An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Not Enough – The Price of Smiles Spoiler Review

On a distant planet, in the mecha-riding future, a princess ascends her country’s throne in a time of crisis, having to take the reins and defend her people against an invading empire while, perhaps, a greater threat to the survival of all looms just out of sight. Along the way, though bitter losses are incurred, we also learn that the Imperial aggressors and the noble defenders may not be so different, ultimately seeing that they’re all just human, flawed and largely trying to do what’s best for them and theirs.

This sounds like it could be really good. It’s reminiscent of shows, books, and games: to me, most pointedly Valkyria Chronicles or Fire Emblem. It’s a timeless framework that can be endlessly revitalized by putting new flesh on those old bones, and at least has the potential to reach a high level of quality. Potential, mind you, not guarantee. The Price of Smiles stands as a testament to the fact that even if you use good ingredients, you still need skill and effort to get a pleasing result.

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A Tribute to Tokusatsu – SSSS Gridman Spoiler Review

“Tokusatsu” is a Japanese term for effects-heavy live action film-making. Most often, it’s associated strongly with a very particular few styles. Flashy costumes, suitmation monsters, and very often a cheesy but beloved kind of attitude. Tokusatsu outings include the classic Godzilla films, which have always been favorites of mine despite not really being within the normal scope of this blog, as well as TV shows such as Super Sentai (known in the west for its stock footage being used to create Power Rangers), Kamen Rider, and the ‘Ultra Series’ franchise spawned by the original Ultraman. The Ultra Series in particular is kind of the distillation of Tokusatsu sub-genres, featuring transforming heroes and kaiju (giant monsters) doing battle.

Why do I bring this up? Because SSSS Gridman is Trigger’s mecha-flavored love letter to all things Tokusatsu, and the Ultra Series in particular (seeing as it’s called out by name), and it is at least as insane as you would expect from that.

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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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