An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Category: Anime Reviews

Mechs & Magic – The Vision of Escaflowne Spoiler Review

Escaflowne is an… interesting production. It’s a sprawling story spawned out of the lawless pre-2000s zeitgeist that didn’t require shows to inhabit particular genre boxes quite as insistently as you usually see in more modern works. It’s kind of a fantasy epic, technically Isekai, at least as Mecha as Full Metal Panic, sometimes a shoujo romance, and held together with sutures of psychological drama and alternate history. Whew!

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Fictional Countries, Real Robots – Full Metal Panic (Season 1) Spoiler Review

It’s March, and that means I’m once again going to take a dive into the Mecha genre. Now, I’ve looked at Mecha shows before, both in and out of March, but the Mecha shows I reviewed last time have something in common: they’re all more “Super Robot” shows.

For those who may be unaware, the Mecha genre often makes a distinction between different shows. “Super Robot” shows are ones where the Mecha (scientific explanation or not) is more of a fantastic element. They’re big, powerful, sometimes questionably machines, and defy or ignore what we think we know about physics. Little time or effort is taken to make the mechas “realistic” or believable; instead, it’s more about what’s cool. Not every Super Robot show is bright Shonen (after all, Evangelion and all its tortured, psychological offspring are still Super Robot) but many are.

In contrast, a “Real Robot” show presents mechas more as real (if futuristic) war machines. They often still get a couple technical hand-waves to explain how and why humanoid robots are the tanks or battleships of their setting, but they still try to build their robots out of nuts and bolts and make you believe that you’re dealing with a machine that humans could build and that the viewer could understand. As such the shows themselves tend to be about (relatively) realistic warefare, rather than punching out giant monsters.

This isn’t to say that Super Robot shows can’t have engineering or treat their mechas as machines, or Real Robot shows can’t have supernatural elements; it’s a spectrum, not a sharp divide. But, by in large, those are the poles.

When it comes to Mecha, Super Robot shows are more my wheelhouse, but I wanted to look at at least one Real Robot show for Mecha March this year, and thus I’m leading off with the most down-to-Earth Mecha show this side of Robotics;Notes, Full Metal Panic.

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Worst-kept Secrets – Actually, I Am Spoiler Review

It seems to have been something of a theme this month to take on the idea of the hazy middle ground between “Harem” and “Romance” – two concepts that are deeply related (given that they both imply significant focus on romantic relationships) but that are very different in expectations. It happened somewhat for Love, Chuunibyou, and Other Delusions and it happened more pointedly for Chivalry of a Failed Knight and it is all over Actually, I Am.

I debated, in a big way, whether or not this show should be considered a Harem show. After all, I pointed out when trying to pick apart the tropes of the lazy stock Harem outing in Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs that lazy shows often have a clear “favorite” among the Harem. What I feel is the distinction, though, is that while there can be clear favorites, there’s not ‘supposed’ to be a clear winner, at least not until the thing is (mostly) over. And that is the crux of the question.

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Battle School Romance, No Harem Required – Chivalry of a Failed Knight Spoiler Review.

So, last September I took a swing at the “Battle School” genre, which I feel like needs more acknowledgment as being its own thing with its own conventions, the same way as Isekai gets (though probably with similar tones of criticism). These shows have tight formulas and a lot of genre expectations. One of those expectations is that Battle School shows are, almost without exception, Harem shows. They follow a male lead with some unique circumstances, and he inevitably attracts several interesting women who become the main components of his social circle and ultimately develop feelings for him. And, in proper Harem fashion, the lead guy will, even if he has some preference, pretty much never settle on or pick one of the girls to form a relationship with.

Viewer expectations are an interesting beast. It can be good to subvert them at times, but you have to take care in how you do it, because there’s also an unspoken contract with viewers that if you present a certain way, you provide certain elements, and refusing to honor the implicit contract can generate backlash, even against material that’s actually good.

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An Arranged Marriage Romance? – The World is Still Beautiful Spoiler Review

Fantasy is often a romanticized genre. I would say that, more than other genres that go beyond the world we know, stories that delve into period-esque worlds with magic and adventure tend to be ones where you also get idealized love stories. I’m not sure why this is, but I do think that you expect fantasy romance plots to be more sweeping and melodramatic than, say, science fiction. Very rarely do period matters like arranged marriages or unions for the good of the nation rather than ‘true’ love come into play.

