Wakako-zake

Wakako-zake (ワカコ酒) is a 12 episode slice of life short anime series based on the manga of the same name by Shinkyu Chie.  The series initially aired in Japan in 2015.

    This 3-minute per episode series follows the main character, Wakako, as she visits different small bars for dinner.  Always listening to her stomach for what food to fill her desires and what alcohol to perfectly match with it.  Sometimes she is persuaded by the other patrons around her but she always ends up satisfied in her choices.

    Given the brevity and the subject matter there is not much that can be said for this very slice of life food series.  The artwork is simplistic and stay true to the designs of the original manga.  The majority of the dialogue is through the main characters internal monologue, in which she convinces her self over the reasons for choosing the particular dish and beverage.  She laments over the ways to eat the various dishes and her preferred ways to experience them.  In this voyeuristic fashion the viewer is shown a world in which a woman, who may or may not lead a completely solitary life, fills her being with joy and satisfaction while relishing a variety of unique dishes.  Or, you can look at it as the obsessed rumblings of a lonely OL who drinks too much and eats out to fend off crushing loneliness.  Your call.

    It was OK, nothing special, aside from reminding me that I won't enjoy a large variety of food at an izakaya.  I sense a very small audience in foreign otaku circles for this show.  It was simulcast on Crunchyroll but I doubt it will ever see any sort of disc release.  The manga and the live action series are also unavailable, much to no ones surprise.  The manga however has been highly lauded in Japan, were the marketplace is more diverse.

The Tatami Galaxy

The Tatami Galaxy, or 4.5 Tatami Mythological Tales (四畳半神話大系) is an 11 episode surreal romantic comedy based on the book of the same name by Morimi Tomihiko.  The series was produced by Madhouse and aired in Japan during the spring of 2010.

    The story is narrated by the unnamed main character, a student at a university in Kyoto, as he reflects on the successes and failures of his life over the first few years in college.  His entire goal as a student has been to change his life around by joining the right club and becoming a man of action and popularity, eventually landing himself the raven haired woman of his dreams.  Sadly he has yet to realize his ambitions, instead he finds himself rejected and on the outskirts of the club, his only friend the fiendish and influential Ozu.  Much to the detriment of the narrators character, he and Ozu execute a number of pranks and stealthy attacks on various people and clubs.  The narrator laments about his poor life choices and yearns to perhaps avoid the situation he finds himself in, as a 3rd year college student.

    Unknown to him, time continues to reverse its course, setting him up to redo those first years of adulthood.  Yet each time he makes disastrous mistakes, gets wrapped up in Ozu's mischievous ways and fails to realize his dreams have been with in his reach the entire time.  Each time fate rewinds he finds himself joining some club at school with the same lofty ambitions, only to crash down again in self inflicted disaster.  Going from the tennis club where Ozu and he retaliate from ostracism by attacking them with a barrage of fireworks.  To the film club were Ozu and he expose the club leaders perverted habits in order to destroy his perfect visage.

    The artwork in this series is very avant garde and reminded me a number of times of Sayonara Zetsubo-sensei, which worked very well to enhance the oddity of this bizarre comedy.  The character designs are simplistic and the backgrounds are many times over laid on real life.  The last two episodes in particular used a good amount of altered live footage.  There are color schemes through out the show that have more symbolic meanings with the story that are not evident until the end.  In fact there is a lot of hidden imagery and clues through out the story.  I should probably re-watch it to see how many references to latter events I can discover.  The show is very art-house in art style and delivery.

    Story wise, for the most part it is really the main character reliving the first 2+ years of his college life in narrative fashion.  Each of the first few episodes encompasses one iteration of his college life at a time, rewinding at the end of the episode to start over.  Patterns start to emerge over the course of the short series that click into place for the over all narrative.  There is a lot of dialogue, most of it monologue and it is snide and witty in delivery and subject.  Along with the artwork the quick wit and delivery reminded me of Zetsubo-sensei as well as another series by that crew, Arakawa Under the Bridge.

