The Yard Sale
Did you just watch Sasami-san@ganbaranai episode 1? Did that make sense? No? I don’t know, but there’s plenty to go on from here, even for someone unfamiliar with the source material like me. But it requires some decompression for someone who isn’t neck-deep in Japanese culture and subcultures.
When I read this article, I thought about Angel Beats. Because, like, it is actually tackling a subtle notion about afterlife and more importantly explaining how what we believe the afterlife to be, that directly impacts the way we look at ourselves right now, and how we live this one.
I mean, it’s a very tangible thing when it comes to organ donation. Some philosophies enable people to donate more willingly than others, after death. And in term, that impacts actual lives of people who can use the help. I think Angel Beats is, from this perspective, an ingenious way to tackle a fairly thorny problem. And it didn’t even had the time to be preachy… Oh who am I kidding?
The mixed-media franchise aside, the one thing that stuck with me in Maoyu Maou Yuusha pilot was the way the story is portrayed from a simple archetype into a nuanced and developed world. It’s Disney-esqe and it evokes the feeling of a pop-up book.
It’s not uncommon in the era of remakes and reboots to see some nursery tale reborn as a modern interpretation. I mean, what the hell is this? Joking aside, the story about a hero vanquishing some evil overlord serves as the pages in which the first-time viewer flips as s/he walks through this 2ch-original tale.
What “pops up” is the multidimensional aspect of the story. While the characters remain flat and 2D-like, their complexity blossoms like a fractal image with each word coming out of the Maou’s mouth. Sure, the Hero’s reaction was cute and Maou’s naivete was cute as well, but the story’s heft increased ten fold from the first encounter to their moment of contract.
The multiplicity of the narrative’s depth expands, too, as cuts and flashbacks show us the world beyond the grim-dark, empty castle. We see merchants and kings, cheering or troubled, and forces moving behind the shadows. Characters that the bizarre duo will eventually encounter on their journey to the world outside of their war-torn destiny already make their appearances, even before the Maou undresses her headpiece.
Maoyu’s world, as set by the pilot episode, is really nothing that special. But it was that flat underpinning which sets the baseline to what we were to expect. I think the way the story pops in the pilot episode is largely credit to the animation direction… It also makes me wonder if having a billion different manga spinoffs make a difference when the eventual anime finally comes together.
Bonus: A good contrast can be seen in Da Capo III’s pilot episode. The funny thing is, by this point, there is a large amount of background material built into that franchise, with two full-blown otaku-minded mixed-media pushes in the two previous Da Capo sets of games. So what does the first episode do? Boil it down to the basic template as much as possible. In fact it feels artificially done, and in a way that might mislead viewers. Instead of elaborate relationships and a huge back story about the magic tree, we just get, welp, what we get. Knowing this show, though, it’s probably just to get you focused away from the back story so they can bring it to the foreground later, with more impact. Well, we’ll see. It’s something they can’t just leave alone (and they aren’t hopefully, with the ex-eternal-17 character on the screen from the first episode).
PS. Magic Knight Rayearth.
It’s the feeling of being included, of your own preferences being validated by others who share the same ideas and flavors that you choose. It’s why we seek the approval of others and sometimes it’s also why we reject others and their ideas. I think in our annual quest to hit F5 while waiting for that mysterious Momotato Daioh update which never seems to change from its heartwarming 2009-feel, it’s really the thing we’re looking for, that lost time when the our perceived world was just a tad smaller and a tad more homogeneous.
It is also why I keep watching that blasted 2ch saimoe nonsense. It’s also why I enjoy this video. I think we all can agree or disagree with 2ch’s selection to some degree, but if a top 10 (or 50) list can be a story of something, this is one uplifting story personally. It’s got even the signature 2ch “taste” to it–one that I do not personally share, but somehow I think it adds to the charm of the whole thing.
As a matter of personal compatibility, to no one’s surprise, I match pretty well with 2ch’s. The first match (Tsuritama) comes at #30, and all but 2 shows on my top 12 for 2012 are on it (as Fate/Zero and Chihayafuru are disqualified AFAIK because the poll didn’t count shows started in 2011). You can pick out trends–Horizon S2, for example, scored nowhere nearly as well as S1. And I picked that example not only because it is an easy one to spot, but it also reflects my own opinion. On the other hand, you can clearly see a bias for shows that are more recent, although that is no justification for Girls und Panzer. (Frankly, I’m not sure anything can, even if I can understand it well.)
To make it simple, here are the list ranked from bottom to top. Ones with * are in my picks for 2012.
