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Why is this barely talked about? I hadn't seen it anywhere in most discussions until I saw this in a Facebook group where the post is about films depicting certain professions.

Anyway, I was intrigued by the cinephile part of the title 'Pompo: The Cinéphile.' I had to temper my expectations before I watched the film because I saw some negative reviews, but despite the negative stuff being said about this film, I quite like it.


§ Overview

We meet Gene Fini as he works as a production assistant of the producer Joelle Davidovich Pomponett also known as Pompo. As their filming of the movie 'Marine' wraps ... up, he is tasked to create its trailer.

Satisfied with what Gene has made, she then asks him to create this movie titled 'Meister.' It is revealed later that Pompo wrote the screenplay specifically for the new actress Natalie Woodward. Since Pompo is a producer with vast connections, she is able to convince the best actor in the world (Martín Braddock) to come out of retirement and pair up with Natalie.

They go on to Switzerland to do some location filming. Gene finds it convenient to shoot some scenes that are not included in the script.

Along the way, he meets an old acquaintance from high school, Alan Gardner, who will prove pivotal when the film, 'Meister,' was on the verge of being cancelled due to a lack of investors.

After finishing the principal photography, Gene now has to do the hard part: editing the raw footage. But even after 2 weeks, he is unable to finish it. He finds that they need to shoot a certain scene because the script has a gap in its pages, a gap that separates a well-done movie and a masterpiece.

Anyway, Gene's decision to shoot for more scenes causes the initial investors to pull out. This is why he seeks new investors. Luckily, Alan is involved with such a bank and he helps to pitch his idea.

With new investment coming in, 'Meister' goes on to not only become a box office success, but it also becomes an award-winning film.


§ Remarks

1. The title is misleading. 映画大好きポンポさん simply means 'Pompo loves movies.' Whilst the term cinephile means the same etymologically speaking, it's not exactly the same in terms of connotations. A cinephile has the connotation of someone who is most likely a lover of high-brow cinema. This is not true of Pompo because she was bored as a child when her father forced her to watch cinema with him.

Pompo is a producer who is mostly interested in making commercially successful movies, even if such movies are rubbish as far as film criticks are concerned. Her character design is good and she sometimes feels like a larger-than-life figure.

But the term cinephile properly applies to Gene Fini. He acts more like the protagonist compared to the titular character.

2. Making a film is a collaborative effort, and it's the synthesis of the different arts of acting, scriptwriting, cinematography, editing, and directing. It is emphasised time and time again that it's not one man's effort at all. Gene may have ideas on how to execute some stuff, but he was open to, and encouraged, suggestions that would help improve the final product.

3. Nevertheless, I like that this film comes out in favour of the auteur theory. Firstly, when Gene realised later that a certain scene needed to be filmed to make the film more coherent, he pushed through with his vision and persuaded Pompo despite the fact that this would incur additional costs. Secondly, when he was hospitalised and asked to rest for a week, he defied the doctor's orders because the theatres would have to show it in a week. He had to be the one editing, otherwise, the film would not be his.

4. Speaking of editing, I like that it gave so much screen time to the editing of the film. Editing is really challenging because you have to limit what you can show with the limited screen time, in this case, 90 minutes. We get a glimpse somewhat that, as editor, Gene has to carefully choose among different types of shots to create the best mood or emotionality. Sometimes, as viewers, we don't notice this because we are so engrossed in the story, but shot selection can be challenging for directors, especially if the director is making an art film.

5. Some may not like the funding subplot, but I think it's necessary. Firstly, you need an obstacle to add drama. Secondly, it's not all about artistic vision. Such artistic vision must be tempered with the reality of œconomic constraints.

I do agree that they could have executed the film differently by making it shorter, omitting this subplot, and going on to the high points of finishing the editing and seeing them receiving awards. But it does a disservice by making it less realistic. Some have criticised 'Pompo: The Cinéphile' as unrealistic as it is, but can you imagine how much more unrealistic this would have been if the funding subplot were removed? Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, it has some semblance of realism, and that is what ultimately matters.

6. I read 'Look Back' because I had this impression that it would delve into the creative process. I don't know about the film version, but the source material, the manga, did not satisfy me in that regard.