The World is Still Beautiful, though, thumbs its nose at the idea that this is what is or must be done, to an extent trying to do for affairs of state and political marriage what Spice and Wolf would do for economics, making a topic that would be conventionally found dry and making it central and interesting through clever storytelling and good emotions

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School-aged Madness – Love, Chuunibyou, and Other Delusions Spoiler Review

Before I can really do this review, I feel like I need to explain Chuunibyou (or ‘Chuuni’) for anyone who might happen to be unaware of the topic. The term can be translated roughly as “Second year of middle school syndrome”. Despite that, no explanation I’ve heard has ever indicated that it’s really pathological. Rather, Chuunibyou involves a youngster who, for some reason or another, takes up a theatrical persona and lives it. You declare yourself the Dark Lord, cackle maniacally, and even though you know it’s not real, you act at all times as though it were real because doing any less would spoil the ‘game’. Sometimes it’s a coping mechanism, other times it just makes someone feel better to stand out in a world that otherwise desires conformity of you.

It’s a phenomenon that, despite the name, is far from being limited to Japan. I… may have had my own brush with the experience when I was in middle school, long before I knew it had a name or was a cultural phenomenon in another country. And I do think that informs my reaction to the show; if you were Chuuni yourself, whether you knew that was a thing or what it was, you’re probably going to have a stronger response here than if you weren’t. That said, let’s dig in.

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Wacky, Sleepy Antics – Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle Spoiler Review

We once again visit Generic JRPG Land, the world that always seems to exist, particularly for parodical or comedic subversion, where a human hero must do battle with the Demon King to save the world or some nonsense like that. Except this time we’re not following the hero this time. Instead, we’re going to spend out time with the kidnapped princess who would normally exist just to motivate said hero.

She’s tired, bored… and about as clever, industrious, and self-centered as Wile E. Coyote.

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After the End – Darling in the Franxx Spoiler Review (Part 3; Episodes 16-24)

So, after two weeks, 26,000 words, and 15 episodes, what more can really be said about Darling in the Franxx? It’s probably no surprise that the answer is “quite a lot!”, at least given the close nature of my episode summaries for this show and the number of episodes left. But it’s more than that: we’ve been through the conventional best parts of the show, but ahead of us we still have the unconventional, the strange, and the troubled… which are on their own fairly fascinating, whether these elements worked or didn’t and how.

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The Bird That Shares Wings – Darling in the Franxx Spoiler Review (Part 2; Episodes 7-15)

It’s still January, so we’re still going to be taking a long, long look at Darling in the Franxx. Last week we looked at the opening act, which told the story of Hiro and Zero Two coming together, seemingly overcoming fates that would have seen them be trapped alone in the world. If you want the introduction to the show and a lot of material that this entry will largely assume you have, follow the link and read on. Where the show was set to go from there was a big question mark – there were hints of ‘more’ to come, but no real concrete outlook as to what we were doing next.

Seems like the perfect time for a beach episode to me.

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The Kiss of Death – Darling in the Franxx Spoiler Review (Part 1; Episode 1-6)

So, it’s January, which apparently means it’s time for me to do something long and different. This year, I’ll be looking into Darling in the Franxx, going through it not as a whole show in a single go, but arc by arc to try to really go a little deeper. And you may be inclined to ask “Why?”. What makes Darling in the Franxx worth an extra level of effort?

Well, let me answer the question with a question. What’s your favorite anime? And what qualifies a show for that vaunted status? Honestly, go ahead and answer in the comments, I’d love to hear what people think about that. For me, it’s not a matter of quality alone. I recently covered Haibane Renmei, and said then that if I was put on the spot, that would probably be the show I’d name “best” of those I’ve seen. But, I also commented, it’s not really in contention to be what I’d call my “favorite” I made somewhat similar comments regarding Madoka Magica and Made in Abyss, stressing that there is, at least in my case, a disconnect between recognition of quality and favoritism.

For me, what places a show among my favorites is when it captures the imagination, meaning that it’s something I come back to and think about a good deal after – even long after – I’ve finished watching. Favorite shows are ones I return to, either for rewatches or just in terms of thought. These are often flawed shows, though they tend to have at least some great strengths. Memorable characters and creative scenarios are, generally the order of the day, as apply in shows like Robotics;Notes or Mekakucity Actors (Part of what’s probably my favorite franchise, the Kagerou Project, but which suffers some when viewed in isolation as an anime). And those elements certainly appear in what I’m willing to call my favorite show, Darling in the Franxx.

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