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Nov 27, 2021
Heike Monogatari is an anime adaptation of the 13th century historical epic, “The Tale of the Heike”. It is a story that serves as a cultural touchstone to the Japanese as the Bible does in the West. For a text as important as this, an adaptation into animation would seem a very arduous task if one were to attempt a totally faithful adaptation paying attention to the minutiae of the story. However, Naoko Yamada and the staff at Science SARU had something else in mind…
I greatly appreciate the alternate approach that they took to adapting this epic. Their addition to the story, the character of
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Biwa, serves as a fairly ethereal figure who exists outside of the story, as well as inside of it. I find Biwa’s addition to be a very nice touch, as she essentially justifies the fact that this is, frankly, a clearly abridged version of the story. To me, watching Heike Monogatari really does feel as though you’re being told a story by someone who was there, and who knew these characters, that someone being Biwa. This is why there is more time spent giving the characters strong personalities, and showing their relationships, as opposed to depicting battles of a grand scale in meticulous detail. The entire story is viewed through the very subjective lens that is Biwa, which I believe heightens the empathy that is felt for the characters.
Furthermore, it is clear to me that Reiko Yoshida’s screenplay intentionally took liberties with the original story in order to play to the strengths of the creative staff. Heike Monogatari genuinely feels like a work of art, as opposed to a clear and concise story. This is bolstered by the absolutely gorgeous art design that gives it the quality of a classical Japanese screen painting unfolding before your very eyes. This is magnificently tied together by a stunning directorial effort from Naoko Yamada. She continues to develop her style, bringing it to new heights at times, all while refining hallmarks of her directorial work that are as strong as ever. All of this considered, Heike Monogatari serves as an adaptation in the same way that a film such as Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran” does. That being that it prioritises the artistry of the work above all else.
Finally, it is hard not to read into a story depicting a girl powerlessly watching everyone that she loves pass away considering the context of what led to Naoko Yamada leaving Kyoto Animation to direct this. The tragedy that snatched away the lives of over 30 precious individuals will weigh on Yamada for the rest of her life, which is why the final episode of Heike Monogatari is particularly poignant. It serves as a wonderful meditation on life, death, and grieving. The way that it depicts the difficulty of trying to find peace in the wake of true despair is unbelievably touching. The emotional strength and conviction that it must have taken Yamada to convey these themes is immense. I did not think it was possible, but I have gained an even greater respect for Naoko Yamada as an artist, as well as human being.
Heike Monogatari is an incredible work of art that is teeming with the vision and feelings of its creative staff, despite being an adaptation of a historical text. Personally, I find it highly doubtful that there will ever be another anime like this again.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 16, 2020
Vinland Saga is my favourite anime of 2019, but it's so much more than that. It’s one of the best stories that I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and one that I will surely never forget.
Vinland Saga’s prologue arc has one of the absolute best cast of characters that I have ever seen. Thorfinn is the protagonist, or at least technically he is, but in my eyes, it’s Askeladd and Canute that really steal the show. This would be a problem in most series, but for Vinland Saga, it so seamlessly changes who the focus is on that, at times, it's hard to
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tell who the main character really is. Askeladd is the most popular character, and it’s easy to see why. He does some truly evil things across the course of the prologue, but he’s far too likeable for the viewer to truly hate him for what he has done. The fact that he’s able to play with the viewer’s emotions to such a degree is truly a testament to how brilliantly written he.
Canute isn’t introduced until the end of episode 11, yet he is able to undergo a character arc that doesn't feel forced in the slightest. Canute is my personal favourite character from the prologue. I loved to see his transition from an ignorant, sheltered Christian, to more or less forsaking God and deciding to take matters into his own hands. People have criticised him for changing so drastically in such a short span of time, but I believe that he is merely putting on a convincing act until the final episode where he kills his first man. Canute dirtying his hands for the first time is incredibly difficult for him, but it ultimately leads to him becoming stronger, and enabling him to become a true king.
Thorfinn is, as I said, technically the protagonist, but he doesn’t truly claim this title until the next arc. So the prologue is essentially Thorfinn’s origin story, and overall, it’s a great beginning point for him as a character. However, the character arc that spawns from this first season will be where he truly becomes one of the most brilliantly written characters in all of anime. I should also mention that I think that the anime made prologue Thorfinn a considerably better character than he is in the manga. There were a plethora of anime original scenes that served to make Thorfinn a far more sympathetic and overall likeable character. All of these anime original scenes culminated in the final episode, making it a much more emotional experience. To add so many anime original scenes truly shows the confidence that the director and the rest of the staff have in their understanding of the source material.
Something that I also really appreciate about Vinland Saga is the way that is is able to present the audience with a multitude of thought provoking and powerful themes, but not beating them over your head. Vinland Saga’s themes and subtext are just that, subtext. Unlink some other series, it puts the actual story and characters first, and only brings the themes to the forefront when they are actually necessary. It’s also extremely interesting to view Vinland Saga’s themes in relation to the setting. The juxtaposition of pacifism and the Viking era brings many interesting ideas to the table. Yukimura’s critique of both religion and the nature of man is something that I also greatly appreciate. The priest, Willibald, is the vessel that Yukimura uses to present many of these themes.