So far (and I'm prepared to change my mind once I see the film version of 'Look Back'), I reckon that this is better when you talk about an anime that tackles the creative process and about having an artistic vision.

7. I like the cinematography and the editing here. There are some good moments where the shot zooms sideways from a medium shot to a closeup. Sometimes, the scene is shot as though from a handheld camera, stuff like that.

It's well-edited and so well polished. There are cool transitions from shot to shot.


§ Conclusion

This anime film is a hidden gem and perhaps underrated. It delves into the art of filmmaking as a collaborative effort but must ultimately conform to the single vision of an auteur/director. Even if someone is not into filmmaking, one can be inspired by how it tackles the creative process and the challenges faced by a creative.

I read this light novel series exactly a year after finishing the anime. I remember the anime being okay but sometimes flawed with too much drama. How do the light novels hold up?


§ Overview

Mr Yoshida is so drunk after being rejected by his long-time crush, Gotou Airi. As he works his way home, he finds a girl sitting beneath a telephone pole. This girl, Ogiwara Sayu, offers her body in exchange for staying in his apartment. Of course, he rejects this proposition but lets her stay anyway.

During the course of Sayu's stay, she has learned to respect herself more. She starts having part-time work. She ... also meets Mr Yoshida's office colleagues and learns more about herself.

Then, after her brother finds out where she is, she decides to go back to her home and confront her emotionally abusive mother. She is accompanied by Mr Yoshida whom at this point she has fallen in love with. After agreeing to a suitable arrangement with her mother, she is now determined to finish high school and then decide later what she wants to do.

So years later, Mr Yoshida finds Sayu at the same telephone pole but more beautiful.


§ Remarks

Even though I enjoyed it and do recommend it, I had to mark it as 'mixed feelings' because not everyone would be open-minded enough to watch this. Indeed, there are elements here and there that are borderline suspect.

In the first place, letting a high school runaway live with you is illegal. It's a good thing that Mr Yoshida is a decent man and didn't take advantage of Sayu. It's a believable story. But perhaps when we are placed in the same situation as Mr Yoshida, we shouldn't let a high school runaway stay in our place.

Those who haven't read it nor watched the anime are so quick to accuse Mr Yoshida of grooming Sayu. He did not. No matter how many times Sayu tried to seduce Mr Yoshida, he wouldn't engage in sexual relations with her.

Nevertheless, she has developed feelings for Mr Yoshida. In turn, he too has developed feelings for her, even if he is suppressing it. The light novels end with them meeting each other again. It's up to us to decide if both will end up together, but if you ask me, it's inevitable that both will consummate their feelings for each other.

Anyway, even with the presence of a romantic subplot, it's not primarily about romance. It's about Sayu and her growth as a character, which this story has executed well. The drama can be in your face. Some would love it, others would be turned off.

The anime has captured the overall story of the light novels. What's missing is Mr Yoshida's ex-girlfriend Kanda Ao. I was excited to read more about her, but after reading these light novels, my impression is that she is not really needed for the overall plot.

Kanda's main purpose is 1) to tell us that Mr Yoshida has always been popular with the ladies, 2) they had sex, and 3) Mr Yoshida is idealistic to the point that he will never sleep with anyone he doesn't have a relationship with, and that includes Kanda, even though he finds present-day Kanda is hotter and has larger boobs compared to when they were lovers, and this explains why he would never sleep with Sayu, or at least during the storyline of these pages.

Whilst one may admire Mr Yoshida for sticking to his principles that make him unlikely to sleep with Sayu, one can't help but wonder that Mr Yoshida earns the admiration of the ladies around him but they have no chance. The writer is biased toward the Yoshida-Sayu end game, and Airi jokes that Sayu is Mr Yoshida's wife. If he had no problem sleeping around, then these ladies might have a higher chance as the end game and it ensures more drama and more volumes.

Perhaps the writer is aware of it, but he wants to focus on Sayu's growth and the romantic subplot be damned. But as a result, the other ladies are merely plot devices. Their backstories are explored, but they could have been better rivals of Sayu if the execution were different.

Another nitpick would be Kanda not being able to interact with Sayu. This forces me to conclude that omitting her in the anime wasn't so bad after all.


§ Conclusion

It's a good story and I recommend it. The drama is in your face and lacks subtlety. But the potential turn-off is there because it's borderline suspect.