50. Natsume Yuujincho
49. Ixion Saga
48. Tasogare Otome x Amnesia
47. Oniai
46. High School DxD
45. Black Rock Shooter TV
44. Ano Natsu de Matteru
43. BTOOOM!
42. Haiyore! Nyaruko-san!
41. Utakoi
40. Kokoro Connect
39. To-love-ru Darkness
38. Kuroko’s Basketball
37. Dog Days S2
36. Zetsuen no Tempest
35. Tonari no Kaibutsu
34. Busou Shinki
33. Ginga e Kickoff!!
32. Natsuiro Kiseki
31. Uchuu Kyoudai
30. Tsuritama*
29. Smile Precure!
28. Horizon S2
27. InuxKami SS
26. Shinsekai Yori
25. Danshikousei no Nichijou*
24. Sengoku Collection*
23. Senki Zesshou Symphogear
22. Hidamari Sketch S4
21. Accel World
20. Little Busters!
19. Jormungand
18. Oda Nobuna no Yabou
17. Yuru Yuri S2
16. Nisemonogatari*
15. Kill Me Baby
14. Another
13. Nazo no Kanojo X
12. Psycho-Pass
11. Mouretsu Pirates*
10. Sakamichi no Apollon
09. Sword Art Online
08. Joshiraku*
07. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!
06. Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A
05. Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita*
04. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
02. Tari Tari*
02. Hyouka*
01. Girls und Panzer*
Homework:
1. You know how people complain about how moe is ruining anime? Here is a pretty good test to see where you stand on that issue. Just how many of these anime are so-called “moe anime”? How do these internet arguments align with facts? How do you appraise the current situation? Why are some shows ranked the way they are?
1a. How many noitaminA shows are on the list? Is it dead yet? Is it drifting from its roots? Does this data support those claims? Are there any other claims one might want to make in regards to noitaminA? (How about: It’s just wasn’t very good in 2012?)
2. How do you align with 2ch’s tastes? Which blogger aligns with 2ch better than others? Does it even mean anything? How does 4chan rank to this?
3. How many of them sell well on home video? How do sales and popularity align? How does 2ch’s popularity rank and match with perceived popularity by other metrics (such as sales but also ratings, when available)?
4. JPMeyer’s theory on ethnic-specific affinity probably plays a role. It seems a straightforward case as applied to Tari Tari. But does this apply to Hyouka too? I think so.
Bonus: Clearly, Jinrui wa Suiitai Shimashita is the best comedy this year, by most metrics, not just this one. But what is the worst? This is a top 50 list so we don’t really know, but surely it cannot be Kill Me Baby?
What is Ingress? It’s Google’s first real video game. “Real” because it’s not their first game, just the first one that is actually a game product, not some bonus feature. For the uninitiated, it’s a game you play on your smartphones (Android ones for now)–it loads up this simple map with various landmarks, you go to these landmarks, and you can do the game stuff at these landmarks. The point is to create “fields” by creating lines between various landmarks, and the sides with the most number of people under their fields win? Something like that. The other point is to follow the chain of clues provided by the various Google Ingress social network entities and figure out the larger narrative behind the game. The game is currently in invite-only beta. You can find out more about the game here.
There’s a pretty interesting interview that came out today related to this, where the game lead discusses his ideas behind Ingress. You can read it here. Basically, John Hanke (a bit like a SF name if I might say) describes how these new mobile games not only lift player out of the couch, but also melt them within the bigger world, outdoors. The game (and the increasingly small, portable and geo-aware devices that run the game) integrates this experience, and not isolate the player from the external environment like a bubble.
Well, you probably get what I’m trying to go with this with Robotic;Notes. IRUO plus Airi is basically what Ingress is. The Kimijima Reports are like the nonsense from Ingress’s in-game “intel” items or what you might find here or here. There isn’t an elaborate unlock mechanism–at least not the kind you expect from Robotic;Notes, just Googlers’ nerd-grade ciphers. I don’t think we’re looking at a doomsday scenario with XM and the enlightened versus the resistance the way that Robotic;Notes is, playing up with its potential mechanical, time-traveling hijinks with solar flares.
I wonder how Chiyomaru Shikura feels about Ingress. I guess this is sort of an eventual convergence of event–inevitable given the way the existing technology, adaptation trends, user experiences and media has portrayed the new ways people use these portable electronics. People starting and working from different sectors of life and industry might arrive at a similar conclusion when working independently. Well, I think there’s still the KillBallad angle to Robotic;Notes, and that could be pretty interesting as that plot thread resolves in the second half, let alone the giant robot they’re making along with the actual conspiracy being alluded to via the robots club, Frau’s mom and Gunvarrel.
The story to Robotic;Notes is, thankfully, multifaceted enough that it is only in the past few weeks that it resembled the puzzle-gathering RL game that Ingress is. Hopefully it’ll come out of it soon. But on the other hand, Ingress has real-life applications, which you can read about in this other interview from a Google Maps team guy on the future of maps. It’s no coincidence that Google’s Field Trip is made by the same team that did Ingress. Now they just need to figure out a way to integrate Airi/Kugyuu in my phone, telling me that the Greek restaurant near me is the #1 rated place in a 500-mile radius.