91 Days

91 Days is a 12 episode original period drama by Studio Pierrot.  The series originally aired in Japan over the summer of 2016.

    Set in a fictitious Midwestern American town during prohibition the story follows Angelo Lagusa as he exacts revenge on the people responsible for killing his family.  When Avilio was a child his father, mother and brother were gunned down one night by members of the Vanetti Family.  Avilio's father was a book keeper for the mob and for some reason a hit was put out on him.  Seven years after the murder he returns to his home, the town called Lawless, on an anonymous tip as to who pulled the trigger. 

    Angelo, using the pseudonym Avilio, infiltrates the Vanetti Familly in order to get closer to his targets, still unsure of everyone involved.  He, with the help of a childhood friend, work their way into the mob's lucrative bootleg business.  Unfortunately his presence and his friends liquor stir up a sleeping rivalry between Lawless' rival mafia families.  Angelo see's this as a perfect opportunity to kill the people responsible for the deaths of his family.  Time for a whiskey soaked blood bath.

    The quality of the artwork and the sometimes ridiculous characters detract from what is actually a pretty engaging story with some good development and secrets.  It does suffer at times from pacing issues, particularly when a good chunk of time is used in a story where Angelo helps the son of the Vanetti don skip town after war breaks out with a rival family.  The second half of the story seems rushed at times, but I think production was behind schedule and in serious danger of not meeting deadlines.  At one point there was a recap filler episode and the final episode was delayed and broadcast as an hour long.  Production errors aside the story its self was pretty good.  Not heavy on character development the real meat was the unfolding revenge story its self.  With its massive flaws 91 Days still ended up being a relatively enjoyable story.  It could have been a lot better in many area's but the story it's self was well done, even if it has some problems with its execution and pacing.  Have I mentioned the artwork is low quality for modern standards?

    Angelo is an emotionless uncaring character who at times can be difficult to root for.  The character I had the most sympathy was the Vanetti son, Nero, who seemed to be the most empathetic member of the entire cast.  Though at the end of the day he was still a hardened criminal and murderer.  There is no attempt at salvation and forgiveness for Angelo, he fully dirties his hands and is only driven for revenge.  Nothing else matters to him and you wonder if he even has any drive to survive his revenge.  It seems that once he has achieved it he will lie down and die, his life's purpose being complete.  Some of the other characters are interesting and note worthy as well, but over all much of the focus is on Angelo and Nero.

    The series simulcast on Crunchyroll and also received a dub treatment.  Since the dub exists I expect there might be some disc release at some point, but I wouldn't be surprised if it never actually materialized.  The series was a nice change of pace though.

Yuri!!! On Ice

Yuri!!! On Ice (ユーリ!!! on ICE) is a 12 episode slice of life sports comedy anime that is an original story by Kubo Mitsuro.  The series originally aired in Japan in the Fall of 2016.

    Professional figure skater, Katsuki Yuri decides to hang up his skates aftr a less than stellar season and not making the podium in the Grand Prix.  He slumps back to his hometown to wallow in self pity and his families delicious pork cutlet rice bowls.  Gaining some weight and feeling rather pathetic he struggles with how he moves forward in his life, not sure what he will do.  Before he can figure out how to join the ranks of the normal's his skating hero and senior rival appears at his parents inn.  Victor Nikiforov is the top skater in Russia and he has rashly decided to put his career on hold to become Yuri's coach, convinced he can whip the dough boy into shape and make him a champion.

    Yuri, with his strong man-crush on Victor, agrees to let him coach him to victory, banking on his ability to become the world champion in the next season so he can retire on top and let Victor get back to winning before hes too old.  It's not going to be as easy as he would like as the rest of the top international field is also vying for the championship and don't like Victor coaching the pathetic Yuri.  Can he life up to his heroes expectations and skate his way to glory and gold?

    Initially I had no interest in this for a number of reasons, mostly because I don't like sports anime and have little interest in figure skating.  A lot of chatter around the first episode piqued my interest and I was hooked about half way through.  This turned out to be one of the best, if not the best, anime of the fall season.  The animation is fantastic, moving effortlessly between detailed realism and goofy super deformed comedy.  But what really sells it are the finely crafted characters.  Each with their own personalities, even some of the most minor players have well rounded identities.  My only issue with the artwork is during the skating routines it can get a little, odd, visually when sometimes the character animation doesn't flow correctly in comparison to the background animation.

