All posts by draggle

No. 6 09 — Let’s Kill Grandma and Some Babies

No. 6,

This is more or less exactly how not to make me hate the bad guys.

Cheap Shots at No. 6

So the show No. 6 forgot about the city No. 6 since the first episode, and the creators seemed to just realize this. I can imagine how the conversation at the studio went.

“Hey, why is No. 6 evil again?”
“They killed the Indians.”
“Yeah, but everyone does that. That’s not too bad.”
“They tried to murder Shion!”
“Well, he was infected with a highly contagious disease. It’s disease control.”
“Hmm, you’re right… I know, let’s make them kill some babies!”
“Great idea! Let’s level a town and kill some old people too!”

This whole episode just screamed of laziness in developing the villains. This is made all the worse because there isn’t even a single face associated with the bad guys. As Mitt Romney would say, governments are people too.

Let’s examine the sins of No. 6 from this episode.

  1. They trick a cute little girl with their propaganda by giving her a balloon.
  2. They level an entire city and indiscriminately kill people with laser tanks.
  3. They kill the manager, who did all of… nothing… in the entire show.
  4. They try to kill a little baby.
  5. The Twilight Home turns out to be an execution chamber. (man, this was obvious)
  6. They dump people down garbage chutes.

No. 6 had the potential to comment on the dangers of totalitarian governments. But this isn’t the problem from the show’s perspective. Totalitarian governments are fine. Surveillance states are great. Second-class citizenship is A-OK. Shion and Nezumi need to overthrow the government because it kills babies, tricks little girls and has evil scientists modifying Safu. They’re simply appealing to the basest emotions pulling strings to elicit pity now. 1984 this is not. Instead of hating the government I’m laughing at how ridiculous it is and at the fact that not a single person in the show opposes it for rational reasons in the first place. Which brings us to…

The Opposition is More Evil

Nezumi also doesn’t particularly care about how No. 6 treats its citizens or the people on the outside. He wants to destroy No. 6 for revenge, since they killed the Indians. He doesn’t want to liberate it from an evil government, he wants to burn it to the ground and loot the place. Shion wants to stop people from dying from the bee disease, but seems perfectly content living in poverty and with people going to the correctional facility as long as he doesn’t know them. Everyone else outside No. 6 just assumes they’re powerless.

The situation inside No. 6 is even more dire. The reporter guy who’s hitting on Karan wants to overthrow No.6, but he’s evil, because… well… he has an evil laugh. He’s exactly like the creators of No. 6! It’s much better to sit around and do nothing than to start a revolution, because, well, we might get our hands dirty! Karan is the most morally bankrupt character in the entire show, and yet the creators seem to be taking her side. Why…?

None of the characters have any vision beyond burning No. 6 to the ground and looting it. The one character who may have such a vision is himself villainized for wishing to fight against No. 6. The message I’m getting from this show is that the best thing to do is submit to tyranny like Shion and his mother do.

Final Thoughts

  • I liked the scene where Nezumi let Dogkeeper be licked, I wasn’t expecting her to be so upset. I always love a good dissin’, and Dogkeeper delivered here. Oh, and it seems confirmed that Dogkeeper is actually a guy.
  • Why did the laser tanks stop their massacre of civilians when Nezumi raised his hands up? If only the rest of the town had thought of that…
  • Where did the reporter’s comrades come from?
  • Long insert song! Whoo hoo! Not.
  • The correctional institute is in the middle of nowhere, how exactly is making it fall supposed to destroy No. 6…?

I seem to be in the minority here (well, among the non-homophobes at least), but I really don’t get it: why do so many people seem to like this show so much? Everything I read talks about how there’s some great relationship between Shion and Nezumi and brilliant dialogue, but I don’t see it at all. Shion and Nezumi annoy me even more together than they do alone, and the lines in the script seem like they’re taken out of a bad play. Someone told me that the bad play vibes are part of the charm, but I just can’t see the appeal.

