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When I think about Madhouse, I think about high-quality realizations of foolproof story concepts involving a somewhat guaranteed economic success. Chihayafuru, a series about a bunch of high-schoolers trying to achieve their dreams in becoming the best of the best in a sports called Karuta, represents a fitting example of this project selection pattern. Chihayafuru is a charming, highly likable and somewhat mind-opening anime providing for a high level of entertainment, in which I found myself immersed very rapidly.

As you maybe already know, when producing a sports-related series, it often doesn't really matter what kind of sports is chosen as long as the atmosphere works ... out well in making you like the sports. Competitive Karuta, as a rather unknown but highly demanding sports, carries this to extremes. By choosing a card game with motoric elements, thus combining mind-related and physical areas of personal development, the foundation was laid for a highly engaging experience to which almost any sportsman can relate in some way.

And that is why Chihayafuru is successful. The new sports that most of the viewers don't know anything about represents a highly mysterious component in the series, compensating for the actually not only highly predictable, but also monotonous story that lacks in innovativeness. I could name several other sports-related series, which are plot-wise structured almost exactly the same as Chihayafuru, but all of them were well received. For a successful sports series, there is no need to incorporate sudden plot-twists and ingeniously convoluted plotlines. All you need is an intense atmosphere, a goal, and some likable and highly ambitious characters going all-out. This is what you find in Chihayafuru as well.

The characters are not only likable, but also unique with only minor overlaps in their personalities. The five main characters are supposed to appeal to the audience, which leads to them turning out somewhat stereotypical. In general, there are two major flaws that cannot be overlooked. First, to enhance the aspect of perceived ambition, the main characters lack authenticity and personality consistency. They regard the same issue very differently from time to time and act highly unnatural, only to promote the story and preventing it from losing focus. Second, they lack depth. Although you find the main characters musing about how to becoming stronger with a high degree of reflection, they seem to not have anything in their minds besides Karuta and their mutual bonds, and that fact makes them appear more as story-driving tools than vivid, holistically conceptualized characters. But this is also the reason why they can be said to fit very well to the simple and straightforward story.

In terms of audio-visual execution, the production quality should have been higher if it was intended to overcome current standards (as of 2012). Ultimately, it turned out to be a well-produced show, and that's it. The opening manages to set the energetic and positive mood extremely well and provides for an outstanding audio-visual fit, whereas the fit of the rather melancholic ending is debatable. The seiyuu were appropriately chosen and don't stand out in a negative way. Remarkable are some of the sound effects used in Chihayafuru, which add to the immersive experience that is created especially during tournaments. The visuals fit the standard but don't give much of an outstanding impression. A positive factor is the high consistency in visual execution and its underlying arts style.

With Chihayafuru, you get to see an anime that adheres to the norm in sports-related series, but not surprisingly delivers a highly engaging ride through the world of competitive Karuta with a set of ambitious and likable characters. It features a positive and energetic atmosphere and does very well in generating excitement despite the predictability and monotonous nature of its story. Chihayafuru can be recommended for everyone who likes shounen and seinen, shoujo and josei, as well as sports in general.

Rating: 7.64/10
(A quantified evaluation can be found on my page.)

Welcome to the world of mental disorders, in which everything looks colorful yet mundane. It is a world that lets affected people transcend the borders of the ordinary by allowing them to impose their very own interpretation of the world upon the circumstances that surround them. This way, people learn to cope with their sometimes unpromising situations by making use of their powerful minds alone.

Those who have a profound knowledge on the functioning of the human psyche including the process of dissonance reduction probably understand the importance of the NHK to exist. Ultimately, that what constitutes the NHK and other conspiracies (in the case of ... Satou and Kashiwa) as well as god (in the case of Misaki) is nothing else than the need to externalize the guilt people feel when confronted with their misery, and to consequently appease their minds in order to keep going.

Basically this is one possible interpretation of the message that NHK ni Youkoso! tries to convey. Despite its comedic appearance, this show deals with one of the most significant topics on social behavior in Japan that even consistently gains in popularity among western societies, and delivers nothing else than mind-blowingly deep engagement with the psyche of four very different characters and the extent of their mutual influence on an emotional and cognitive level.