Vinland Saga is a manga that was once considered by most to be unadaptable, however, Wit Studios’ herculean task to bring this story to the medium of animation was not only passable, but genuinely surpassed my expectations in every way. Vinland Saga’s director, Shuhei Yabuta, is a long time fan of the Vinland Saga manga, so he jumped at the opportunity to be able to helm the series at Wit as the director. Despite working as the 3D director on many other series before, including Attack on Titan, No Game No Life, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, and even directing the Parasyte opening video, 2017’s Inuyashiki was his directorial debut. So he’s relatively inexperienced as a director, however, the vision that he brought to Vinland Saga was one of confidence. He utilised his extensive knowledge of 3D to give Vinland Saga’s visuals a very distinct look. The use of 3D backgrounds to enable the use of a 3D camera was very welcome, and helped to give Vinland Saga a very cinematic feeling. This wasn’t consistent from start to finish, as is usually the case with Wit Studio productions, but the visuals never fell apart badly enough to be genuinely bad.
To move on to some more general aspects of the visual direction and production, the shot composition was usually fantastic, and didn’t limit itself to merely copying the composition of the source material’s panels. The colour design may have been too bright at times, but was always tonally accurate in the most important scenes. I thought that the character art was quite strong, and was excellent in episodes in which Takahiko Abiru (chief animation director and character designer) was closely involved. The animation was fantastic for the most part, all of the most important fight scenes were handled with the utmost care. Arifumi Imai even made an appearance in episode nine’s Thorfinn vs Thorkell fight, which was more than welcome. The soundtrack was nothing short of beautiful, Yutaka Yamada delivered possibly his best soundtrack to date. Not only was the music great, but the sound director also did a brilliant job of choosing what songs to use on a scene to scene basis, and almost equally important, when not to use any music. Outsourcing the background art to another studio was also a wise decision, as the backgrounds ended up being absolutely stunning from start to finish. Vinland Saga’s production had some ups and downs, but in the end, the passion that the staff had for the project was felt throughout, and the heights reached were higher than anything that the manga ever pulled off, leading to a more than acceptable adaptation of Vinland Saga on an audiovisual level.
To conclude this, Vinland Saga is an adaptation of one of my favourite manga of all time, and has in turn, been adapted so well that it is now one of my favourite anime of all time. I’ve discussed Vinland Saga at length since April of 2019 so I don't feel as though I need to drag this out any longer. Vinland Saga is my favourite anime of 2019.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 12, 2020
In 2019, Mob Psycho 100 returned in full force, to deliver a second season even better than the first. Everything great about the first season was present in this season, but was elevated by the addition of a stronger story, and some very satisfying characterisation for some of the characters.
The audiovisual presentation this season was as excellent as always. Mob Psycho 100’s manga has a very distinctive art style, and one that would be rather difficult to adapt to animation, but somehow Bones were able to faithfully adapt the character designs and overall art style. The elasticity of the animation lends itself excellently to
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the kind of fights that the series features, and with the incredibly talented animators at Bones, Mob Psycho 100 consistently features some of the most well animated fights in the medium of animation.
This season explored both Mob and Reigen’s character in a much more thorough way than the first season did. The odd nature of their relationship was finally addressed, leading to some very fitting character progression for the both of them. Episode seven was one of the best episodes of the year, it being the culmination of every interaction that Mob and Reigen had ever had up to that point. The end of this episode in particular, finally delivered some closure to their relationship, in an absolutely brilliant scene wrought with emotion.
However, despite loving Mob and Reigen’s arc this season, my absolute favourite episodes were four and five. These episodes featured some of the cruelest moments in the series, showing what Mob’s life could be like without his powers. This all contributed to the fantastic character arc that Mob eventually completed by the end of the season. Everything that took place in the dream was beautifully directed, animated, and scored, these were some of the absolute best episodes of the year. The final fight with the villain of these two episodes, being perhaps one of the best animated fights that Bones have ever produced, and easily within the top three fights of the year.
The only thing holding this season back, is the slightly disappointing last few episodes, that drastically increased the scale of the series, and also the narrative stakes. I didn’t dislike these episodes, but I felt as though they betrayed the appeal of the series in a way. The last few episodes turned into a rather standard battle series, which isn’t what anyone wants from Mob Psycho 100.
Despite having some flaws, this season of Mob Psycho 100 had more than enough brilliance to push it past the first season, and catapult it all the way up to being my second favourite anime of 2019.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 8, 2020
Given was perhaps the most surprising anime of 2019 for me. The only BL anime that I had seen prior to Given was Doukyuusei, which may have been great, but I had thought that it was an outlier in the genre. So when Given started airing and I immediately loved it, I was quite taken aback.