    This is a fresh series in the abysmal wasteland of romance anime that exist.  It's off beat, completely unconventional and not directed at the fan base.  Its a great example of the freedom of expression that is an important part of the anime industry, a part that sadly is hard to express, particularly with the current industry convention.  I seriously enjoyed this crazed mind warp of a series.  Time travel and surrealism are favorite styles of mine.  This series takes it in a direction that isn't often done to this effect.  But, the series isn't for everyone, its off beat and unconventional, so it won't attract much attention out of the core anime fan's.  I highly recommend it for people looking for a change of pace or for fans of Sayonara Zetsubo-sensei.

    The series is currently available online via FUNimation but sadly the disc releases are difficult and expensive to come by.  

My Love Story

My Love Story!! (俺物語!!) is a 24 episode romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name by Kawahara Kazune.  It aired on Japanese TV in 2015.

  Gouda Takeo is a mountain of a man.  A high school student as big as a tree and as strong as a gorilla.  His appearance makes people fear him and police suspect him, but those that know him understand his heart of gold and his selfless actions.  He does everything he can to help everyone he can.  It causes issues with strangers who fear him and their safety.  Luckily his friend Sunakawa Makoto has a visage that makes everyone trust him.  Suna is used to covering for the impression people have for his massive best friend.

  One day Takeo saves a girl from a groper, the girl Yamato Rinko thanks him by baking him a cake.  Yamato is shy and demure and Takeo notices she likes Suna.  Suna attracts all sorts of girls but turns them down, Takeo thinks Yamato would be the perfect one for him.  While he is virtuous and helpful to others he is naive when it comes to reading people and situations.  It takes Suna having Takeo eavesdrop on Yamato to discover she likes him instead.  Takeo, who has always fallen for girls who go after Suna finally gets a girl himself.  The real work begins for the gentle giant who's innocence blinds him.

    The animation for this show fit perfectly with the stories atmosphere.  Simplistic and shojo-like.  Takeo looks strange at times and his expressions enhanced his personality.  Its nothing glamorous but it fits rather well.  The story and the main characters are what really make the show anyways.  Takeo is one of the best lead characters that anime has had in a long time.  He is the exactingly opposite of the typical wet noodle character.  He's sure of himself and has a strong moral compass that guides him.  He is humble and respectful, only his size and face cause people unease.  Yamato though is too animated and over acted though but her personality creates a strong dichotomy between both leads.  Suna is the only real costar and his shonen-ai flare and demure attitude make he and Takeo seem like a classic two man comedy routine.  There is a small cast of side characters that don't do much to enhance the story but they don't detract from it.

    I loved this anime and it may just take the top spot in my list of the years' best shows.  It was executed very well, with the correct length, smooth story progression and all around enjoyable atmosphere.  The story is mostly comedic and entertaining with a few series segments.  Those segments are countered with comedy.  It's nice to have a romance anime that doesn't fall into the typical shonen romance trappings that are so prevalent today.  I guess it's time to read the manga, but I don't expect it to give more story than the anime covered...ans that's just fine.  This series is worthy of rewashing it, soaking in the innocent story of two unsure but honest people, learning to accept their unruly feelings for one another.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.  Look for Sentai Filmworks to drop some form of disc release in the future.  The manga is being released in North America by Viz. 

Classroom Crisis

Classroom Crisis (クラスルーム☆クライシス) is a 13 episode sci-fi series with an accompanying manga and light novel.  The series aired in Japan during the summer of 2015.

