OK! I knew I said I’d get you the Clannad review, but to be honest I haven’t even touched the series. I wanted to re-watch the Death Note series and actually write a proper review for it. But, I promise Clannad is next and that it will also get the necessary attention it deserves. I know that I’m in for a treat, so I won’t delay much further. Once I get this Death Note review out, I can begin to decompress with some Lucky Star episodes and then I’m off to watching Clannad.
Man, I never actually finished Death Note until now. I only watched it up to episode 26-ish before I stopped last fall because of school obligations. And then I sorta fell out of grace – I don’t know what hit me. I was totally disinterested in it because I spent so much time apart from the series that I felt that if I were to continue watching it, I’d have to start from the very beginning. By then, it was Christmas and I had so many things going on in my life that I decided to put it on hold – permanently. But, for the past few weeks I’ve been thinking about revisiting that series because I felt that it was an important piece of contemporary art and a refreshingly bold take on the world. The scope of the series expands exponentially – not as much as Geass – and we go from a lovable main character, Light-kun, to a sadistic and socopathic murderer. It’s quite a transformation and it’s delicious. I’ll definitely give this anime a lengthy review, with all-out spoilers, and I’ll pay particular attention to the themes as well as my personal thoughts on the matters handled in the anime.
OK! I know I just updated my blog like an hour ago, but I just found out that the second season of “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi” came out, and I’M SO EXCITED! WHOOO YEAH! I plan on watching this concurrently with 07-Ghost, Clannad, Death Note, and Gundam SEED. Whew, that’s quite a plate full of anime. I’ll get around to reviewing all of these animes as soon as possible. If my intuition is right, this season of Melancholy shouldn’t be too long. Anyways, this is freakin amazing!
Please, please, PLEASE! PUT THIS SERIES IN ORDER THIS TIME!
DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL, MOUSE, REMOTE, W/E! We’ve got a ton of anime left!
Ah, I’ve decided to rewatch the entire series of Gundam SEED and Death Note. I’ve always loved Gundam SEED and I wanted to actually fully conclude Death Note, but that doesn’t mean I’ve put Clannad on hold. I’m also going to start watching that starting tomorrow (Friday). The reason for me wanting to watch SEED though is because of the depth at which they explore several important themes about humanity. I wanted to dive back into those themes and explore them once more…
A review for Clannad can be expected by June 5th. I plan on taking my time with Clannad because I’ve heard so many great things about it. I also have to start working at my internship this Tuesday, so I won’t be able to watch anime during the day. But no matter, I’m totally satisfied with watching it at night! Anyways, stick around! I plan on reviewing Death Note as well, and I’m even thinking about combining the Clannad and Death Note review together.
Ah, after my friend Josh showed me the introduction to 07-Ghost, I was floored! Not that you can judge a book by its cover; I told him,
“Ah, now I’m tempted to watch this series”
to which he immediately shot back,
“Do it!”
I guess that wasn’t much of a base to argue from, but hell it convinced me. So, I’ve decided to push up 07-Ghost from the Summer 2010 lineup to my current lineup – Summer 2009. That’s the most drastic change I’ve made to the anime series lineup, and I wouldn’t expect to do it for any other anime anytime soon. The reason behind it though wasn’t based upon just one sentence from my friend Josh. Rather, the series just started, and I figured that if I begin it now, I can probably manage to watch it with Clannad. So, there was a legitimate reason for my decision, but I will admit that Josh and others have a large say in what I chose to watch.
Clannad
News from the front: I haven’t started. Not yet at least. I do plan to though! I have two more finals and then I’m totally free to watch as much anime as I wish. For now, I have to focus on my final that’s tomorrow and my final on Tuesday. I won’t be watching 07-Ghost or Clannad until my finals are completely finished. Don’t despair! Clannad will be watched!
Wooohooo! This is the first review written exclusively for Anime Crunch! Let’s Rock! Haha, OK! Back down to Earth. I just finished up the short series, “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” and I’ve long since wanted to review “Lucky Star,” but for whatever reason I haven’t been able to get around to it. Well, consider this my way of killing two birds with one stone.
I’m really excited about this review because this will be the first one where I actually get to compare two very similar animes – the lead voice actress is the same and both series are developed by the same company – using pictures, videos, and old fashioned text. I would recommend you refrain from watching these videos if you want to save yourself from spoilers – not that you’ll fair better reading my review. In any case, I hope you enjoy the review!
OK, so I’ve been dying to watch this series because of the great things I heard from so many people. Everyone is just raving about it – and it’s no wonder! According to Wikipedia,
“The first novel of the series, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was awarded the Grand Prize in the eighth annual Sneaker Awards—only the third Grand Prize given out in the Award’s history. The series went on to be a huge success in Japan, selling over 4,300,000 copies collectively”
Wikipedia furthers with,
“The anime series became somewhat of an Internet phenomenon in both Japan, Asia, and English-speaking countries. Over 2000 clips of the series and user-created parodies and homages were posted to video sharing websites such as YouTube. The popularity of these clips (and those of other popular Japanese series) led the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) to request that YouTube remove clips claimed to be under the copyright of their members.”
This doesn’t even mention how many other works of literature or shows have actually referenced material in this series. It’s so crazy because the series is only 14 episodes long and was aired in nonlinear order. What’s more is that the series is so popular that the creators have announced a second season – always a good thing ^^! As Wikipedia put it,
“A re-broadcast of the first series began in April 2009. Following a comment by Teletama, one of the broadcasting stations, that the 2009 broadcast would be 28 episodes long, there was speculation that re-broadcast will be followed by the second season, though this has not been confirmed by Kadokawa.”
Initial Impressions
To tell you the truth, I was so pumped about this series that I postponed Clannad in the prospect of being revitalized by what I thought would be a comedy. Don’t get me wrong, there were parts within the series I found absolutely hilarious, but the series is most definitely not a comedy – I’ll get into that during the “Type | Genre” section below.
Since this series was made, and even voiced, by the same people who did Lucky Star, I was really expecting the series to deliver gut-busting humor throughout. I mean, when you read the description of the series on Wikipedia, how can you not assume it’s a comedy?
“The story follows the titular character, Haruhi Suzumiya, a young high school girl who can unconsciously change reality, and her strange antics with her school club, the SOS Brigade.”
I mean, that just sounds ludicrous! I suppose the word “antics” is defined by Webster as,
1. an attention-drawing often wildly playful or funny act or action
2. a performer of a grotesque or ludicrous part : buffoon
So, how could you not assume the series would be a comedy? That’s not to say it was a bad thing though! I really enjoyed the series regardless of the assumed genre. It was actually quite thick and frothy with metaphysical mayhem and confusion. I went into the series with positive expectations and I wasn’t disappointed in the least when it was all said and done.