To get this out of the way, the music in Given was great. Math Rock is a prolific genre in Japan, often featuring in anime openings and endings. However, despite there being many music anime, math rock never seems to be the genre of music that the character’s
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play. Given finally satisfied my very specific need to see an amatuer band of anime character’s playing math rock, so even ignoring everything else that happens in the show, I was already very pleased with the music, which is important for an anime focused on music. But fortunately for Given, it had far more going for it than simply having good music. I saw Given being described as K-On but with boys, and for the most part, I find this to be a more than adequate explanation of the show. The show focuses on four characters, all of whom are entertaining to watch, have great chemistry with one another, and are overall, well written characters. In what I am assuming is typical for shounen and shoujo ai stories, practically every character is gay and in love with another character, which was a fairly large hurdle of believability for me to get over, but once I came to terms with it, I was happy to see that each of the couples genuinely had a lot of chemistry and felt as though they could be couples in real life. This is mostly due to the fantastic dialogue. I mentioned the K-On comparison earlier, and a large part of that comparison comes from the way that the dialogue is written. All of the characters' interactions felt so natural, which was a large reason for the attachment that I came to feel to them.
The story also ended up being far more emotionally driven than I had initially expected. Mafuyu’s past of loss and tragedy was handled well and served to, at first increase the emotional distance between Mafuyu and Uenoyama, but eventually bring them closer together. Given had a few emotional highs, but the band’s performance episode was easily my favourite part of the entire show, and what really drove home how genuinely great this show actually was. It seemed like a last episode, but I was pleasantly surprised when there were two additional episodes to deal with the ramifications of what happened at the performance. These two episodes finally brought everything together and wrapped things up for the main couple nicely, with the final episode being particularly memorable.
Overall, Given isn’t a show that will leave you pondering the intricacies of its plot, or one that will have you spellbound by its gorgeous visuals. It’s a simple show about a group of boys playing music and being in love, with lovable characters, great music, and a fantastic emotional throughline. If you can get over the fact that, unlike shows of this nature with girls, the characters are not only gay, but actually do more than bait the audience and some are even in relationships, then you’ll find a very enjoyable show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 5, 2020
Beastars is Studio Orange’s latest attempt at making the most visually impressive 3D TV anime in existence, which was going to be difficult considering they already did that with Land of the Lustrous. So, did they manage to do this?
While Beastars may be slightly less visually impressive than Land of the Lustrous was, it more than makes up for this with its far superior story and characters. And that's not to say that Beastars isn’t visually impressive, it's still one of the best looking anime of 2019. Studio Orange truly have a firm grasp on the advantages of 3D animation over traditional 2D animation. 3D
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allows for dynamic camera movements that would be extremely difficult to pull off using 2D animation. This leads to Beastars feeling very cinematic, and visually grander than the vast majority of other TV anime.
Perhaps the absolute best aspect of beastars is the way that it is able to use its premise of a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals to comment on real life societal issues. The fact that none of the characters are human serves to abstract them from reality, meaning that the show can comment on real life society as much as it wants, without causing any controversy, because after all, the characters are animals, not humans. Beastars deals with some very weighty societal issues, such as racial conflict, being represented by the conflict between carnivores and herbivores. There are characters dealing with their identity, such as the protagonist, Legosi. Despite being born a Grey Wolf and carnivore, he has a gentle nature and doesn’t fit into societal expectations that come from being born a carnivore. This could be extrapolated upon, and seen as representing gender identity, and people’s struggle to come to terms with who they were born as. There are many more examples, but I think that I’ve made my point clear. Beastars uses its premise very wisely to comment on real world societal issues in a very tactful manner.
To discuss some of the characters, there’s the previously mentioned protagonist Legosi, who is struggling to come to terms with his own identity, and the fact that he has fallen in love with a Dwarf Rabbit, despite being a Grey Wolf himself. But it's not as simple as that, as he’s aware of the possibility that he may be merely mistaking his predatory instincts as a carnivore for the feeling of love. Another great character is Louis, who is constantly frustrated at being born a herbivore, as he recognises that it puts him at a disadvantage in society, despite his large ambitions. Louis’ character could be extrapolated to be commenting on many different things, it depends who you are as a viewer. It could be the unfair disadvantage of being born into poverty, or being born into any sort of disadvantaged group of people. Louis is also frustrated with the fact that Legosi is in such a privileged position as a powerful carnivore, yet fails to capitalize on it, and acts more like a timid herbivores. I could go on all day about Beastars’ fantastic cast of characters, but to summarise, every character in Beastars serves their own unique role, and are for the most part, characterized to a more than satisfying degree.
Beastars surprised me, I did not expect it to be anywhere as good as it has been.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 5, 2020
Dororo is an anime that represents something that I am very excited about, it represents the willingness of studios to adapt older manga to animation, bringing the older stories to a modern audience. MAPPA have previously given Banana Fish and Ushio and Tora this treatment, both working brilliantly as modern anime. So, how did Dororo work as an anime in 2019? Overall, excellently.