NHK ni Youkoso! is the only anime I know that manages to get a good grasp of how it is really like to suffer solitude and the inability to escape this mental condition by the means of one's own actions. However dramatic this subject may be, it is the more fascinating how entertaining and easy the method is that NHK ni Youkoso! uses to not let the viewer fall into despair himself, but to rather encourage him to reflect on his own lifestyle by simultaneously enjoying the sometimes hilarious happenings in the lives of the main characters. This series tries to demonstrate that there is always a way out of social isolation and self-pity, and that it is not rocket science to develop one's very own coping strategies.

But, as many other great series, NHK ni Youkoso! is not perfect, not even in storytelling, which shows especially in rough transitions between various minor arcs trying to thematize very different issues socially inept people have to deal with. This leads to a somewhat staccato-styled storytelling, with its story broken up into several pieces and being not fluent enough to be considered a realistic tale. A very inconsistent implementation of romantic elements adds to this and makes me question the characters' attitudes. As a result, the story feels very different before and after episode 9. A sudden change in atmosphere is something that, in fact, often works for anime like these, given the sheer unpredictability in the behavior of mentally unstable characters. In NHK ni Youkoso!, however, this led to my disappointment.

The reason why I couldn't rate this show as high as the story would have deserved it lies within the technical dimension. Although the soundtrack is distinct and fits very well to the not-so-much-desperate, but rather ironically enjoyable atmosphere that underlies the show, the visual arts, especially the key animations, were done really sloppily. If you have watched Ping Pong The Animation, you know that there are obvious ways of selling sloppy arts as a kind of new style. This doesn't work out for NHK ni Youkoso! however, since the drawings are inconsistent in general. Characters are drawn very sharp and detailed at one time only to be dissolving in the background at another. This is something I regard as bad quality, unfortunately.

Overall, NHK ni Youkoso! is a fascinating work that is not only interesting to those who suffer the same fate as any character in this show, but also to people who are just interested in the functioning of the human psyche. This series depicts the strangely easy way people cope with their mental and personality disorders in an immensely entertaining, sometimes absolutely hilarious, but also emotionally involving manner. It makes you reflect on your lifestyle and potentially delivers answers to questions you didn't know you've had before.

Rating: 8.33/10
(A quantified evaluation can be found on my page.)

In Kino's Journey, it is said that the world is not beautiful, which is actually said to be a reason why the world can, in fact, be considered beautiful. Tamayura is a stunningly emotional tale of a girl finding beauty in what had been the source of her sorrow before: photography. Reminded by the loss of her father, she distances herself from his former favorite activity and struggles to cope with the situation she was suddenly forced into.

Tamayura sets off when she finally succeeded in accepting reality and regaining her vitality, which allows her to dive into the memories she has been keeping buried for ... years. By deciding to pick up photography by herself, she enters a journey to discovering the background of her late father's passion towards making photographs to understand more about him and the emotional value of keeping mementos.

This short synopsis already brings me close to tears. The premise sounds perfect for a highly emotional ride, but what you get was, unfortunately, not elaborated in detail. Tamayura is a 'high slice of life' series, meaning it is almost episodic and doesn't follow a decent story. In contrast to Aria, Tamayura lacks a firmly set goal, and the episodes just float by, so to speak, which is ultimately the reason there is much unused potential in terms of storytelling.

Impressively enough that Tamayura excels in 'floating by', creating a wonderfully soothing and peaceful atmosphere that is well known from the Aria franchise. Instead of integrating plot elements with high depth that encourage the viewer to think and reflect, this show focuses on depicting peacefulness and harmony with every detail it comes with. In the same manner, emotional, mostly beautiful scenes just 'float by' and add some intensity to the entire thing, which is otherwise defined by more or less random slice of life plotlets.

Although the synopsis literally cries out for character development, only traces of it can be found in Tamayura. The character development can be summarized as the process of bonding with friends and becoming more mentally stable throughout the show while discovering happiness. And this applies to all the main characters there are, namely the heroine Fuu and her close friends. It totally makes sense, in my opinion, that an atmosphere-oriented show rarely offers in-depth characters, and I don't consider this a weakness of Tamayura at all. That, what is important in this case, is the credibility of the characters' personalities, which is absolutely present in this show. Both the main characters as well the side characters provide a very consistent personality with authentic attitudes. This luckily outshines the sometimes rather clichéd dialogues.