Enjoyment
The series was fairly gripping, but not in the sense of a horror movie. The series has a charm to it – a kind of mystery that surrounds each episode. For the most part, the entire series is linked together in some way, and there are definitely signposts laid out each episode, but for some reason the animators decided to show the series out of order. I can’t imagine how annoying the series would’ve been for the fans at the time. If you were to watch the episode in chronological order – the only order that makes sense, especially for this series – then you’ll find that the series actually concludes on episode 6 (chronologically), when it should conclude on episode 14. So when you watch episode 6, you get this sentimental feeling of conclusion when in fact you have 8 more episodes to go. This gives the series a run-on feel to it – much like if a movie ended and then continued to show footage after the ending – *cough* Lord of the Rings: Return of the King *cough*. It’s a sad and moving vibe. It nearly destroyed the enjoyment of the series.
Regardless, I felt the series was vibrant and witty – delivers on the fan-service as well!
Type | Genre
This series was completely different than what I had initially thought. It’s predominately a fantasy story with a drop of love and comedy. There’s only one or two action sequences that demonstrate spectacular choreography. For the most part, this is not a comedy. If you’re looking for a series that’s really uplifting, such as Lucky Star or Seto No Hanayome, then you’re looking in the wrong place. This series is actually a third-person limited view, with elements of first-person narration, of the protagonist’s high school life with Haruhi. Despite the fact that the title name has “Haruhi Suzumiya,” she isn’t actually the main protagonist – strictly speaking. She’s the main focus of the series but the main protagonist is Kyon, who befriends Haruhi sometime during the ninth grade. In fact, Kyon is usually in every scene shot during the series.
Plot [Minimum Spoilers]
Nothing would be more satisfying than diving really deep into the plot, but I have adopted a “minimum spoilers” policy for my reviews. It would only take a few paragraphs to summarize and criticize this particular story, but rather than just spoiling it for you I want to just briefly touch on the attributes of the plot. Rather than just giving away the whole plot itself, I want you to have the possibility to experience the same magic that I experienced watching this series whenever you decide to watch it for yourself.
The plot itself is completely serialized but the animators showed the anime out of order. The animators knew that the spine of the series was composed of 6 principle episodes with the other episodes narrating obscure and irrelevant events afterwards. In order to avoid that sentimental nostalgic feeling, a feeling of reconciliation, the producers of the show decided to show each episode out of order. I felt that this decision was absolutely detrimental to the flow of the plot, as you cannot and will not comprehend anything if you watch it in “aired order.” For anyone who watches this series, please look up the order of the episodes and watch them in chronological order. You might end up feeling like the series just drags on after episode 6 but it’s better than not even knowing what’s going on.
The plot itself is actually quite simple and linear – with only about 4 events separate from the principle plot that are actually depicted. I feel as if the series could’ve lasted a bit longer, running on the charm of Haruhi, but if we really look at the series as a whole, it’s actually quite lacking. I wonder if this series was really meant to be a “slice of life” anime. I know that there are several books out there for this series, but the anime is extremely short and sparse – especially for one that quickly dives deep into metaphysical themes. I wonder what the second season will be abou- if the animators make another. There aren’t really any serious conflicts that occur and the ending didn’t resolve anything – not that there was much to resolve. There just isn’t enough drama, despite Haruhi’s eccentric behavior.
Simply put, the material is weak at heart for something that takes itself very seriously. I can actually see why people try to mask it as a comedy – don’t get me wrong, it’s a really funny series; it lacks the substance to propel itself beyond the conflict of interests between the two main characters Kyon and Haruhi. This series falls right in the middle of the road plot-wise, which leads me to believe that the series is really about the characters and not the plot.
Characters
There are only a handful of characters featured in this anime, but I’m only going to briefly describe and talk about the two main characters.
Kyon: Kyon is the main protagonist in the series. He is first introduced and all of his thoughts and observations are made known to the audience. He is in fact the narrator of the series. As opposed to the other characters of the story, he is the only person without any type of special powers or special history. He isn’t a time-traveler, esper, or alien. He’s a completely normal high school student who just so happened to get involved with Haruhi. He tends to disagree with Haruhi’s methods and beliefs. Despite his appearance, he’s actually fairly keen and intelligent – able to quickly predict and observe his environment. Kyon represents a really down to Earth person who takes the time to consider his situation around him before acting. He tends to be sarcastic, employing the use of irony through his logic.
Haruhi Suzumiya: Haruhi is the complete opposite of Kyon. She’s brash, impulsive, and easily bored. She likes to indulge in unconventional ideas and prefers to lighten up her life by meeting only “aliens, espers, and time travelers.” She can’t stand anything “normal” and refuses to do anything she deems to be non-exciting. She’s the embodiment of the friction between social norms and individuality. In my honest opinion, she’s really the only thing that keeps the entire series going, yet the highlights of my video show that she’s not apart of any real memorable tokens.
Themes
The themes of this anime are really light and completely disjoint from the series. In fact, I feel as if I didn’t take away anything from the series. The topics it covers are all metaphysical; interesting at best, confusing at worst. Honestly, the series has a fairly weak love triangle – if you can even call it that – and never really explores the opinions of the characters on topics concerning themes that pertain to real life. It’s safe to say that this anime is fairly shallow and that it’s merely for pure entertainment in a mystical kind of way.
I guess the only theme I found, and this was pointed out to me by my friend Josh, was the theme of existence and change. It’s actually more of a question than a theme:
“If existence itself were to change, would you be afraid? How would you be able to tell?”
I feel as if this theme is a bit indeterminate, because what’s it matter if a tree falls in the woods and no one’s around to hear it? The sound is there, but if no one hears it, no one cares. And the anime seems to agree in the sense that no one would ever know if existence were to completely change – even if it were beknownst to us prior. It’s not like the universe leaves scars every time it changes. Notwithstanding, I’ll leave the deep thinking in your hands.
Final Thoughts and Impressions
After watching the whole series, I felt that I was completely mislead by the beginning and the people who hyped up the series. Don’t get me wrong, the series was a complete success and I was wholeheartedly satisfied with what I saw. I just felt that this piece was so short and sparse, not weak, plot-wise that it felt really incomplete and unsatisfying. I felt that there was so much more that the animators could explore about the characters in the series and the metaphysical issues that were rampant. I mean, there are several light novels out on this series that deal specifically with this and yet there were only 14 total episodes, 8 of which were just small little adventures that didn’t further the characters or the themes in any significant way. But I know that the animators are going to air a second season this fall, so I’ll definitely be pushing this series to the forefront when that happens. Like I said, the series is not bad, weak, or lacking; it’s short, unfulfilling and sparse – it’s like eating a dinner that tastes absolutely delicious but only eating 3 grams of it.
This anime is influential for a reason. That reason is due to the character of Haruhi and the voice actress behind her, Aya Hirano. Aya’s voice acting is absolutely stunning – flowing effortlessly into the situation depicted on screen. It’s no wonder she “won the “Voice Acting Award in the Sixth Annual Tokyo Anime Awards and a nomination for the “Best Actress in a leading role” category from the first Seiyū Awards”. No one’s even mentioned the character of Kyon. Honestly, when I first saw him I was like,
“Who the hell is this guy?”
yet he’s absolutely essential to the series. His grounded sense of reasoning, spiced with sarcasm, and sensitivity towards social norms is a great contrast to Haruhi’s egocentric attitude towards life – which is justified by the fact that she can subconsciously change the entire universe as she see’s fit.