One of the keys to this anime’s success is its director, Kazuhiro Furuhashi. Furahashi has previously worked on the entirety of the Rurouni Kenshin anime, including the Trust and Betrayal OVA, which is considered by many to have the best samurai action
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scenes in all of anime. Giving him an IP such as Dororo, a series sharing similarities to Rurouni Kenshin when it comes to both its setting and appeal, was a very clever decision. Some of the fights in Dororo were genuinely some of the best that I have seen in anime, Furhashi didn’t hold back in the slightest. There was also a nice surprise in Osamu Kobayshi making an appearance in the first ED, and in his direction of episode 15.
To discuss the overall production of Dororo, it was pretty solid. The animation ranged from outstanding to slightly subpar at times. But the visual direction was always good enough to make up for any problems with the animation. The background art was consistently great throughout, and did a fantastic job of both bringing the setting to life, and capturing the tone of the series. The colour design was overall, really good, but had moments of sheer brilliance. This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who has seen any of Furuhashi’s work, the colour design in anything he works on is always one of the strongest aspects. He truly has an incredibly strong grasp on how important colour design is when it comes to selling the mood of a scene.
I understand that Dororo’s anime shared many of its characters with its manga counterpart, and even some plot events, but is overall considerably different from its source material. I have not read the manga, so I can’t pass any meaningful judgement on what version of the story I think is better. I can say, however, that I thought that the anime’s script was overall very good. It had some low points, but also some very high points, so I finished the series feeling satisfied with the story that I was presented with. Some episodes, like episode six, stood out to me as being some of the best episodes of anime in recent memory. Hyakkimaru and Dororo were a good leading duo, and were a crucial aspect to my enjoyment of this show. Hyakkimaru’s change in character across the course of the show was handled very well, and led to the show feeling very easy to watch, as you could feel that the story was always progressing. Dororo and Hyakkimaru’s character dynamic was also very nice.
Overall, I was expecting to really like Dororo as soon as it was announced, and I was not disappointed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 5, 2020
When I say that Sarazanmai is Kunihiko Ikuhara’s most accessible anime, I don’t mean to imply that it lacks the uniqueness of his other work, far from it. What I do mean is that, while it may lack depth in comparison to shows like Mawaru Penguindrum and Revolutionary Girl Utena, it’s still very much an Ikuhara story, with all the visual flair that is to be expected of something under his directorial control. Surprisingly enough, the lack of depth is actually one of the reasons that I think makes Sarazanmai Ikuhara’s best work to date.
When watching other Ikuhara shows, I’ve found that at times,
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Ikuhara’s tendency to overindulge in his visual style can actually detract from the story and characters, yet he seems to do this constantly. I don’t like using the word pretentious, but that’s how Penguindrum and Utena felt to me at times. The moment the visual flair starts to take away from an anime’s ability to tell a compelling story, is the moment that it has gone too far and failed. This is where Sarazanmai flourishes. Sarazanmai seemingly discards most of the depth contained in Ikuhara’s other shows, and doubles down on his visual presentation, all the while escalating the sheer insanity of the story to heights that I’ve never seen from another Ikuhara show. What this does is enable Ikuhara to make Sarazanmai as visually interesting as possible without having to worry about trying to keep the story in tact, because there’s barely a coherent story in the first place. I can understand this being off putting to others, but I personally love this kind of discombobulated story telling. The combination of this kind of storytelling and Ikuhara’s completely over the top visual direction is a perfect storm, and possibly my favourite thing about Sarazanmai.
To briefly go over the visuals, the use of CGI is as present in Sarazanmai as it is in Ikuhara’s other shows. At this point, he’s completely perfected integrating CGI into primarily 2D animated shows in a way that is more of a creative decision, rather than just a time saving one. The animation is fantastic throughout, courtesy of Lapin Track, the colour design and character designs are also very strong. Quite frankly, it feels a bit redundant to go over the visuals in this show, because if you’ve seen an Ikuhara show before, then you should already have a good idea of what this show looks like. To add one last thing regarding the production values, I just want to say how delightful I found the insert songs and overall soundtrack to be, very appropriate for the story being told and a worthy follow up to the music in his other work.
I feel as though I previously downplayed the storytelling, but despite being rather confusing at times, the characters were all fairly likable and played off of each other nicely. But the absolute stars of the show were Reo and Mabu. These two characters were easily my favourite part of the show, and the part of the story that I was the most invested in. In only 11 episodes, I came to really like them and their character dynamic, so by the time everything started to slide into place later on, I was already thoroughly invested in their narrative. Top class character writing.