Those who know Aria are well aware of how much the soundtrack contributes to the peaceful atmosphere that was aimed for with Tamayura as well. The background music turned out as beautiful as the atmosphere created by the characters, thus implying a high fit between the content and the technical dimension. The opening song by Maaya Sakamoto is an excellent addition to that and gets the viewer in the right mood for what is to follow. A noticeable disappointment, however, is the considerable amount of unused potential regarding sceneries and landscapes. A show that focuses on beauty (esp. in nature) would be wise to emphasize this aspect by delivering more impressive images/drawings to enhance the emotional impact. Aria did this masterfully, but that was primarily thanks to a more creative sci-fi setting.

Once again, the director of the Aria franchise has shown his qualities in creating an immersive experience that is defined by shallowness, peacefulness, harmony, and beauty. It absolutely meets my taste, although I would have wished for a decent storyline adding to Tamayura's density of emotional substance. If you are the type for hardly demanding and calming anime, Tamayura can be highly recommended.

Rating: 8.13/10
(A quantified evaluation can be found on my page.)

Once in a while, I find myself craving for good drama with at least a decent story depth and a somewhat intense atmosphere. Apart from the latter, Little Busters ~Refrain~ was not able to deliver.

There's one thing in particular that is always inherent to KEY anime: borderline drama. In some cases (Clannad, Kanon), this drama plays out well because it feels genuine. In other cases (Angel Beats!, LB ~Refrain~), it is forced upon the viewer with all one's might and consequently feels artificial. While I must admit that Refrain does have its strengths, especially in terms of plot twists and tension, the characters totally fail ... along the way, which is the primary reason the drama that is being told here sadly mutates into something melodramatic.

When there is one thing about the story that I have to point out as a definite success, it is the way the 'secret to the world' is being uncovered step by step in a very consistent pace. With each episode, the viewer gets drawn more and more into the mess with which the LB gang struggles to cope. This is the reason why there is a rather intense atmosphere to be felt that encourages to jump to the next episode and continue watching. Nevertheless, despite the decent idea underlying the story and the well planned-out conclusion, that, what was intended to be its greatest strength - the dramatic climax - turned out to be the most significant disappointment. That is not because of how the story was written, but first and foremost a result of poorly conceptualized main characters.

I really love the drama in Clannad ~After Story~, but even there it becomes apparent how clichéd the (side) characters were designed to be. In Refrain this blatantly swaps over and affects the entire main cast, which is simply not acceptable. The fact that it is possible to summarize the personality of the main characters with one, at most two sentences is something that not only prevents the characters from driving the story forward, but has also a strong negative impact on the perceived credibility of the entire thing. The emotional attachment and the ability to relate to characters is what makes drama dramatic, when the appropriate plot elements are introduced. Refrain leaves it at presenting tearjerking scenes, which are emotional because of their nature and the viewers' cognitive associations, and not because there is genuine drama inherent to the content of the show.

Well, but if someone perceives the emotional impact of an anime - be it artificial or genuine - as its quality, it is basically a good thing, isn't it? Basically yes. The good thing about Refrain is its level of entertainment and the degree to which most people enjoy this series. Only a minority of the viewership actually thinks about whether the drama is rather artificial than genuine. That is why Refrain can without fail be recommended as an anime that has the ability to entertain in various ways. In my rating, however, I give credit to those anime that succeed in thinking things through. Moving someone to tears is simple, building a structure of attachments between the viewer and the characters and killing it off is something that requires method.

Unfortunately, considering that I always loved at least the technical aspect of KEY anime, Refrain, in contrast to previous works, disappointed here as well. A mediocre (beautiful but not noticeably varying) soundtrack, a standard-type ending song, and a slightly more original opening song with some build-up tension don't suffice to warrant a higher rating. Even in terms of visuals, Refrain is sloppy. We live in times of high quality productions, yet Refrain - with its highly emotional content - doesn't make use of the potential that a decent colorization offers to shows like these. Camera angles, transitions, character design, there's nothing that reminds me of the quality of KEY's previous works. Apart from these comparisons, Refrain as a standalone series is definitely enjoyable in terms of arts.