Aria started airing in 2005, but all those years, how could I have missed this gem of an anime?

§ Overview

The setting is a terraformed Mars whose name is now Aqua. We meet Mizunashi Akari, who is training to be an Undine or ladies who row gondolas in the city of Neo-Venezia (obviously patterned from Venezia or Venice) and function as tour guides. She meets different people in the anime, and there's an underlying lesson with each episode.

§ Remarks

This is an iyashikei type of slice of life, meaning we not only see the characters in their day-to-day routine, it's a relaxing watch that helps "heal ... the soul." This is more in line with Bartender (2006) as well as the first half of Frieren.

As such, the first season seems to be plotless. (Of course, you have to watch the episodes in order because once a character is introduced, she may become a recurring character or perhaps part of the main cast.) There's no incentive to binge-watch Aria, so I recommend watching each episode at least 2 or 3 days from each other and perhaps watching some other shows in between: namely, other anime or jdorama/kdrama, etc.

This anime is not about plot but about vibes, and the atmospheric scenery and musick provide that. Interestingly, the first season — Aria the Animation — is said to be the weakest. I had low expectations coming in. But it surprised me in that even if the first season is the only stuff about Aria one watches, I think it can stand alone as something worthwhile.

The lessons are well dramatised. More often, it's explicit but sometimes it's implicit based on what the characters did. For example, in Episode 2, Akari and Aika had a detour and this implies that it's okay to take detours and enjoy the moment. These lessons, I reckon, largely contribute to the vibes of the show.

Aside from Akari, almost all characters start with the letter A. They have a great ensamble of characters, and each one brings something to the table. (I like Alice most.)

If there's anything I would like to criticise, it's the use of CG animation, and this is its blemish. Aria the Animation was drawn at an unfortunate time when anime was transitioning from the use of cel animation to digipaint. As such, the computer-generated objects, when animated, seem to be off compared to the background art. They seem to move much faster than they should be. It's a blemish on what otherwise is a great anime. To deal with this, I just imagine it being animated in the spirit of Frieren or perhaps in older cel animation.

That said, the overall positives of this anime outweigh the negatives.

§ Conclusion

Aria the Animation is a wonderful anime to watch in the evening as you relax from the busy day of work. The CG animation leaves some to be desired, but it's not a deal breaker for anyone with an open mind and perhaps an open heart to experience the wonderful feelings each and every episode gives you.

If you're a fan of Domestic Girlfriend or at least read it because it's acceptable enough, you should read this one shot.

It's basically Natsuo and friends being transported to a different world and he meets sexy creatures with the face of Rui and Hina. In a sense, it's partly inspired from the story of Prince Siegfried of the Nibelungenlied.

It is light hearted in nature and reminds you of some of the fillers in the main manga series. It's nothing serious. In fact, I doubt this is canon and probably appears in another dimension where Natsuo did not have Hina and Rui as stepsiblings. It's not ... a required reading if you're only interested in the main story line, but it doesn't hurt either. It's a fun chapter and probably a much needed break from all the drama in the manga.

This is just a bonus chapter of Uzumaki the manga. Much of my review for the manga applies to this chapter: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=541619

That said, it's about Saitou Shuuichi 'discovery of a new galaxy.' I put it in quotes because that's part of the horror.

This bonus chapter could have been randomly inserted in the original manga and the overall story would still make sense. Considered with other chapters of the manga, I rank this as one of its best. It's a good chapter and fans of the manga should definitely read this.

I might have put mixed feelings for the manga because of its use of ... the malevolent universe premise, but I am specifically recommending this for fans of the manga on the assumption of that they already like it.

I added Uzumaki randomly on a whim, and before I watched it, people were criticising the animation.

I followed the advice of another review to read the manga first before watching the anime.


§ Overview

The story starts with Goshima Kirie going on her way until she finds her boyfriend's father observing something. This bloke has been obsessed with spirals. Kirie's boyfriend, Saitou Shuuichi, feels something is amiss in this town, which he calls the curse of the spiral. Eventually, his father dies and a series of horrors plague this town.


... § Remarks

Uzumaki means spiral. It has nothing to do with the anime Naruto, but Naruto's full name Uzumaki Naruto implies that he has something to do with spirals.