Regardless of how influential the series has been, I would recommend you watch this series with mediocre expectations. It’s an entertaining anime. I’ll give it that. In fact, it brought smiles to my face many times, but it just never properly concluded itself and it just lacked the raw material to be treated as a complete series. Honestly, when I first saw that it only contained 14 episodes I had to double check that I got all of the episodes – turned out that my first inclinations about the brevity were correct. The series is just simply too short to be enjoyable.
This series was actually what really got me into the swing of anime for the past few months. I was first introduced to a clip, by Josh, that depicts the main character, Konata, saying “Good Job!” I know. Sounds weak. But it was hilarious! I immediately rushed to download the full season of Lucky Star and immediately fell in love with the series. Notwithstanding, the first episode was so weak and boring that I nearly gave up on the entire series upon first glance. It immediately redeemed itself on the second, and all subsequent, episode. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought the first episode was a dud – the director of the series was fired directly after the first episode and replaced with someone who could actually direct. With that said, you can imagine the dedication put forth to make this series one of the most influential and well-liked in animes history.
Initial Impressions
I actually had no initial thoughts going into the series, but after watching the intro to the series I immediately felt guilty – in a good way. I knew I was in for a really cute and adorable anime that was funny to top it off. I wasn’t sure what the anime would talk about, but the only thing Josh told me was,
“OMG! Lucky Star is crazy! You’ll love it.”
Well, that doesn’t really leave me with much, now does it? So with that, I dove headfirst and blind into what would become my most favored comedy series of all time.
Enjoyment
In terms of enjoyment and ease of understanding, this anime ranks the highest of all the animes I’ve seen. The series is primarily a situational comedy and slice of life, so even though the anime follows the lives of 4-6 Japanese school girls, you’ll be able to relate to them no matter what. They talk about very common and random things in life, ranging from food to saying, “ahhh” through the blades of a fan. The series’ greatest strength is in its dialogue – you’ll find yourself laughing your ass off on connotations alone. The smooth and rich flow of lines between Konata and her close friend, Kagami, are some of the most memorable moments in the anime – filled with hidden meaning in the said and the unsaid. There’s no other anime quite like it to be honest. This is probably one of the least intrusive animes – animation-wise – as most of the comedy is not conveyed through tags or slap-stick. The animators made a wise choice to keep the exaggerations horizontal; no deformations in the character’s shape for the most part, and very little physical (actions) expression of emotions.
Type | Genre
This is almost certainly a comedy and a slice of life anime. There aren’t any heavy themes and there isn’t a real solid plot. You could actually watch the episodes out of order and still get most of it – I wouldn’t recommend it, though. The anime’s chosen genre puts a lot of emphasis and weight on the characters themselves as well as the plot, effectively making a story out of what is seemingly a series of very small situational conflicts – hence the advent of the sit-com. Lucky Star does this very well mind you.
Plot [No Spoilers]
What’s to say about the plot? Well, other than the fact that there is no principle plot, then nothing. Think of it as Seinfeld, only with richer meanings and quotes. I guess the only plot device is the passage of time. Everything is chronological, as you would expect, but the series will usually fast-forward between two events very quickly, but will never actually flashback to a previous event (Correction: there is an instance where we see how Konata’s little cousin gets into high school). For example, in one scene you’ll see Konata talking about manga and then the next scene takes place 24 hours later, but you’ll see Konata, from the same point of view, in the same setting. It’s not as intrusive as you would initially expect. The scenes conclude one after another, so it’s not like the idea of the joke is lost somewhere in transition – not translation.
Characters
I don’t really want to go over the characters in detail, because half the humor is in their very nature. So, I’ll just briefly cover the four principle characters.
Konata: Konata is a carefree, hedonistic, high school student in Japan. All she really cares to do is play video games, read manga, watch anime, and talk about typical life experiences. How can you not relate to someone like her? Despite her lazy demeanor, she’s actually very keen and good at memorizing large amounts of data. She’s able to cram for exams and quickly memorize sequences or patterns. She also has very sharp senses and is actually quite physically fit – able to run the 100 meter dash faster than anyone in her grade. Konata also has an incredible amount of determination and precision when it comes to activities she enjoys, such as buying manga at conventions and the like. She appears to be unintelligent because of her lack of enthusiasm to do school work, yet we find that her skills have simply just been redirected towards other subjects.
Kagami: Kagami is nearly the opposite of Konata – hardworking, diligent, honest, and well-read. She’s the model student and it shows in her grades. She’s highly knowledgeable and finds that doing your work immediately is favorable to procrastination. She also tends to think very rationally, forgoing dreams for more reasonable goals in life. She is unlike Konata in every way. You’ll usually find Kagami deep into a light novel rather than a manga. She also tends to argue more literally, which makes her quite sarcastic. Regardless of her differences with Konata, the two are very close and care for each other very much. You could say that Kagami’s alignment is a prototypical example of someone who’s Lawful Good
Tsukasa: Tsukasa is Kagami’s little sister – not to much extent since they are fraternal twins – who’s very warm, kind, and considerate – often justifying someone else’s opinion in their presence in order to keep the mood afloat. She isn’t like her sister when it comes to academics, but doesn’t blatantly and deliberately disregard her work like Konata. Tsukasa is earnest in her dedication to academics, but her intellectual skills are subpar – even below Konata’s abilities. She doesn’t have the brute brain power to function at the level of the rest of her friends, thusly making her the least intelligent. On a side note, Tsukasa tends to go to bed long before Kagami – around 9:00 PM – and wakes up long after – usually around 12:15PM, raking in approximately 15 hours of sleep each day.
Miyuki: Is a beautiful, well mannered, diligent, and klutzy girl. She’s the sterotypical example of a rich and proper young woman – complete with a set of glasses. Her intelligence far exceeds that of Kagami and the rest of the school for that matter. She usually ranks in the top 10 of her class and effortlessly navigates questions that are related to schoolwork, as well as any miscellaneous topics. Her tact is of the highest degree – able to turn any conversation that might be somewhat offensive into a neutral and kind one. Her flaws tend to come off as incredibly cute and warm – much like a kitten’s – such as, being afraid to open her eyes underwater and bumping into objects when she’s walking due to her tendency to daydream. In fact, her intelligence is so sought out that Kuroi, the teacher of the class, tends to get distraught over the fact that no one asks her questions about the material she went over – rather most students go directly to Miyuki.
Themes
As mentioned before, there aren’t any persistent themes in this anime. Mayhap the theme of friendship, but that would be stretching it because there aren’t any very large conflicts between anyone in this series. So, I think it’s safe to say that this anime is completely devoid of any overarching messages that you can take away from it. That’s not to say that you’ll end up watching this and getting nothing out of it. On the contrary, there is so much humor embedded in this series that you’ll probably find yourself watching it several times over. What’s even more rewarding is watching another anime and then watching this again, because Lucky Star parodies and references so many other animes that new jokes surface all the time. I would be so bold as to say that this anime has so many cultural references that it actually outdoes Family Guy or at least rivals it. That’s not to say that if the Japanese culture is unbeknownst to you that you’ll find this series horribly dry. It’s a sit-com at heart that appeals to everyone.