    Set in the distant future, the designs of two high school students, Kirishina and Kiryu, made interstellar flight possible.  Their design earned them wealth and renown and their vision went on to form the basis for the mega-corporation Kirishina.  The main head quarters for the matured company exists on Mars where descendants of the founders wield corporate power.  The spirit of the original invention lives on in a special division of the corporation known as A-TEC.  The division is a focused R&D department made up of the best students in the corporations school system.  These teenage wizards attend school part time and work in the A-TEC facility part time, designing and improving the companies rocket technology.  The current head of the division is a genius engineer named Sera Kaito, who's ambition and dreams for technological advancement blind him to the trouble his students face.

    A new chief is assigned to the division, the youngest brother of the Kiryu family, Nagisa.  The goal given to him by one of his older brothers is to dismantle A-TEC in order to save money that he see's as being wasted.  The Kaito and the kids of A-TEC don't take the news of their pending closure lightly and work to convince the CEO to keep this important division.  Unfortunately, destroying the department is only a cover, instead plans are in action that will change the future of the company.

    This series had many aspects of shows from the late 90s.  Initially that nostalgic feeling made the show enjoyable.  The plucky group of misfits who were facing a goliath battle to maintain the future they envisioned for themselves.  About halfway through, the show shifts from this very predictable trajectory in which the cast overcomes their impossible obstacles to win the hearts and minds of those trying to take everything from them.  It changes focus to being about the young Nagisa plotting to destroy his older brothers in a bid for personal vengeance and power.  It also starts to focus on political and industrial intrigue at which point the nostalgia shine that it had in the beginning wares off.

  As the enjoyment became muted I started to notice the artwork, specifically the character designs, were rather sub par compared to current standards.  This worked to make the show even less enjoyable than it was in the beginning.  In the end as well, the fore-drawn conclusion panned out, even if it was side tracked by a plot line out of left field.  The series was mediocre, which is disappointing considering it could have been a fun and carefree throwback to a fun 90s show.  On the upside, there was perhaps only a moment of unneeded fan-service.  But there was little else worth mentioning.  The characters were mostly flat and the story was barely original.  It stuck to its canned script, even with the unexpected side track, which was also unoriginal, and ultimately didn't deliver much.

   The aniee was simulcast on Crunchyroll.  Aniplex of America is licensing it in America so there's a good chance it will see some form or disc release.  No word on the peripheral releases being licensed though.

School-Live!

School-Live! (がっこうぐらし!) is a 12 episode moe/zombie series based on the manga of the same name by Kaiho Norimitsu and Chiba Sadoru.  The series aired in Japan during the summer of 2015.

    A small group of girls is holed up in their school following the zombie apocalypse.  The girls have formed the Stay At School club in which they camp out in their club room, cook food at school and go about their lives with in the confines of the building.  One member, Yuki, has mentally repressed the disrepair to the school and the hordes of zombies around every corner.  The other members do their best to protect the group and sooth Yuki's fractured mind.  As they dig into the reasons why the school is as well stocked as it is they sense something intentional behind the state of the world around them.  They limit their expeditions outside of the relative safety of the school building as much as possible, but realize they can't stay there indefinitely.  Are there other survivors?  Is the entire world ruined now?  How long will their haven really last?

    The series is essentially the moe version of The Walking Dead, yet it still manages to have better acting than its live action brethren.  The animation is pure moe.  Cute girls in cute uniforms doing moe stuff.  The fan-service is rather low level though and the show really focuses on the plight of the survivors.  The majority of the first episode doesn't even elude to the apocalypse already in action as we see it through the delusion of Yuki.  The way this was handled was amazingly well done and is only the first of some well executed surprises in the show.  The bulk of the episodes deal with about 80% moe fluff and 20% doomed reality.  The fluff makes the hammer blows of reality hit harder than they would normally.  In all honesty, the show was pretty well executed and was thoroughly enjoyable.  It wasn't anything like I was expecting and did well to keep me wanting more.  Hopefully the short segment at the end of the final episode will lead to another cours of the series.

    The anime simulcast on Crunchyroll and Sentai Filmworks has picked up the distribution license.  The manga is being published in English by Yen Press.

