An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

Tag: Trigger

Not Making Sense Is Its Thing – Kill la Kill Spoiler Review

Kill la Kill is one of those shows where I think I would be hard pressed to find someone interested enough in Anime to seek and read reviews of shows who had not at least heard of Kill la Kill. This was the first work that really got Studio Trigger (who I have talked about several times before) on the map, and helped to set the expectation for what their shows would be like. It’s very important and more than a little crazy, so I’ll try to relate the summary as clearly as I can.

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Chuuni Dreams – When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace Spoiler Review

You’ve seen the story before: All of a sudden, some high school students gain fabulous secret powers, giving them radically more agency. Really, this can be anything, from mechas to magical girls. It doesn’t matter – the point is that you have this setup where people who at least know each other and possibly are somewhat close are thrust into a new and more wonderful adventure.

What if they weren’t?

Thrust into an adventure, that is. What if a bunch of teenagers gained supernatural abilities but no world-threatening evil or really anything else to do with those abilities actually appeared, and the group had to just go about their lives, now with powers? As you might have guessed, you’d get When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace.

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Trigger Does Social Drama – Brand New Animal Spoiler Review

What do you expect when you’re told that there’s a show, by Studio Trigger no less, about a girl who mysteriously turns into an animal person and so travels to a city fully of animal people in search of the truth, ultimately getting wrapped up in a conspiracy? Sounds like pretty on-brand madness, right?

BNA surprised me. It does, ultimately, have the fingerprints of the studio all over it, to the point where I don’t think that it’s really out of place in their filmography, but there’s ultimately a lot more to it.

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There is Now a Level Zero – Little Witch Academia Spoiler Review

Little Witch Academia is a show with an interesting history. It first started as a half-hour special, introducing us to the major characters and at least a version of the world. Later, the funding was achieved to produce another, longer special which fleshed out much more of a setting and introduced some new characters. It didn’t really contradict anything in the original, but it did evolve the material significantly.

They’re not the main thrust of this review, but I think it’s important for background to cover them quickly.

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Who The Hell Do You Think I Am? – Gurren Lagann Spoiler Review

Now, here’s a show I’ve alluded to before – the whirlwind of illogical, enjoyable energy known as Gurren Lagann. Part of me wants to just jump right in, because it’s that kind of show, but given the contexts I’ve brought it up in before, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least address something of the production history.

You see, Gurren Lagann (Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann if you prefer) is, technically, a Gainax anime. But to an extent that’s like saying the studio behind Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was Topcraft. Which it was. But Nausicaa is largely considered a Ghibli film because much of the talent that worked on it went on to become Studio Ghibli. Similarly, while Gurren Lagann was created under the auspice of Gainax, it is in some respects Trigger anime #0. Much like you can see many of the themes that would be endemic in Ghibli’s work (particularly Hayao Miyazaki’s) in Nausicaa, it’s easy to see that loads of Trigger’s favorite tropes and styles were first developed here in Gurren Lagann.

So, if at some point in this review, I mention how an element is very much like Trigger, or even call Gurren Lagann a Trigger show, know that I am fully aware that it technically belongs to Gainax, and am speaking more to the fact that many of the people we think of as Trigger were here too.

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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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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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An Exercise In Pain – Kiznaiver Spoiler Review

Normally, I don’t pay much attention to the particular studio behind a given show – I honestly couldn’t tell you what companies produced a lot of my favorites. But one credit that will make me sit up and take notice is the involvement of Studio Trigger. The reason for that is that a lot of Trigger productions, perhaps all of them, share a few traits, meaning that there’s more of the Studio’s style mixed in with the particulars of genre, writers, director, talent, and so on. Not that other studios don’t bring specialties to the table, but Trigger’s inclinations are obvious and loud. Perhaps it’s because Trigger favors original productions, meaning they have a lot more in-house creative control over most of their project than do adapters of Manga and Light Novels that already have a well-defined look and feel from their source material.

Trigger Anime shows are, without exception in my particular experience, arguably defined by excess. They’re bright, colorful, and loud. They cram in a ton of story, some uniquely bizarre visuals, usually a good lot of action, over-the-top characters, weird high concepts, and probably a hearty or heavier serving of fanservice as well. Even their most mellow and down-to-earth efforts are high flying and bizarre by the standards of others. I’ve joked at times that Trigger shows almost seem to be written by the corrupted cores from Portal 2 – there’s a deep thirst for adventure, a willful disconnect from the universe and “fact” as others know them, and they will often find a way to go to space for their climax. When they’re good, they’re amazing. When they’re bad, they’re still amazing, just in a very different way.

That should tell you that, despite the fact that I can usually enjoy the ride, not every Trigger show is a winner. In some ways that makes it even stranger that it’s taken me this long to get around to reviewing one of their productions, but in any case now is the time to rectify that oversight. And thus, we’ll be taking a look at Trigger’s attempt to play against type while still playing exactly to type, Kiznaiver.

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