Entertain me for just a few paragraphs. Imagine you have a box. The box is fairly small, and you don’t have the space to fit a lot of things into it. Despite that, you have a bunch of different colored building blocks that you’d like to pack up in said box. Your inner child takes over. At the start, you start building a tiny world piece by piece. You have an idea of how the world should look like so you start grabbing a piece and fitting it where it would fit best, creating a bunch of incomplete structures. The incomplete world intrigues you, as
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the way you have placed them in the box, gives you many possibilities of giving the world a different shape each time you place everything differently inside the box, with every new piece added giving even more possibilities. You keep changing the shape of the world, to get a grasp of what you should be doing next. Each time you look at the world, you experience an entirely different scenario which brings you some satisfaction and fulfillment over what you have given shape to. Over time, you keep thinking of different structures that could reshape your world and make it more complex, and you need more and more pieces to create them, so you keep adding said pieces. Each time, the world you build simply becomes more, and you find each scenario more satisfying than the last.
“Hey, you’re starting to run out of space.”
You were having a lot of fun doing this, but at last, you need to come up with a solution to fit everything together. All of the buildings you have created and the shape of the world you have at the moment, is now an obstacle to the goal you have started with: to place every single building block in the box. So, while not trying to break any of the structures you have created, you start adding the remaining pieces within the box. You keep adding each piece, and in no time whatsoever, you are done. And would you look at that, every piece fit perfectly, as soon as you stacked them together. There’s no more space left for anything.
Quickly, you are disappointed by a realization. There’s no remnant of the world you have created. The only remaining shape is this cube made out of different colored building blocks.
This whole metaphor is how I view the execution of the show.
Lets stop speaking metaphorically for a while. This show explores a tool that creates and stores the unconscious data from a killer’s mind tied to any of the murders they have committed. The way in which it stores this data is messy, and in order to uncover what happened, you need someone that can interpret this data through their deduction skills and being able to explore the world. In this manner, this tool can be used to explore their unconscious in order to reveal key details about their identity, the methods with which these murders were executed, the motivation behind them, their location and even other information that at first sight might seem trivial. However, said tool, while insanely useful, is a mystery within itself. It seems to only allow only people that have committed murders to use it and browse through its database of worlds. Not just anyone can enter it. These worlds also all have some constant elements, which seem to tie them together. While it is definitely a murder mystery, these mysteries are subservient to figuring out how this tool works, as this is what the show focuses on presenting.
On that end, the show starts off great. Something that it does very skillfully from the very beginning is establishing how the world works, and presenting only as much information as the viewer needs to strike a balance between understanding the world they are looking at and leave enough room for questions for the viewer to continue asking “How does this work?”. It seemed like from the start, the world had a clear idea under what rules it was operating, and any time that you would think that something doesn’t really add up, the show was completely ready to affirm that your question was correct to ask, and that you deserve a proper answer for asking it. It knew exactly how to present enough information to keep you intrigued and still understand the natural flow of things within itself. As the show progressed, it kept shaking things up through presenting more and more about the system they are using to catch these criminals works, as well as some questions to keep you thinking. A large part of the success of its early execution is due to it figuring out very early, exactly how everything fits together.
How does it do what I have described in the previous paragraph exactly? Well, I’ll let you know how the first episode starts, but fair warning, the more information you have of what exactly unfolds in each episode prior to watching the show, the lesser your experience will be. I have given you plenty of information for what I’ll say in this paragraph to not matter at this point, but continue to read this paragraph at your own risk, because it still might influence your first impression. The first thing you witness, is a guy waking up in a bed to see that his body is breaking into pieces as he screams terrified out of his fucking mind. Confused as to who he is and how he can be alive while his body is broken into pieces, he starts piecing himself together, both mind and body, and notice that while his body is broken apart, every piece is still connected, and he can fuse them back together or separate them to extend his reach. Still, he’s still missing part of his arm so he cannot be completely whole. He noticed that everything around him is the same, with the entire world also being broken into pieces. Random buildings and parts of the world simply keep floating around him. At some point he notices he is not alone, as he sees the legs of a girl, in a room right above him, so he uses the wonky physics of that world to get to that girl. Once he does, he sees that she is just a corpse that has been recently murdered, but that is enough information for him to cause him to realize a bunch of information about the situation. Her name is Kaeru, and his name is Sakaido, and the reason he was placed in that world is to solve the mystery of her murder. Immediately afterwards, it is revealed that a team is supervising this entire thing, and extracting data from Sakaido’s deep dive into this world, in order to obtain information tied to a murder that has occurred in reality, that parallels that one. And then we go on exploring.
There’s a very specific reason I think this introduction works really well, and that is the fact that show knows how to exploit the fact that you lack so much information about it. The show could’ve very easily revealed first the role of the tool they use and how it works, and then show you the scenario described. While that sounds just like I am stating the obvious since the show’s genre is Mystery, the reason I am pointing this out is because the show didn’t choose to focus on supporting you in solving the mystery alongside it and maybe perhaps solving it before it has a chance to do so. You’re forced to keep up with the show. It would’ve been sufficient to just show you all the information you need, strictly focusing on the mystery behind how the current victim died. It instead tried to present the mystery in a way, where you are directly experiencing the confusion of not having the information required to properly understanding this situation. This achieves two things. The fact that the outlandish world you are presented feels like an enigma so you are motivated to understand how it works and the fact that the viewer instantly is aware of the fact that there are a lot of things they have yet to know, so that will cause them to pay close attention to all events that unfold. It’s a very efficient way to hook someone in. And that’s how things keep unfolding and being presented to you…
…Until a certain point.
What caused the show to be really solid so far and hooking me in so aggressively, was the fact that since its start, it knew exactly what building blocks it was using, and I was only allowed a glimpse of the box each time the world got a new piece added to its structure. And this happened because it figured integrally prior to even being presented what the world is and how it operates. But while this has helped it greatly at the start… it completely betrays the show at the end.
You see, because it was so determined about showing the viewer exactly what it is, eventually it realizes that it will run out of time, so the show had a choice. Present as much of the information as fast as possible at the risk of doing it sloppily, but the viewer will have a full picture of what exactly they have watched, or risk to never show the genius behind its execution and this world to remain forever foreign to its audience. It has chosen the former.
So, after that certain point, instead of being presented information so you can understand what happens next, you will be presented information so that things can happen next. You’re presented with a high volume of ideas and details about the world that, if given enough time to be executed properly, they might’ve been interesting to witness, but at the pace they are presented, as things get close to the end, they start feeling convenient and only there so that the remaining events can unfold. These ideas aren’t particularly unheard of, so just having a lot of elements going on within the story isn’t enough to lift the show to be of high quality. None of the information we are revealed is earned. They have very little to no setup, and is presented to us just so that things can keep moving along. Which is not at all how the show did things until a few episodes ago. There’s no reason to be curious any longer, and that makes the events to be witnessed… without any worth. The highest merit of the show was the way in which it conveyed information. Which it has chosen to discard in order to reveal everything about itself.
I don’t understand that decision, since this very show has made me realize how important and how much more depth something can have, because you know that some details are missing. Withholding information is a great tool, a tool I have noticed the show using. And it could’ve kept using until the very end, at the risk of the world feeling foreign, but also keeping a lot of depth and mystery still inside it. It wouldn’t have lost any intrigue. The problem is, this was a sci-fi mystery. The world feeling foreign, is something entirely warranted. If the show didn’t have enough time to reveal everything about itself, it shouldn’t have, and instead it could’ve used its remaining time, to create an even bigger mystery, while answering the questions it still had some time for. I get that it is difficult to pull an ending of the sort, but that doesn’t change that it didn’t have time to execute all of the ideas it had, so as a result, it cheapened all of them. It wasn’t enough to place every single block inside the box. If some blocks were outside of the box, the lack of the remaining pieces could’ve given what’s inside it a different shape, and made the viewers view the content very differently. And who knows, if the box would’ve gotten bigger, every single piece outside the box could’ve been arranged inside it to give any shape and structure wanted by the creators.
I'm afraid that when it comes to this show, this is the driving force behind it. I could speak about the characters, but the roles of the characters are strictly subservient in creating the mystery, and giving any details away would mean giving you information that could cheapen your experience. I can mention that the characters for not seeming to have much individuality or depth, aside from the closest character to a protagonist. All of them are there to serve a purpose and are a narrative tool to make that world work. Do not get me wrong, I believe them lacking depth and individuality is perfectly fine for this story, but the characters are not what you will watch ID Invaded for. The animation is also not particularly stellar in some places, but given the general pace of the show, the design of the scenario it creates more than makes up for that and the fact that is keys you in on the important details without much effort. The sound design however is solid, with some solid tracks that really build intrigue and suspense quite well. I personally really liked the protagonist's voice actor. He has this very distinct growly voice that really fits the character, and is a pleasure for me to listen to.
The last thing I want to say prior to concluding is regarding an overarching theme. Or rather, the fact that it is difficult to grasp any. When I think about what was the point for ID Invaded's story, the answer I can come up with is to present its world and the ideas behind it. But if you ask me exactly what it is that the story tried to convey, that's very difficult. You see, there is some moral high ground to the story, and that is to not be a victim of your own circumstances and to not play a role just because it was given to you. You should always have personal agency and aspire to do so, without letting your impulses and what you are not conscious of, drive you forward. But I am not really sure any of this is earned, since by the end of the story, none of the characters really achieve that. They spout it, yes, but they definitely do not achieve it because they have been victims to the aforementioned things and suddenly no longer seem to believe that is a factor in their life. There isn't really anything that I have taken away from this story, and I believe that's also to blame of the high volume of ideas that were presented by the end, and the fact that none of them were given any value.
To conclude, I think the decision to watch this series is best left up to how interested you are in what I have said so far about it. The first half of ID Invaded has a solid execution in presenting the world and all of its mysteries quite well. I consider that they were worth watching for me at least. But the fact that towards the end it fails to give a proper pay off might sour the experience for you if you do end up watching it. So it becomes a question of outcome versus process. Do you enjoy the series for the overall product it is, and as a result you'd only look at the cube the show builds inside the box? Or do you appreciate each of its elements separately, and can enjoy experiencing each scenario that was built in the box prior to it becoming a cube. If it's the latter, I think you can enjoy the series as it is. I certainly was entertained by it despite falling in the latter category. But if you're in the former category, I'm afraid that your experience might be cheapened, as it's one of those trends with anime that keep happening. They start off strong and are able to hook you in, but botch it as time goes on as they didn't know what they intended to be. ID Invaded knew what it wanted to be, but it had no idea how to get there in such a short amount of time, so at the very least that is to be appreciated. Still, the following hold true. ID Invaded was ambitious and entertaining. And due to its ambition, it failed in some aspects, but I appreciate its ambition regardless and that's enough to consider it a worthwhile watch for myself.