Rin-ne - Season 1

Rin-ne (境界のRINNE) is a supernatural comedy based on the manga of the same name by Takahashi Rumiko.  The first season aired on Japanese TV in 2015.

    Mamiya Sakura ended up in the afterlife as a small child.  A kindly woman helped her return to the living world, but before then Sakura ate some food while in there.  Ever since she has been able to see spirits.  A new transfer student catches her attention when she realizes she is the only one who can see him.  In reality he assumes a spirit form while wearing a colorful haori (overcoat).  After being marked absent for the first few days of school he finally shows up wearing his middle school gym uniform.  The odd transfer student is Rokudo Rinne is desperately poor, living in an abandoned apartment building near the school and unable to afford the proper uniform.  The reason Sakura is the only one who can see him while donning his haori is due to him partially being a shinigami.  His grandmother, the same person who helped Sakura as a child, married a mortal man.  Rinne however is cursed with having to work as a shinigami in order to pay for not only his grandmothers indiscretions with his grandfather but also to pay off the debts accrued to him by his father.  Spirits are attracted to Sakura and Rinne feels partially responsible, helping her to combat them.  Unfortunately for her, Rinne also attracts his own supernatural problems.  All Sakura want's to do is live a normal life, free of the afterlife's influences.

    After a long long time it is fantastic to have a comedic series from Takahashi-sensei.   Rinne has all of the best parts of the humor she has displayed over her 30+ year career.  The series doesn't take it's self very seriously and the frequent announcer voice over works wonders to tone down any drama that crops up.  The animation is true to her styling and isn't flashy by any stretch of the word.  Much of the series shares commonalities with Rama 1/2 in regards to comedic styling and set up.  A number of Ranma 1/2 characters make brief cameo's in the show as well.  In many ways this is the best comedic series from her.


    The story is episodic with no real overall goal or destination.  Characters and situations are introduced through out that recur afterwards but there is no real forward progression with the series.  Near the end of the run some of the episodes became a bit bland with the story and delivery.  But ultimately, the final segment of episode 25 where Rinne and Sakura open a letter in the offering box at the school, the letter makes the announcement that season 2 will being in the Spring of 2016.  That is fantastic news to me.  This is one show, for now, of her's that should continue.  There is word of more characters and situations being introduced, which is good as this show needs a larger cast to keep fresh.  If it does keep going for a few more season hopefully it doesn't fall prey to the uselessness of Ranma 1/2 after season 3.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and Viz has been releasing the manga.  Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series for future disc release.

Himoto! Umaru-chan

Himoto! Umaru-chan (干物妹!うまるちゃん) is a 12 episode slice of life comedy based on the manga by the manga-ka known as Sankaku Head.  The anime originally aired in Japan over the summer of 2015.

    High school student Doma Umaru is the ideal person.  Beautiful, graceful, pleasant, athletic, intelligent, humble...the modern day yamato nadeshiko.  Everyone adores and respects her but few people are close to her.  Her only real friend is a transfer student named Ebina, who happens to life in the same apartment building as Umaru and her older brother Taihei.  Yet even Ebina, who lives in the apartment below Umaru has no idea what she is like in the privacy of her own home.  Once the door to her apartment closes Umaru turns into a spoiled, bratty otaku.  She wiles away her time playing games, watching, anime, reading manga, surfing the web and eating junk food.  She constantly complains, makes unreasonable demands on her brother and strives to slack off as much as humanly possible.  Her brother, who supports them both at his office job, tolerates his sisters behavior only so much.  Ebina's secret personality though is in danger of slipping out as she continues to run into classmates outside of school.  Luckily her himoto personality is so severe that it makes her virtually unrecognizable...though most of the people around her tend to be morons.

