Back to PonPonPon's Profile PonPonPon's Profile

Fukumoto Nobuyuki’s work has a strange appeal. It is so bizarre, yet buried within the self-deprecating eccentricity is a boundless love and understanding for humanity in all its ugliest forms. He gets people. His writing is wild and somewhat unrefined, but his capacity for creating relatable, engaging characters is impressive, to say the least. And so it is with Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa, where in spite of a few pitfalls, great characterization blends with powerful, sweeping statements about society and life to create an unorthodox, volatile, yet ultimately touching story.

Kurosawa is a construction worker and alcoholic in his 40s, living alone in his ... small, beat-up apartment. Lonely, depressed, unshaved, and wanting desperately for more in life, he repeatedly tries to scheme and plot his way into friendships, lovers, and achievements – most of which end in hilariously disastrous failure. One of the strengths of this manga is its ability to mix its depressing subject matter with dark humor. Fukumoto constantly puts Kurosawa into awkward situations made even more humiliating by Kurosawa’s ridiculous and naïve plans to curry favor with his coworkers or other strangers. The humor is balanced very well with the heavier messages that arise from these scenes. I will say that this style occasionally annoyed me in the middle of the manga, however. The drawback of Fukumoto’s style is that some of the characters can come off as purposeless caricatures, and this line is frequently crossed when the plot is at its most weakest and most unfocused.

This is the manga’s biggest problem; it meanders from one event to the next with only the characters holding it all together. In some ways this is a mixed blessing; while it allows for greater thematic focus (especially towards the end of the manga), as I said earlier it can get tiresome trudging through some of the middle chapters, where some of the happenings make very little sense from a logical standpoint. For example, the entirety of volume 4 is incredibly contrived and out-of-place given the trauma he should have been suffering from events in the prior volumes. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with plotless, character-driven stories (indeed most of my favorite anime and manga are character-driven), but in this case the story itself doesn’t have a flow, because the events aren’t well-connected and the journey sometimes feels pointless. Honestly, several of the middle volumes could just be taken out entirely and the story wouldn't suffer that much. There is a loooooot of padding and randomness that almost turns the manga from a poignant, existentialist, character-driven story into a dull slice of life with old guys instead of prepubescent moe chicks.

Still, to Fukumoto’s credit, he lampshades all of this in the manga’s thematic development. (One line in particular from of the later chapters comes to mind, when Kurosawa literally says “My life doesn’t have a plot”.) This is where the manga shines – its themes of depression, alienation, failure, and redemption create a backdrop against which the impact of the story’s seemingly random and chaotic structure is minimized. His hopelessness, his melancholy, his frustration at life, and his existential anxiety mirror what many of us have felt at some point in our lives, regardless of age. And it’s towards the end where the manga hits its stride thematically, as Kurosawa’s journey draws to a close and culminates in an incredibly poignant finale.

As a result of this thematic emphasis, Kurosawa’s characterization and development in this manga borders on exceptional. While the side characters are a bit lacking – many serve as plot devices or dimensionless foils – Kurosawa himself is unforgettable; making a likeable protagonist out of a loser and a deadbeat is no easy task, but Fukumoto is able to do just that. Each step of Kurosawa’s journey reveals another dimension to his character: the various fights and skirmishes that he involves himself in, along with his slowly increasing social circle and standing at work, highlight the growth of his courage and assertiveness as a character, in addition to developing his sense of morality. The most substantial change, though, is in the way his outlook on life evolves from one of depression-borne nihilism, as his experiences slowly but surely start to give his life meaning and purpose. As the manga winds down to its heartbreaking conclusion, Kurosawa begins to realize that perhaps even a lost cause like himself can derive value and significance from life simply by being human and living.

The side characters do suffer, though. Virtually all of them are left woefully underdeveloped and don't really do much outside of guiding the story in a specific direction. Nakane is probably one of the few supporting characters that does get some development, but it's still lacking.

The artwork is definitely a point of contention, but personally I think it’s quite good, although as I mentioned earlier, it comes with its risks. Fukumoto loves to portray people in their most repulsive state; ridiculously rectangular jawlines, slanted and angry eyebrows, missing teeth, massive lips, and my favorite – the TEARS, the constant stream of tears and snot and sweat running down their faces in even remotely stressful situations, populate this work. It’s very similar to Kaiji in that regard. It’s funny, but it’s also remarkable in the sense that it conveys Fukumoto’s characterization with vivid authenticity. The downside to such a style is that – again, as I said before – there is a danger of caricaturizing characters and divorcing the reader from a sense of realism, something that happens semi-frequently during the middle of the manga. The panel layout is fairly neat and backgrounds are detailed – although Fukumoto loves to draw speed lines to emphasize climactic moments, but it’s not a big deal.

While I had my issues with some parts of the manga, the finished product was more than satisfactory. With an intriguing premise, a bizarre narrative style, an indelible protagonist, great thematic delivery, and an evocative ending, the Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa is definitely worth a read.

Bring on season 2.