    Yuri is the typical hero lacking in self esteem but benefits from being surrounded by people stronger than him who believe in his potential.  If you are at all familiar with professional figure skating and the stereotypical personalities that exist in that world you will easily recognize the competitors that Yuri faces on his course to the Grand Prix and personal salvation.  The story actually moves along pretty quickly and doesn't get stuck into too much of the training and build up, with competitions taking one or two episodes only.  the story just kind of burns through months at a time as it progresses, not falling victim to the trappings of a shonen sports story.  They could have easily turning this into some multi season grinder with no real end in sight, but thankfully did not.  The brief time we spend with the characters was worth every moment and they teased at the potential to a follow up season!

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and there is no word when a physical release will be available.  But check it out because its a fantastic semi-yaoi filled ride!!

The Fall of The Fall

There has been no activity here due to non-anime life taking up a lot of my free time.  The reviews should return shortly, as there are many shows to review.  The Fall season heads towards its finale and I am watching as much as I can.  See you, more, soon!

Bananya

Bananya (ばなにゃ) is a 13 episode short form kids comedy series based on a set of stationary characters.  The anime was made partially through crowd funding and aired in Japan over the Summer of 2016.

    Bananya shows the daily lives of a group of cat like creatures who live in banana's.  From the main Bananya to his love interest, friends, rival and family.  They go through weird daily adventures around the house they inhabit, hiding their identity from the humans

    There really isn't much to say.  This quirky and cute anime is aimed at small children and is silly by its very nature.  The cute-ish unassuming Banana Cats just like to enjoy life.  The animation is looks to be done via Flash and is rather twitchy when it comes to the character movements.  It was an inexpensively made production but I'm pretty sure the preschool kids who care less for that!  It was fun and worth the time and at the end of the credits they would post images of cast members own cats, which my kids loved.

    Bananya, surprisingly, was streamed on Crunchyroll.  I would be even more surprised if it came out on disk in North America, let alone the product line that inspired the series.

A Look at the Fall 2016 Anime Season

As we wind down the Summer cours it's time to look towards the final quarter of the year, Fall.  Typically Fall is were some of the heavy hitting shows drop but the past few years its been more of a mix bag across the entire year.  Here are the titles I have on my radar.

Kiss Him Not Me: A romantic comedy about a fujoshi who wants her suitors to get it on with each other instead of her.  Why not, worth a shot at least for a few episodes and seems to be somewhat popular.

Sengoku Choju Giga: This is a short form anime depicting various figures and events of the Sengoku (Warring State) era of Japan with cats!

Occultic;Nine: New paranormal supernatural tale about kids with abilities by the creator of Steins;Gate.  I never had any interest in Steins;Gate, but I'll give this one a spin and see if its interesting or not.

March Comes in Like a Lion: From the creator of Honey & Clover a slice of life possible romance about a shogi player.  Could be good, worth a shot.  Can't help comparing the main character with Arima from Your Lie in April.  This one is one of the most anticipated anime of the season by the masses.

The Great Passage: A slice of live drama about employees at a publishing companies dictionary department.  The live action movie from a few years ago did pretty well with the crowds, so who knows?

Miss Bernard Said: A gag manga series, I love gag manga.  Definitely worth a shot, even if it ends up sucking, I always checkout the gag manga ones.

Nyanbo: Probably the closest thing we will get to a Yotsuba!? anime.  Adventures of the lives of the Cat Danbo characters that popped up last year.  This should be a good replacement for Bananya.

Ajin 2: Ajin is an interesting and fun look at immortality, so it's highly welcomed that the anime is returning to continue the manga...but for how long?  The manga comes out rather slowly and in some ways it could be nearing its end game.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blood Orphans 2: The first season of Iron Blood Orphans was one of the best Gundam TV series' in a loooong time.  Maybe the fact it has nothing to do with UC helped, but maybe that's just me not being a die hard Gundam fan talking.  It was rather surprising when this second season was announced because the original ended in a place that worked well for a conclusion.  It will be nice to see these characters again and hopefully it won't fall to pieces.

Stella no Maho: School age slice of life comedy about a group of home-brew video game makers.  If this doesn't collapse under the weight of meeting otaku expectations it might be good.  I keep looking for something to match Genshiken in depicting otaku in their natural habitats.

Natsume's book of Friends Season 5:  I should probably catch up on Natsume and his adventures with Nyanko-sensei.  But it's great to see the return of this average quality super natural series.