    Aside from the obvious moe aspects of this show and some very mild and infrequent fan-service this show was one of my favorites for the summer anime season.  The character designs and facial expressions were highly entertaining.  Himoto Umaru is entertaining in every way, from her over the top laziness to her constant pursuit of slack.  Bob Dobbs would be proud.  The series focuses on telling the story of Umaru and her brother, hinting from time to time at their past and the situation that brought Umaru to live with him.  Mostly though it focuses on their day to day lives and the antics Umaru engages in.  There is a small cast of supporting characters and in one way or another they are related, yet, even in the end, many of the characters don't even realize those relations.  This is a comedy through and through, poking fun at otaku and pop otaku culture.  The episodes are made up of small vignettes that generally share a commonality between them.  The artwork and presentation is what really makes the show as entertaining as it is.  Umaru constantly transforms between normal mode and himoto mode, depending on the situation and people involved.  The transformations are entertaining and unexpected sometimes.  Character facial expressions go far in enhancing their emotions and actions.  While simplistic the artwork does very well to match the pace and styling of the show.

    In the end, fantastically entertaining slice of life comedy.  It was simulcast by Crunchyroll and was licensed by Sentai Filmworks so we should expect a disc release in North America followed by related merchandise.  I might have to pick up some of the Umaru figures...

Watching Anime, Reading Manga - book review

Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews is a collection of writings stretching from the late 1970's to the early 2000's by Fred Patten.

    Fred Patten is a founding member of the influential anime fan group Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO).  The C/FO is one of the first, if not the original, anime fan group in America.  Begun in Los Angeles in 1977, the group was able to have unprecedented access to manga and anime artists and American subsidiaries of Japanese distribution companies.  Fred Patten had been a long time sci-fi fan and writen for fan magazines since the 1960's.  In the early 1970's he and a partner operated a comic book store that had specialized in importing foreign comics.  This exposed Patten to manga and he began to connect the dots between the imports he was seeing and some TV cartoons in the 60's he was familiar with.  His attempts to secure more manga for his store led to the C/FO being able to have a meet and greet with Tezuka Osamu and the Los Angeles distributor for Toei Animation.  The group, borne out of the discovery of anime as a completely different format than American animation, had tapes recorded from local Japanese language public access channels.  Sci-fi groups across the country had also begun trading tapes of America programs with Japanese sci-fi fans in exchange for anime recordings.  Tezuka was so impressed with what appeared to be a large and dedicated fan base that he invited a number of high profile artists to California the following year to attend a convention, at which point they were overwhelmed with the number of American fans.  The rep for Toei worked with C/FO to help spread the word for anime products the company was interested in selling in America, using them as a street team.  Members soon began to have viewing sessions at regional comic and sci-fi cons to drum up interest and spread anime fandom.  This was coupled with the broadcast of Star Blazers in America and the acknowledgement that it was of Japanese origin.

    With the fandom spreading quickly the industry was sure to follow, but to the dismay of everyone involve the established licensing and distribution companies were not interested in anime.  Citing it as being cartoons unsuitable for children and therefore worthless.  With in 10 years of the genesis of true anime fandom companies started to distribute anime in America, many of which were begun by the fans themselves.  Patten, through his friend ship with Carl Macek of Robotech fame/notoriety, was chosen to be part of Streamline Pictures.  Streamline was instrumental in growing the second wave of American anime fans with English dubbed theatrical releases such as Akira and Laputa.  Over the course of Patten's time in the forefront of anime fandom in America he continued to write columns and reviews for the medium in sci-fi magazines, anime fanzines and anime magazines.  The book is a collection of many of those writings.  In editing the books contents he tried to retain some levels of originality in them, including mistakes and misunderstandings from the beginning of America's exposure to anime and manga.  Through out he adds liner notes and corrections related to each article.  The book has no chronological order to it, instead the articles are arranged by subject.  Anime fandom, the business of anime, artists, Japanese culture in anime and then reviews of various titles.