Final Thoughts and Impressions
After finishing this series, I found myself wholly satisfied. In fact, there are so many jokes and skits in this series that every time I rewatch the series, I end up getting a new joke. It’s also fairly difficult to count all the elements within this series because there’s simply too many of them. It’s a positive series. I haven’t found one person that hates Lucky Star. I mean, it is one of the most influential series on the market and the whole reason for that is because of the material that it brings to the table. It’s very rich and dense with references to the current generation and even to the last generation. It isn’t too intrusive, yet it’s unbelievably moé – it keeps the exaggerations horizontal. There’s very little romantic drama, which keeps it very light-hearted. In fact, it’s because of this that I use it to decompress from other animes that are crammed full of themes. You could call this the water to meal that is anime itself. Even if you have the finest dinner, as filet mignon is to Code Geass, you’ll still need a glass of water to wash it down – like Lucky Star. Honestly, that is the best way I can put this. It might be devoid of theme and plot, but that is the very reason why this series is just as necessary to the anime industry as water is to human life.
Page Flip
Alright! Moving right along – back on track – into Clannad, which was postponed a week. It’ll be about two weeks or so before I finish this series due to the sheer volume – approximately 50 episodes total. Expect a review within a few weeks, but that doesn’t mean I won’t post random news, pictures, or videos in the mean time. STICK AROUND – FULL STEAM AHEAD! Clannad is NEXT!
Hey guys, I’ve decided to put Clannad on hold and push up The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The reason for this is because I’m not really in the mood for a serious anime right before I have to take my finals here at UMD, but also because The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a very short anime that swiftly blends with Lucky Star. In fact, what I’ll do is rewatch Lucky Star after I finish Melancholy and then review them both in one fell swoop! In that way, I’ll be able to actually review my favorite comedy of all time as well as an associated anime – the lead voice actress in Melancholy is also the lead voice actress in Lucky Star. I should be finished with both series by the end of the week. I’ll let ya know if anything else changes, but so far here’s how the list of anime is coming: Melancholy, Lucky Star, Clannad, Fullmetal Alchemist, and then a toss up between Bleach, Hayate no Gotoku, and Shakugan no Shana. In any case, all of these animes will be seen eventually.
Look out for my review on both of these animes by Friday this week. I know that’s a tall order and it’s going to be difficult to actually fulfill that request, but I will try my best to stay on top of the anime! FULL STEAM AHEAD! THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA IS NEXT!
Ahh, so I just finished Seto No Hanayome, and let me tell you that it’s utterly adorable! (Kawaii!) Seriously, it’s one of the most heart-warming, fun-filled animes I’ve seen in a long time. I’ll be reviewing that shortly, but first I want to get some announcements out of the way. I’ll be continuing into my cooldown period with a usual dose of Lucky Star – a full run through all 25 episodes – and then I’ll be moving right along into Clannad!
In other news, real life related, I aced my Linear Algebra midterm with a 90%! Hell yeah! But, I quickly spoiled the mood by dropping my Second Generation iPod Nano in the washing machine this morning, which completely busted it. Tragic! Oh well, it’s not the end of the world and, besides, I’ve been itching to get my hands on an iPod Touch, so this just gives me the reason I’ve been waiting for. Honestly! My iPod Nano was great and all – it literally couldn’t be broken any other way – but those new iPod Touch’s are just gorgeous!
Now let’s push real life aside so we can move on to more important things like anime!
Seto No Hanayome
Introduction
Ahh, Seto No Hanayome (“The Inland Sea Bride”) was a great change of pace from Code Geass. Don’t get me wrong, Code Geass is a masterpiece but to have a upbeat and heart-warming anime come and take my breath away is quite refreshing. Seto No Hanayome explores the mountain tops of love that spawn through serendipity – as if love came otherwise – and the obstacles that always present themselves for all forbidden loves. The series immediately comes off glowing and smiley with the first scene showing our main character, Nagasumi, being saved by his soon to be mermaid wife, San. Due to the code of conduct mermaids follow, any mermaid who reveals themselves to a human must be killed. In order to circumvent this, San decides to offer herself to Nagasumi as his wife, not just for her sake but for his as well – as San’s father, Gōzaburō, doesn’t approve of this and believes that killing Nagasumi would eliminate the issue altogether. The plot thickens when we learn that Gōzaburō is a gang boss who refuses to give up his daughter to anyone, along with his followers save for Masa and Gōzaburō’s wife, Ren.
Initial Impressions Prior
To tell you the truth, I postponed this anime one week to rewatch some of Code Geass out of the fear that Seto No Hanayome wouldn’t live up to be as good as Fumoffu. I wasn’t told anything about this anime, so I wrote it off as another slap-stick comedy without the foundational basis that FMP gave Fumoffu. To say the least, I was absolutely surprised to see that my unmerited low expectations of Seto No Hanayome were completely blown away by both the nature of the comedy and the actual backbone of the plot.
Enjoyment
The series was really full of life and young energy, which really propelled it. For me, the actual style of the anime was a bit intrusive and exaggerated, but suited to the series. At times, the style of the animation played against itself, in my opinion, yet I found that the show’s greatest strength was its ability to craft situations that festered with misunderstanding – a common theme in the anime. Specifically, the anime capitalized on the fact that all the mermaids in the show would lose their human form if they ever got wet. Our sad and hapless hero, Nagasumi, would have no choice but to dry off either San or her childhood friend, Luna, in order to prevent their exposure, by wiping their lower half which could be, and always was, mistaken for sexual behavior upon initial inspection. To tell you the truth, that was probably the best part of the series – the fan service coupled with the ensuing comedy.
Final Impression
After I had finished the series, I felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction in both the ending and the overall direction of the series. At times, the show touched on really serious issues that stemmed from harsh assumptions and vicious desires, which really drew me into the plot but also repelled my strong sense of justice. I truly hate to see someone good or innocent get blamed for something he didn’t do; it gets worse when everyone is obviously blind to any type of reason and is using the situation as a vehicle for their agenda. An example of this would be Runa’s scheme to outdo her friend San by making Nagasumi look as if he was in a extra-marital affair. Gōzaburō uses this opportunity to try to convince San that the idea of marriage was a mistake and no one allowed Nagasumi to explain himself. What’s worse is that no one is actually considering what San wants, because in the end she is the one who should make the decision. It also pains me that Nagasumi himself is just incredibly weak-minded. He’s so spineless that he refuses to speak up for himself in the name of justice and would rather spend as many days as he can being lazy. Some might argue he doesn’t have a choice, but in my opinion there is always a choice to voice yourself regardless of the situation. And obviously, to have the heartless intent of making someone look guilty of a terrible act, such as adultery, is bad enough but to actually want to steal a friend’s husband, not because you love him – which doesn’t justify anything – but just to get ahead in some fictional competition you think you’re in, is just awful and shameful. And the way the anime portrayed this dilemma was somewhat far fetched and too deep in scope; obviously in order to actually generate material for the series, otherwise there wouldn’t be any conflict if things actually played out sensibly.
