adaptation of classical literature. And granted while it does have an overtly sentimental execution with its plot points it gets so much right that it's hard to take away from its fantastic strengths. It's a brilliant anime. One with wonderful characters, a beautiful setting, visuals that maintain a detailed accuracy to the time period and an endearing story of growing up, discovering love and your place in the world.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 23, 2021
Aoki Ryuusei SPT Layzner
(Anime)
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Aoi Ryuusei SPT Layzner is Ryousuke Takahashi's fifth creative work and one that stands out among his other mecha works for feeling a lot more representative of the genre. While Dougram is a much more politically focused show with action that feels more comprised of guerrilla efforts than giant robots punching each other, Layzner is something that feels a lot more distinctively like a real robot show making it more derivative compared to his other contributions to the industry up to this point yet refreshing in its execution.
Layzner tackles some very interesting concepts within the mecha genre. Taking place in an alternative history where the ... Cold War continued for decades trust between nations is still very weak among the two main superpowers of the aforementioned war which maintained their political and militant prevalence. It's an era where all it takes is one askew action to set off a war and when an unknown alien force helms the charge of a battle on Mars, it was all it took to lead to a mass missile attack on both sides' military bases on the red planet. What's great about this premise is how volatile it can be. Trust between nations is tense after all so when word of a mass attack on a nation occurs each side assumes the other is the cause. In reality it's an entirely alien force known as Grados, humanoid beings very similar to earthlings who using this knowledge of tension declares this attack to make each side attack each other. The keyword is tension, as the first 24 episodes is very invested in this theme. Trust issues between different parties, the fear of being attacked by a superior alien force, the tension of trying to run from them. From the first episode there's a very clear air of bleakness, a sense of helplessness in an effort to survive a battle that can't be won. And in its execution it's damn good. The main cast comprises mostly of students from a club that were brought to Mars as a peace effort between nations and being thrown into the deep end with civilians that don't have any battle experience puts you in a similar position to them. You're witnessing and feeling the sense of dread they are as giant robots piloted by aliens destroy the one location that separates them from a planet with no atmosphere. It makes the characters feel boxed in, and by extension yourself, following them trying to find any possible survivors and a chance to make their way back home. That is with the exception of a wild card with the main character, Eiji Asuka. Eiji is the solace in this hopeless situation yet an explosive one that seems to help the civilian crew but given their situation have a hard time trying to trust him. It's a reasonable response as there's no reason for our heroes to figure that there's a coup occurring within an alien army that no earthling is even aware of. Eiji is the bridge that becomes the hope as well as the evidence that the alien adversaries aren't all evil. And it's an endearing experience watching him try to gain the trust of everyone. The cast of Layzner is really great, it's not going to be winning awards for being groundbreaking but everyone is personable and have varied, believable reactions to what's happening and in general have very likeable personalities. Every character slowly falls into serving a role in the story and it all feels natural. They all receive development that makes you really root for them and become concerned of their wellbeing -- or in some other cases, make you hate them. The further the story goes the more it feels like everything will work out for them. Even when the story does take a significant shift the characters remain who they are and continue to develop remaining true to themselves and not being adjusted to fit the new tone. I will touch upon the second part of this show briefly because I don't wish to spoil much. Layzner is somewhat infamous in circles that are aware of it for having a pretty drastic shift in tone after episode 24. It loses a lot of the drama and nail-biting suspense as it moves in direction that is a lot more action packed and bombastic. Really, it almost feels like a completely different show. But I want to clarify that this change isn't weak, it's just very different to what came before. As far as individual episodes go I'd almost say it's as good as the first part of the story. The problem more lies in that it's a cancelled show. Layzner is one of the most unfortunate examples of a cancelled show as something that was clearly being created with the intention to be 50 episodes and around 35 episodes in got asked by the Sunrise executives to give it an ending. Narratively, it's not a graceful finish. However when it comes to what it offers within its episodes all the way up to the end Layzner does hold itself intact fairly well, albeit with a few hiccups with how it handles some of its secondary and main characters. Bear in mind as I say this that I did not watch the original TV ending and only viewed the ending that came in the OVA a few months after the show's airing. With that out of the way, I want to talk more about the positives which include the visuals. Layzner is a gorgeous looking show for its time. As far as TV animation goes for