Jumping out of the wreckage that is the Summer 2014 anime season, Haikyuu triumphantly spikes its nakama-drenched, bromance-filled volleyballs into the chaotic mess, pummeling its viewership with its unflappable spirit and verve. In a season where anime about intergalactic war (sort of), terrorism (not really), and rebellion (or bad politics or comedy or whatever the hell Akame ga Kill is supposed to be) compete to see who can be the very edgiest, it is with some surprise that I declare to you that an anime about volleyball has turned out to be one of the best anime of the season.

This show ... is nothing special on the surface; a hotheaded upstart and his outstandingly talented rival from middle school join their high school volleyball team and work together to help their team win a tournament. The details might be a little different, but the general template for the story has been used countless times in both anime and other media. So what makes this anime so damn enjoyable?

Well, it’s the execution. I’ve long maintained that clichés aren’t a bad thing as long as they’re well-executed, and Haikyuu delivers on this front. Characters are tropey, but very believable. The pacing is a bit slow, and the show drags a bit during the first half; however, the intensity picks up in the second half of the anime, when the InterHigh tournament starts. The matches are engaging and exhilarating. The frequent cliffhanger endings will leave you desperately wanting for more. Is it the most original plotline ever? Certainly not. Is it endearing, fun as all hell to watch, and convincing in its emotion? Absolutely.

One of the best things about this show is its characters. Haikyuu has a pretty large and fairly diverse cast, and many of the characters are well developed throughout the course of the show. Again, some of them are a bit tropey – Hinata is the standard high-strung shounen protagonist, Kageyama is his more serious counterpart and rival, Tanaka is comic relief, etc. – but they’re all fun to watch and feel very human. Hinata, Kageyama, Sugawara, Daichi, and several others are given backstories and developed into well-rounded personalities, and the chemistry between them is astounding. It’s not just the protagonists, either; several antagonists are developed in conjunction with the main cast, the most notable of which is probably Aoba Josai’s setter, Oikawa, a character that you might actually find yourself rooting for at times because of how well he’s developed. Certain characters could’ve used more screentime, particularly Kiyoko, who we really don’t see or hear much of at all; but with such a large cast this is to be expected, and surprisingly isn’t that much of an issue.

Another great aspect of this show was its matches. I’ve long complained about the abundance of horrendously slow battle scenes in a lot of shounen, but these matches are almost perfectly-paced. The rallies are dramatic, suspenseful, well-timed, and exciting. All the typical stuff, like the internal monologues and the speeches of teamwork and friendship and whatnot, are well handled and generally do not detract from the momentum and intensity of the on-court action; in fact, they frequently added to it. The matches are surprisingly grounded, though of course many pivotal moments are exaggerated for dramatic effect (Hinata's quicks, in particular). The episode endings are also handled really well. One of my biggest complaints with cliffhangers (I tend to complain a lot when it comes to anime…) is that most of the time they tend to come off as cheap and uninspired by drawing out the episode unnecessarily to withhold vital information that they’ll then give you in the next episode; Haikyuu does a much better job of delivering strong episode endings while still leaving the matches unfinished, and keeps you wanting for more. All in all, these matches are sure to leave you breathlessly entertained.

Now, all that being said, the anime does have some issues. As great as the second half of the anime (when the InterHigh tournament, and consequently the matches, begin in earnest) is, the first half is slow and can test your patience at times. It’s not bad – some of the episodes, especially the first one, are high quality – but overall, there is too much exposition, and the monologues dragged more often than not. The humor can also be hit-and-miss; depending on your tolerance for the exaggerated facial expressions and reactions common to anime humor (you know what I’m talking about), it may wear on you. Overall, though, it’s not really a huge deal, and many of you might end up enjoying it, which will only enrich the experience for you.

The art, animation, and direction are excellent, and given that Production I.G. is behind the wheel, this should come as no surprise. The artwork is very detailed and character designs are faithful to the original manga. The animation is fluid and the strength of the direction is evident in the matches. The voice acting is great, and the VAs do a top-notch job of conveying the fire and emotion of the characters without ever sounding too cheesy (okay, maybe a little cheesy, but the good kind of cheesy). The soundtrack is superb – I actually think that this is one of the best OSTs I’ve heard in a while, and is probably one of the more underrated aspects of this anime. The BGM music in particular really helps make the matches that much more exciting. The music really is one of the biggest reasons I enjoyed this show, and the OST is definitely worth a listen on its own. The OP/EDs are pretty good, too.

This anime was a blast, and being that this is only the second sports anime I’ve ever seen, whenever someone asks me how to get into the sports genre, this is one of the first titles I’ll be recommending. It’s not the deepest or most original anime out there, and it does have a few hiccups, but it embodies so well the themes of teamwork, dedication, perseverance, overcoming the odds, and really everything else about the sports genre that we tend to pass off as hammy or overdone but appeals to most of us deep down.

So from all of us Haikyuu fans to you, IG, get on that season 2.

I wonder if it's possible to write an uncontroversial review on this anime. Let me take a crack at it.