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Usagi Drop 09 — The Shinkansen Poops

Usagi Drop,

A Kouki episode. This was probably my favorite episode of Usagi Drop yet. I seem to say that after every episode though…

Kouki is Awesome

One of the things I like most about Usagi Drop is that it has kids that actually act like kids. Rin’s mature for her age, sure, but not so mature that she doesn’t like jumping around in puddles. And Kouki is even more childish: he acts up to get attention. In this episode alone, he jumped over bushes, asked Daikichi to measure his poop, threw his hat around instead of drawing, jumped in puddles, had fun closing the storm shutters, drew circles in his かs, ate rice with his fingers, and generally made a mess of himself. Both Rin and Kouki are vast improvements over the typical anime child, who is usually either a miniature adult or some disturbing sort of sex symbol.

Kouki’s Relationships with Daikichi and Rin

It’s clear that Kouki sees Daikichi as a father figure. He seems to compete for Daikichi’s attention even more than for his mother’s. He omits the “san” from Daikichi’s name, as opposed to his mother, and as if that isn’t enough, he admires how big Daikichi’s back is. He even clings onto Daikichi and asks to wear his clothes when his mom is right there. He does love his mom though (at least when she doesn’t act like an old hag, as he tells Daikichi).

I loved the scene where Daikichi took Kouki home from the day care. Kouki says goodbye to them cheerfully, as he stares sadly out the window. When Daikichi and Rin simultaneously invite him to come home with them, his face just lights up. He seemed so happy and energetic the whole time they were eating dinner.

Kouki’s relationship with Rin is interesting as well. They’re playmates, but Kouki listens to what Rin tells him despite completely ignoring his teachers.

Random Thoughts

  • Daikichi is quite the gentleman with his umbrella.
  • Kouki wearing Rin’s clothes was cute. Especially how they’re each wearing the shirt that matches the other’s pants.
  • I noticed for the first time this episode that the music is actually quite good. It’s subdued enough that it doesn’t distract, to the extent that you hardly consciously notice it.
  • Obviously Usagi Drop isn’t going to have enough time to come to a conclusion, but unlike No. 6, this is one show where I’ll be perfectly satisfied with that. From what I’ve heard of the manga’s ending, it’s probably a good thing we didn’t get that far.
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Steins; Gate 22 — Remember the Future, Change the Past

Steins; Gate

This was quite possibly the best episode of Steins; Gate yet. This was Christina’s farewell episode, as Okabe left her behind to save Mayushii. In the process Okabe and Christina confess their love for each other. (Thank God we aren’t getting the Mayushii ending.)

The Emasculation of Christina

I found it strange how, at the beginning of this episode, the creators began to ascribe more “feminine” traits to Christina. Before this episode, she was a mad scientist who knew all the 4chan memes. And now, we learn that Christina considers herself “family-oriented” and carries around a sewing kit, we see her breasts and colorful bra exposed through her wet T-shirt, we hear her call Okabe a pervert (but it’s her fault for wearing thin clothes, of course!) and we see her slap Okabe’s face. Christina was always a bit of a tsundere, but the events of this episode seemed out of character.

Then, lo and behold, at the end of the episode Okabe and Christina confess their love. Coincidence? I doubt it. The confession makes the reasons for Christina’s feminization crystal clear. Okabe (and the viewer, by projection) can only love someone who acts like a girl. That’s why without the sewing kit, Ruka has a better chance at Okabe’s love than Christina.

A Reversal of Causalty

Steins; Gate’s view of the multiverse has always disturbed me, because human actions cannot change the future. (On a side note, this fits in perfectly with Okabe’s comparison of his fight to Ragnarok, where the end of the world is pre-ordained.) But the show has always treated fate somewhat inconsistently: Okabe can jump to “nearby” timelines with the memory transfer device and make “minor” changes, but it’s unclear what “minor” means. He is unable to change the hour of Mayushii’s death, but he can change the method.

The result is that Okabe’s actions have no significant effect on the future. This is not to deny Okabe’s free will. To the contrary, he can do whatever he wants, but it is rendered meaningless by fate. This fatalism is odd in a universe where, due to the butterfly effect, a single text message to the past elicits massive changes to the future. But we can resolve this paradox by observing that the d-mail doesn’t change the future: it only brings Okabe to a different universe, where human actions are equally meaningless. This is quite a pessimistic worldview, to say the least.

From Okabe’s perspective, causalty has been reversed: he is powerless to change the future, but has free reign over the past. Effects in the future bring about changes in their own causes.