the era, Zeta Gundam's one of the only shows I can think of that looks as detailed and well animated as Layzner, and even then I'd say Zeta's inferior. And it's not just animation, the art is very detailed with mecha designs that are more complex than most in the era and mature character designs that are reminiscent of a softer, less gruff Fist of the North Star. Its storyboard and layout is very nice too, with shot composition that at times can evoke a lot of emotion. There were some visual moments in the show that really stood out to me that I had to pause it or go back and re-experience it. I also really enjoy the opening theme and animation. Among the fans that's not a unique opinion but it really is great sequence that's well choreographed. I love the change between the first and second openings when Eiji's running as it changes from a determined expression with less urgency in his face to a more aggressive expression that makes him seem at wit's end, running at full speed doing everything his body can handle to complete his mission. It represents well the shift in urgency from the first part to the second. Regarding the soundtrack it's also quite strong. The aforementioned opening theme is good of course but the soundtrack itself is varied offering a range from classical influences to pop to Aoki Nozomi-like orchestral jazz & rock. It's not a large soundtrack but unlike Dougram which fails in having strong themes Layzner actually benefits from this being able to make some tracks represent certain characters. When you hear certain themes you're a lot more likely to get excited or to react in a particular way compared to Dougram which with its tiny soundtrack and double the runtime ends up making its great tracks carry less weight to them. All in all, I feel like I could talk more about this show in greater detail but as a written review I'd much rather hit the bullet points and give you a taste of what this show offers. It's something that should be seen for yourself especially if you're a mecha fan. It does have its problems and has a very rushed ending but the content that comes before it and even the ending itself in isolation is highly entertaining. This was a show that came so close to being absolutely amazing, if it was given the chance to be complete it might've become one of my favourite mecha shows of all time. And to have that impression planted upon me despite its handicap is something to be worthy of note.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 13, 2021
Taiyou no Kiba Dagram
(Anime)
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Dougram is one of the first mecha anime that followed the Gundam craze of the early 80's where the emphasis was less on a titular robot usually comprised of multiple parts piloted by different characters to form a super robot that would engage in monster of the week aliens or robots a la a tokusatsu-like style. Instead it opted for the grounded, more serious narrative that focuses on the characters and worldbuilding to formulate a fairly intricate albeit well-put-together story.
As is the nature of a show that was inspired heavily by Gundam, the plot and the way it executes its themes are quite similar in ... tone. Just like the Spacenoids that wish to secede from the Earth regime in 0079 Dougram's landscape is of a future Earth colony called Deloyer that advocates for total autonomy from Earth's regime. And following the similarities the story largely focuses on a group of kids and young adults who become guerrillas fighting against the Earth federation for that goal. It's a simple premise but the show does a very good job at keeping things interesting without forcing itself to drastically shift gears or focus on unrelated plotlines and the few subplots that exist are quite engaging and often serve well throughout most of the story. What keeps this story consistently interesting is a memorable cast of characters on both the Deloyer and Earth sides, the villains especially having some surprisingly complex personalities and motivations that are explored a great deal that it never feels that they're acting out of character. Fans tend to state that the villains are far more interesting than the protagonists, and while that's true that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad protagonists. A word would be predictable; archetypal to what you'd expect when you see them. And if anything that serves as a strength to contrast a very pivotal point of war and politics where it establishes how much more intricate a villain's plan can be compared to the hero. The heroes simply want freedom, but the villains have a lot more complicated goals other than simply wanting to maintain the status quo. And while I compare this show a lot more to Gundam it's actually quite similar to Legend of the Galactic Heroes with how it chooses to focus a lot on political developments and jumping around multiple locations with different characters. Not to say that it was an inspiration, but this show focuses a lot less on the titular robot than even Gundam does which had already significantly toned back on that aspect from super robot shows. Unlike other mecha shows from this era the length is not spent on filler or drawn out arcs as an excuse to extend the air time. Dougram is paced well and while there's a couple of recap episodes there's very little actual content that could be considered filler. Again like LotGH it does its best to make every bit of dialogue feel necessary to listen to to understand the buildup to character actions and motivations as well as being immediately relevant to the episode it takes place in. It might be a little wordy for some people but it's the type of show where if you're following along then you shouldn't ever be getting