All Out!!: I really don't do sports anime, but since its about rugby I'll give it a few episodes before allowing it to collapse under the weight of shonen formulaic story telling.

Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari: Super natural slice of life show about a guy who ends up befriending a small tanuki(?) child.

Mob Psycho 100

Mob Psycho 100 (モブサイコ100) is a 12 episode super natural action series based on the manga of the same name by One.  The series aired in Japan during the Summer of 2016.

    Kageyama Shigeo, known as Mob, is an unassuming and timid middle school student who does everything he can to contain his latent psychic powers.  He found tutelage and support through a psychic named Reigen Arataka.  Reigen, while actually only a con-artist, has instilled in Mob a high sense of duty and self control.  He ingrained in him that he should never use his abilities to harm anyone.  Mob, being quite innocent has taken this command to heart and does everything he can to obey it.  Reigen, while knowingly conning people for a living as a fake medium and exorcist, has a strong sense of justice and compassion.  Though he eagerly uses Mob for his real powers and does little to repay him for his services.

    Mob's ability to control his powers weakens as he comes under great mental duress.  While he just wants to live a normal, fulfilling life, events begin to unfold around him that threaten his dreams.  Previously having never interacted with anyone else with supernatural abilities a series of events out of his control leads him to run into stronger and stronger psychics.  All of whom wish to test their own strength with the latent powers they sense in Mob.  Not wanting to disobey his teachers coda, Mob struggles to keep from engaging these rival psychics with his own abilities.  What will it take for Mob to hit 100 on his stress meter and he releases his power uncontrolled?

    I was pretty excited for this one, since its by the same weirdo behind One Punch Man.  This show is more faithful to the horrible and now iconic character designs of One's original web manga.  One himself admits hes a horrible artist but his style has become part of the charm of his quirky stories so it was more than welcomed.  As with other similar feeling series, the character designs are a big part of the humor in this series, more so even than One Punch Man.  One's love of butt/testicle chinned characters runs rampant through Mob Psycho and always makes me crack a smile.

    Where One Punch Man was a direct attack on the styling of the shonen battle format, also unfortunately falling prey to its trappings.  Mob is a similar attack on the super natural battle stories.  It too follows the formula pretty closely and as the final arc kicks in it starts to become less of a comedy and more of an action series.  But I won't ruin how the series ended, because it was pretty good. The shift wasn't as disappointing as when it happened in One Punch Man but still let me down a little.  All in all it was a pretty satisfying series.  It does set it self up more solidly than One Punch Man for another series at some point.  When that happens hopefully it can keep up its comedy to action ratio.

    The anime streamed on Crunchyroll.  There is no word on a video distributor as of yet nor is the manga commercially available in English, though I think that may change in the near future.

Handa-kun

Handa-kun (はんだくん) is a 12 episode gag comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Yoshino Satsuki.  The series, which aired in Japan over the Summer of 2016, is a spin off of the slice of life comedy Barakamon.

    The series takes place six years prior to the events of Barakamon and follows calligraphy prodigy Handa Seishu as he precariously navigates his life as a high school student.  Handa has only one friend, long time pal Kawafuji, and fears/rejects the attention of anyone else.  Something in his mind makes him think that everyone around him hates him, possibly because of his success as in the world of calligraphy.  He establishes a strong defense against his peers and tries to hide his friendship with Kawafuji to prevent any residual hatred.  He does everything he can to maintain a casual and neutral persona at school, working hard not to stand out.  He has no idea just how idolized he is with his classmates and his peers in other schools.

    A small band of classmates, known as the Handa Force, work tirelessly to protect and uphold the divinity of their idol, Handa.  Each member of the Force strengthens their worship and the mythology of Handa through misinterpreting various run ins with him.  Handa finds himself in all manner of situations where he has to confront other students.  He always concludes that the people he deals with hate him and his logic turns around how he is supposed to act with them.  No one understands how Handa feels about them in reality and interpret the strange interactions as part of his personal mystic and cool, further enhancing his demi-god status.  From interpreting love confessions to duels, the Handa Force protecting him from real threats as personal attacks and any sort of attention as negative.  Handa leads a miserable life in which his world is surrounded by attempts to destroy him. 

    I enjoyed Barakamon so was naturally interested in what another series dealing with the curmudgeon Handa would be like, but Handa-kun is a completely different and an all together differently enjoyable series from its predecessor.  The series is a slap stick situational weirdness gag comedy that uses the misinterpretations of Handa and everyone around him as the comedic focus.  It actually works pretty well for the majority of the series and the writing changed the situations up enough to keep it fresh.  Some of the characters and interactions were a little weak in concept and delivery but over all the writing is enjoyable and the comedy is strong through out.  In some ways I liked this series over the original but both are worth the time honestly.