Overall, Sarazanmai is the definition of a “this isn’t for everyone show”. Your enjoyment of Saraznamai will vary greatly depending on what you are expecting going in, and what you value from a TV anime. And for me, it’s as I already said, Sarazanmai was a perfect storm. A thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 5, 2020
This season of Attack on Titan was tasked with adapting some of the most important material in the entire manga, material that will have large ramifications for the final season coming out next year. Despite having some problems and being inferior to the manga for the most part, this season of AOT did its job well enough, being a suitable supplement for the manga.
I wasn’t very impressed by the first four episodes of this season. I’ve never been too fond of the titan fights in this series, so when they also look rather subpar, animation wise, I hardly get anything out of it, but
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thankfully episode five was absolutely spectacular. Arifumi Imai carried this episode with some genuinely incredible animation cuts. Levi vs the Beast Titan, while not being scored very well, looked fantastic. The dynamic camera angles and Imai’s understanding of high speed movement are as present in this fight as they ever have been. My next animation highlight was when Eren took down the Colossal Titan, animated once again, by Imai. The thing that I appreciated the most about this animation cut, was that at the start, as the camera quickly rises, the building in front was traditionally drawn, not a 3D model as is usually the case in Attack on Titan. It added a more elastic feeling to the animation which is something that I greatly appreciate.
To discuss the visual direction in this season, it was quite frankly, subpar. Tetsuro Araki’s absence was once again felt in this season. The overwhelming intensity and overall visual flare that he brought to AOT in the first two seasons will probably never return. The great animation was able to cover up for the weak direction in episode five, but most of the other big moments in this season just felt rather flat. The scene between Grisha and the Owl on top of the wall was particularly disappointing. In my head I could picture exactly how Araki would have handled the scene, but what I was seeing on screen was a far cry from what I pictured.
The actual narrative of this season was great from episode five onwards. Armin went back to being my favorite character after the events of episode five, and then episode six, while being mediocre adaptation wise, sold the emotion of Levi’s decision well. The basement reveal was a very interesting twist and served to massively expand the scope of AOT’s world. Changing the nature of the story so much this far into the story is a very bold move, but a very good one, as the setting of being trapped inside of the walls was starting to become rather played out and boring. Grisha is finally explored as a character, and overall, his backstory was quite interesting and was aided by the intrigue that I had for the new setting. But the highlight of his backstory was the previously mentioned scene on top of the wall with him and the Owl. Despite the poor direction of the scene, it was a truly shocking twist to the story and served as a rare example of how exposition should be presented to an audience effectively.
Overall, this was the second best season of AOT, doing a great job of setting up a much grander story that will be present in the next season. I do hope that Araki comes back for the next season though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 5, 2020
Blade of the Immortal is a samurai anime that has been blessed by Hiroshi Hamasaki’s fantastic direction. At its core, Blade of the Immortal is a rather simple revenge story, but is elevated by the quirks of both Hamasaki, the director, and the mangaka, Hiroaki Samura.
Hamasaki’s direction of this show is absolutely crucial to its success. He brings such an overwhelmingly nihilistic tone to everything that he works on, and Blade of the Immortal is no exception. The often washed out colour palette, the great shot composition, and the incredible action choreography, all of Hamasaki’s hallmarks are present in this show. The manga is
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cruel, but the direction of the anime really brings out the cruel nature of the setting and characters to a whole nother level. You’ll often see horrific things happen to good people, all in the pursuit of selling the tone of the show. I cannot stress how actively Blade of the Immortal puts its tone above all else, it's genuinely difficult not to feel as though you are being sucked into the world that the characters inhabit.
Unlike in other Hamasaki works, his direction of Blade of the Immortal isn’t supposed to necessarily make the viewer feel bad about the awful things that are happening, it’s more so that it revels in it. Blade of the Immortal is very much so, an Ero Guro story. Its violence isn’t strictly focused on horrific sword fights, but is quite often focused on erotic violence. This is what I mean when I say that Blade of the Immortal revels in its violence. It doesn’t try to hide its appeal as an ero guro work, but more so indulges in the many aspects of the artistic genre. Its combination of eroticism and grotesqueness directly feeds into the tone of the show.
The characters in Blade of the Immortal are, for the most part, very good. While Manji may be a decent but flawed main character, it's Rin and the side characters that really steal the show. The best episodes in Blade of the Immortal are the ones in which Manji is either less relevant, or isn’t present at all. My favourite episode at the time of writing this is episode nine. This episode completely focused on Rin and her determination to exact revenge upon those who killed her family. What I like the most about Rin’s character is that, while she is trying to get stronger as a fighter, the show is very aware that it wouldn't be possible for her to get very strong in such a short amount of time. So instead, she is shown to be getting stronger mentally, she has seen so many horrific things since the start of the show, that she has had to change in order to adapt to her surroundings. The villains are all pretty good and are varied to say the least. On one hand you can have a completely irredeemably evil villain like Shira, who is the main source of this show’s erotic violence, and on the other hand you can have a villain like Anotsu, who despite being the one who killed Rin’s father, is very sypathetic and even supports Rin’s journey to exact revenge upon him. An overall very good cast of characters.