Anyway, there are issues with the source material that I mentioned in my review of the manga: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=541619

Much of the discourse on Uzumaki focuses on the subpar animation. Me personally, I wasn't bothered. The animation is fairly acceptable.

That said, much of its fault is in the writing and pacing. It tries to play several chapters at once and make them simultaneous events instead of what the manga did, which is making each horror its own event per chapter.

I can appreciate the effort because making it episodic, i.e. one horror per episode, would have been boring, and that probably requires a single 10-minute episode. But the problem is that it diminished the impact of each horrifying event.

I say mixing the horror events would have been better if Uzumaki's entire run were 12 episodes.

Whilst not perfect, the 2000 movie is a much better adaptation than this anime. It doesn't try to cram the chapters and modifies some of them. It gives the full effect of some of the horrific events, which the anime missed.

Even though I rate this a 2 out of 10, I still marked this 'mixed feelings.' It's still worth watching after reading the manga as it gives enough visualisation of what happened in the manga. The epilogue in the anime is not in the manga, and this anime-original segment implies that this event will repeat itself and that it happens every few years. (But this opens a plothole though. Wouldn't the outside world have wised up to the fact that there are phenomena happening there akin to the so-called Bermuda Triangle?)


§ Conclusion

Don't watch the anime by itself. It would probably be a bewildering experience. Read the manga and decide later if you like it so that the visual support of the anime becomes worth it.

As for my thematic dislike of Uzumaki as a whole, it has something to do with its use of the malevolent universe premise.

I wasn't really interested in reading this, but a review recommended reading this before watching the anime, and I'm glad I did.


§ Overview

The story starts with Goshima Kirie going on her way until she finds her boyfriend's father observing something. This bloke has been obsessed with spirals. Kirie's boyfriend, Saitou Shuuichi, feels something is amiss in this town, which he calls the curse of the spiral. Eventually, his father dies and a series of horrors plague this town.


§ Remarks

It starts as an agonising read until it hooks you. The so-called horror starts out as creepy, i.e. strange phenomena happen, until several chapters later, you're ... engaged and horrified at how such things happen.

Perhaps its greatest fault is not stating why there's a curse of the spiral. It's just a given. Also, it bugs you that, after several chapters, our main couple hasn't left town. This is answered in volume 3, and I found it to be a page-turner.

As a horror manga, it's good. But what annoys me is that it rests on a malevolent universe premise. I won't spoil the ending, but this premise rests on the assumption that man is a helpless being and that the Universe is conspiring bad things to happen to him. Once you understand the difference between a malevolent universe premise versus a benevolent universe premise, you will understand my annoyance with it.


§ Conclusion

It's a good horror story, and for many people, it's a masterpiece. But thematically, it's flawed. I don't like its use of the malevolent universe premise.

It's been a while since I watched the Bunny Girl Sempai movies prior to this, and I must say it's just an okay watch.


§ Overview

Whilst waiting at the beach for Mai, Sakuta finds a younger version of Mai, a kid with a knapsack, hence the title. After some time, she disappears and the real Mai appears and is ready for her high school graduation. Later on, Sakuta has to deal with his mom.


§ Remarks

This younger version of Mai holds the key to dealing with Sakuta's experience of adolescence syndrome, which manifests similarly to Mai's experience in season 1. This movie, for the most part, is ... boring. It doesn't engage you as much as the earlier movies.

The earlier scenes were mostly for build-up. Once you reach the climax, it's a bit emotional and makes you give this somehow a pass, but the damage of the boredom has been done.

The animation and visuals, for the most part, are just serviceable. There's nothing in it worth mentioning.


§ Conclusion

I have mixed reactions to this. If this were a self-contained story, I would not recommend this or I would recommend this to wile away the time. But since this is connected to the Bunny Girl series, it is a necessary watch, especially if you will watch the upcoming university arc. I can't guarantee that you will enjoy it though. Your mileage may vary.

Everybody has been talking about the movie, so I might as well delve into the source material.


§ Overview

It starts with Fujino Ayumi who draws manga for her school paper. Soon enough, another student Kyoumoto, proves to be a better illustrator than her. This causes obsession on Ayumi's part. Eventually, they became friends and the rest is for you to find out.