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Mar 29, 2020
Id:Invaded
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Mixed Feelings
Entertain me for just a few paragraphs. Imagine you have a box. The box is fairly small, and you don’t have the space to fit a lot of things into it. Despite that, you have a bunch of different colored building blocks that you’d like to pack up in said box. Your inner child takes over. At the start, you start building a tiny world piece by piece. You have an idea of how the world should look like so you start grabbing a piece and fitting it where it would fit best, creating a bunch of incomplete structures. The incomplete world intrigues you, as
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Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Oct 13, 2019 Mixed Feelings
This movie wasn't made for us. No, I don't mean this movie wasn't made for me. No, I don't mean this movie wasn't made specifically for you. What I mean is that the people that are likely to watch this movie and find information about it through this site, are not the people likely to enjoy this movie. Black Fox is a superhero origin story, about a girl that has been trained to be a ninja and has access to a lot of technological gadgets, whose appeal as a person is her kind nature. A budget teenage girl Batman if you will. I do think
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that the movie did accomplish to imitate the exact same process other western movies have used, but not actually succeed in what those movies had
Now let me ask, have you ever seen a movie about a superhero origin story, that has had huge success in the western media? Your answer, if yes, is probably: yeah, I watched [insert random Marvel movie]. Well, this movie is a japanese attempt to cash in on that marketing strategy, by making a movie that employs the exact same style and structure. Given what I said, you probably know what to expect already if you were familiar with those, but even then, you might still be like: "Yeah, but it is Japan, this movie is still going to be anime as fuck, right?" Actually, that's what I would have expected too, but the answer is actually no. The only thing that is particularly anime about this, is that they are girls of high school age doing things they should not be physically capable. There's one part in the climax of the final fight that you might assume is anime as fuck, but honestly, that actually is how most final fights in Marvel movies are resolved too, so at best I'd call it overlap. It is genuinely faithful to that formula, and I'm sure it is just an attempt to see if it has any success outside the west, or it could be that someone enjoyed that formula so much they just wanted to test it out. Now for those of you unfamiliar and not knowing what to expect, superhero origin stories are so frequent that they pretty much have a template they always follow. And Black Fox is no exception to this. They are often very predictable, and the template itself is not actually what sells the movie, it's just a tool to make the movie be sufficiently competent and present the character to both an audience that is familiar with them and one that is unfamiliar with them at the same time. If you go watch a superhero movie, you often already know entirely what it is about, since you are familiar with DC and Marvel. Black Fox however is something entirely unfamiliar to the audience, and the only way it relates to the viewer is whether or not they are aware of such content. It uses the structure and techniques of such movies but do they actually work in its favor? My answer is that the only way it would work is if you were unfamiliar with that structure. The way Black Fox is structured imitates pretty much every movie of its type I am familiar with, to the point I could predict every single story beat as soon as it was set up. So, if familiar with these types of movies, you will see absolutely nothing new. It has no degree of subtlety and it continuously moves forward, by first presenting a setup (which can be as small as a tease) and next presenting its payoff. The thing is that makes the movie even more predictable since every single story beat presented on screen, is either there to set up something later down the line, be it a twist or to raise the impact a scene will have, 5 minutes later. It feels like every single thing presented is not presented to tell a story but rather to serve the structure used in the prior movies, like a template for success. The structure for such movies doesn’t simply work because the structure itself is a failsafe way to present a superhero origin, but rather they are a template to adapt one superhero origin people already have knowledge of and interest in. To an audience that is unfamiliar with said structure, they may have some success but their actual reasons they sell in the western media are: brand recognition, (since it is something people are familiar with, the movie will pull its already existing fanbase, as well as their friends that are not familiar with that character) acting, (actors are capable of breathing even further life into the characters, and making them even more appealing based on their performance) solid source material, (in most cases, the template can work because the character has an already defined identity that is appealing to its audience, and they don't have to put much thought into presenting the story since the source material has already done so, and the story will already have plenty of bones and meat, allegedly) and accessibility. (comic books are not the most accessible media to consume, as most of the hero origins were released prior to content being digitized, and as a result they often end up rereleased with some modifications or redone from zero, to familiarize the audience. Movies are more accessible to a wider audience and they are easier to preserve and spread, since their content is digital, not physical. So, if anyone was genuinely interested in the concept of the comics, but they didn't have accessibility to the source material, now they have an easier way to access the content) Black Fox has no brand recognition or source material, it is an original concept after all, it doesn't rely on acting, since its visual are carried across through animation and voice acting doesn't require the voice actor to project as much personality as a normal actor. They definitely do and can even do it better than the visuals in some cases, don't get me wrong, but they are not entirely relied on for that purpose usually, which is no exception here. But well, it might have plenty of accessibility and novelty to a japanese audience. That's why I said this movie was not made for us. We are likely going to have plenty of familiarity, be it direct or indirect, with pretty much everything Black Fox attempts to achieve as a movie and as a story. But since it is a superhero origin story in its most basic form, it might have success in japan, presenting more westernized story structures and concepts and see if they appeal to their audience, to people that wouldn't otherwise engage with them, in the medium they are familiar with. As a result, I do think Black Fox is a test, to see if this story structure can be successful to a japanese audience. The movie pretty much put its entire focus on following this standard structure (beware that this might spoil you, there's no concrete plot details, just the average structure of such movies): Present the hero's life prior to starting their journey (in order to show who they are and how they are different from the average person) -> Define their motivations and future goal (Happens through one of the following three: a tragic event that redefines their life, a mission that is given to them because they are the only one who can accomplish it or an accidental event that grants them the ability to do exactly what they always wished for. In some cases, there is a certain degree of overlap and it is going to be a combination of those. If you read the series' synopsis you already know which of these it is. ) -> Have them prepare for their journey (This is either done through them training, or them undertaking their journey while not entirely prepared, with their actions acting as an experience that will prepare them for the future) -> Have them engage the antagonist but not be able to win straight up (This is to create tension and present in what ways the antagonist is a foil to them) -> Give them a moment of respite to reflect on their loss (used to reflect on what differentiates them from the antagonist and some self-reflection for their character arc) -> Reignite the conflict with even bigger stakes -> Have the character complete their character arc and learning from their past mistakes, helping them resolve the conflict -> Conclude with the foil being rejected and the hero identity finally being assumed -> Tease the sequel. The biggest problem with Black Fox for someone familiar with the structure, is that it feels exactly like this: Japan: Can I copy your homework? America: Yes, just change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious that it was copied. Japan: Black Fox Japan managed to copy the homework correctly, on a subject they don't really have a solid grasp of. As a result, its hero, doesn't feel heroic or like a genuinely good person. There's not really any point where the heroine here acts either heroically or outside their own self-interest. It hardly feels like someone conquering their demons to do good in the world, but more like a character wanting to do what is their self-interest, but what's morally good denying them of their desire, and them having to adjust. The main character is supposed to have as her appeal in her kindness, but they are not kind, they are just a brat. She's neither a compassionate or good person and she has operated entirely in their own self-interest the entire time. She hasn't done anything outright good, just things that aren't morally reprehensible, yet the story does praise them for their kindness. She can also appear quite weak-willed at times, since she sometimes does not fully pursue their goal or respects what she says and due to that appears undecisive. Truth be told, the qualities that would make her a hero are absent, but I guess that is somewhat acceptable, since she hasn't really been acknowledged as such. The only reason I take issue with these traits, is because the movie acts as if they are her virtues, but they are at best traits that are currently a work in progress and at worst non-existent. The movie has every single thing executed correctly, it has the structure, the beats, the concept, the visuals, perhaps even the audience. But it lacks the substance. The appeal that has made the stories that were adapted attract the interest of various people around the world. It may have some passion and enjoyment of everything that has been made with this structure, but it is not its own thing. As a result, I find it hard to recommend to someone familiar with this type of movie, since there is absolutely nothing new for you to see, and I also have a hard time to recommend it to someone unfamiliar, since there are so many better alternatives that use the very same structure and also present a character that has both charisma and is very admirable. Black Fox doesn't manage to capitalize on any of the qualities using the structure it has appealing, but it is an interesting enough experiment to watch. I'd recommend showing this show to an unsuspecting audience unfamiliar with this style of movie, if it's more accessible to them than a western superhero movie, and to gauge their reaction. Because that's who this movie was made for. And if continuously invested in, the success of the western superhero blockbusters can be replicated in anime form. Even though it might not be an interesting watch, it might the start for the pursuit of an interesting result. So, if you want to watch this movie as an informative way to observe their strategy, I fully support that, because that part of the movie is genuinely interesting, and that's what made me talk at length about it. I wish it had more substance to discuss the actual things it tried, but the only thing I could observe how hard it tries to imitate what it wishes it would've been. And by pursuing every single technical detail about it, it manages to entirely miss the point. That these movies are meant to present the best qualities humanity has to offer and demonstrate them. And that it doesn't.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 28, 2019 Recommended
Vento Aureo is a great opportunity for any JoJo fan to observe how Araki has improved and managed to incorporate elements of his preceeding parts into yet another interesting and entertaining part. As it follows a similar structure to Stardust Crusaders with some of what I deem as significant improvements due to what Araki has learned from Diamond is Unbreakable, I believe most fans of the previous parts can enjoy watching Vento Aureo at the very least, while at best enjoy it on the same level as either of the previous parts that incorporate stands. However, considering that it has relatively low stakes compared to
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every previous part, most fans could deem this story's events as not significant, and not be as involved with Vento Aureo causing them to lose interest, since it is the one part that you could skip and lose nothing of value. I additionally do not recommend anyone interested in JoJo to start with Vento Aureo, as I deem it to be one of the most experimental parts in regards to fights and has relatively low stakes compared to the prior ones. It is definitely interesting, but I believe it requires you to have experienced JoJo and cannot be properly enjoyed on its own. If you insist on watching out of order, do not start with Vento Aureo.