But as I’ve been saying for a while, and as Christina finally points out in this episode, Okabe’s worldview is quite self-centered. Regardless of his time travel, he does not (and cannot) change the universes he leaves behind. Okabe is truly a time traveler, wandering in search of a universe which is more favorable for him, and for him alone. He is powerless to change the future or the past, and only controls which universe he observes, as if he were changing the channel on the television.

Excellent Dialogue and Mood Setting

The dialogue for this show continues to be top-notch. Let’s take a few examples from Christina and Okabe’s exchanges, which continue to be my favorite parts of the show.

First, we have Christina’s threat, “One more word, and I turn your neocortex into a flower pot!” Now this is how you do an insult! Thank you Steins; Gate for coming up with something besides “Baka!” and a punch to the head. This is an entertaining, unique insult, and serves to properly establishe Christina’s nerd credentials.

To further convince us that Christina is a mad scientist, after the kiss, she says “I didn’t want to do that, ok? But experiences, such as your first kiss, that are stored in the hippocampus with your stronger memories are harder to forget.” This establishes that Christina follows the usual dere-dere pattern. But it does it in a much more interesting way than usual, while also emphasizing the fact that Christina doesn’t want to forget Okabe when he switches world lines.

The creators also excelled at setting the mood in this episode. Take, for example, how after the kiss they ease the viewer out of mushy-mushy land with Okabe’s line, “That wasn’t my first kiss.” and Christina’s subsequent reaction. The mood in Okabe and Christina’s farewell scene was notable as well: a sense of timelessness and a lack of any hurry, yet simultaneously a sense that there is no time left at all. And finally, we have Christina’s perfectly timed entrance to the lab and her answer to Okabe’s confession.

Further Speculations

Shit, Suzuha is back and it’s up to Okabe to stop WWIII. LOLOLOL. Honestly, not much else I can say. Could this be why Christina became the leader of CERN?

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Hanasaku Iroha 22 — Crushes, Fights and Weddings

Hanasaku Iroha,

A decent episode: finally things seem to be heading somewhere with Ohana, Ko and her family. That said, progress is still slow.

Love is War

The resolution of Ohana and Minko’s fight left me dying of laughter. I don’t think that this is exactly what the creators were aiming for, but we should find enjoyment wherever we can.

After Minko throws the wedding dress on the ground, Ohana tells Minko that she can’t go out with Tohru because she has a “one-sided” crush on Ko. Ohana, do you even know what “one-sided” means? If the guy has already confessed to you and told you he will be waiting, your crush is not one-sided.

Minko proceeds to tell Ohana to die, that she can’t have a one-sided crush, to go out with Tohru, and to die some more. Ohana, in a fit of lucidity, notes that Minko’s demands are inconsistent. They engage in a fight to the death, while Tohru shouts at Ohana how perfect Tohru is, the best of all men.

Nako’s intervention and Tohru’s eavesdropping interrupt their fight, but not until after Ohana gets a trickle of a nosebleed. Tohru lays Minko’s fears that he is in love with Ohana to rest. Minko fails to realize that Tohru doesn’t love Ohana because he sees both her and Minko as children. Then, Tohru pats Minko’s head and tells her that unlike Ohana, she keeps him “in great suspense” (what does this even mean?). Minko breaks down in tears.

At the end, Ohana and Minko reconcile. Ohana realizes she has a “one-sided” crush on Ko. Minko begins fitting for her wedding dress and prepares to become a baby factory. Tohru is still oblivious to Minko’s feelings. Well, at least Ohana did something this episode.

The Wedding

The second half of the episode focused on the wedding. The main ceremony was rather uneventful, but it did make me think a bit about weddings in Japan. It’s interesting how they take all the trappings of Christian weddings and make something rather different. The wedding this week, for example, didn’t even have a minister. My (limited) understanding is that this style of wedding is not at all uncommon, although Shinto weddings are also available.

The wedding’s after party is wild. Ohana’s mother sends a lewd letter, Tohru copies Minko and writes “LOVE” on top of the food, and the writer guy kisses beanman. The music is decent, but that woman has a terrible voice— my ears are still grating just imagining it.

The creators were perhaps a bit too forceful in trying to fit the wedding into the grander purpose of the story. The grandmother’s speech was particularly awkward. Her son just got married, but she says nothing about him and instead talks about how great Ohana and friends are and about the history of the inn? Sheesh, grandma, this is prime roasting time you’re wasting.