Blade of the Immortal may have some issues, in its rather weak main character, simplistic story, poor pacing, and occasional tonal whiplash, but overall, I’ve really enjoyed it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 12, 2019
(Taken from my Instagram post series)
The Sound of Hyouka:
Hyouka’s soundtrack is perfect, everything from the music to the foley is handled with such a ridiculous level of care that it not only stands out as an exceptional soundtrack, but also bolsters every other aspect of the production.
While the soundtrack as a whole may be truly exceptional, what stands out the most is the score. Hyouka’s score consists entirely of orchestral music, using many already existing, and well known classical pieces. Needless to say, the mystery/detective genre has a long history with classical music. This may be because of the long history that the genre
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has, or it may be because somewhere along the line, somebody realised that classical music perfectly fit the tone of a mystery/detective story. Either way, the use of classical music in Hyouka is absolutely fantastic. Not only does it contribute to the overall tone of the show, but it also serves to immerse the viewer in the world of Hyouka, hence the viewer develops a much more personal relationship with the characters and the situations that they are put in. Hyouka is the perfect example of how important it can be for an audiovisual piece of media to have a score that is tonally reflective.
I’ll also note that during Hyouka’s more emotionally impactful moments, the score always brilliantly compliments the breathtaking animation that is present. I mentioned previously that Hyouka’s soundtrack bolsters every other aspect of the production, this is a prime example of that.
To depart from the score, another key aspect of Hyouka’s soundtrack is the carefully constructed foley. Seeming as Hyouka is a Kyoto Animation production, it should be no surprise to anyone when I say that Hyouka’s foley and also ambience are nothing short of masterful. Hyouka’s soundtrack is full of small details, be it the rustling of a character’s clothes as they move in their chair, or the quiet sound of someone clicking their pen on the other side of the classroom, the audio department of Hyouka considered it all. This serves to, once again, immerse the viewer in the world of Hyouka, and therefore grow closer to the characters.
In conclusion, Hyouka’s soundtrack is one that, through careful attention to detail and an overall understanding of music, is able to immerse the viewer in the world of Hyouka, and even elevate every other aspect of the production.
The Rose Coloured Life in Hyouka (Part 1):
At the very core of Hyouka is the idea of “the rose coloured life.” Studying, falling in love, developing meaningful relationships, all of these ideas fall into what Oreki considers to be the rose coloured life. The single most important aspect of Oreki’s character progression across the course of the series is his departure from being directly opposed to this idea, to accepting it. However, Oreki’s journey is not a simple one, nor is it a linear one, it is a long and arduous journey, and perhaps the single greatest aspect of Hyouka’s narrative.
No scene exemplifies Oreki’s stance on the rose coloured life more perfectly than the very first scene in the entire show. (See the second slide.) Oreki is surrounded by his fellow classmates, and also the falling petals of a nearby cherry blossom tree. Oreki clearly stands out from every other element in this scene. What is largely a bright and cheerful scene, courtesy of the fantastic colour design, is very apparently disturbed by the presence of one Oreki Houtarou. Oreki is bathed in a much darker colour palate than the rest of the characters on screen, I would interpret this as Oreki’s own cynicism towards the idea of the rose coloured life coming to life and bathing him in a colour palate that is directly opposed to it. This is successful in both cluing the audience into the general demeanour of Oreki, and also serves to immediately distance him from the idea.
The point in which Oreki’s demeanor towards the rose coloured life is explicitly shown to change is the opening scene of episode five. Satoshi has already established Oreki as being grey earlier on in the show, a colour that is directly opposed to the rose colour. Grey has also consistently been a thematic counterbalance to the rose coloured life. Oreki, a character who has always wished to be as far away from being rose coloured as possible, admits in this scene that he is in fact, “tired of being grey.” Oreki’s self admittance to this is crucial as it represents his desire to change. It serves as the starting point for Oreki’s gradual progression into the rose coloured life, and therefore also normalcy.
Part Two:
Having expressed the desire change, and to depart from being grey, it is only natural for the narrative to push Oreki towards his goal. All of Oreki’s progression throughout the course of the series comes to fruition in the final episode of the show, more specifically, the final scene.
The most obvious thing to point out is that the entirety of this scene is bathed in a gorgeous rose colour, clearly reflecting that Oreki has finally embraced the rose coloured life that he was once so averse to. In the first scene of Hyouka, I mentioned that Oreki was bathed in a much darker colour palate, as opposed to the environment and other characters, however, this scene is very different. Oreki is no longer bathed in the darkness that was his cynicism towards the rose coloured life, he is now bathed in a rose colour, the colour that symbolizes the rose coloured life, the colour that Chitanda is also bathed in, the colour that the environment around them is bathed in. This is a perfect example of showing and not telling, through the use of strong colour design, this scene is able to perfectly reflect the culmination of all the character progression that oreki has undergone across the course of the series.