Experience: Vento Aureo is very similar to its predecessors, as it has certain elements in execution from all of them, but the one it bears most similarities with in execution and story as well as the way it presents characters and entertains the viewers is Stardust Crusaders. Araki seems to have taken what he’s learned from Diamond is Unbreakable and has incorporated some of it into Vento Aureo while trying to breathe life again into an around the world journey style of adventure. If you have had enjoyed Stardust Crusaders, Vento Aureo has a better execution of most elements present in that part, but with lower stakes for the Joestar bloodline and the world at large, which is definitely not a bad thing. It follows a story route that has loose similarities to that of Stardust Crusaders. The protagonist, Giorno Giovanna seeks to overthrow capo of the gang, Passione, so that he could no longer harm the lives of innocent people for the own selfish interests of the capo. This capo grants his subordinates Stand powers so that they can serve him and uses them to control Italy. Giorno’s journey is different from Jotaro's because he has to carry his goal on a journey he starts by himself, by joining the organization with the sole intent of betraying it once he’s received all of the information he needs. He gets a group of allies but his real goal does not align to theirs. While the story of Stardust Crusaders was a simple defeat the big bad story, Vento Aureo is not as simple and is better thought out in that regard. Still, the roots of Stardust Crusaders are there, where a group of people march towards defeating the mysterious villain and his unknown power for the betterment of the world at large. It also has a similar structure to Part 3, where the literal gang this time, has to travel across Italy in order to achieve their goal, while they have to fend off any stand users that might attack them on the way. The differences here are that while in Stardust Crusaders they had a clear destination they had to reach, neither the party of the protagonist’s or the opponents they have an exact idea of where they have to end up in Vento Aureo. It is an ongoing investigation and adventure where these hints get revealed as the story progresses by the boss of the organization. This element was entirely absent from Stardust Crusaders as the end goal and what the content of the journey will be was clear from the get-go with very few actual surprises. The entertainment value is mostly derived from the Stand Battles and the appeal each character brings through their abilities and quirks. This part is still very centrally focused on Stand Battles and characters confronting each other, just like the previous two parts. While the characters do not have as much identity as those of Diamond is Unbreakable, due to the sheer nature of the journey of Vento Aureo, it still manages to outperform Stardust Crusaders in that regard, since the goals of the characters is not going to be singularly “Dio-sama”. Some of them might seek to defeat the boss as well, some might seek to protect him due to their loyalty, and some are there for their interests because the organization benefits them. They are a lot more memorable than the villains of Part 3, and the fact that the motivations of the organization’s members can vary so wildly only show how the capo’s secrecy serves him so well since these characters are forced to fight another simply because their true goals being revealed could compromise what they are trying to accomplish. Unlike the previous parts, the fights also keep track of more than just the combatants it has but also of the environment present as well as tries to incorporate as many characters and abilities into each fight as possible. Appeal & Execution: While Diamond is Unbreakable is one of my favorite JoJo parts, one of the largest appeals of JoJo is the journey the characters have to take in order to achieve their goals, which in Diamond is Unbreakable was not a needed element due to its setting, and it relied mostly presenting different threats to the otherwise calm life of the town of Morioh and Josuke’s antourage. While I did enjoy how well executed that part was within that setting and how it tried to add elements of mystery to make due for what it has replaced, it lacked a hero’s journey that has been prevalent in all of the JoJo parts so far. But what I think Araki has learned from not having a hero’s journey pays off within Vento Aureo. The way Vento Aureo executed its journey feels more significant than it has so far because the characters presented have an identity and motivations of their own, and they don’t strictly circle around the antagonist, but rather, the antagonist is an influential factor that is either an obstacle or a benefactor for the characters on a case by case basis. At the same time, Araki has learned in the prior part to use mystery in its story, and the main villain’s biggest strength in this part that he shrouds himself in it. Nothing is known about him and as such this part combines the investigative elements of Part 4 as well as the hero’s journey of Part 3. Elements that appealed to both sides of the JoJo fans have not been forgotten in Vento Aureo. As the journey unfolds, the characters learn more about the man that leads their organization and that perfectly integrates two elements that enthusiasts of the previous parts have enjoyed. However, this might undercut something that Part 3 enthusiasts have enjoyed, which is the high stakes of the journey. Dio was a threat not only to the entire world, but he has personal history with their entire bloodline. I don’t necessarily think that a villain that has direct personal ties with the protagonist is a good thing, nor do I need the stakes to keep getting higher, but some fans might need the significance presented by each part in order to continue feeling involved with the story presented. If this was one of the reasons Diamond is Unbreakable was not as impactful for you, this is not going to change in Vento Aureo Entertainment Value & Characterization: The Stand Battles have gotten more interesting than prior seasons, as Araki tried to incorporate more characters into the fights, as well as try to display how some abilities that seem to have a very specific use can be used in broader more open ended ways, as well as the vice versa of that. He doesn’t necessarily execute every fight of this season well, but they are more ambitious than they have had been so far and some of them are truly memorable, with only a few that I could say that are actually forgettable. Even if the execution of each fight is not always memorable, the ideas presented by Araki within those fights are still quite interesting, so this season has managed to entertain me constantly. I would say that within this part Araki has been the most experimental with his fights, but also had some of the best ideas he has had so far for the fights, some of them I’d even describe as too ambitious at times. Araki also seems to have gotten much better at a specific element of characterization and that is defining the identity of the character. The majority of characters feel different in both motivation and personality; with very few of them seeming like an excuse for a fight. (Something the first three parts are quite guilty of, you might not say so for Part 1 and 2, but there’s a lot of cut content you have not seen if you are anime only) Each character presented you understand who they are and why they are there. But while these I can say were executed far better than before and I am willing to praise Araki for it, there’s hardly any character arc presented. The vast majority of the characters do not change in a significant way through the entirety of the story; they do not become different people. Their identity is constantly static. The journey is very dynamic, but the characters are static elements that push it forward. They have one goal that they pursue, and a personality, both well defined, but never a character arc. I’d say this is this arc’s biggest downfall, since that makes Giorno seem like a Mary Sue. He has no character defects and he doesn’t learn anything through his journey. His teammates are inspired constantly by him and his ingenuity. The main cast also doesn’t grow, which is a shame since they have flashback arcs showing how they became who they are. One easy fix could have been to have these story elements incorporates within their story arc, rather than presented in a flashback, and have them become different people over the journey. The characters are still a blast, but making them a bit more dynamic would’ve made them a lot more enjoyable. It’s just unfortunate that once you are presented a character, you know everything there is to know about them and that doesn’t change for the show’s entire duration. Story & World Building: The World Building has been pretty well done this season. The organization itself and its structure, and the way the antagonist has organized it in order to keep themselves safe and them do his bidding is one of the constantly interesting elements of Vento Aureo. It is very interesting to see how the organization operates and how even if its members are unsatisfied or their own selfish interests would be an obstacle to the capo, they cannot do much that could hurt the capo since if they even try, not only do they have no information they would be able to use, once they start attempting to gather it they will start getting eliminated. They can hardly gang up on the boss since if they become this big of a threat, they cannot do anything since once the organization stops working, and they no longer have a way to achieve their goals related to the organization or the capo. I guess this is yet another way I can appreciate the way Araki thinks. However, what I often do not appreciate about Araki is the story he presents as it is often just a baseline to present shit he finds interesting and he never really presents something cohesive and meaningful. No different with Vento Aureo. As I have said prior, the characters do not change through the entirety of the story and it is all just one big confrontation. It is constantly interesting and intriguing, that is enough to keep me in the game and consider JoJo a good show, but if JoJo had a point, a story theme, a narrative arc, a world and characters that are relevant outside the confrontations presented and could still present everything it has so far, it could easily go from good to great. This would've been more important to have than in any other parts, since this is story is not as impactful as a whole on the whole JoJo universe, since its stakes are relatively low on its world and the Joestar bloodline. Vento Aureo outside of its fights and characters, can be very forgettable. Still, I have to congratulate David Pro on how much they have highlighted each character's personality, motivation and made them seem just as relevant as the protagonists. Despite their similar goals, the way the organization was set up caused them to not be able to pursue the same outcome, and David Pro made sure that will be clear to everyone watching. Conclusion: If you enjoyed the previous parts of JoJo, especially Stardust Crusaders, Vento Aureo should also be a blast so long as you don't need high stakes within the story. It has improved on various elements comparative to the prior parts, and I believe it maintains a lot of the appeal that the previous parts had. The world of Vento Aureo has consistently been interesting and the fights that unfolded have been constantly intriguing. However, there's not a lot of personal involement you can have with Vento Aureo as it does not seem as significant as the other parts. And some of you might crave that. Vento Aureo is good entertainment value which is what I crave from JoJo especially since every element in its execution greatly enhances it. But it doesn't get to be more than entertainment. Vento Aureo is good for what it is trying to be. As long as you are interested by what it presents, I can see any JoJo fan enjoying this part.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 6, 2019
One Punch Man 2nd Season
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
The second season of One Punch Man has several problems. Most people have no trouble pointing the problems caused by the animation filled with cost-cutting techniques and the pacing that seems to be so compacted that it almost seems like the storyboarding and script for each episode was done by cramming as much content from the manga as possible as can be animated. But the biggest problem of all is that One Punch Man, adds nothing to ONE's work.