§ Remarks

This has been recommended as a manga on the creative process. I was expecting something that romanticises creativity, but it presented it as something different. Creativity may perhaps be driven by negative human emotion as seen in Ayumi's jealousy of Kyoumoto. We ... may be rooting at first for Ayumi, but we later find out what drives Kyoumoto's creativity, something we will feel sorry about and in retrospect find Ayumi as petty.

Without spoiling it, this manga was published as shounen, but you can't help but read that there's some yuri subtext in this. What happened resembles some of the early Class S depiction of yuri.

The final part may be confusing because it takes place in Ayumi's imagination, and the transition to it is not seamless.


§ Conclusion

This is a good manga. It may frustrate you, it may make you cry. But ultimately, it may help inspire you to see your suffering in pursuit of your calling as something worth trudging on.

'Days with My Stepsister' seems to be one of those fake incest shows that's leaning more towards being lewd and tropey. It's understandable why people would stay clear of this anime given the title, but they are missing out.

It's brilliant in its storytelling and would leave you with good feelings that you are watching something so great.


§ Overview

Our main character Asamura Yuuta was one day greeted by his father that he would remarry and that Yuuta would have a new stepsister, Ayase Saki. At first, Yuuta and Saki are civil to each other. But through mere exposure, they develop feelings for each other.


§ From ... Light Novels to Anime

Before the broadcast, I read light novel volume 1, and it's a brilliant piece of writing. It is chill and has the introspective vibe that I love.

Can this same vibe be translated into anime? The director did his best to achieve similar effects.

This is the directorial debut of Director Ueno Souta (上野壮大).


His challenge is the following:

1. He has to cover 4 light novel volumes within 12 episodes.


2. He has to reproduce the vibe of the light novels even though several materials from them have to be omitted, or in some cases added to them.


3. He has to work within the constraint of a limited animation budget.


Director Ueno has given the anime its own unique identity with his avant-garde direction of the anime. Even if, hypothetically speaking, he was to not give this anime the proper care that it deserves, I am confident that I would have liked it regardless and rate it so high just with the strength and virtue of mikawaghost先生's writing. Fortunately, Director Ueno has given the anime a decent animation with superb direction.

( See also my Notes for 義妹生活 Thread no 0: Preliminaries 🧵 https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1833917006804058598 )


§ The Significance of the Title 義妹生活 (gimai seikatsu)

It comes from two words:

1. 義妹 (gimai), which means either stepsister or younger sister-in-law

2. 義妹 (seikatsu), which means day-to-day living or livelihood

mikawaghost先生 says that it has a double meaning. From the perspective of Yuuta, it means roughly the same thing as the English title "Days with My Stepsister," but from the perspective of Saki, it means 'living as a stepsister,' which was the sense when she dropped the title in Episode 9.

Thus, if you think about it, it's a boring title and not something trashy that so many people have this instinctive reaction to. It's a slow-burn romance and moves at a natural pace.

The chapters in the light novels correspond to days of the week, which is why it is always indicated in the show the day and date, plus Saki's diary entry as an epilogue. Therefore, the entire story is one giant diary.


§§ Defending Its Slow Pace

So many people are complaining about the slow pacing, while here I am complaining that the anime is rushing the events of the novels.

O blinded hearts! This kind of writing is just a glimpse of the type of writing that can be found in great literature. The light novels are not up to that standard (but so is everything else) but the writing reminds me of that slow, introspective style in great literature. In response to the people judging this piece of art negatively, I will have to judge such people as having poor taste in anime and movies and books.

The bottom line is that the slow pace is by design. If everything in the light novels were to be animated and not rely on multiple uses of montage, this anime would have been at least 24 episodes. The point of this slow pace is that this will be an account of their boring, day-to-day living (the seikatsu in the title), and any romance that emerges will be organic compared to how romance is usually presented.

The great thing about this anime is that the visuals and the musical score work together to create an overall vibe, and this vibe makes it feel that you're watching something extraordinary despite it being actually ordinary. For some people, nothing seems happening but the minutes pass by quickly thanks to the musick and visuals.

The light novels' point of view is Yuuta's, but it shifts in the anime, which relies more on show-don't tell. This is a romance drama. Unlike other dramas where there's an overdisplay of crying and angst, this one relies more on subtext. So the occasional voiceovers of Yuuta and Saki, especially Saki in her diary sequences, open the window to their feelings.