I say that Oreki has finally embraced the rose coloured life, however, this is merely my interpretation. Oreki has made a tremendous amount of progress in these 22 episodes, however, he still has not reached the rose coloured life that he desires. Hyouka shows us an illusion of Oreki confessing to Chitanda in this beautiful rose coloured environment, before cutting back to reality, to show us that this did not really happen. What this serves to do is tell the viewer that while Oreki may not have reached the rose coloured life yet, he will in the near future. I greatly appreciate this as it allows the audience to have a clear understanding of the trajectory for Oreki in the future, and also ends the show on a very optimistic note, the perfect ending.
Oreki Houtarou’s character arc in Hyouka is one of my favourites in all of fiction. It could have been shown in a much simpler way, but the addition of the idea of the rose coloured life reflecting his character progression was a very nice touch, and the greatest aspect of Hyouka’s narrative.
Satoshi as "Shocking Pink":
Oreki is not the only character in Hyouka whose character is explored in relation to the rose-coloured life, Satoshi Fukube is another fantastic example. While Oreki may be described as grey by Satoshi (a colour that is not meant to be demeaning in anyway, but like any other colour, one with different shades, if Satoshi wanted to insult Oreki then he would have called him colourless), Satoshi describes himself as “shocking pink.” While shocking pink may seem close to rose-coloured, there is a very important distinction which recontextualizes Satoshi’s entire character. Rose-coloured is sincere, a colour with heart, whereas shocking pink, while being a shade of pink, and therefore closer to the rose-coloured life than grey, is all about shock value. Satoshi being shocking pink is another way to say that all he has is his initial impression, and after that he is a surprisingly hollow person. Hollow is the perfect way to describe him, as Satoshi is obsessed with gathering and consuming information, even going so far as to call himself the “human database.” However, it is clear that Satoshi is only consuming this information in an attempt to fill his hollow personality. When examined in this way, Satoshi being shocking pink is a perfect thematic counterbalance to Oreki being grey. While grey may seem off putting at first, the more that it is examined, and the closer you get to it, the more complexity you see, whereas shocking pink is just that, shocking.
The plot thread in Hyouka that exemplifies Satoshi’s hollowness the most is his constant disregard of Mayaka’s feelings towards him. Satoshi is scared to be anything other than shocking pink, seeming as he describes himself as a human database, he also takes the next logical step and says, “a database can’t draw conclusions.” Satoshi uses this excuse to keep Mayaka in the dark as to how he truly feels about her, only causing the two of them pain, but even so, Satoshi’s insistence that he is in fact no more than a human database not only belittles himself, but also the relationships that he has built with the people around him.
In conclusion, the addition of various colours being used to reflect the personality of the characters in Hyouka is an excellent one. Satoshi being shocking pink is particularly fantastic as it really does reflect his personality perfectly. He is cheerful and pleasant on the outside, but when you look beyond the surface, you see a conflicted individual, someone who is too scared to be anything other than shocking pink.
An Analysis of Hyouka’s Second Opening:
While Hyouka’s first opening may be good in its own regard, the second opening is what I would consider to be the perfect anime opening. It perfectly reflects the core narrative hook of Hyouka, Oreki’s relationship with Chitanda, or more specifically, the way that this relationship benefits Oreki, helping him to grow as a human being.
The narrative that is told in this opening is as follows; Oreki falls asleep in one of the Classic Literature Club’s after school meeting, he then dreams of being trapped in things such as windows, mostly anything with a reflection (just watch the OP in the slides.) What this means is that Oreki is invisible to everyone. The idea of Oreki being unable to interact with anything and anyone around him, and therefore having no one else interact with him is a great one as it perfectly encapsulates Oreki’s position before meeting Chitanda. The opening largely consists of Oreki walking through his high school, seeing many of the other characters that he interacts with during the course of the show. However, it is when he enters the Classic Literature Club’s room that this changes. Immediately upon entering the room, Chitanda, Satoshi, and Mayaka all turn around to look at him. The significance of this is that, despite wanting nothing to do club activities and engaging with fellow club member, since this would clearly contradict Oreki’s disdain for the rose-coloured life, he still turns to them when he is in trouble. It is also fitting that this is the second opening, as at this point in the show, Oreki has already undergone a significant amount of character progression. So, it is not entirely out of character that Oreki would turn to his fellow club members when in his time of need.
The best part of this entire opening is the moment in which Chitanda pulls Oreki from the reflection in the glass that he resides in, bringing him into the real world. Oreki, who once occupied his own space, completely alone and unable to bring himself to strive for normalcy, and the rose-coloured life, is now being dragged from that mindset by Chitanda, the character who he has the deepest connection with in the show.