ONE is the author of One Punch Man, and in order to get some context for what I'm about to criticize, I'm going to talk about him ... as well as the other works of his that have been adapted, and even the previous season. ONE is pretty unconventional, not only in regards to the content he creates, but also in regards to the circumstances through which he became successful. For those that are unaware, ONE aspired to become a manga artist but his circumstances didn’t allow him to follow on the goal he had intended, so he eventually has started drawing a webcomic of his own on his phone. Not only did ONE not have the proper tools for his trade, he also did not have the talent. You see, ONE, sucks at drawing. While it is true that he has gotten much better as an artist since he has started, and even that if he is given enough time he can pull off a decent drawing, ONE is just unable to draw at a consistent enough level to be even mediocre in the industry, especially at the pace which a magazine would require off of him. But despite this, ONE’s work was found entertaining just the way it was by his readers, and he managed to get a large enough following to be noticed. Eventually, he was forced into a hiatus by him getting a job that limited his schedule, and he no longer had enough free time to do what he has wanted, and not continuing One Punch Man was a possibility that he has warned his readers about. One of his readers was Yusuke Murata, enjoyed the webcomic so much that he has offered to partner up with ONE when he heard this news, with the intent of helping him continue what he enjoys doing and what he has always aspired to do, as well as improve on his work, by drawing better designs for his characters, as well as adding a lot more detail and dynamism to the story that was being presented. By doing just that, One Punch Man was launched as a manga, and has reached the attention of many. ONE's work was improved by the fact there was someone that saw potential in his work and they wanted to add more to it. Eventually, One Punch Man is picked up by MADHOUSE. As an adaptation, MADHOUSE has managed to knock One Punch Man off the park, using every action scene as an opportunity to choreograph each fight in a way for them to be able to demonstrate how much fluidity and detail their animation can bring themselves, but also to make each hit and attack despite their often underwhelming result, look impactful and distinguishable from anything else you have seen so far. While the enemies cannot achieve impressive feats due to the overwhelming odds they have to face, the animation manages to further accentuate their strength, as well as identity through how much impact their attacks have on the environment or the characters nearby that surrounding. ONE's work was once again improved by the fact there was someone that saw potential in his work and they wanted to add something to it themselves. Then, there is Mob Psycho 100, another work of ONE's that has been adapted. As an adaptation, their approach was slightly different. While not as condensed and bombastic as the animation of One Punch Man, Mob Psycho's approach to adapting ONE's work has a lot of its own merits, as they focused on bringing ONE's style to its highest potential, making sure they get rid of the rough edges in it. Then with what was left, rather than changing it to be more impressive looking, they opted to keep the designs as close to what ONE has drawn as possible, and instead they focused on making the show more impressive by focusing on how the animation looks during movement rather than focusing on the key frames. The animation seems like it is meant to be in perpetual motion and it is almost never sitting still. This gives Mob a very distinctive look and it is a sight to behold that is distinct from One Punch Man as far as style is concerned. Another studio that once again, improved ONE's work through adding something they themselves saw value in. Everyone that has adapted ONE's work so far has aspired to do something with it. To make it something more entertaining for the audience they were presenting it to. However, this does not seem to be the case here. What the case here seems to be, is that a studio got stuck with a major project that needed to be done as fast as possible because of its popularity and high probability for profit, but they had no way to uphold the expectations of the audience, so rather than having a project that had some ambition behind it and was aiming for success, the circumstances behind the second season seemed to concentrate on getting it on screen so that it can sell, because someone made a business decision and they were tasked to create it. The project clearly lacks passion. Every single adapter focused on making the intellectual property that they are using to in some way profit off of the fact that they are working on it. Instead, it seems like a clear business decision to just get it done, and just focus on the quantity so that it can sell, with little to no regards to the actual quality, which at this point is something common. What makes me believe this to be the case? Well, it is actually the very reasons the people watching the show complain. To go into detail that would be: • The animation. The studio animating it has used a bunch of cost cutting animation techniques such as: Removal of backgrounds during action scenes, or replacing the background with a single colored background with a bunch of lines that indicate movement, zooming on the same frame to indicate a character is talking rather than drawing a new one for when they are talking from that angle, chopping off as much detail as possible during the movement of the characters during action scenes, still frames with a few moving visual effects to simulate movement/impact and that’s only what I’ve noticed. These cost cutting techniques are consistently used every episode and almost every action scene abuses these techniques in order to make sure the episode can be done as fast as possible. There's nothing wrong with using cost cutting techniques, hell, I have noticed some moments in the first season where the monochromic background was used there too. But if your animation is strictly comprised of cost cutting techniques, with maybe a 5% of actual content, what quality do you expect of the product? • The pacing. As I have said in the very beginning, the episodes do not seem properly storyboarded and scripted and instead they seem as if they crammed as much material from the manga as possible, and then tried to speed through as much of the scenes until there was a monologue or an opportunity to use a still frame. At best, they have restructured it to cram in the content in a way it can be compacted further. This results in this very awkward pacing where a lot of events happen in an episode, but they finish just as soon as they start, and they seem to lose their significance. The show really doesn't seem focused on telling a story here, but rather, on the most cost efficient possible way to cram in the content from the manga. What is the bare minimum for this scene? We will do that. So for a vast majority of the show, each moment just presents you with information about what is happening, and then quickly finishes any action pieces by the presentation, and just keeps on moving forward. Surely, however, if ONE was able to hold the attention of his audience with choppily drawn drawings, there should be no room to complain in this situation either, right? I mean, these guys are just moving his content into a different format. If he has done a good job, regardless of how the show looks, it should continue to be enjoyable, and cramming in everything he has pushed into the series is just gonna showcase more of his genius. Am I and everyone else just being a hypocrite for criticizing this season? No. It is one thing to put in your best effort to create something entertaining and it is another thing to meet a standard so that you can present to an audience for a commercial need. One focuses on quality, while the other focuses on pushing out quantity. However, considering these two major causes that spiral into causing problems for every element of the end result, criticizing them is more than warranted, regardless of what is being adapted from. So how do these elements impact everything else? Let's begin with Garou. Now, Saitama doesn't do much in this season so the best goal you could set for yourself is focusing on presenting his foil and who he is, with that being Garou. Garou presents some very distinct opportunities, since, while Saitama is the strongest hero that has reached the peak of his strength, Garou is a villain who aspires to become the strongest monster in existence, who is still following his journey for power. Unlike Saitama, Garou is just as likely to win as he is to lose and he has limits. This means that while most fights in the series are filled to the brim with results that are highly expected, there are a lot more opportunities with Garou to present evenly matched fights, and to develop a choreography for the fights, so you don't just have to focus solely on animation and have options in your approach. Additionally, Garou presents a different perspective to the show, and provides some criticism to a very specific trope in media. The fact that the hero always wins, because they are popular. Despite the possible intent and depth of any of the characters presented, the popularity of the characters dictates that the audience is just gonna be delivered more of what they want. Garou is a not so subtle argument against that very notion, as is most of the show. He challenges that quite well and his confrontations center around this theme. While Garou was used for this purpose in the adaptation and his fights had some choreography and thought put into them, there are some moments where once the moments where there is a distinct action happening in the script ends, Garou just uses his blue wavy hands to hit an opponent until the action set piece ends, if he is not getting hit himself. There are some distinct opportunities that you can take a shot on to highlight exactly how the confrontation is evenly match and choreograph a fight that looks interesting and seems evenly matched. I think that this could've been used to take advantage of the fact that you cannot exploit the animation, by planning Garou's fights to be entertaining rather than just presenting exactly was what drawn in the manga. Additionally, given the fact that the show's pace is only matches by someone rolling down a mountain, I'm worried that the chaotic bouts of action are not gonna pay off for the viewers until the end of the season in regards to his characterization, and that is only if you value how he is a foil to Saitama. It has not been the case to me, but I was already familiar with the content already, so of course his characterization would have a different impact. Then, there's the overarching theme. Garou is not the only character that is dealing with the fact that popularity means everything in his universe. So is the world of One Punch Man. Martial artists frown upon heroes because they are only valued for their popularity rather than their skill. Other heroes also have a similar issue since they cannot get recognition because people simply do not value their contributions and they only focus on those that are better known. Everything is a popularity contest in the universe of One Punch Man. But due to the show's pace there is not a lot of time to contemplate this and the show just merely presents these ideas rather than hammering them home. True, these ideas have been presented before, but due to how fast every scene transitions this does not seem to show how this world impacts the characters living in it. There's often not a lot of time to understand who and why every character is before a scene is finally over because there is hardly any effort for the build up and pay off of each moment, and unless you are Garou or another significant character, you are thrown to the side and your perspective is not taken into consideration. Which is completely ironic, given the overarching theme that exists. In other words, the story's potential is butchered because there is not enough focus in both the build up and the pay off, as the show just focuses on moving through scenes as fast as it possibly can. Given the fact that the world's confrontations are rather quick paced as it is, blasting through them are just gonna make them mundane and them being mundane is gonna make everything each character say matter less and less. If you wanted to reexperience One Punch Man, I'm afraid this season is just gonna be wildly different from what you have experienced so far. If you want something more authentic to what you have seen so far, the manga is still a valid choice since it presents the well detailed style the anime might've gotten you to expect. If not, you could consider giving the webcomic itself a shot and see if the story is presented better despite the fact that ONE isn't particularly skilled at drawing. However, if you are still interested in this season of One Punch Man, be warned that it is a huge downgrade from what it used to be, so do temper your expectations for it accordingly.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 22, 2019
Steins;Gate
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
If you seek to start sympathizing with the otaku culture as a whole, Steins;Gate is going to be very helpful