Conclusions

At least Ohana seems to be back in the picture now. With the grandmother’s decision that she wants to sell the Kissuiso by the Bonbori festival, we have a clear direction this is heading for in the finale. Ohana and friends will bonboru it up and band together to protect the inn in time for the Bonbori festival, where Ohana will confess to Ko. Hopefully they’ll surprise us and not exactly follow this outline, but it should be a solid ending regardless, even if it could have been stronger if they’d had more of a focus throughout the series.

Into the Leijiverse: Space Battleship Yamato First Impressions

Discussion,

Before yesterday, I had never watched or read a single work by Leiji Matsumoto. Inspired by Animekritik‘s obsession with all things Leiji, I decided that this needed to be corrected. So far, I’ve watched the first five episodes of Space Battleship Yamato, and wanted to share my impressions.

Detailed, Diverse Ships

One of the first things I noticed in Space Battleship Yamato is the amazing diversity of ships and vehicles of all kinds, lovingly crafted in intricate detail, and chock full of dials, gauges and levers. These vehicles aren’t particularly original: take the titular battleship Yamato, which is a WWII era battleship literally plucked from its graveyard and dropped into outer space. The origins of the other ships are equally apparent: we have fighters, stealth bombers, transport planes, missiles, submarines and UFOs. But with their new setting and embellishments, the ships are all entrancing.

Even the non-combat vehicles are fascinating: we have cars that fly through tubes, vans, and short distance fliers which land on skis.

Plus, we have an awesome robot that can split into parts and is a convincing liar.

This raises an interesting question: Space Battleship Yamato was made almost 37 years ago, in 1974. And yet, the first five episodes had a more diverse assortment of vehicles than any show that’s come out in the past five years. What happened? Why are all ships the same now? Now all we seem to get are minor variations on the same Gundamesque humanoid mecha. I know some people follow mecha designs and even build models of them, but I honestly cannot see too much of a difference between different mecha.

Reminders of the Past

Despite being set in the future, Yamato conveys a strong sense of nostalgia. Part of this is that it actually was made a long time ago and the animation shows its age, but it also comes from the WWII era combat set in space. As one example, take the opening battle. It resembles an 18th century naval engagement, with the two opposing forces lining up and exchanging broadsides. It is a throwback to a day where warfare was straightforward and “honorable.”

We also have an encroaching extinction of humanity from nuclear fallout, and the titular Yamato, with part of the second episode even dedicated to telling the WWII battleship’s history. The show does seem poised to take a critical look at the sense of military pride and honor which led the Yamato to its final journey and helped pave the way to the war in the Pacific in the first place. For example, look at the farewell parade and the brother’s pointless death.

In my opinion, WWII has to be one of the most interesting eras in Japanese history. And yet it’s also the least explored in anime, perhaps due to a lingering sense of collective shame and desire to look the other way. The only recent shows I can think of that took place in this era are Senkou no Night Raid and Natsu no Arashi.

Spectacular Scoring

The music is great. As in, Simoun-level greatness. It fits together with the action, and the creators seem to have actually put a lot of effort into it. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, anime nowadays do not seem to put much effort into the music at all, and it often ends up being some crappy J-pop. Of course, there are exceptions.

Imaginative Setting

Yamato’s is a universe of intergalactic proportions. We’ve only been to three planets so far, but each of them has been fascinating in a completely unique way. We have the Earth, which has been destroyed by radiation and is left barren. Then there’s a brief stopover in Mars, which is covered with snow. We also have Jupiter, which has a floating island in the sea of methane which is home to an awesome looking alien base.

Sheer Epicness

Space Battleship Yamato makes the conflict of Gurren Lagan seem petty. Humanity is going to become extinct in a year due to nuclear contamination, and the Yamato has one year to travel 148000 light years to retrieve the aptly named Cosmo Cleaner D which can save the planet. After each episode, a countdown shows how many days remain until the extinction of humanity.

Then there’s the fact that every time the Yamato warps, a slight error on the order of milliseconds on the part of the pilot will result not only in the destruction of the Yamato, but in the destruction of the entire universe. No pressure.

Conclusion

So far, I’m very impressed with Space Battleship Yamato and can see what all the fuss is about. I’m looking forward to continuing watching the show, and hopefully some other works by Leiji Matsumoto as well.