Sometimes, either in close-ups or in medium shots, there are subtle facial expressions, especially in the eyes that clue you in on what Saki or Yuuta is feeling.

Given what we know, we have to carefully examine their action and infer their feelings at the moment. We must overcome our tendency to become passive consumers of media because this anime demands careful attention and even analysis. If you don't give it proper attention, I am judging you as having the attention span of a toddler. It's not the fault of the anime, it's your fault.


§§ Not the Usual Stepsister Romance

If it's clear yet, this anime is not the usual stepsister romance. It's not trashy. It's not a romcom.

Sure, those stepsister romances are enjoyable despite being trashy. But Days with My Stepsister is a story that goes beyond those usual stories. Having said that, I recommend that before watching Days with My Stepsister, one should watch either Domestic Girlfriend or My Stepmother's Daughter is My Ex or some other stepsister romance.

Days with My Stepsister is a counterpoint to Domekano because the reality of stepsibling romance is addressed within the first minute of this anime. By being familiar with the usual tropes, you will appreciate the way Days with My Stepsister is going against the grain and what it is trying to do differently.

( See also my Notes for 義妹生活 Thread no 1: What's in the name? 🧵 https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1834633825391128932 )


§ Themes

The anime opens in black and white, but as they pass each other, the world becomes coloured as though meeting each other is the start of the world moving from lifeless to colourful. Even though this is an aspect of cinematography, it mirrors how the theme is developed in this anime.

Both are depressed individuals and therefore view others with a cynical lens. They have this notion of becoming independent and not relying on other people. Whilst this is admirable in America, this is negative because 1) Japan is not individualistic but collectivistic, and 2) their underlying motivation is mentally unhealthy even in individualistic societies; they stem from trauma and their inherent mistrust of other people.

There's a wonderful progression in this anime from independence to interdependence, and this growth is wonderful to see whether they date or not.

It also touches on societal expectations and briefly drops some social commentary. But since this is romance, this anime did not continue with the social commentary and they don't need to. They were there to characterise these two as teenagers in the transition to adulthood. I may not agree with the content of what they said. (There are only two sexes!) But if you have not thought about these issues, you are essentially brain-dead.

Let me note that conservatism in the Burkean sense is about holding traditions and norms as a source of knowledge on what's an optimal course of action. But as far as I'm concerned, there are traditions that are best kept and some traditions that ought to be rejected.

How do we know? By doing what Saki and Yuuta are doing, which is to question the whys and wherefores of these traditions. It's much better to understand the rationale of why certain traditions are followed. You will appreciate the wisdom of your ancestors, but you will equally detest how wrong or inapplicable the received wisdom is in the context of today's world.

Though minor, it also touches on mental health, and our one-true pair has mental health issues. It's not the main focus, but these issues affect how they deal with their feelings.


§§ A Reply to Some of the Most Inane Comments


1. Some people are under the mistaken notion that all art is political. They are most likely to like the social commentary made in Episode 2 but get disappointed that it did not continue with it.

Newsflash: Some art can be political, but not all are political. It doesn't have to be political or offer social commentary all the time. It is the author's creation, and only he decides to make it political or not. You may disagree with it or not, but not appreciating what the author is trying to do and making a caricature of it based on what you would like the anime to be is the height of solipsism.


2. Some don't like the sombre tone of the anime and prefer the more light-hearted tone of the manga.

Okay, we can allow for individual differences. After all, before the light novels, Days with My Stepsister is a series of short videos that are silly and conform more to the romcom genre: https://www.youtube.com/@gimai_seikatsu/videos.

But I prefer the sombre mood of the anime because it provides us a glimpse of teenagers who are somehow functional but feel the weight of the world on them. Their default state of mind is already messed up, and whatever conflicts they feel regarding their growing feelings for each other aggravate the weight these emotions have on them, and the satisfying conclusion would be for them to help each other carry the weight of their emotions.


3. This is also why I'm appalled at people who use the term 'nothing burger' or complain that nothing is happening or that some episodes are filler. Much of the drama is in the subtext. It seems that nothing is happening, but there's so much happening internally, and this is supported by the soundtrack and the visual elements.