I understand how most people feel about Steins;Gate. I understand that it has caused many people to be invested in anime and appreciate anime better. I understand that in many ways people felt sympathy for and related to some of the characters in Steins;Gate. And I also understand that for many Steins;Gate is an experience they will never forget. There are many reasons Steins;Gate has had this impact on people, and more often than not, the reason is personal and many people might find difficulty putting ... it into words, as I have noticed that when they try they will simply just end up reiterating that they love it a lot without fully understanding why, which is fine. I do not feel the same way about Steins;Gate as most of the people that have watched it. I will not be the person to praise it to no end and say that it has made me feel things nothing else ever did. But it left an impact on me regardless, because of its core strengths: Its capacity to make you sympathize with the characters on screen and presenting very fluent characterization that captures who a character is and why they behave in the way they do. Like it or not, otaku culture is not looked well upon by a lot of people, and this causes some people to steer clear from anime as a medium. The reasons all relate to how anime causes people within the otaku culture to behave or even those that are enthusiastic about it . Be it because they are afraid of how certain people project certain traits they wish they had through the shows they have watched, be it because they apply to real life the mentality of a character from a fictional show that has a setting with heavily fantastical elements that do not apply to reality, be it because people end up closing off from their social life and replace their group with idealized versions of who they wish they could interact with, and the list could go on further. All of these unhealthy traits are not only considered socially unacceptable and cause people to behave such, they also cause these people to think in ways where if you do not understand the context behind what they say, their interests will cause them to alienate themselves from whoever they might try to interact with. I do find it unfair to reject an entire medium based on the behavior of certain people, but I understand why the disdain for anime is produced. It is not as simple as „aren’t you too old to watch cartoons?” The story of Steins;Gate is set in Akihabara, a commercial district within Japan where otaku culture thrives, and all of the characters within its story have this culture either deeply ingrained into who they are or are outsiders who on some level have difficulty interacting with the culture or world. The story presents who each character is through the quirks they have and how these quirks cause them difficulty when interacting with others, while during the process setting up for the events that unfold. Close to most of the quirks relate in some way to otaku culture and to fully understand who they represent you would need context from the culture itself to understand what type of behavior each character is following within it. Still, even without the context, even if you won’t understand how this behavior was formed, Steins;Gate will eventually get you to understand the reasons for which these characters behave the way they do by showing you what the characters and what they struggle with. The story is driven forward by Okabe Rintarou, who is characterized as a Chuunibyou, which is a japanese colloquialism for people that act on their delusions of grandeur and develop a persona just for that. The term exists because these people act outwardly as if their delusions are true, in an attempt to stand out and be desirable to people, throwing their imperfections to the side. Okabe, acts in the stereotypical manner of a Chuunibyou. First of all, he pretends that he is fighting against an organization, often talking on a phone on which there is no call about a mission with heavily exaggerated code names that sound cool. This is done by Okabe in a way that outwardly targets the person observing his behavior and this interaction for Okabe has the purpose of making it seem as if there is more to him than what is displayed, with the intent of causing the target to be interested on who he is. However, with one quick glance and very little thought, it becomes obvious to anyone that if anybody would actually have a grandiose mission, they would not talk about it openly and secrecy would be of utmost importance, so this façade fools nobody, even if his friends accept it. On a smaller scale but with the same purpose, Okabe also sometimes acts as if he has special powers and he understands things of supernatural nature or that the very least can hardly be explained. And last, he acts in a manner that is meant to put some distance between himself and other people. His behavior often puts people down, due to the façade it is seen as harmless, but Okabe essentially just plays hard to get. He essentially through his persona tries to push people away from who he really is, with the hope that his persona is going to be so interesting to them that they will pursue Okabe. This behavior really is just a projection of what Okabe truly wants, which only sabotages his goals because it is a behavior that is dishonest. Rather than engaging people about their interests and carefully observing them for who they are, Okabe chooses to take every idealized notion he thinks other people would admire, and creates a persona deeply influenced by what is considered cool within the otaku culture. But the story goes beyond just portraying that Okabe’s behavior and mentality and it instead challenges Okabe’s psyche by making everything that he tried to portray to other people become true. Okabe and his friends have a “science laboratory” where they create experimental gadgets that center around some ridiculous idea. Most of them have very little practical use but there is no denying that the people within the laboratory have a grasp on the in-world’s scientific concepts. Eventually, as time goes on they hit a breakthrough and manage to send phone messages back in time. The more they develop this idea, more people join in and they learn more about the world and how it would intend to use this technology. Every single scene is one more piece of the puzzle that provides even more context about what impact this technology can have, how it gets these characters to interact, how the world would make use of this technology and the fact that Okabe has some ability that causes him to be affected differently by any changes done to the timeline. Without giving the outcome away, eventually, all the events around him cause Okabe to be what a Chuunibyou aspires to project outwardly. He truly does end up fighting against the circumstances he is placed in, with them having large ramifications on the world at large, and due to the fact that he has a special power he is the only character to have retained this information. He now knows things no other people should, secrets that he cannot tell, and he is the only one to have the capacity to do anything about it due to the fact that he is special. But while the Chuunibyou stereotypical behavior assumes that this behavior would cause people to gravitate Okabe because he is important, thus making it easier for Okabe to open up outwards, these circumstances only cause Okabe to only retreat even further inwards. It is partly true that these circumstances, as the Chuunibyou stereotype would assume, would put distance between him and people, but at the same time it also has the intended effect Chuunibyou’s try to project. People become interested in Okabe, because they become concerned and want to help him. But while a Chuunibyou would welcome them even if outwardly they would act in a way that maintains their superiority, Okabe cannot open up to them or let them in. Because no matter how much he wanted to, his circumstances are actually true and he cannot be helped as he actually is indeed special. Rather than accepting the people that approach him, he can only repel them because they can never have context into his situation. Describing Okabe any further than this would be telling you how his character arc concludes which I won’t do. But this is enough for me to start saying how exactly Okabe’s story has affected me. It has shown me that even if I do not understand the intent or cause of someone’s behavior, I can find them something that is respectable about them. You see, I personally shun a lot of the behavioral traits about otaku culture. Acting like a chuunibyou, projecting your love life onto an idealized 2D picture, all of the weeaboo associated nonsense. But just because I renounce the behavior itself that does not mean that I also have to renounce the person that has this behavior. There was more to Okabe’s behavior than met the eye, and there is a lot more context to him that I did not provide. But after this behavior was very slowly but carefully removed from the person enforcing it, all I could observe was a person that desperately did not want to be alone. It was something very basic and human that was being approached in an incorrect manner. Okabe was wrong and portrayed as heavily flawed, but a genuinely good person that would forever suffer if ever left alone. Steins;Gate has not proven me wrong, but it has given me more to think about. I am correct to reject the behavior itself and not accept the negative consequences behind it. But just because I understand the outcome of the behavior, it does not mean that I do understand the intent. The intent itself is something that I do not have context on and it is most likely something that I could sympathize with. So even if I find someone’s behavior abhorrent, I should at the very least try to understand why they behave that way. I should have at the very least some degree of understanding and patience. As I have said, every character in some manner has been affected socially by the otaku culture. The story showcases who each character is, what are their flaws through dynamic interactions between each character that are portrayed in an often comedic and somewhat neutral way, and why they exist by exploring what they desire through exposing their behavior for what it is. Each character has some depth and their behavior is displayed well through skillful characterization. Other things that Steins;Gate has to offer is a lot of theoretical concepts that border on metaphysics and discussions surrounding things of that nature, as well as some information on conspiracy theories. The world behaves in a manner that assumes these things are possible and feasible, and incorporates them into the world. In some cases it gives you the context from real life. Most of the ideas of Steins;Gate are not its own, and are used as a realm to explore the group it portrays, so do not expect an anime that rethinks a theoretical concept or the world order at large. Yes, it puts them together in ways that are unique to itself it takes, but its focus is to explore the people it presents, and the theoretical concepts and conspiracy theories are just tools to give further shape to the world of Steins;Gate. If you came for a story that is an adventure about time travel, this will be very different from what you expect, and that can be both a good and a bad thing, depending on what you want to experience. You see one of the things everyone likes to address, but also has to, is the slow pace of the show. Every scene focuses on providing the viewer with context into what they are watching, and rather than focusing on Steins;Gate being an entertaining process from start to finish, it chooses to put all of its energy into the outcome of each scene, making sure that every scene carries what it intends. Steins;Gate does not pander to provide you with something fun every second of its watch time, but rather to provide you with everything that would help you understand what is going on with who you are seeing. Some people might criticize it for not delivering constant entertainment value on screen, but Steins;Gate through Okabe openly renounces acting cool for no reason. It doesn’t goof off for the sake of goofing off. If a scene is there, it is because it tries to tell you something or inform you about something you’ll need to understand for the next message it delivers. Its slow pace is warranted. Still, regardless of how well it does the things it does, as well as how genuine it is, Steins;Gate still is something I only personally consider to be fine as a show. A lot of it comes down to personal preference, as I prefer shows to be focused on progressing forward, rather than taking their time. It definitely has a more than warranted enough reason to pace itself in the way that it does, but that doesn’t mean it will change my preferences simply because of that. Another reason is that, even if I do understand who the characters are and why they behave that way, and I see that there is depth to them, for the most part I do not like them. I don’t feel a strong dislike towards them; I simply do not care much about them. The reason for that being that: each character was created to fit what the show tried to convey, that they would only matter within the context that they were placed. There is depth to the overall message that is displayed through their use and their behavior, but strip away these elements, and all you are left with are husks. I do get that to a degree that is part of Okabe’s characterization, but that is the point. He is a husk because it is part of the characterization. In some cases, I did fully understand the behavior, but I was just not interested in who the character was and felt little to no sympathy for them. Regardless of that, I praise Steins;Gate for the message it has managed to deliver to me. I’m sure that the people that have the otaku culture planted deeply into them related in some way to the story, and I am sure that this is one the best stories to humanize the culture to people outside of it. As I have said, if you seek to start sympathizing with the otaku culture as a whole, Steins;Gate is going to be very helpful, as it was helpful to me. It is one of the best shows to be introduced to anime, as it has the potential to eliminate a lot of the preexisting prejudices for the medium. However, I’d avoid Steins;Gate if the pace itself is something that would really bother you. It has the best reasons it can possibly have to take its time, but again, as it is the case for me, personal preferences are not something that can be reasoned with.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 16, 2019
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
(Anime)
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Recommended
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is the anime that most people that consume this media are likely to have both watched and highly appreciated. There are varying reasons for which this series has reached critical acclaim, but rather than focus on every one of the reasons for which every single person and their dog think Brotherhood is great, I’d rather focus on what I consider to explain why I consider Brotherhood to be the best show to introduce anime as a form of media to a new audience.