lost. Now it's no mystery to anyone but 75 episodes is not short. This show visually has not aged well at all. Dougram had the unfortunate fate of being produced while the Gundam movies were being released, all the way up until Xabungle, Ideon's movies and Dunbine. Naturally, they'll prioritise the works of Tomino over a newcomer director which leads to its visuals taking a serious hit. Granted there is worse from this period and the storyboards are mostly fine so everything is conveyed in a very clear way. But the art direction leaves a lot to be desired as well as its character designs. While not awful they lack originality and feel like a pale imitation of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's style with a more rough and unappealing look. One detail I never quite got was how some characters can have tiny cheekbones that make them almost look sickly and I can't tell if that's an intentional design or not. With that said characters and mecha designs are rarely off model, it just has very unimpressive art and especially animation. Despite coming out 2 years after 0079, the animation manages to be noticeably sloppier than it is in that show. In addition to that I'm really not a fan of the combat armour designs. Understandably this is always going to be a lot more subjective than other points but Dougram and the many other designs derivative of it throughout the show are ugly. They almost look like monster trucks with legs instead of wheels except there's no visual creativity to reinterpret that concept. It really feels like a truck was copy pasted onto a pair of mecha legs, given some arms and called it a day. This show unlike Gundam does have a lot less supernatural elements so designs that are more comparable to real life designs makes sense but there was very little attempt at making them visually appealing, at least to me. In the end though I'm sure there's still some guy out there that owns every Dougram model kit that's ever been released. Speaking on related topics, the soundtrack is also not particularly great. That's not because it's bad because it isn't, but more due to the lack of diversity and track number. I'm not exaggerating when I say you will hear like half of the entire soundtrack in a single episode on average. A lot of episodes start with the same minimalist percussive track and ends with the same dramatic motif at the climax of a battle. Even if it were mismanagement of using and placing the tracks in the right moments it's still got roughly 30 tracks to spread across 75 episodes which nowadays is the bare minimum for a 24 episode show. And to rectify the earlier point of it not being bad - It's good, there are some absolutely fantastic tracks sprinkled throughout. The main theme in particular is one of the best opening themes I've heard from an 80's anime which is saying a lot. But it suffers from repeating the motifs in many tracks. It feels like there's even less than 30 odd tracks as a result. One more piece of criticism I can grant to the story is its lack of theming. The message of this story isn't a large part of its writing which can lead to it feel directionless at times. Not that it loses its footing and has bad pacing but that it doesn't play with any central ideas that drives the narrative and characters other than putting an end to war for the sake of independency. Gundam for instance while being about a war still offers the idea of finding where you belong in a world that you feel alone in and that war can be overcome if humans learn to understand one another even if ultimately it's something that may never happen. A simple premise but these themes drive a lot of the character dynamics further into the story that make for some extremely memorable character arc and story conclusions. And while Dougram does try to do this late into the story it feels like there was a lot more room for this discourse from the beginning. This isn't necessarily inferring to a story without meaning, there are messages and takeaways within the episodes of the hopelessness and harshness of war but it rarely goes beyond that. All in all this show is still good. It's old and before Sunrise hit their stride as a massive studio so of course it's going to have its production problems and be longer than it should be but the narrative is extremely tight, has great characters and it has some fantastic buildup. Even if it came before Votoms and far before 08th MS Team this is still a Ryou Takanashi and Kanda directed anime who are highly respected in the mecha community. I know that I compared this show a lot to Gundam but it's a comparison worth making as it's one of the first mecha shows that was inspired by its grittier premise, themes on war and serves as a good indication of where the genre could be taken with guidance outside of Tomino's lenses; an indication that the genre isn't doomed to poorly copy Gundam. The length and visual quality may deter you from giving this show a try but if you're a fan of the original Gundam that would prefer a more gritty depiction as in other Takanashi shows like Votoms then this may be for you. Don't get distracted by its removal from the annals of history, Dougram is well worth changing the channel to. And with the advent of a recent manga headed by Yasuo Ohtagaki and supervised by the man himself Takanashi who knows. Sunrise never hates the opportunity to shill a new toy line and their fanbase is always chomping at the bit for a new mecha anime series done by them no matter how niche it ends up being. Not to say that it's even remotely likely but it's always up in the air as long as there's proof it hasn't been completely forgotten.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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