    The artwork isn't bad, somewhat sub standard compared to other shows, but it stuck to the styling indicative of a gag comedy piece, so it fit rather well.  Some of the characters are ridiculous in design and are done so to enhance the comedy.  In the end it was pretty good and enjoyable.  It wasn't ground breaking, fitting well with in a comfortable limit, but well worth the time.

    The series was simulcast on FUNimation.  I anticipate a video release by them at some point, banking on fans of Barakamon to bite.  The manga is being released in North America by Yen Press and I might just have to start picking it up.

Orange - anime

Orange (オレンジ) is a 13 episode romantic drama based on the manga of the same name by .  The series aired in Japan over the Summer of 2016.

    Naho is an average, shy high school student.  She has a small group of friends, loving parents and a peaceful life.  In the beginning of the school year she receives a letter claiming to be from her future self.  The letter foretells a transfer student named Kakeru will be joining her class and she and her friends must absolutely not invite him to hang out with him after school.  She thinks the letter is a joke until things in it start to come true.  Her hesitant personality stops her from paying heed to the letters warning and her group of friends spends the afternoon with the transfer student.

    As the days go on more and more comes true from the letter.  Naho begins to fall in love with Kakeru and begins to believe that her future self is trying to save him from something.  She tries as hard as she can but her uncertainty continues to plague her actions.  She struggles to become closer with him and to prevent whatever has caused her the levels of regret that allowed her to transcend space and time.  Is she able to prevent the future foretold and an she rely on her friends to believe and help her?  What happens to Kakeru that leaves such a deep mark her?

    This was one of the series' I was anticipating this year given that i have read and enjoyed the manga.  It was great to see it in color, action and with sound.  Though having to focus on the story as it unravels at it's own pace, instead of being able to quickly read through the manga, reveals how melodramatic the story is from time to time.  It becomes seriously sappy at some points, embarrassingly so.  In the manga I had a great urge to smack Naho in order to make her move forward with the things she needed to do.  The anime didn't elicit the same strength of action, but was still non-the-less.  The anime follows the manga pretty closely, so its an either or option in my opinion.  The characters still suffer from their shallow, happy-go-lucky personalities that i didn't like in the manga.  Not that they are bad, but there isn't as much doubt or reservation in them as I would like...in order to make them more realistic.

    The animation is well done with a calming and natural color palette.  The character designs are traditional shojo in nature, tall lanky frames, large watery eyes.  There is even the occasional flood of flower pedals in some scenes.  I do have a fondness for the classic shojo aesthetic, even if it is a little antiquated these days and unnatural in design.  Yet you come to expect that type of artwork in this story.  This is a true and through shojo romance story that also carries some important messages about regret and self loathing.  While it uses time travel as a way to implement the premise of the story it's not really about jumping back and forth in time.  The letters are the only thing that travel time.  It was easier in the anime to keep track of when the story would shift from the adult and teenage time lines, color played a huge part in making that easier.  But don't go into the series looking for something that relies heavily on sci-fi tropes, that part is only the catalyst and not the actual focus of the story.

    The anime was simulcast on Crunchyroll, which also houses the electronic version of the manga.  No word on the anime being picked up for video distribution in America, but it's probably only a matter of time.  The manga is available in tankoubon format by Seven Seas.  There will also be a theatrical treatment in Japan November 2016, I am assuming it is a continuation of the story so it will be completely new material.  Or it could be a condensed retelling...which hopefully it won't be.

This Art Club Has A Problem

This Art Club Has A Problem (この美術部には問題がある!) is a 12 episode romantic comedy based on the manga of the same name by Imigimuru.  The series originally aired in Japan during the Summer of 2016.

    Usami Mizuki is a 2nd year member of her middle school's fine art club.  Unfortunately the club is in danger of closing down.  The club president is a senior who's only official duty is to sleep on the club rooms couch.  The only other members are Uchimaki Subaru who is the same grade as her and the brain damaged foreigner Colette.  Mizuki and Subaru are both talented artists in their own right and Mizuki develops a slow burning crush on her peer.  The problem is that Subaru is an intense otaku who has no interest in real women and only focuses on crafting the ideal 2d wife in his art.  Undaunted, Mizuki patiently tries to make him change his ways.