First let me give you the basic premise: In the world of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, everyone is capable of transforming ... the matter of any object into something else as long as they follow and understand the Law of Equivalent Exchange: in order to gain something, one must sacrifice something of equal value. This means that as long as you are capable of understanding the structure and composition of an object, you can harness Alchemy as a skill and are pretty much capable of doing anything your imagination allows. Certain forms of Alchemy are more complex than others because they require more knowledge and capability from the user. One of the most complex is Human Alchemy, which brings me to the Elric Brothers, our main characters. As a group of normal kids growing up into a rural area of this world alongside their mother, they eventually lose her at an early age. The kids then vow to bring her back using alchemy, and set as their goal to gather enough knowledge to attempt to bring her back. Eventually, they gather enough knowledge to attempt to bring her back, but due to the fact that this is a complex process, they didn’t have all the information required and fail to bring her back. Even worse, one of the brothers loses some of his body parts, while the other loses his entire body, but has his soul affixed to a suit of armor in an attempt to save him. They survive the attempt and realize their efforts were futile after experiencing this colossal failure. After understanding that regardless of their intentions, there are limits to what they can do they set as a goal to regain their bodies and to continue moving forward. One of the most prevalent elements in anime is the intensity of the goal its main characters have and how hard they attempt achieving it. Be it they are happy go lucky characters that want to be acknowledged by their peers, be it they want to challenge the world to change it for what they consider it to be better, be it they want to improve their life and current circumstances, almost every well received show possesses someone that single mindedly follows their goal with a laser eyed focus. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood still has that element instilled in its core but in a more grounded manner. One of the main differences in execution is that the show doesn’t just present you the goal of the Elric brothers, but instead makes you understand what caused them to pursue it, how they plan to achieve it, who they are in the process and why they chose this path. And that was all done by showing how they failed to achieve their goal prior to starting pursuing their path. They fail at reviving their mother, because they themselves did not understand how to achieve their goal. They did not understand the fundamental value of the show, that being “in order to gain something, one must sacrifice something of equal value”. It is not only applied in a mechanical sense in the show, but also in an existential sense. In less pretentious terms, this means that the higher the value of said something, the harder it is to obtain, because you will also have to lose something that you value. Since the brothers did not understand what they are doing and what they were trying to obtain, they fail their journey. And this shows to the viewer, that in this story, the characters can fail, and that regardless of how much they intend to achieve their goal, they will have to work hard and sacrifice things they value to achieve what they intend to achieve. The goal of the Elric Brothers is not an idealistic worldly ambition that challenges reality. It is merely something personal, to once again live normal lives, unshackled by their past. So one of the highest appealing elements of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, is how well in its execution it has managed to portray the intent and journey of the characters it is presenting. Another highly prevalent element in anime is the world it tries to present and all of the fantastical elements existing in the story. Anime tries to intrigue the audience with its world in a lot of varying ways, be it by creating worlds where a lot of threats exist and adventure is lurking at every corner, be it the laws of the world allow the characters to do incredible feats and that are impressive to watch, be it the world is just different from our own in ways that are interesting. Regardless of the approach, Brotherhood creates a world where everything I have stated is indeed present, but the world hasn’t been created to just be intriguing, but rather to illustrate its theme and to create a world where the goal of the Elric Brothers can be best portrayed. It has every element that makes the world of what you are shown intriguing, and all of these elements are not forced, but instead give more depth to the story at large. Rather than overusing the concept of alchemy, it treats this power as something scientific and of high skill to pursue. While it did indeed shape the world we see, the world of Fullmetal Alchemist is believable, and not that different from our own. Rather than having every character shape their life around this power and this world, each live relatively normal lives, not that different from our own, with alchemy just being a branch of science that helps the world further advance. While it did create new threats and opportunities for adventure, while it allows incredible feats to be done by the characters in it, it also manages to be similar to reality. And this happens due to one reason. The concept of its powers is merely abstract and highly reliant on the user’s knowledge and skill. Any character is capable of doing anything in this world, through any approach and way they imagine. Their only limits are: understanding what they are doing, be skilled enough to give shape to what they imagine, and having the imagination to think of it. This means that regardless of how fantastical the powers are, they can only be as impressive as the character that manages to use them in the way they intend. This means that alchemy is a skill that requires training and its results are only as exceptional as the person delivering them. And as a concept, due to its requirements, alchemy doesn’t cause the characters to achieve feats that are impossible to achieve. Only feats that are impossible to achieve in that immediate moment. Anything that you would know how to do or is possible to happen, you can do. The alchemists have the capacity to make this process take seconds rather than weeks, months or years due to their capacity to immediately materialize it. So at the same time, it is a concept that is very open ended that at the same time, it is limited by what we are limited in reality, our understanding. The way it defines the character motivation and world building is what is exceptional about Brotherhood. From this point onwards, I’ll outline the elements that are familiar to other anime. Throughout the story, the characters will face moral dilemmas and a lot of the themes presented in the show will relate back to meaningful relationships. A lot of the times characters will have to weight how much they value their achievements against how much they value their peers. From a moral standpoint, it has the same heart most shows have. The good guys put their selfish interests aside for the benefit of everyone else. While the bad guys selfishly follow their goals without any qualms about the people surrounding them. The Law of Equivalent Exchange relates back once again in an abstract way to the execution of the show. One question that it asks its characters is, are you willing to achieve your goals right now by sacrificing the people you value? It does cover the subject really well in a manner that fits the world it presents, and executes on this well, but this is a subject that will be very familiar to you in other series moving forward. So be informed that anime will often criticize selfishness and portray it as evil while portraying groups of people that are interdependent as the morally righteous ones. Not saying this is something that is not earned in Fullmetal Alchemist, but rather that this is something frequent in anime and one of the things you should expect going forward unless you are searching keenly enough. A common way anime tries to be entertaining is action. Showing confrontations between two or multiple characters using their superpowers to injure or kill each other. Due to its world, Fullmetal Alchemist has a lot of success in being entertaining in each fight through interesting ways. A lot of the confrontations are memorable not only due to their stakes, but also due to the solution the characters in the confrontation find to resolve it. Another way it attempts to be entertaining is humor which I will say is not Brotherhood’s strong suit. Not because the jokes themselves are bad, but because they are often timed poorly, in a dramatic moment where they temporarily deflate a situation briefly, or said too often. Still, the style of humor used by Brotherhood, that of character quips and slapstick, is something that is present in anime, especially of Brotherhood’s era, and it is something that Brotherhood can help you familiarize with. While humor is subjective, the way it is used in Brotherhood is not helpful in carrying the story across and is often an obstacle you will have to get used to. Other ways anime tries to appeal to you is with its characters, by presenting you characters with interesting designs, personalities and powers. While all of these elements are covered in Brotherhood, characterization is actually something that is hurt by the story’s themes, since the characters are often presented through the lense of “do they base their decisions on how they can achieve their goals at all costs, or do they have moral principles”. You understand that each character has a goal of their own and a distinct personality, but the way they make decisions is often always predictable. Very few of the characters perform outside of the theme presented by the story, and because of that, their alignment often determines the behavior they have moving forward. There are characters that do not fit this description and certainly give the world more color, but given the sheer amount of characters presented in a 51 episodes series, they are not enough. Most people are probably going to be fine with understanding how the characters will act before they do, because each character is distinct enough, but this is yet another flaw anime has. Due to its strong focus at portraying the theme of the story and the goals of its characters, it will often end up being predictable if you understand the story enough and the characters will keep revolving around it. Another flaw that anime that are strongly orientated towards a character achieving one of their goals is the fact that the goal they seek to achieve is the very reason the show exists, and that being resolved would end the show. As a result, they cannot achieve or attempt to achieve that goal until the show ends. That is one thing that is unfortunately true about Brotherhood as well. More often than not, the show relies on presenting the characters through the journey they managed to complete in the past and its consequences rather than gaining tangible progress towards the goal they sought to achieve. The pace then becomes predictable and you are waiting for events to progress in certain scenarios if the series is too uneventful. Luckily Brotherhood is often eventful and there is often always something going on or something more to learn about the world and its characters, but the fact that the characters cannot resolve what gives their journey meaning because the story cannot reach its conclusion yet is something that had bothered me. Still, I can understand that the characters need as much information as possible to understand their journey and how to achieve their goal, since a lack of information is what caused their current situation, but in a story where the fundamental power given to the characters is to cause things to materialize fast, not having a tangible progress towards their outcome is questionable, because all they are doing is reacting to the world based on their moral principles while searching for the right answer. This is the reason why a lot of the people that never watched Brotherhood but watched a great number of shows decide to not pick it up. It is predictable and the theme it presents while executed well in a very interesting world is not something worthwhile to put up with if you understand how everything is going to play out. Its laser focus on the execution of its theme has caused it to not be able to think about anything else that might be interesting about it. To conclude, you should watch Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood if you plan to start exploring anime as media. It is a great starting point and a great first experience for one of the most frequent themes presented in this medium. But I do not recommend Brotherhood to anyone that understands that these flaws have bothered them in the past and at the same time have seen shows like it. It is a good execution on its themes, yes, but if you are already tired of them, the show can only at best keep you entertained with its action and world and at worst bore you because you have already been presented its theme in a bunch of different ways. However if you are not tired of its themes, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood presents you with a world that has a lot of depth and a goal that is set up really well and valued. It is consistently entertaining and its humor should not detract too much of your viewing pleasure if you are interested in the other elements.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 15, 2019
Kurage no Shokudou
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Kurage no Shokudou is a brief 30 minutes story about dealing with the loss of someone significant to you. It is told through a few slow running scenes where up to two, sometimes three, characters interact. The biggest problem I have with the story is that it seems like it is setting up a premise for a story that it wants to start and due to that reason it doesn’t wrap up what it begins. If this was the first episode of an anime series or the first 30 minutes of a movie, this could’ve been a somewhat decent setup for what is to
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come, but as things are, the story merely presents you that two of the characters have unresolved issues about who they have lost and their situation at large, but doesn’t resolve those plot points because it does not have any time for the pace it has chosen to have. It presents a bunch of ideas in a fairly decent manner, but does not wrap up any of them. Its conclusion is that the characters presented are finally ready to start the process of dealing with their issues, making the whole thing seem unresolved.
To me it seems as an attempt for presenting a pilot to a board of directors to see whether or not they would decide they want a long running series or an experiment on whether or not this type of story is gonna get any traction. But if you just present the premise and reach no conclusion in a short story, the viewers will only consider that they have wasted their time and be thankful that it was not more than 30 minutes they have lost. The scenes were structured in a way that presents a bunch of information and interactions in a relatively comprehensive way, with each scene slowing down to make sure you grasp every moment presented to you on screen. Which is fine if you have enough time to present the events you are trying to. It’s very nice to go far and beyond and ensure that the outcome of each of your scenes has the intended outcome, but if you cannot achieve that outcome, it’s a safer bet to focus on the process rather than the outcome. In this case, an approach where each event flowed dynamically into the next and the pace was faster might’ve helped in more ways than you would expect. First of all the setup would’ve had less information, meaning that the story would have less things to wrap up and more time to focus on an worthwhile conclusion and make it seem like there is more going on in the story by presenting less information. Second is that by having a faster pace the 30 minutes could’ve felt more eventful, and not seem like it was filled with a bunch of really slow running scenes, which while visually and cinematographically decently executed, I can summarize the events probably in less than four sentences. There’s no payoff for experiencing this story. If you watch an action anime, the payoff is that after you see a confrontation unfold you see who is the winner and how that changes both characters. If you watch a drama, the payoff is that after you see two or more people experience an issue, you see how that impacts their lives in significant ways moving forward. And there are countless other examples. But here, no payoff is given. I don’t recommend watching this story because there’s really nothing you can obtain out of the story in a plain manner. This type of theme has been explored as a subplot in various other media and stories and probably have seen the payoff a bunch of times, since it is a relatable topic and the characters can only be defined by the issues they have. You understand who they are quite clearly, but that is not enough to make them distinguishable. As a story, it is forgettable and nothing you have not experienced before. However if you are interested in storytelling, you can go for it. It is interesting to see a story that makes no glaring mistakes that presents you with a good deal of details, but ultimately fail as one because of the fact it has no payoff. It highlights unintentionally that any story in order to have felt worthwhile, it needs to have a payoff. It needs to offer you some satisfaction. It can present you the full picture with as many details as possible. If none of the threads presented are concluded or explored beyond „they exist” then there is no point to even presenting any of the information to the viewer. It is a relatively easy to digest example, so give it a shot if that is something that interests you. But if it is for entertainment value, I wouldn’t bother.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 10, 2019
Bakuten Shoot Beyblade
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Money. We want money. Adults have money. Adults have kids. Kids like toys. Kids watch cartoons. We can make toys. We can make a TV show. We can make a TV show about the toys.