4. The silliest criticism I've seen is Yuuta's generic design and complaining that the girls are not generic. They claim that Yuuta is made for self-insert purposes just like in many light novels.

I agree that his design is generic but it is deliberately designed to be so. Yuuta described himself as average, and he seemed to be someone unlikely to attract a beauty like Saki. There's no requirement that Yuuta had to have a good character design; this doesn't prevent this anime from being great, despite your protestations. And by the way, the last time I checked, one anime with great character designs sucked big time.

Again, this criticism is really beside the point and is pretty much irrelevant.

Now, let's get to the good part of this review on the musick and the visuals.


§ The Perfect Combination of Soundtrack and the Visual Elements

As mentioned earlier, the musick together with the visuals creates the overall vibe.

( see this part of my earlier thread: https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1834633868152078551 )


§§ Background Musick

All credit for this anime's incredible sound design goes to CITOCA.

This is the predominant background musick, and there are different variations of it used in the anime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQG-wH0nUKg.

It is untitled. In the link above, it's titled New Family, but in this other cover, it is titled 新しい生活 (atarashii seikatsu) or new life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tQuVLU5dVM

Assuming that it is supposed to mean 'new family,' it seems to be a nice, lovely song. It celebrates the new life of their parent's remarriage so that even the mundane things that they do, accompanied by this track, seem a compelling watch.

It later acquires a painful meaning for a brief period, until it comes full circle in the final episode as the final variant is so much positive. I say this is brilliant.

There's also this Lo-Fi study musick accompanied by a montage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zPudjnTojo.

This montage allows us to 1) see the wider world, 2) know what Saki is listening to, and 3) provide a natural break.


§§ The Visual Motifs

There are visual motifs that add to the subtext. Some of them function as pillow shots but acquire quite some meaning. They include the balloon, the hippopotamus, the hedgehog, mirror reflections, Saki's diary, and the fish tank. But there are others.


1. The balloon represents Saki's childhood innocence that's there once but fleeting, and once gone, it's gone forever. It appeared as something out of place in Episode 1, but it is really prominent in the first diary sequence in Episode 3. It also appears in the prologue of Episode 8.


2. The hippopotamus represents Saki's selfishness as a child. However, due to the financial difficulties that her mom had experienced, she repressed her selfish feelings. It appears for some reason in the last episode as she considers her conflicted feelings towards Yuuta. But the groundwork for this has been established in Episode 7, Episode 8, and Episode 9.


3. Prof Kudou had a hedgehog puppet that she used to annoy Saki. mikawaghost先生 noted that Director Uena added this. It's an anime original, but he did not note that it alludes to the Hedgehog Dilemma, which is one of the themes of Neon Genesis Evangelion.


4. Mirror reflections appeared in Episode 1, but they don't mean much until they mean so much in later episodes. The recurrence of such imagery seems to indicate that what the person is presenting to the world is different to what he or she is actually feeling inside. Again, this imagery adds so much subtext.


5. This is a big one, Saki's diary. This represents Saki's feelings and her private inner world, but this image is a stand-in for the entire anime. As mentioned above, the anime is one giant diary and each chapter is a diary entry.

I have to mention that there's a sound motif associated with the diary. It is titled 'Forbidden Love:' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1osZRMo3Q


6. The fish tank is the most recurring. It initially served as a pillow shot, but it acquired a painful meaning at the end of Episode 9. Every appearance of this motif from Episode 10 is a reminder of something painful.

( See also my Notes for 義妹生活 Thread no 2: 🧵
Mise-en-scène https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1836399949879411180

Part 2 of Thread no 2: https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1836405286296551626

as well as the beginning parts of Thread no 3: https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1842937534122463519 )


§§ In Defence of the Pillow Shots

I've been mentioning the term pillow shots quite liberally. It originates from the directorial style of Ozu Yasujirō, and it's quite common in anime. See this article: https://psychocinematography.com/2018/07/17/moments-of-cine-beauty-yasujiro-ozu-and-the-vase/

A number of people have complained that, instead of animating the reactions of Yuuta and Saki in a close-up using a shot-reverse shot, this anime chose to use a lingering pillow shot, one of which is the fish tank, and they count it as bad. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It's true that this anime did it to save some of the animation budget, but it is also done for artistic purposes, namely using the same techniques as Ozu. Again, I am appalled at their ignorance of such cinematic techniques.