    This is a typical slice of life high school romantic comedy but is delivered in the fashion of a 4koma gag manga.  Each episode is made up of small vignettes that are sometimes threaded together in a longer narrative.  The majority of the focus is absurd comedy with all of the members of the art club including their supervisor being off kilter.  Mizuki plays the staight-man out of the group and suffers through the antics and short sighted thinking of the others.  The romance is slight and uneven through the series but is an underlying current in the over all production.

    Its OK at best.  The comedy is cute but heavily aimed at otaku.  What little fanservice there is, is done tastefully and with in the confines of the plot.  There isn't much development beyond the members of the club, instead the segments focus on them and mostly take place in the club room.  One of the best segments was when they decided to paint the pool while they were tasked with cleaning it.  The animation is good and typical of the current crop of anime.  All in all the series wasn't bad but doesn't really leave a lasting impression.  It would be nice if more series like this existed in place of the ever present otaku fodder light novel reworks.

    Konobi was simulcast on Crunchyroll and there is no work on when/if it will receive a physical release.

Inside Mari

Inside Mari (ぼくは麻理のなか) is a psychological romances/slice of life manga by Oshimi Shuzo.  The manga was published between 2012 and 2016.

    Hikkikomori Komori Isao finds himself in a spiral of self destruction.  His life has stopped and his future is uncertain.  The only bright spark in his life is a beautiful high school girl who works at the convenience store near his house.  He decides to follow her one evening after her shift, unsure of what he is going to do.  As he struggles internally with what he's doing she turns around to confront him.  The next thing Komori knows is that he wakes up in the body of the girl, Yoshizaki Mari.

    Komori has to deal with suddenly residing in the body of the high school girl he has been obsessing over, dealing with suddenly being female.  He also has to fake being Mari around her family and in school, both of which he has absolutely no clue about.  On top of the stressful situation of having to pretend to be this high school girl he has to face the idea of how he happened to replace her, what happened to his body and where is the real Mari?  The only one who realizes something is truly wrong is a classmate Kakiguchi Yori, who has watched Mari from the sidelines for a while now, sorting through her own feelings and personal issues.

    I wasn't sure what to expect out of this manga.  I started reading it after I had watched the anime version of Flowers of Evil, which is a manga by the same author.  While there is a super natural aspect to the story it really focuses on the main characters coming to terms with their own personalities and the search for the truth of how and why Komori suddenly took over Mari's body.  In the beginning the focus was on him coming to terms with suddenly having to live a different life, as the opposite gender.  The situations of dealing with being a woman, being around other women casually in intimate situations and dealing with things such as menstruation.  It shifts to digging into the hidden secrets of Mari's family and the emotional attachment of her classmate Yori.  If memory serves correct the author may be undergoing gender reassignment and in some ways this could have been a way of working through that.

    The artwork is pretty decent through out.  There are many panels where the backgrounds are rather barren, forcing you to focus on the character and their dialogue, which works well.  Oshimi has a really good touch when it comes to character expressions.  This was a good read, not as stressful as Flowers of Evil, but like that one changes course half way through.  Over all the real goal is to figure out what happened and how to fix it, along the way the main character goes through a self discovery as well as understanding things from a different perspective.  The way the series ends though is slightly confusing and may leave a bad taste in some readers mouths.  If you end up liking/do like this manga I might recommend Asatte no Houkou as well.

    The series was published electronically by Crunchyroll though there is no word on a hardcopy release. 

Sweetness and Lightening

Sweetness and Lightening (甘々と稲妻) is a 12 episode slice of life anime based on the manga of the same name by Amagakure Gido.  The series aired in Japan during the Summer of 2016.

    Inuzuka Kohei is a widower single father and a high school teacher.  Life can be difficult raising his preschool aged daughter Tsumugi all by his self.  One night Tsumugi breaks down because all of their meals come from a convenience store, causing Kohei to rush around the neighborhood trying to find a restaurant for them to eat at.  He stumbled across a small diner and is welcomed in by a shocked looking teenager.  She tells him that her mom, the chef, isn't home.  Before he can leave she convinces them to stay and she makes rice porridge for them.

    Tsumugi's attitude instantly changes, the simple meal reminding her of home cooked meals from when her mother was alive.  The girl, Kotori, is a student at the school Kohei teaches at.  Her celebrity chef mother is never home and she convinces him that he and Tsumugi should use the restaurant as a facility for him to learn to cook better.  Kohei reluctantly takes her up on the offer, hoping to keep his their loneliness at bay and to create a more healthy environment for his daughter.  Kotori as well is using the opportunity to fight her loneliness as well and eagerly provides the hospitality.