    With out a doubt Patten can be regarded as an important and influential person in the origins and spread of American otaku culture.  He has been at the forefront of the efforts to build and expand the medium in America and his work at Streamline Pictures in the 90's lead to important growth.  His unprecedented access to great personalities in manga and anime allowed him some unique experiences, experiences that are difficult to have for most fans these days in the world of super exposure and commercial realization in North America.  The book did much to expand my understanding of the early days of American anime fandom.  From the beginnings of tape trading to importing and viewing reel to reel copies of shows.  The transmigration of information and material between sci-fi groups in America and Japan, which lead to the early proliferation of anime, sparking interest in the genre by the teenage and adult sci-fi fans.  While the book has some valuable information at times it becomes repetitive.  Much of this is due to Patten covering the sames idea's again and again in his writings over the years as the audience expands or changes.  He, understandably, feels the need to continually inform the reader of some key items.  Unfortunately this causes some undue repetition in the book and by the halfway point I was beginning to be bored with the articles.  Sadly the book became less important to me as this repetition continued and the articles began to move to his series reviews.  The most I got out of it, which was invaluable information, was in explaining the genesis of anime and anime fandom in North America.  Little gems like the disappearance of anime on TV for 10 years, with the exception of English subtitles shows on local Japanese access stations, predominantly in Hawaii.

    On top of the repetition, Patten himself admits to his particular tastes in anime lending to most of his enjoyment being in the sci-fi action category.  Much of his observation stems from his interest in these titles and he shed little light on the other aspects of the genre and their impact on American audiences at the time.  In some cases it seems he is almost dismissing other genre's entirely or concluding that little exists outside of the sci-fi genre.  He mentions an anecdote in which Tezuka implores him to help expand the knowledge of other styles of anime to the early American audience.  Much of the writing also seems to be propaganda explicitly boosting the importance of the C/FO.  While the group he was a part of was instrumental in laying the groundwork for anime fandom in the country, sometimes the writing seems a little dismissive of other efforts around the country.

    These issues aside the book is worth the time and effort.  Patten with out a doubt was lucky to find himself in the position he was in at that time, witnessing and participating in anime and manga becoming the economical force it would become at the turn of the century in America.  He remained dedicated to authenticity and preservation of the mediums, even in the face of his bosses at Streamline Picture's different opinions and ideals.  In realty though, even with Macek's 'butchery' of early Americanized anime titles, the work Streamline Pictures did in the late 80's and early 90's was the best way to grow the subculture and expose as many people to the medium as possible.  One interesting section to note is a long and detailed comparison of Kimba the White Lion and Disney's The Lion King.  It is a replication of an academic paper he was asked to present at a lecture series in Australia.  In the section he spends some time fact checking Disney's claim of being ignorant to not only the TV series but to anime in general among its staff.  This also pairs well with news releases from Disney later in the 90's as they tried to discredit anime as perverted and violent low brow trash while at the same time trying to define the works of Studio Ghibli as not anime.

    It would be nice to see a follow up on the book, which was published in 2004, given the dramatic changes to the industry since then.  The book is widely available and easy to obtain.  I strongly suggest it for any enthusiast as a way to better understand the struggles that the pioneers in American anime fandom had to endure and the rewards we currently reap from those tireless efforts.

Kurenai

Kurenai ( 紅) is a 12 episode drama based on the light novel series of the same name by Katayama Kentaro.  The anime originally aired in Japan in early 2008.