§§ Cinematography

Thompson & Bordwell in their book 'Film Art' define three cinematographic properties: 1) the photographic qualities of the shot, 2) the framing of the shot, and 3) the duration of the shot.

( See also my Notes for 義妹生活 Thread no 3: 🧵 Cinematography https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1842937511724900410

Part 2 of Thread no 3: https://x.com/patkarunungan/status/1842942450249433547 )


§§§ The Framing of the Shot

For no 2, the framing and the choices of close-up, medium, and long shots as well as variants, this aspect of cinematography in this anime isn't really special. It doesn't call attention to itself. There's basic mobile framing in that whenever a character moves horizontally, the camera for lack of a better word does a lateral tracking shot. Very basic. The camera barely moves.

There are no fancy camera movements or fancy framing such as Dutch angles. It's just there to show their boring, day-to-day living.


§§§§ In Defence of the Faceless Drawings

When the characters appear in a long shot, more often than not, they have faceless drawings. Although this phenomenon appears in other anime such as Too Many Losing Heroines and The Elusive Samurai, this did not stop people from criticising this as 'lazy animation.'

Indeed, they are doing this to save the animation budget, but there are artistic reasons. It gives the director the option of hiding the facial expressions of a character whenever needed. Also, to be fair, even in a long shot, they include the face when seeing the facial expression is absolutely necessary.

Finally, to show deep space, the background has to have fewer details than the foreground. If this is the purpose, then it makes sense in such situations to use faceless drawings.


§§§ The Duration of the Shot

As for no 3, duration refers to long takes where a shot is held as much as possible before cutting to the next shot. In the usual long takes, the shot is usually 45 seconds or more, and usually, the camera tracks a certain character.

Compare this anime's use of long takes with this example from Citizen Kane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gbgep7wF9w

This anime's long takes take place at a dinner table where the camera is static. It just captures a dinner conversation and feels really natural.

It's not as long as the long takes in classic films. It's just around 25 seconds, but for many anime watchers, it's an eternity. This is an indictment against the average anime viewer, if this is their criticism, because it only shows that their poor attention span makes them unable to handle something artistic.


§§§§ A Word on Phrenetic Editing

Some people don't like the use of long takes and prefer multiple short shots with quick editing. This gives it a frenetic and rushed feel, but it is not appropriate here. Moreover, this is what makes modern movies fall short of being cinematic. Such editing is one reason why Martin Scorsese criticises many modern movies and Marvel movies as 'not cinema.'

Isn't this offensive? These twats would rather make this anime not cinematic to make it conform to their philistine taste. No, thank you.


§§§ The Photographic Qualities of the Shot

This aspect of cinematography is where this anime shines.


§§§§ Aspect Ratio

I first noticed this technique of using different aspect ratios from kdramas starting in the year 2016. Yes, there are two examples where this anime used a higher aspect ratio.

But this anime has chosen to use a lower aspect ratio, Standard Definition, in Saki's diary sequences to give this a retro feel. This also points to the fact that memories decay over time. Director Ueno took this aspect of directing from Jonas Mekas.


§§§§ Coloured Filter

This is useful for marking if something is a flashback or if something is a constructed image. Some flashbacks appear to be in watercolour-like quality or blue. Saki's imagination of seeing her mom and herself as part of the Asamura family in her childhood is marked by a white color filter.


§ Conclusion

I had low expectations coming into this anime because it is made by Studio DEEN. Prior to Days with My Stepsister, Studio DEEN had a less-than-stellar reputation and their works are hit-or-miss. Fortunately, this is a hit, and this is all thanks to Director Ueno Souta. Perhaps this is the start of Studio DEEN's renaissance.

This anime may have faults here and there, but overall, it's a masterpiece and I stand by it. It's not just cinematic because the anime is beautiful, but there are cinematically inspired shots that make it stand out. So much care, thought, and planning was given to create this anime. The overall impact negates any fault that some criticisms are beside the point.

Since there are several aspects of it to appreciate, this anime is worth analysing. There will be some aspects of my analysis that I might have missed, but this is what makes this anime so rewatchable. (Some details only become apparent upon a rewatch.)