Perhaps the conflicting emotions within me signal that the anime did a great job of building up tension in the audience, because ultimately I just want what’s most chivalrous for everyone. That and I’m a romantic at heart (^_-)!
Type | Genre
Seto No Hanayome is definitely a romantic comedy at its core with elements of harem, adventure, and a dash of drama – make that two dashes. You could argue there’s some fantasy in there because of the fact that we’re talking about mermaids, but I think I’ll just leave it at a touch of fantasy. When people talk about fantasy they’re usually talking about high fantasy – the usual medievalist, magic gobbling stories by the likes of J. R. R. Tolkien – and rarely about any of the myths and legends – such as the Excalibur or The Canterbury Tales – that actually dominate the genre.
Plot [Non-Spoiler]
Seto No Hanayome doesn’t actually introduce any new elements plot-wise, but it does flush out the ride. The series is remarkably smooth, terse and crisp in its story arcs – all of which flow and fit nicely. The plot is quite unpredictable, yet the audience always has a clue as to who will win out in the end; this never extinguishes the flames of excitement in the series. The series has a unique way of introducing new characters who may not fit into the anime at first, but usually find their niche somewhere along the line. I must say, every single person who walks into the series does not walk out. This isn’t like Naruto where you have a princple set of characters and then you have the bad guys, who more or less come and go. Notwithstanding, Naruto holds a different place in literature – with a lowercase “L” – and so does this series. I wouldn’t say that the series is a masterpiece like Code Geass or Gundam: SEED, but I would venture to say that it’s incredibly enjoyable with its unique perspective on themes that are subtle today but are glaring in the anime.
Characters
I don’t really want to get too much into the characters, but I’ll speak about the main character, Nagasumi, his wife, San, and my two favorite characters, Masa and Shark Fujishiro. My absolute favorite character in the series was actually a tie between Masa-san and Shark Fujishiro.
Nagasumi-san: This person is your usual anime middle school boy who wants carefree nights, very little homework, and hasn’t thought about girls yet – complete with ahoge. He’s actually very caring about his friends, family, San, and surprisingly Runa, but his small body and weak will make him nearly worthless all the way up until the end, when he actually learns how to be a man.
San-chan: San is probably the complete opposite of Nagasumi – not in terms of hobbies, likes, and personality, rather in terms of what she believes is important in life. San believes that chivalry, duty, honor, and mercy are at the forefront of importance. She’s extremely strong willed, acting in situations that could spell the death of her – like saving Nagasumi from drowning in the beginning – even when all roadsigns are pointing towards the exit. Despite her honorable ways, she’s actually very gullible and tends to get tricked by her family who want to kill her fiancés. She might be gullible but she’s actually quite learned, earning high marks in school – way above Nagasumi. What’s really unfortunate is that she ends up as the puppet for everyone else’s desires for the majority of the series, solidifying her as the damsel in distress
Shark Fujishiro-san: Shark Fujishiro is exactly how his name sounds – a shark. When I first heard his voice, I knew he sounded familiar. I looked up his voice actor and found that he also did the voice of Mu La Flaga in Gundam:SEED. Perfect fit! His attitude is cool-headed, emotionless, yet impatient which makes him hilarious. He tends to favor quick and immediate methods to solving problems, such as eating Nagasumi-san, which quickly lead to hilarious high jinks.
Masa-san: Masa-san shares many characteristics of Shark Fujishiro in that he’s very calm – more so than Shark Fujishiro – and cool headed. Masa-san also displays a silent demeanor, often observing situations very carefully and thoroughly before acting. He has a deep respect for Gōzaburō, but is one of few who actually approve of the marriage between Nagasumi-san and San-chan. In fact, he helps Nagasumi-san through his hardships with Gōzaburō, often encouraging Nagasumi to continue to fight against the temptation of quiting.
Themes
Despite the fact that this series is primarily a romantic comedy, there are several really epochal themes that this series touches on. I’d say the largest one they focus on is chivalry, but some others that are also mentioned are: temptation, honor, marriage, revenge, friendship, acceptance, duty, and of course love.
I’m going to skip over all the themes except the theme of love – reason being that this theme is the most heartfelt one in the entire series. The series didn’t quite portray the theme of love as much as I wanted it to, but that’s mostly due to the Japanese culture. In fact, most Japanese people believe that actions speak louder than words in reference to love, which goes completely against my intuition of communication – but I do agree with their mindset. I really liked how the animators depicted love as the conquerer of all. They really drilled the fact that, in the end as long as one has love that is all that matters; conversely if one has everything but love, they have nothing. And that theme really played a major roll in perpetuating the motives of Runa-chan as well as Kai Mikawa. These two vicious students are so desperate to find love and be loved that it drives them to try to sabotage the relationship between San-chan and Nagasumi-san. Even though they seem cold-hearted and evil, they’re emotionally wounded and hollow; striving their hardest to find an ounce of meaning in the scramble of life. And when it’s all said and done, they realize that no matter how hard they try, they are quickly evaded by happiness itself. It’s sad, but the truth is that not everyone finds love and not everyone finds happiness, so we must be happy for those who do because it’s incredibly precious. Don’t hate those who have found their meaning in life; be noble and grateful.
Final Thoughts
Even if this series doesn’t have the foundational backbone of FMP, it’s still some of the best damn comedy around. At times in the story you’ll find yourself screaming,
“W-W-Whoa!”
and then there will be times when you just want to bury your face into your palms, but for the most part this series delivers. Also, in comparison with Lucky Star, which I have yet to review, and Fumoffu, this series is actually the weakest – but it is by no means weak to any degree! This series is incredibly entertaining, but fails to rank as one of my top comedies. With that said, I would highly recommend this anime to anyone who’s looking for a romantic comedy to lift them up. The ending is quite deserving and should leave you on a sunny note.
Remote Control
After I finish up my cooldown period with Lucky Star, which is actually shorter than I thought, I’ll be pushing into Clannad and its sequel Clannad: After Story. I do plan on getting Death Note in there somewhere, but I don’t know whether or not I’ll actually review it. I really want to move on to new animes instead of wrapping up old animes that I’ve already seen – hence the reason why you haven’t heard a thing about FMP TSR. I’ll just go ahead and post the TSR review I had drafted and tweak it to reflect my new feelings about it, but it’s nowhere near as comprehensive as I would like it to be.
In any case, FULL STEAM AHEAD! The fantasy of Clannad is next followed by The Melancholy of Suzmiya Haruhi. With over 16 months of backlogged animes that I have to watch, analyze, and review, we’re definitely no where near an empty tank of gas.
