An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Category: Specials

Anniversary Post: A quick look at Selected Films of Hayao Miyazaki

So… normally this time of year I do a big anniversary top 10 list. I had an idea to do the same this year, but real life concerns got in the way of the amount of work the particular concept would have taken. This won’t affect the weekly reviews, because I try to keep a buffer of those, but it does mean that I was sort of caught out when it came to the annual weirdness.

So, instead of a Top Ten, I thought I’d take a quick look at a few of the works of Hayao Miyazaki. I normally don’t comment on films, rather than series, though I have looked at movies in the past, and the Miyazaki films in particular seemed a little awkward to take looks at because… well, briefly put, they’re all great. These are seriously some pieces of work that live up to their hype, and it’s hard to imagine they won’t remain enduring cultural icons.

But, in the spirit of doing something different for the year mark of this blog, I thought I’d get my thoughts down on a few of them, reacting in a more extemporaneous fashion than I normally do, just to have my comments on record. And, unlike my normal reviews, this will be if not spoiler free than at least spoiler-lite, trying to avoid major spoilers for the two people who haven’t seen these films. That out of the way, let’s dive in.

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The Ride Never Stops, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love PTSD – Muv Luv Alternative VN Spoiler Review

Muv Luv Alternative. Even before the anime adaptation appeared in Fall 2021, it would be somewhat strange for a fan of Japanese media to have never heard about this thing. Even if you know nothing else, the fact that it’s the highest-rated VN of all time according to VNDB (above such entries as Fate/Stay Night at #12 and Steins;Gate at #2) accords it some degree of fame. But, if you maybe aren’t terribly connected to that side of fandom, and have been a wee bit out of touch since it came into a more mainstream anime light in October, that’s alright. Though, before we go on, let me repeat my dire spoiler warning from last week’s review.

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“Save in the name of True Love” – Muv Luv Extra & Unlimited Visual Novels Spoiler Review

Well, I always seem to get myself into something mammoth for January, and this year it’s going to be a big, long look at the Muv Luv franchise. In its most basic form, Muv Luv is a trilogy of Visual Novels that, together, tell the story of Takeru Shirogane across time and dimensions, ending with the insanely popular and acclaimed Muv Luv Alternative. Of course, the franchise is much larger than just that, including tons of side-stories, alternate versions, and of course a few anime outings that are why I’m doing this. That said, while VNs aren’t usually what I draw attention to here, I feel like it’s important to go through the source material of Muv Luv as well as the shows.

A big part of this is that the only entry in the main series that’s been put to Anime is Alternative – the third in the series. I’ll be getting to that at the end of the month, but right now I want to lay the groundwork by addressing the chapters of Muv Luv that didn’t get to the screen, Extra and Unlimited.

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End-of-the-Year Season 2 Rapid Fire Round

Well it’s the last Monday in 2021, and while normally this is a day for a full series review, I’ve decided that right at the end here, I should take the time to write a few words on second seasons for shows that I’ve already written about, where those second seasons don’t really merit a full reviewing on their own.

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Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, Episode 1

So, every season, I try to watch one show and report on it, episode by episode. Sometimes these shows have been pretty decent, other times they’ve been bloody terrible. The main qualification is that the show has to be something new, not a second season, sequel, or anything like that. I’ve tried to reach for originals sometimes, but I’ve also done adaptations. This season, I said to myself “Well, I got through Ex-Arm, one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen, clearly I can take on anything.”

I was wrong. I was so, so wrong. Suffice to say, I will NOT be watching through “Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro” as my Seasonal Selection for Spring 2021, but having watched the first episode with the intent of doing so, I feel I would be remiss if I did not at least report on what I’d seen.

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