I was looking forward to Refrain, since it ranks among the best anime on MAL, but it yet again turned out to be a tearjerker without substance. Tearjerkers are perceived very differently by the anime audience. Those who actively search for meaningful, authentic drama won't be satisfied by watching Refrain, while those who predominantly value the emotional impact a show (forcefully) produces discover a first-class series. One reason for the great success of Refrain might be the huge improvement since season one. Personally, I really enjoyed watching Refrain because of its atmosphere, but in each and every episode I was reminded of the fact that this cannot in any way be compared to Clannad. It lacks passion and method.

Rating: 6.32/10
(A quantified evaluation can be found on my page.)

Out of curiosity, I've been thinking a lot about how anime are made, but it is fairly hard to get insights into the practices of this particular industry. And then, Shirobako came around.

An anime about the creation process of an anime - or some kind of meta-animation or animeception - that is not only a daring approach to new age infotainment, but also an excellent opportunity for the creators to put in their passion associated with this kind of work, and to tell a realistic tale on the hardships that newbies in this industry are likely to encounter.

Shirobako managed to rank very high in my ... list due to the fact that it is done with an astonishing amount of perfection, especially in terms of storytelling. This show is not about documentation, it actually has a decent, even exciting story in which the factual elements of anime-making are embedded. The first anime I was reminded of was Bakuman, doing practically the same with manga but on a more entertaining and less informative level. Shirobako, on the other hand, provides for an almost perfect balance between entertainment and information. A bunch of girls decide to follow their dreams to become a part of the anime industry, which is an excellent premise for the fact that the transition between school/university and work life is described in particular. It is especially this transition with its associated culture shock that is hard to outline on an emotional level. In actuality, it is not unusual to get rejected by companies although you were educated well, and just like that, dreams get shattered. The pressure that is inherent to these situations is portrayed by Shirobako in a marvelous manner.

Shirobako minds details. This becomes apparent even in the way the anime-making process is illustrated with all its facets, from storyboard creation over key/3D animation to post-processing and voice acting. In addition, as the heroine serves as production assistant, various aspects of management and leadership are also subject of interest. This all leads to a very realistic picture of what (harsh) business and work life is about in general. As someone who doesn't know anything or very little about the creation of anime, you will feel enriched by the level of detail that comes with the explanations, although this might lead to a noticeable issue as well. I found myself overloaded with information during the first episodes, which led to the assumption of mine that Shirobako will turn out a mediocre show. This relativised mostly after I had gotten used to the setting and the pace. Shirobako would have done well choosing a more progressive approach than a linear one regarding the amount of information conveyed. This, however, is criticism on a very high level.

In terms of characters, Shirobako is one of the few anime that does very well with the side cast, which convinces especially through personality variety. The female main characters are very similar to each other: the typical inexperienced and naive yet dreamful and highly motivated graduates entering the job market. Although this made it easy for Shirobako to refrain from elements to enhance character depth, I don't consider this a problem for it being a necessary mean to equally approach the various parts of the anime industry from the same viewpoint at the same time. This also helps the viewer to relate to the characters in general and to reduce the already high degree of complexity. The side characters, on the other hand, apart from those that serve the comedic aspect, are well conceptualized to act realistically and provide a credible personality. This shows that the producers of Shirobako approached the entire thing holistically and honestly, which implies a great deal of passion that must have been put into it.

The soundtrack fits the show well and the OP/ED songs underline the basically happy and energetic atmosphere of the anime. Same can be said for the seiyuu. Where Shirobako really stands out is the level of detail that is presented in the images, for example in the backgrounds of the production companies' office that represents the main setting. I am honestly very impressed by how the arts support the realistic feeling that was intended to come about with Shirobako. This is what I, at least, expect from a masterpiece. Another big plus comes with the various versions of the second ending animation, similar to what Angel Beats! did, which adds to the perceived amount of effort that was exerted towards Shirobako becoming a remarkable anime.

I raise my hat to Shirobako. If you want to learn something about how anime are made, or if you like shoujo/josei series and mostly realistic work-related anime, I implore you to give this show a chance. I assume that Shirobako appeals to a broad audience, however, be aware of the fact that you might get bombarded with information early on, which might dampen your enjoyment in early stages of the anime. I can suggest, keep it up, it's worth it.

Rating: 9.03/10
(A quantified evaluation can be found on my page.)