In the world of motion pictures, there are two types of anime: anime and Anime – Code Geass is most certainly the latter. I’m about to dive deep into Code Geass R1/R2, but before I do I just want to express my absolute admiration for Code Geass. It explores the swirling staircases of love, the slithery depths of hate, the distant world of the Gods, the length of human compassion, the grace of forgiveness, the sadness within the hearts of many, the pride of a country, the deceitfulness of words, the ideas of a symbol, the resolution of human greed, the cost of war, the cost of peace, the tragedy of loneliness, and ultimately – the question of truth and righteousness. I’m head over heels in love with Code Geass. Honestly, I have never experienced such a romantic anime – not romantic as in “romantic love” – that shouldered such large questions about existence itself. Code Geass was relatable on so many levels that it pained me to side with one person over the other. The ending of the anime was so necessary and complete, yet I found myself saddened by what I knew had to be done. Haha, maybe I’ve developed too much of an attachment to the characters in the series, but I really do love exploring the ideas behind the series.
Code Geass R1 + R2
Initial Impressions Prior
A while back I asked my friends for a list of animes that they would recommend watching, and Code Geass was at the very top of that list with deeply etched, bold underlines and exclamation marks. Needless to say, I had very high expectations for Code Geass, especially after watching Chrono Crusade and Full Metal Panic! To be honest, I was putting so much emphasis on Code Geass after the last two animes I watched because I was so disappointed. I had high hopes for Chrono Crusade and FMP! but was terribly disappointed in either the execution or the portrayal of some of the themes. In essence, I was betting all my chips on Code Geass to raise me up out of this anime slump and propel my imagination to new heights. And to my surprise, I was not disappointed in the least.
Enjoyment
After watching the first episode of Code Geass, I was completely hooked. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, as the unanimous reception of the anime has almost certainly been positive. Let’s just put it this way,
“When the first episode was shown during a special test screening, which was attended by Ōkawa, other members of the series’ staff, as well as several journalists and other media-related personnel in response to the hype surrounding the series’ upcoming release, the audience fell into immediate silence after it ended, followed by ‘tremendous applause.'”
And it’s no wonder, the series is so hypnotizing and deep that I nearly cried with joy at the end of the series. There wasn’t one second of the anime that I found unpleasurable – the smooth and detailed visual effects and animation were extremely attractive and fluid, which was only furthered by the switch to 720p in the second season.
Final Impressions
After I had watched all the way through the first and second season of Code Geass, my impressions of it had changed from,
“This had better be good”
to
“Oh My God! This is AMAZING!”
And the only word I kept screaming as I gorged into the series was,
“WHAT??!”
Seriously, the series gets so incredibly insane and powerful, that you willingly suspend all belief, rise into the clouds of vertigo, and absorb the chaos that is unleashed in your mind by the twists this anime makes.
Type | Genre
I don’t even know if this anime falls neatly into any genre. Honestly, this anime is popular because it doesn’t fall into just one category. The producers even changed the overall outlook of the anime when it was rescheduled from the prime-time Saturday time-slot to the late-night Thursday time-slot. But if I were to quickly tag-word this anime, I would probably attach the categories:
Action/Adventure
Mecha
Drama
Romance
Comedy
In that order of relative predominance in the series.
Plot
Ah, the plot of Code Geass is remarkable. And I don’t just mean that the events that occur, I’m talking about the techniques used to reveal the plot employed by the animators to create tension and excitement. For example, the animators made great use of flashbacks during battle sequences or high-pressure confrontations between the main character, Zero or Lelouch, and someone of consequence. Now, on paper it might seem outlandish and campy to give the main character a predetermined exit, but it actually pans out to make Lelouch look incredibly intelligent – which he is. Some – including myself – actually comment on the resemblance between Lelouch and Light-kun in Death Note – particularly the means by which both character proceed to do “good” for the world and their incredible ability to predict and analyze their situation as well as their enemies. As with most anime there is very little foreshadowing, but in the opening and ending sequences of the show, you can see that the main character and his childhood friend, Suzaku Kururugi, end up working together. Other than that, there’s definitely some mirroring that occurs throughout the entire series. It’s really interesting to see how the roles of so many characters reverse and a thought you held about certain people is completely reversed when shown in a new light. As the anime barrel-rolls, you begin to twist and turn your view on the situations and characters. It would be as if those you once thought as powerful become mere specs of dust as the weak suddenly rise up to become your worst nightmare. It’s quite refreshing.
Part of the magic though is the suspense created by the fact that Suzaku and Lelouch don’t realize that they are fighting each other in this war. It’s furthered by the fact that Kallen Stadtfeld is working under Lelouch and doesn’t even realize it and Suzaku doesn’t know that she’s a rebel herself. So, most of the tension is actually wrapped up in everyone’s struggle to maintain their facade and live their alternate life at the same time. What really makes this so delightful is that the whole message behind this is that, there is no possible way that friendship can bloom if there is no communication. The whole theme of “putting on mask to please the world” and “not telling your friends the truth out of fear” is what really propels this to the audience’s forehead. Can you imagine if you were a high school student by day and a rebel operative by night? And not only that, but also be working with fellow classmates and not even realize it? That’s just incredible! To see everyone struggling to just maintain their composure while juggling a billion tasks mostly mirrors…us. Honestly, everyone in society is always so busy with their work, their girlfriends, their boyfriends, their friends, etc that they begin to smudge the boundaries between their personalities. Everyone acts differently according to their surroundings – for instance, you’re always on your best behavior when you’re taking a girl out on a date, given that you are actually interested. But if you’re around your friends, all bets are off – if you can act like a jackass and get away with it, then you will. And even though life doesn’t really throw you into situations where you must study for your final exam for next Thursday and blow up a munitions storage facility the night before, it does tend to put you in many socially conflicting situations. For instance, what if you run into a close friend while you’re on a date with your girlfriend? I know friends who act totally different around their girlfriends and it’s so interesting to see how they handle the differential between their behavior as a friend and a boyfriend. But, it is these situations that allow us to relate to the characters in Code Geass. Albeit, the situations are highly exaggerated, but nonetheless it really does call to the double, triple personalities we must live out in front of others – and what’s truly tragic is that no one ever gets a chance to see what’s behind our mask, which is shown in the series as well.
Despite the screaming you will be doing at the beginning, you will almost certainly drop your jaw when you see the end – followed by tears. The ending is an absolute success. The anime is full of surprise twists, yet somehow the ending is remarkably satisfying and justified. Code Geass effectively culminates the conflicting ideas, thoughts, and emotions of everyone and embodies them into the characters. There is a pervasive sense of sadness, happiness, joy, hope, and distraught that runs through your veins during the last 10 minutes of the show. As you see Lelouch riding down the street as the emperor of the world, he is killed by his friend Suzaku in disguise as Zero in what was previously agreed upon by the two. After all of the hatred, blood, and tears that are spilled upon their world, all of those who are smart enough begin to grasp the price that Lelouch paid in order to give them a better world – a world that he wanted for his little sister. The saddest part is when you see his sister cry for him even though he chained her up in order to make the world hate him. But his sister is dupe – she immediately realizes that Lelouch put on this show to make her world kind, warm, and welcoming – something he could never have. And he gave his life for her world. Realizing this, she immediately breaks out into tears and says,
“It isn’t fair! I would’ve been happy…with you”
In the previous episode she calls her brother the devil. A murderer. But then realizes that he is actually the same angel who loved her and cared for her crippled body for the past 5-10 years. That same soft-hearted brother who just wanted his little sister to be happy. But the only way he could give her a world that she deserved to live in, was if he took on the world’s hate and killed it with his very life – something that mimics Christ becoming sin on the cross and dying for all of mankind. Such sacrifice for someone so dear is noble, which is why the ending is surge of every emotion you could ever have.