Kids. What do kids watch? What do kids like? Kids like friends. Kids like competition. Kids like superpowers. Kids like heroes. Most importantly, kids like toys. So the show can be about this sport where these kids compete with their toys which have superpowers and eventually, they save the world from evil and preach about friendship every single episode. And then it worked. Those poor little rascals never saw it ... coming. They definitely bought the toys. And I am one of them too. Looking back at Beyblade it is fairly obvious that this form of binary logic was used. I remember how much I liked the show and how interesting I found the toys. I definitely did not understand why. I was young, naive and impressionable, and Beyblade was an experience I have never had before. And even now, even if after rewatching it I see it as something that was built with the purpose of selling toys, I still remember it fondly and can still enjoy it for what it is. There's two things that I enjoy about it as it is now. How these attempts at being "cool" fail miserably, how the english dub can get quite silly at certain points and seeing how much of the show was built around selling Beyblades to kids. How much of the show is dedicated to selling the toy? Well, pretty much the entire thing. And the binary logic I used extends further to it but I won't have you suffer through it again. First of all, to ensure that Beyblades will be considered cool by kids, in the show they will be associated with other things they find cool. In most cases, it will be animals, as every Beyblade has a bitbeast, which is this thing that gives them superpowers which is essentially a spirit. The main characters bitbeasts' are designed after the Four Saint Beasts from chinese mythology, with each representing an element. in the mind of me as a child they were essentially: A dragon, a tiger, a phoenix and a turtle. Turtles were cool at the time because ninja turtles were popular. They also get to live 100 years and have solid shells, so shut up. But the beyblades were not only associated with animals, but with other things kids found cool. Like for instance, there are beyblades themed after sports, after historical warriors, and so on. There was even a beyblade that was drawing its power from rap. Yeah, I told you, the show can get quite lame at times and it really just tried to associate things with things kids might find cool and that appeal to them. Afterwards it tried to overexagerate characteristics associated with these things, like making the beyblades able to use those four elements or giving the beyblades unrealistic abilities or features. Like having beyblades wrapped in wool cloth because they have a sheep bitbeast. Aside from associating beyblades with "cool" shit to give them more appeal to kids, the series also tries to make beybladed feel like they have a lot more value, by having the characters learn valuable life lessons mostly concerning friendship. They are also added the weight of good vs evil, where the main characters have to defeat the ominous evil. It isn't something with much depth, just the generic importance of friendship plotline. Another element that beyblade likes to present a lot is the fact that beyblades as toys are customizable, through the guise of needing a strategy to win. So essentially this means that every time you have to optimize your beyblade based on your opponent so that it will perform optimally against them. This in truth is supposed to have the effect of: Having every character change their beyblade from time to time, this creating even more toys to sell in various different other variations and not keeping the kids bored once they have bought it, since if their beyblade doesn't do well or is not that impressive, buying another and combining its parts might fix that. In truth, Beyblade is an experience you can only enjoy as a child or someone that has watched it when they were a child. Because that is who it is marketed towards. Having these same tactics applied on an adult, would fail miserably because they would not fail to see it through. Its story is nothing you haven't seen before, it's kids playing with their toys to defeat evil and become better at the game they play as well as better friends. The world of beyblade is exaggerated and focuses as beyblade as an international sport and a historical grand reaching activity that has been practiced since ancient times. Every episode the characters learn a lesson about friendship or being sportsmanlike. It is enjoyable to see how it has not aged well since as I have said, it has a lot of lame into it. It is filled with corny lines and things an adult thought might sound cool to a kid at the time s well as a lot of Sum 41 knock off songs that are replayed in almost every battle. It's the "swag yolo" attitude of the 90's that carried in the early 2000's. I recommend watching Beyblade to people that have watched it as children, since as I have said, that experience was made for you when you were a kid. It is a show of its time, and you might be surprised at how much lamer it was compared to how you might remember it. Don't get me wrong, I am still fond of the series, I still found it entertaining because it is one of the first shows of its type that I have ever watched to completion. And even if I find it lame now, it's entertaining to see what was thought ot be cool at the ime and aimed to get me to be like "WHOA THAT IS AWESOME DAD BUY ME ONE!" In any other context, this is just a lame show about the power of friendship and defeating evil that tries to sell a product to kids. If you haven't seen one by now, you can give it a go to see what tactics are used when trying to do so. Other than that, you're better off watching the show that tried to sell you toys initially to see that it tried the exact same thing on you. Or maybe I am wrong and there are shows that have more to them than that that also sell toys.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 2, 2019
Youjo Senki
(Anime)
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Recommended
Youjo Senki is a good choice for you if you'd enjoy watching an isekai that uses its setting to explore the mentality and goals of a selfish protagonist with self-preservation as their only goal. The goal of the main character is not to save the world or change it, but rather just to live a life in the safest and yet lucrative way available for them. It doesn't make any huge arguments or portrays any traces of wish fulfillment, unlike other isekai. However, this series becomes a bad choice if its main character which lacks moral fiber, will not have any compassion for anyone and
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has no intention of acting in the best interest of anyone other than themselves is something that can cripple you from enjoying the show. Truly the one thing this series presents and does well, is its main character, and the amount of other flaws the show has cannot draw anyone in unless Tanya is someone you can enjoy. Not tolerate, enjoy.
Characterization: “A middle aged man that has psychopathic tendencies dies and then reincarnates into another world as a little blonde girl with magical powers, who then joins that world’s equivalent of the Nazis” Now, from just reading that description, I assumed that this is just going to be one big excuse for the show to constantly be edgy as fuck and just present constant over the top moments which may or may not be considered incredibly stupid. But frankly, I found that this show is not at all either of those things and the biggest tipping point in shattering that prejudice was the main character of the show, Tanya. You see, that description doesn’t capture the core of who the character that has been presented actually is, but rather just the elements that are out of the ordinary about the character. Tanya prior to her reincarnation was not just some old loser that happens to be a psychopath, but rather, an office worker that was career driven, that has the mentality of a pragmatic corporatist. sHe was tasked with laying off any worker that doesn’t deliver any results and aren’t efficient in the company. His approach was without sympathy, and the only thing that sHe considers is how sHe can benefit the company, acting in a way that seems to be devoid of empathy because the fact is, what sHe’s doing is going to deliver better results and the other party’s feelings are not going to help the company sHe is a part of. After this event, sHe then reflects on how his life should be a smooth ride because of how well he has integrated himself into the system, using it as a tool to have a comfortable life. This background has shown me that Tanya is a character that vows to have a comfortable life and is only as ambitious as the system sHe is a part of demands. Her main and only concern is herself but will play the part sHe’s asked to play within that system. sHe will fulfill her duties diligently with the hopes sHe will become important enough to the system to be given an important enough position to make her indispensable but not involve herself further than “all my needs are met right now and I feel safe because the system values me”. Eventually, one of the people laid off by Tanya kills her and that prompts Being X (God) to put Tanya through the process of reincarnation. Being X is unsatisfied that humans started lacking the morals instilled by the universe and their lack of faith is a concern. Given that Tanya tells Being X that sHe rejects its existence from both a realistic and rational point of view and sHe sees no need for the concept of God in his life, this makes Being X feel challenged. Due to the fact that Tanya outlines what made him feel secure in his life and not need faith in anything but what was in front of him, this prompts Being X to force Tanya to get reincarnated into a life where all the commodities he’s had are stripped away. So she’s reborn as an orphan and lives a life under more dire circumstances, with the hope that these circumstances will cause her to finally have faith in Being X. Naturally, Tanya will aspire to reclaim the sense of security and comfort she once had, so when the army discovers she has high potential for magic, she takes that opportunity to join the army, and treat it as an organization that can guarantee her safety and comfort. Most of the conflict she has to endure in the series is often not actually an immediate threat, as much as it is what the system demands of her, and how Being X tampers with the world to make sure she will never have a comfortable life again, not allowing her peace of mind or physical safety and manipulating circumstances for that very end. As her only career path available is “War”, she has never been allowed a dull moment. What I have expected out of the characterization of this series prior was seeing an edgelord living his wet dream of destroying the world and ruining people’s lives. Edge for the sake of edge. But what I found was something entirely different, as the character’s concern is not to use the world as an outlet to their unyielding rage, but rather, the world is an obstacle to their own safety that they try to overpower to the best of their abilities. Tanya’s selfishness and lack of sympathy for the world at large, which should make for an unredeemable edgelord, instead further accentuate Tanya’s motivation and what lifestyle deems would be best for her. Her flaws made her an interesting character for me, and her characterization has mostly been solid, save for a few pointless decisions taken in the process of adapting the anime. However, she is the only worthwhile character to see within the series, as the other characters are merely pawns that merely exist to move things along. They aren’t written to be foils or to challenge Tanya in any way. They just exist so they can be used to make Tanya’s circumstances either more difficult, or for Tanya to use as some sort of resource. They are sheets of paper with just a few scribbles on them. In the future I hope there will be more active participants in the story that have at least half as much identity as Tanya does. Execution & Appeal: One of the choices the anime has taken is to make Tanya take some more cruel acts and be more ruthless than she was in the source material. I assume this is for shock value and attract as many edgelords as possible, but I don’t believe making a character even more unsympathetic is a particularly good decision. I get that a lot of shows bank on the show being an edgy cool thing, please be shocked at how much blood is spilling from my wrists. But shock factor is at the very best one tool to engage the audience to be used in moderation. The series seems to have enough meat without needing to make the show more bombastic through such elements. If anything, the show for me would’ve been more interesting if it simply focused on Tanya’s thoughts and mental state consistently, and displayed further the type of person she is. You can display ruthlessness without unneeded cruelty. Now I do not want you to misunderstand. It’s not that Tanya’s ruthlessness is not a core element of the character. But the reasoning behind that trait can be misinterpreted due to its execution. Tanya is not ruthless because she takes sadistic enjoyment out of being cruel. Tanya is ruthless because she is selfish and she doesn’t have empathy for the people around her. This might sound like it should have the same result but it does not. Not caring means that you have no qualms with using people for your own ends and if they suffer for your selfish goals, be it physically or emotionally, so be it. That’s a neutral stance on it, because while that is an option, it brings no joy to the character. However in the show, Tanya acts crueler and seems to take even more enjoyment out of other people’s suffering, even forcing two subordinates within a role she was sure for certain they would die while fulfilling. It’s one thing to find unsympathetic a character that does not care because they are just not capable of it, and another to have a character actively take delight out of other people’s suffering. This can mislead viewers to believe this is just going to be an