Chitanda is the one who ultimately leads Oreki down the path towards the rose-coloured life, and in this opening, we are shown this in the form of a visual metaphor. This idea is further built upon by the fact that, as Oreki is pulled into the real world, the colour palate changes from a rather cold one, to a much warmer one, representing Oreki’s emotional state. Oreki is understandably sorrowful at the fact that he is alone, but being reunited with Chitanda and the others, people who has has come to consider friends, he becomes far happier.
This opening is nothing too complex, nor is it hard to understand. But even so, it’s a great opening to place in the second half of Hyouka, as it perfectly encapsulates Oreki’s character progression, and what has caused this character progression. This is what I would consider to be the perfect anime opening.
Hyouka’s Most Impressive Scenes Part One:
So far in this series of Hyouka posts, I have gone into a great deal of depth regarding Hyouka’s key themes and narrative throughlines (not including the soundtrack post), but now I would like to transition into discussing Hyouka on a moment to moment basis. Because after all, a story can have crafted masterfully from a writing perspective, but if it is faulty on a moment to moment basis then the entire package will fall apart. So, join me in this long journey to discuss all of Hyouka’s most impressive scenes.
For this first post I will be discussing Oreki and Chitanda’s first meeting. For two characters who will go on to form such a strong and meaningful relationship in the future, it is crucial to sell the audience on the sheer importance of this first meeting, and as you may have guessed, Hyouka does a splendid job (see scene in slides.) What is perhaps the most immediately apparent in this scene is the lack of any music. What makes this so unexpected is that, as I have already discussed, Hyouka has an absolutely fantastic score, so it seems like a rather strange directorial decision to leave any music out of this scene. Hyouka uses its score at many of the most important and emotionally impactful moments, so why would the decision be made to leave what is perhaps the most important event of the entire show practically silent? The answer to this is simple, the fact that there is no music is what truly sells the importance of this scene. With practically every other important scene in Hyouka being scored to absolute perfection, the lack of any music in this scene stands out as being eventful, which is exactly how this scene functions in regards to the narrative. This scene is the moment in which Oreki’s mundane life is changed forever, the moment in which he meets the most important person in his life, the moment that sets forth the events of the next 21 episodes, and what emphasises the importance of all this is the lack of any music.
While this scene may be lacking any music, it is far from silent. The most prominent sound in this scene is Oreki’s loud echoing footsteps as he walks towards Chitanda. The echo effect gives this scene an almost dreamlike feeling, a feeling that abruptly ends as Oreki stops walking. The echo effect of Oreki’s footsteps ends as he takes his last step, any effects cut out immediately, leaving only the gentle sound of the wind blowing through the classroom, disturbing the curtains on its way through, creating a calming and somewhat nostalgic environment. Fantastic sound design, as expected from Kyoto Animation. I would interpret this section of the scene as Oreki being snapped out of his dream like state at the sight of Chitanda. Oreki is walking through life, disconnected from the things around him, like he is dreaming, however, upon seeing Chitanda the audience is shown that this will not last. The loud echoing footsteps cutting out, and being replaced by the sound of the classroom symbolises Oreki’s transition from being disconnected from the things around him, to entering the real world, all because of Chitanda.
Hyouka’s Most Impressive Scenes Part Two:
This is perhaps Hyouka’s most well known scene, and deservedly so. Not only is it beautifully animated, reaching heights that are hardly seen in TV anime, but the subtext is equally beautiful, as to be expected from Hyouka.
If you have seen Hyouka, then you would know that Chitanda’s curiosity is constant, never subsiding until a mystery has been solved, before immediately moving onto to the next mystery. If you were to look at Hyouka from a very surface level perspective, then this is the entire plot of Hyouka. Considering this, I would assume that Yasuhiro Takemoto wanted to put as much emphasis on Chitanda’s first admittance of curiosity, seeming as it’s such a crucial aspect of Hyouka. And does it succeed? Most definitely. This scene is utterly unforgettable, be it because of the gorgeous animation, the brilliant visual direction, the fantastic colour design, the beautiful music, this is a scene that will never leave your mind.
Now, to discuss the subtext of this scene, I will need to examine the visual direction, and more specifically, how it reflects the subtext. The visuals in this scene are completely abstracted from everything that has been seen up to this point, what this serves to do is, not only emphasise the importance of the scene, but also perfectly encapsulates Chitanda’s overwhelming presence and how this presence completely catches Oreki off guard. The world around Oreki is shown to literally change, showing how taken aback Oreki is by what Chitanda is saying, and furthermore, how Oreki sees her as a completely different kind of person to him. The visual direction in this scene serves to clue the audience into how Oreki is feeling, what would be a minor event in anyone else's life is so noteworthy to Oreki, that the world around him changes. Even if Hyouka has already given the audience enough material to understand Oreki’s personality, this scene drives it home even further.
This scene is an example of Hyouka’s fantastic visual direction serving a greater purpose than merely looking good, it reflects the subtext of Hyouka, something that is seen in many more scenes in the future of Hyouka.
(And then I cancelled the post series)
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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