Characters
Oh God, the characters…the characters in Code Geass are absolutely gorgeous. Yes they’re attractive physically, but I meant that they’re so deep and filled that it really draws the audience into them – they’re not the flat stereotypes that you can pick off the shelf in any anime you watch. Each of the characters that spend a decent amount of screen time is so rich with history, character, and emotion that it’s almost too easy to become attached to the characters. It’s almost impossible not to become connected with the characters because they’re so tragically romantic that it just warms your heart to see them strive so hard to fulfill their dreams – whatever they might be.
I’ll just quickly go over the four main characters of the series that I felt deserve mentioning. That’s not to say that I didn’t find myself liking other characters in the series, but these four are just absolutely adorable.
Lelouch Lamperouge | Zero: Lelouch is the result of the contradiction we call reality. He embodies the collision of good and evil in the world by doing good through evil means – or rather, he’s where the rubber meets the road. He’s a brilliant student capable of advanced prediction, path finding, and clockwork planning. Seriously, he’s basically like Light-kun in the sense that he carries values of good and evil, right and wrong, but realizes that in order to do good, one must stain their hands with evil. I must say though, if I were to choose who I’d side with in a game of chess, they’re both absolutely great strategists, but Light-kun tends to analyze the psychology of most people, while Lelouch tends to predict the movements of people. In short, Lelouch is about the economy (the choices people make), Light-kun is about the sociology (why people make the choices they do).
Kallen Stadtfeld: Kallen comes in right at the beginning and doesn’t make a particularly large impact until she begins to interact with Lelouch, who is in disguise as Zero. She’s unbelievably loyal, loving, and conflicted. She has emotions of care, love, and attachment stapled on her mother and Lelouch, but always ends up with conflicting emotions that are usually attached to a past event. To be honest, she’s my favorite character in the entire series because she is like everyone else – living a double or triple personality that fronts her soft and lonely nature beneath. Not to mention that she is also participating in the resistance of a world-wide government entity, so disguises are absolutely necessary for that as well.
C.C.: C.C. is Lelouch’s benefactor and accomplice. She’s usually shown as a stoic and cold person, but when she uses a mental disruption technique she unintentionally reveals who she is beneath her hardened skin. At heart, she’s a lonely girl who just wants to be loved. Her Geass ability was to make others love her and usually Geass abilities are manifested as “over-compensations” of weaknesses that are found in the user. Thusly, C.C.’s greatest weakness was that she never knew what it felt like to be loved. This aspect of her just makes her character all that more loveable – the audience can’t help but fall for a girl who’s heart is tender from the world trampling all over it. One scene made me cry was the one where C.C. losses her memory, but not her Geass or her immortality, and she reverts to her old-self – a slave girl who knows only simple things in life and believes herself to be worthless. How can you not love her?
Suzaku Kururugi: To tell you the truth, Suzaku is my least favorite character. And he was meant to be, actually. If you look at the way the animators portray him, he’s seen as idealistic and unrealistic. He believes that the means by which something is achieved must meet the ends that are achieved. In essence, he wants to do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. The problem is, I believe his sense of right and wrong are completely off base. How can you possibly believe you can change an evil empire, by using the empire’s own circulatory system to do it? Unlike a body, you cannot bring down an empire from the inside, which he learns during the last 5 episodes of Code Geass R2, after he pairs up with Lelouch to reshape the entire world. Even then, his time on screen as a complete douche overshadow his contribution to shaping the new world – yet I do have respect for Suzaku. The animators portrayed him to be that kid that everyone hates in school – the one that would tell on you if you bulled someone else. The one who would always say, “don’t do that” or “I’m telling!” But to be fair, he’s the type of person who’s reliable, honest, and true to the values held by most – yet the animators took into account that he isn’t invincible. He eventually succumbs to the methods of Zero by trying to force Kallen to take a drug called Refrain in order to interrogate her.
Themes
If I were to say that there were only one or two prevalent themes displayed in Code Geass, I’d be lying. The reason why Code Geass was such a major success was because it hit upon several different topics. I mean, the anime was this huge shotgun effect of themes and ideas that raptured anime fans left and right. Honestly, this anime is one of the most well rounded series you’ll ever get to experience. From the dizzying heights of the Godly realms to the stone-cold depths of poverty, this anime touches on all of the themes and genres of every great anime series that has come into being. Even super-powers and super-weapons are given their time in the limelight, but what really brings it home in the end is the characters and how their actions exemplify themes that are expressed throughout the series. I can’t even begin to name all the themes this series brings together, but I must say that the ones that stood out the most were the themes of faith, trust, self sacrifice, and good vs. evil – the strongest being the last. What exactly constitutes as evil and if something is evil, is it possible to get rid of it using good deeds? Or is it impossible to fight evil without getting your hands dirty? All of the questions that this anime explores are deep, riveting, and discussion-worthy. If the characters themselves lacked in anyway, the themes would more than make up for the appetite of the audience.
Final thoughts
The best part about this anime is that the scope of the anime goes from focusing on a single student’s game of chess to his game of world domination. The width, height, and depth of the scope in this series exponentially widens to engulf worlds that are beyond Earth, or even this material plane! What’s even more interesting is the world of the secondary characters that you don’t get to see as often. To be honest, I wanted to know more – a lot more – about Kallen. I really wanted to see her on screen, showing off her character. She always appears to be quite static, but she’s actually a very dynamic character – at least by the end of the series. She’s intense and deep. She needs to be on screen more often! Nothing is more intriguing than the thoughts of a conflicted high school girl who’s unwavering loyalty is shattered by the thought of betrayal only to have all of her thoughts and expectations shattered by what was really at the end of the race: a world she had hoped for. Honestly, to see Kallen follow Lelouch without knowing it, then falling in love with him, followed by betraying him because she misunderstood his motives, to finally realizing that everything Lelouch did was planned and meant to ensure that this world would be kind enough for his sister and her. So that she might come to terms with life itself. And that, my friends, is what makes this anime so satisfying. The themes, the action, the dialogue, and the plot are nothing without the cast of characters that really paint this series as a complete and utter MASTERPIECE!
UP NEXT
Next, we march right into the comedy of Seto no Hanayome and then into the swordmasters of Shakugan no Shana! DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL! FULL STEAM AHEAD!
P.S. – TSR review coming up within the next few days. Resuming the intensity study of the Second Season of FMP! once I get my laptop fixed (which should be tonight).