*****

You know, SAO is not the worst thing the anime industry has ever churned out, despite what people out there say. Is it bad? Sure. The characters suck and the plot is full of conveniences and the pacing is pretty crappy and there is no thematic value and blah blah blah.

SAO is such an easy target. It's not just because it's a bad anime; it's because it's a bad anime with massive hype. Compounding matters is the perception that people have of SAO's fanbase ... - I mean, when terms like "wish-fulfillment" get thrown around on a near-constant basis, it's hard to avoid imagining thousands of lonely and immature otaku hovering behind their laptop screens, ready to jerk it as soon as Asuna appears with a sandwich for Kirito.

If we treat anime as a medium for storytelling, and if we then judge SAO on its storytelling ability, yeah, it sucks. It's not really possible to defend its narrative structure nor its execution. Kirito is one of the most painfully dull characters in existence. I figure that Asuna was only created because the author of the source LNs had a bet to see how quickly he could torpedo a character's development. They even managed to slip in some incest in there - oh, but wait, she's not *really* his sister, so clever. This anime is fraught with a litany of serious issues and it deserves to be called a bad anime.

But you know what? Despite all that, it's still not offensively atrocious. SAO has great production values, and the fights are well-animated. The setting is fleshed out just enough to qualify as immersive, and while the game mechanics are absurd and serve as little more than deus ex machina, a lack of fidelity towards real-life MMORPGs isn't the biggest crime in the world considering that some of the most highly regarded anime out there take massive liberties with their internal logic as well (looking at you, M- nah...probably not a good idea to name names). And, well, I managed to get a laugh out of all the ridiculous plot armor that Kirito stacks himself with, and Asuna's almost surreal transformation from badass heroine to helpless fap bait had me in stitches. So there's that, I guess.

I think SAO gets way too much hate for what it really is. It's a bad anime that got too much hype, but it's really not the worst thing ever. There's much, much worse out there than this. SAO didn't give me a venereal disease, it didn't kill my brain cells (well maybe a few), it didn't make me want to stop watching anime forever, it didn't make me contemplate suicide, and it didn't make me want to write a hate review. It's just an unremarkably bad anime. That's all. 4/10.

I’m gonna be straight here – Black Cat is one of the most disappointing anime I’ve ever watched. It’s been two years since I watched this anime and I’m still a little bitter at how much potential remained unrealized at its end.

Black Cat is about this assassin named Train Heartnet (hey, at least he escaped whoever named all the characters in Geass). Or wait, it’s about this secret bio-weapon disguised as a loli named Eve. Actually no, it’s about this bounty hunter dude named Sven. Oh, wait, never mind, I remember, it’s actually about the villain, Creed, who has a hard-on for Train. No hang ... on, it might’ve been about the organization that Train worked for, Chronos…

See, I’m writing all of this as if the abundance of disparate elements in the plot is a bad thing, but the thing is, the story started out with a ton of potential. The first four or five episodes do a great job of tying all these characters together in a sensible and, dare I say, a captivating manner. Seriously, the beginning of this show is excellent. It’s exciting and a bit dark without getting too edgy or angsty, the characters all have good synergy and play off of each other very well, and the pacing is near-perfect.

And then the timeskip happens.

I’ll try to be brief and not spoil anything here, but suffice it to say that a certain main character’s personality does a complete 180 after the timeskip, and virtually zero explanation for the change is given to the viewer, outside of occasional scattered hints that refer to certain events that happened pre-timeskip. This is unfortunately only the beginning, as the rest of the anime devolves into a giant mess of hastily-introduced and poorly-fleshed-out characters, a distinct lack of focus on core plot points that the initial episodes tried to establish, and a ridiculous number of plot contrivances that attempt to reconcile this lack of focus, to no avail. The pacing is haphazard at best and has all the grace of a one-legged donkey at worst. The only relatively consistent character throughout the show is Sven; everyone else undergoes obscenely rushed character “development”, which is really just most of the characters overreacting to major events and, much like aforementioned main character, completely flipping the script on their personalities and becoming the exact opposite of who they originally were. This isn’t even mentioning the staggering number of characters this show introduces. There are like 10 new villains that arrived on the scene halfway through the show, plus all the Chronos assassins and executives, plus the guys who were in charge of those 10 or so new villains I just mentioned…the list just keeps growing and growing, and almost none of them get any kind of proper characterization, let alone development. It’s as if Naruto or One Piece were to condense themselves into 25 or so episodes, and cram their entire casts and plot into that timeframe. It’s insane.

All that being said, the anime does have its good qualities. As I said before, the first part of the anime is very well done, and it constructs a reasonably compelling narrative while introducing a pretty solid cast of characters to drive it forward. The art and animation are also good, although the color palette was a little weird and off-putting at times. The soundtrack is fairly strong as well, and I am particularly fond of the opening theme.

Ultimately, the overwhelming number of flaws prevent this anime from being anything more than way below-average at best. In truth, the last three-quarters or so of this anime are straight up terrible in terms of execution. Still, though…I can only imagine how much more enjoyable this anime could’ve been if they had just stuck to the format the first few episodes had established. It’s a damn shame.