    Kurenai Shinkuro is an orphan high school student who moonlights as a dispute mediator.  Mediator is code term for beating someone up if they don't agree to the terms of the resolution to the dispute.  Usually he is assigned to jobs helping people who are being harassed by the local yakuza or stalkers.  He feels he has the ability to do more important work for his employer, the incredibly well connected and shrewd Benika.  She decides to test him with a bodyguard assignment that will test his limits.  Previous to her career as a woman to come to to resolve sensitive issues, Benika was the head of security for a powerful and secretive plutocratic family.  She and her lieutenant break into the family compound and kidnap the family heads only daughter.  Benika then entrusts the girls safety to Shinkuro as both a test of his abilities and an answer to his requests.  However he is unprepared to take care of the incredibly mature seven year old Murasaki.  The girl has been raised in a fashion similar to the members of the ancient imperial court and has no experience outside of her cloistered world.  The shock on her is just as severe when she is taken from her pampered servant filled world to live in a dingy run down one room apartment.  As Shinkuro struggles to guard the headstrong girl they both change for the better.  Unfortunately for everyone, her family is searching for her with all of their far flung power.  Its only a matter of time before they are discovered and Shinkuro must face his doubts about his abilities.

    The story for the series is rather good once it all unfolds.  In the beginning its hard to pin down what type of series its supposed to be.  At first there seem to be some super natural aspects, which turn out to be incorrect.  At other times it seems like it might turn into a harem, with Shinkuro surrounded by a variety of female characters, but it doesn't turn into that either.  The action is minimal and when it does show up the animation is unfortunately not very fluid.  Shinkuro doesn't take any sort of journey to become stronger as if he were the lead of a shonen battle manga.  Instead the focus of the story is really the interpersonal relationships between a handful of characters, mostly Shinkuro and Murasaki.  The show details how these two lonely individuals grow as caring and perceptive human beings.  While it has some action and other categorical elements the series is really a drama focusing on human development.

    While the artwork during the fight scenes is jerky and unpleasant the rest of the series is well animated with quality character designs and background details.  The characters have very definable traits and body language that is well done.  There is zero fan-service, which is surprising, since the series is ripe to exploit that.  One unfortunate thing is the lack of expansion on  some of the more prominent side characters.  It would have been nice to find out more of Benika's past or her lieutenants.  Some of Shinkuro's school friends pasts would have done better if expanded upon as well.  But all in all the series was pretty good and worth the time.  Although the middle of the series has a relatively useless episode that's only designed for some heart string tugging at the end.  What would be really cool would be to revisit the characters 10 years later as a way to conclude the story line.  I wonder if the light novels did that?

    The series was licensed for distribution in North America by Sentai Filmworks and is somewhat available on DVD.

Moryo no Hako

Moryo no Haku (魍魎の匣) is a 13 episode mystery anime based on the novel of the same name by Kyogoku Natsuhiko.  The anime was originally broadcast on TV in Japan in the fall of 2008.

    Sekiguchi Tatsumi is a writer who finds himself wrapped up in an investigation of young girls being murdered and dismembered.  The murders eerily echo a story he is reviewing for an up and coming author.  Over a period of time body parts are discovered in ornate boxes.  Sekiguchi becomes involved through a number of associates, including a detective and an onmyouji.  The investigation begins when the detective, Kiba Shutaro, arrives at a crime scene by coincidence.  The scene involves a young girl who was pushed into the path of the train Kiba was on.  The girls friend is distraught and Kiba tries to help her and the initial investigation.  The girl says a mysterious man in black, wearing white gloves pushed her friend into the train tracks.  The victim is the younger sister of a famous actress and when the local hospital stabilizes her, the older sister transfers her to a private research hospital.  The man running the private hospital was part of a clandestine group in Manchuria during World War 2, working on medically creating super solders.  As the investigation unfolds the girl is kidnapped from the hospital and a few associated people are murdered.  As more body parts are discovered the locals begin talking about an apparition dressed in black, wearing white gloves.  The investigations into the dismemberment and the kidnapped girl share similarities and everyone soon works together to unravel the puzzle before more girls are murdered in what appears to be someones sick obsession with immortality.