Hey guys! I just finished watching Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, which is the second installment of the Full Metal Panic series and serves as a spin-off and a somewhat-canonical extension of the series between the first season and the second season, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid. I finished Fumoffu rather quickly because there’s only 12 episodes in this series, but I heard that the second season is only 13 episodes long so that shouldn’t take long to finish either.
And now, for the review.
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu takes place sometime after the first season and before the second season. This spin-off plays out purely as a romantic comedy that depicts the adventures of Sousuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori as they go through high school together.
FINALLY! This series is absolutely everything that everyone wanted to see in the first season. The animators totally ditched the mecha fighting, the military operations, the super-powers, and the political intrigue and opted to show how Sousuke and Chidori spend their days in the 11th grade. In this series, we get to see how the those two get along without actually DTR’ing their relationship quite yet; it’s actually a very charming series.
The series itself is completely modular and each episode stands on its own as a complete story, with the exception of episode 8 and 9. The best part of this series is the fact that it addresses the very thing that everyone has been dying to watch: the dynamic-romantic relationship between Sousuke and Chidori. It’s like they’re dating but not, which makes it so much more interesting and relatable than the first season. Sousuke and Chidori’s relationship is basically a mutual understanding of exclusion, with both of them being hopelessly in love with one another but not knowing how to show it or say it – which is actually concluded in the second season (^_-).
What really makes this series so great is the lighthearted slapstick comedy and typical, yet effective, anime-comedy that cracks everyone up. To be honest, this series displayed some of the best situational comedy I’ve ever seen in any anime. Fumoffu by far ranks at the top of my list of anime as a comedy and overall as a show. In short, Fumoffu did everything that the first season could not, but Fumoffu wouldn’t be anywhere near as funny without the first season to set the stage. The comedy is fantastic, but the best part of the anime is to see Sousuke and Chidori getting closer and closer romantically.
Sousuke’s demeanor is so stoic and stiff that it’s no wonder that we see Chidori get so frustrated with the relationship between them. But, when Chidori sees that Sousuke is actually trying his very hardest to show her that he loves her and cares for her very much in the only manner he knows how, the series becomes that much more satisfying! To be honest, they’re both from two totally different worlds and both are dense to each other’s intentions. Chidori doesn’t see the significance in Sousuke’s actions and Sousuke doesn’t have enough tact or wit to understand Chidori’s or anyone’s, for that matter, behavior. They both desperately love each other but are separated by a “language barrier” – the language of social behavior and etiquette. Yet, when they finally get each other, when they actually realize just how much the other person loves them, they get closer to each other and that – AND THAT – is why the series is both heartwarming and satisfying. It’s satisfying because it shows the very basic struggle between every relationship, whether romantic, friendly, or family: understanding just how much someone cares about you. Of course this series exaggerates the actions and moods of the characters to a comedic extent, but it shows us a very valuable truth: that we are all hopelessly lost for words, hopelessly lost for actions when it comes to expressing our love, our care, for someone truly dear to our hearts. No matter how much we love someone and how much they love us, we all forget just how much he loves us. How much she loves us. How much hell he’ll go through for you. How much shit she’ll put up with to have you. How much she cares. How much he cares. How much he sacrificed for you. How much time she spent looking good for you – caring for you. Honestly, that is the best – the absolute best – part of the show.
The only thing you’ll complain about is the brevity of the series.
This is just a review of the first season! I have seen part of the spin-off series Fumoffu, which takes place sometime between the first and second season, and I must say that it has taken a completely different turn from the first season – I’ve also read that the second season of FMP!, The Second Raid, is also a complete departure from the first season. From what I can see, most people really liked the two seasons in succession to the first because they’re much more relatable. My reviews of those seasons will be covered in a completely different post sometime in the future.
Review
OK, so for the review – finally. Full Metal Panic! started off somewhat serious and dark, but quickly revealed itself to be quite lighthearted. Despite all the promise between mecha battles, political intrigue, secret weapons, and super powers, the actual main idea of the series was to explore the idea of introducing two totally different social atmospheres together: the gossipy arena of high school and the stiff corridors of the military; embodied by the main characters, Sousuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori. As with most animes, both of the main characters are 16 years old, which seems to be the most common age group for crazy ideas such as this. Even though I say that this is the main theme, the anime tries to incorperate a bunch of sub-themes such as:
More realistic mecha fights
“Good” militarism vs. “Bad” militarism
A relatively weak love triangle
Duty vs. Conscious
Team Work
Situation/Romantic Comedy
Sacrifice
Somewhere between episode 4 and episode 10, the series began to blend in these sub-themes with the main themes and totally forgot where it was going with the main idea. Honestly, I felt that the series was jumpy, disjoint, and unrelatable due to fact that the animators tried to incorperate so many ideas into the series. Now, from what I’ve read, the anime is based on a bunch of light novels written by Shoji Gatoh, which is why the anime seems so divided and inconsistant. I’m sure that Shoji Gatoh wrote the books to relate a certain theme that differed from the next; hence the heterogeneity of the anime, as it is seen as a whole work.
To be fair though, the anime is very good at setting the stage. Even though each episode feels rushed and bumpy, the anime managed to create enough tension between Sousuke and Chidori to keep the audience intreguied. Their emotional and relational tension definitely steals the show. At some point you just forget all about the bad guy – who never dies by the way – and you begin to wonder whether or not Sousuke and Chidori will have a regular day together, because if they do they’d definitely begin dating. But unfortunately, the animators tried to cram in all these themes about “will power” and the “mind over matter” mentality, embodied by super-powers and super-weapons, that really watered down my interest and drove the series to a jerky end.
The anime’s depiction of (semi)realistic mecha warfare was anti-climatic at best and a waste of time at worst. Honestly, the only way the series built up tension was through its mecha battles – which were suppose to embody the theme of good vs. evil and the “mind over matter” mentality – and the anime just fell flat on its face when it came to putting any type of emotion into its mecha battles. If you’re expecting some Gundam-like, over-the-top, explosive action, you can forget it because this series marginalizes the battles. Even the sound effects feel lackluster and bland.
The worst part about FMP! is that all of the characters are completely unrelatable. Honestly, some of the comedy in the show is so exaggerated that it becomes excruciatingly painful to watch Sousuke fumble his social skills. All of the characters are so embarrassing that the comedy is lost in translation and you can’t do anything but bury your face in the palms of your hand.
FMP! takes itself too seriously and ends up feeling like a bad soap-opera mixed with military intrigue. Regardless, I would recommend that everyone watch it so that you can set the stage to watch FMP? Fumoffu and FMP! The Second Raid. After watching a few episodes of the succeeding seasons, I was just blown away at the talent that was put into them. Seriously, FMP! does itself a dishonor by not living up to its reputation in the first series. In any case, it’s a must see if you want to fully enjoy the two succeeding seasons. Otherwise, if you don’t plan on watching Funmoffu or The Second Raid (both are independent of each other), then don’t waste your time.
Anime Crunch 