edgefest. Decisions such as deliberately making the main character uglier prior to reincarnation to make the character more unappealing, and making the character enjoy cruel acts such as the deaths of her subordinates, as well as having her think negatively of people attempting to help her and be of use for her, can only weaken people’s willingness to understand her as a character. Another fault that hurts the series is the lack of details about how the world works. Since the world is a parallel to our own but with magic, it just hopes you are contextual enough with history and not care about how magic works. As a result, what is on screen is not something can further be analyzed in detail, since because you don’t fully understand how the world works, you cannot fully understand how the world operates. Sure, on some abstract level, I was able to enjoy how Tanya operated, how she planned to fight her opponents, how she discussed things with her superiors and so on. But none of it has been given proper context to fully understand the situation, and it has been written in such a way that any detail can be changed at any given time to manipulate the circumstances within the story. Moments where Being X interferes could have been a lot more impactful if prior we had the context of how everything that operates within that scene works. For a show that enjoys portraying a character that is very good at operating within a system and pays attention to a lot of crucial details that do not seem to be so, it doesn’t do a good job with presenting any of these details. This means that any confrontation that you see on screen, it has no meaning if you do not care about Tanya. And that’s a big fault considering that Tanya’s personality isn’t going to be charming for everyone. At the very least if the circumstances around her were built better and presented in a more detailed manner, the people that do not like her could have had at least fun rooting against her. This fault doesn’t affect me too much, since, as I have said, I can take her actions in a more abstract route and apply them to different contexts. I can enjoy her decisions, how this impacts the world’s view of her and what it means to Tanya because I can apply those to different contexts and that is the part that is relevant to me about the show. But even as that is, I could not care for the war displayed on screen at all, and the action scenes due to their lack of context in some situations and level of threat in others, I have not ever cared a bit about the action unfolding on screen, as I found it incredibly boring. Experience & Theme: There really is one single message the anime delivers, that being that regardless of how logical you are and how rational is your approach to the given problem, you have to take the other party’s feelings into consideration, even if your goal is not compassion. Because sure, you may think that the rational thing to do after getting laid off a job is to find another and work diligently. But if you don’t understand that inflicting negative consequences on another person can cause hatred, you may foresee what the best course of action they can take is moving forward. But you cannot foresee that their ill intent can cause them to abandon that route, because seeing you gone is the one last thing that can make them finally feel some relief. Ironically for the anime it is, it is somewhat surprising that it asks you to be more considerate of others. Even if the argument is made for the sake of pragmatism and self-interest, it is a surprisingly positive message. If you’re a non-fan of the isekai genre, at the very least I can praise this show on the fact that it challenges that genre a bit. It has nothing to do with wish fulfillment and the world the protagonist is sent to is one that they do not want to be part of. Rather, the purpose of this world is strictly to challenge the protagonist and keep them in a state where they can never be satisfied with their current circumstances. The setting’s existence has a purpose, which while arguably it could’ve been done in a different way, given the premise of the show, I can praise it for having a world that was built for its protagonist, rather than a world built for a self-insert. I can recommend this series if you’re one of the people tired of what the isekai genre is, because it is something different., and the premise and its setting serve a purpose. World Building & Story: As I was saying while discussion the show’s execution and appeal, we know the bare minimum about the show’s world and as a result we know too little about what we are actually watching. Due to the lack of context about how the powers work, how the military operates and a lot of other things, what is on screen is just a fanfare that lacks meaning. A visual spectacle meant to signify [confrontation in progress]. The world needs a lot more detail in order for what is on screen to matter, as well as making the story feel a lot more meaningful. None of the events on the screen matter, unless they directly impact Tanya, and that while adequate enough considering the goal of the show is Tanya herself, if you choose to invest time into presenting the fights and the opposing factions, over fleshing out Tanya further, at least dedicate some of that attention to fleshing out the stakes for everyone that is presented on screen and how the world works. There really is nothing about that world that can be interesting to anyone watching. Sure, they may be intrigued by the magic system and flying, only for them to slowly realize no such thing exists. These are just abstract notions that have no purpose other than to make the show look interesting. While I am entertained by Tanya, if the story doesn’t focus solely on her, then I need a reason to care about everyone else that is not her. I need every event to have some weight that is not strictly reliant on Tanya existing. Remove Tanya and everything that is on screen no longer matters whatsoever. This should not be the case. Only one character can be entertaining for so long and if they go unchallenged, they will certainly get dull. Conclusion: If my description of the character has sounded interesting for you I recommend you to go for it. I found the character to have been interesting enough and to be portrayed well enough to consider it good despite all of its other shortcomings. It really is the one deciding factor for this show, and your enjoyment will bank on how much you can enjoy its protagonist. If you enjoy exploring the mentality of other characters despite their lack of moral fiber, you can enjoy Youjo Senki. The story is merely about this character adapting to its circumstances. Unfortunately if you do not care about either the character or the circumstances, you should steer clear.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 29, 2019
Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings Preliminary
(6/23 eps)
This review only applies for the first 6 episodes of the series, it does not constitute for the overall experience of the anime itself and it will be comprised of what has caused me to drop the show and what could cause other people to do the same, as well as which people would find the show a positive experience and attempt to help you choose whether or not to attempt watching this series.
There are a bunch of of reasons as to why I dropped Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fujiteiru, and all of them relate to the execution of the series due to its highly idealistic ... approach which has spiraled into the series lacking a lot of the elements that I find interesting in anime from the "Sports" genre. When I say it takes a highly idealistic approach, what I mean is that the series seeks to explore how the characters value "running" rather than explore how marathon running works or is interesting. Questions such as "What is running?" and how characters use the activity to solve their emotional problems is something that is presented in the series, which is not necessarily something bad, as any series about "Sports" that is worth its salt, comes in with well defined motivations for its characters. But the sport is just as important to me as are the characters participating in it, and the activity needs to be interesting to keep me engaged. And running is simply just not interesting to watch and the show puts in very little effort to make it such. I am very intrigued by how a sport works as a competitive endeavor, and all I consider running is a good exercise for endurance and the show does nothing to expand my knowledge on it. I'm not holding the series accountable for not making one of the most basic actions humans are capable of interesting or not having something worthwhile to present that would blow my mind on it, but all I am saying is that I need the sport to actually be a sport. If the characters partake into an activity, I need to understand the activity and find it interesting. It's the driving factor for how much fun I have with a "Sports" series and that is missing here. "Then you are wrong and you should shift your perspective. As you said, the series seeks to explore what the characters value. You should treat it as a drama." That's a fair thing to say. If the series doesn't focus on the sport, perhaps it focuses on characterization and story. Which is true for this series. Its merits are not gonna lie within the sport because its large focus is on the characters and how the group is being formed to participate in this marathon. And with the theme of the show being able to move forward and find motivation and running is merely its tool, I shouldn't criticize running for having that function. The problem is that I am not interested in the series as a drama, and I have seen shows that use the very same theme, while also engaging me with whatever activity they present. As a result, I cannot forgive any writing shortcomings that the series has because there's nothing to distract me from any flaws or anything else I might dislike or feel is lacking. And what I do feel is lacking is an element of individualism and that is because the group itself is more valued than the individual characters, because this is a story about how a group forms and moves forward. And I hate that approach when someone attempts to explore what the characters value. Regardless of whether you want or not or like it or not, if the group complies, you also do, and that is a very lazy start. And that's what happens to most of the characters within the episodes I watched. They roll over, accept and participate regardless of how they feel and what they actually want. And that's my issue. The series maintains too much stability and despite the characters being against the idea, they barely put any fight, because it is more convenient for them not to, and perhaps having their emotions and motivations explored on the way or at a later time. As long as the team keeps moving forward, we can accept showing some individuality piece by piece. I do get that this is a series about finding motivation, so having motivation from the start to do any of what the series requires for its endgoal is counterintutive. But the way they accept running doesn't feel natural. They simply seem to be stuck doing the activity until they will feel like "I guess this can be useful to me.". With proper characterization and good individual focus, I would be able to immediately accept them and how they act. And I don't think that even currently the way they act is not understandable, I simply dislike that the characters are forced to it and they eventually just decide that it motivates them. However, I can see how this series can be very appealing if you are interested in the dynamics of a group, rather than individual people. One benefit the show has from this approach is that you see how the group is being formed and what the group collectively values and how they interact with each other. This is not the story of a single protagonist, but rather the team he is stuck with, his pack, and who they will become moving forward. How he and everyone will move forward through a healthy activity in a healthy way, and how their lives will become better. A group can be a lot more interesting than a few characters that are well developed but the others get the short end of the stick. It is not the case here because to me, every character seemed to get equal treatment. While I do think that the series overrides the identities of the characters by forcing them to run essentially, I won't deny that I am disliking this series for its strengths, rather than weaknesses. I personally would enjoy if the show was more character-driven, but its approach to be group-driven has its own merits for other people I am sure. And I can see its highly optimistic approach be very endearing to many. Other people might also enjoy the controlled pace of the series and how each character finds their own motivation to participate in the marathon as the series goes on. To people like me, the lack of a well defined sport will make the series feel preachy, and as if there is nothing worthwhile to explore due to the fact that the characters were not built to achieve something, but rather to find something they want to achieve. But to other people, the slowly directed pace and focus on the collective put on the entire group might make them feel comfortable while watching the series and keep them around for more, giving the series a big enough shot for each character to be built for the marathon. The series has a deeper meaning and it is not made for sheer entertainment value. Unfortunately I don't seek that deeper meaning and I needed that sheer entertainment value to be interested. I recommend this series if you want to watch a group of people move forward, and find meaning in their lives. Do not watch this if you seek what I seek from this genre: what will people do to achieve their goals and through what difficulties they will go in the process. Also the show has a lot of manservice. Lots of naked boys that seem to have a sensitive softer side. Have fun with that piece of information.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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