    Almost seven years after it initially aired I was finally able to sit down and watch all of this series.  In 2008 I had watched the first two episodes and it perked my interest but for some reason I never followed through until now.  Art-wise this series is very shojo, the characters are classic in that regard.  The women have large and deep eyes, pointy chins and lean fashionable bodies.  Many of the male characters are feminine yet hansom.  The reason for this is very simple...the character designs were done by CLAMP.  The story its self is jumbled and can be hard to follow at times.  There are a number of key characters and from episode to episode perspective can switch between them.  At times the chronological sequence is out of order as well.  In the end though the threads come together in a two episode classic 'who-dun-in' resolution.  While the mystery isn't all that intriguing the character interactions and development are the driving for for the story and worth that time alone.

    This, now older, series is a welcome reprieve for the standard anime fare.  It overs some indepth dialogue and believable/realistic characters.   I'm ashamed it took me so long to finally get around to watching the entire thing.  The anime is based on one book out of a trilogy by Kyogoku, each revolving around the main character Chuzenji Akihiho, known as Kyogokudo, who is a faithless onmyouji and dabbler in detective work.  The first book in the trilogy, Summer of Ubume, is available in English...and on my shopping list currently.  Though the current going rate is $100...so that might be a while... A live action movie was released in 2007 as well. 

    Sadly, this anime was never released outside of Japan.  It would find popularity alongside the series Monster by Urasawa Naoki, but I assume no one is willing to take the chance on the series.

Hungry for Realism

In my small closed minded anime viewing world there seems to be a few more cooking shows than normal recently.  I enjoy anime and love cooking, so this should be a win win for me right?  Not exactly.  The most recent shows that have cooking or eating themes have been rather disappointing in a few areas, most notably the need to be a bit more than natural.

    Gourmet Girls Graffiti ended up being a banal story for director Simbo Akiyuki to apply his unique sense of humor to.  His previous works, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and Arakawa Under the Bridge were engaging and off the cuff.  Yet Girls Graffiti more seemed like strained attempts at food sexualization in order to make the story more interesting.

    Food Wars on the other hand uses worn out shonen battle formats and unnecessary sexualization to entice its adolescent target audience.  I guess it's a bit more realistic to be an amazing chef compared to the 10th Hokage, but it’s still rather pointless pandering in my world view.  It appears to be little more than attempting to cash in on some time tested concepts instead of actually telling an engaging story.

    Wakako-zake on the other hand offers barely anything other than to remind me that too much bar food in Japan consists of animal parts I don’t eat.  But, I guess there isn't much you can do with the material, especially in a 2 minute format.  Still, the entire premise of a show internalizing the dialogue of a lone OL and her nightly drinking and feasting routines is a bit banal.  (Ignore the fact I greatly enjoy reading 34-sai Mushoku-san).

    What has grabbed my attention though is an honest slice of life manga on Crunchyroll called Sweetness & Lightning.  The story focuses on a recently widowed father and his preschool aged daughter.  The father has little cooking abilities and in the months since his wife has died he and his daughter eat convenience store meals and other prepackaged fare.  The father is 'forced' to allow one of his students to teach him how to cook at her family restaurant.  Each issue of the manga details them formulating a menu for the day and the process of cooking the dish with the recipe provided at the end.  While this may sound rote and boring the cooking portion is typically blended well with slice of life issues for all of the characters involved.  Most notably the main characters desires to fill in the void left in his daughter’s life following his wife's death.  His student is using the guise of teaching him how to cook to fill the loneliness from her absentee mother. 

    Sweetness & Lightning offers something I crave these days in manga/anime, realism and some relatability.  As I grow older I find myself drawn to more and more slice of life stories, particularly quirky and believable ones.  Not so much to moe fan service driven titles.  This manga is another addition to a steadily growing list of stories that make my smile and remind me of segments of my own life, if only small portions.  Plus, it's a nice was to expand my recipe list.

    Not that the other cooking stories are worthless, they just have little appeal to me today, if they even would have in the past.  Either way, Sweetness & Lightning is yet another 'hidden' gem of a manga I found on Crunchyroll and am enjoying it as it comes.