    This is the one series I was most looking forward too this year and it did not disappoint.  I have been a fan of the manga for quite a while now and was happy to see it receive an anime.  For the most part the artwork is pretty fantastic, especially Tsumugi's tangle of hair.  The voice acting is spot on and I can't imagine it being done any other way.  Tsumugi was voiced by an actual child instead of some teenage/young adult trying to act like a kid, which tends to be really annoying in the end.  The series though seemed to really focus more on the drama aspects of the story than the manga, which is perfectly fine.  But so much of the manga its self is devoted to the preparation and explanation of the meals that the two are dissimilar in that way.  There is a lot of slice of life in the manga as well, but it is more prominent in the anime.

    The writing is pretty good, the characters are pretty realistic and the story moves between Tsumugi's issues with her peers, Kohei's concerns about his ability to be a good parent and Kotori's desires to have a normal family.  In the manga, past the point of the anime, there are minor hints that maybe Kotori is developing emotional attachment to Kohei and possibly even Tsumugi.  Perhaps she is beginning to imagine her self as a potential candidate as a new mother for the little girl.  But that is all speculation and not relatable in the anime.  In the end this is a heart warming slice of life tale about people coming together and working through difficult times with food.  Something we can all relate too, the warmth and comfort of those average daily meals that are so special when we are older and on our own.  The only thing that is really missing in this fantastic rendition of a fun and lovable manga is the recipes at the end of each issue.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll (as is the manga) but there is no word on a physical or dub release in North America.

The Anthem of the Heart

The Anthem of the Heart (心が叫びたがってるんだ) is a romantic drama theatrical release by the same group that created anohana.  The movie initially ran in Japan in 2015.

    Naruse Jun dreamed of living in a castle and being with a shinning prince as a small child.  Little did she know the castle she dreamed of was a gaudy love hotel on the outskirts of town.  One day while playing through her fantasies she witnesses her father leaving the hotel with a princess that wasn't her mom.  She rushes home to tell her mom the exciting news, her mom, struck with the news, chastises Jun about how much she talks.  Shortly afterwards when she asks her father why hes leaving he blames her for the situation because of how much she talks.  Feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders she runs into a mysterious talking egg who tells her that she should seal away her voice to stop from hurting those around her.  He tells her that she will only be unsealed when she meets a shining prince.

    Years later in high school she is a reclusive and morose student, who lives with the regrets of her parents divorce.  When she is forced into a classroom committee by her homeroom teacher she has to face her curse head on.  The committee is designed to come up with what the class will do for an upcoming exhibit for the neighborhood.  The homeroom teacher, also the music teacher, stealthily suggests the class put on a musical.  One of her classmates on the committee, Sakagami Takumi, has a hidden talent for music, inspiring Jun to push for the musical idea as well.  She writes a story reflecting her own personal turmoil and with Takumi's help they convince the rest of the class to do it for the exhibit.  Jun secretly hopes that Takumi is the foretold prince who will unseal her voice and allow her to experience the world again.

    First off, anohana established its self as an incredibly sad story, but don't go into this movie expecting the same type of tear jerking response.  Instead what you get is a story about regret and self punishment.  The story focuses on Jun and Takumi opening up to themselves and others, finding a common struggle.  Along the way a few other characters play roles in the two main characters awakening as well as their own, most notably the other two reluctant committee members.  While realistic in its portrayal of the characters problems it is also a little heavy handed in the mellow drama.  The characters themselves are really only two dimensional and quite predictable.  You want to like them but in the end they really aren't likeable, thus making the impact of the final act less emotional.

    The artwork wasn't bad, the backgrounds were really the best part, but much of the character designs were simple in comparison.  Don't get me wrong it looks good, but that one thing disappointed me a little bit.  I'm trying not to really shit on this movie, because it wasn't bad.  It was just disappointing when I think back on it.  There was some potential to make it a really special movie.  I applaud it for it's realism when it came to the struggles the characters went through, but that was hindered by their half hearted personalities.

    The movie isn't technically available in North America yet though.  What does exist is an official region free DVD/BluRay that Rightstuf is importing and selling for a premium price.  Honestly, its not worth that expense, I would wait out an official Region 1 release.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance

The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance (アルスラーン戦記 風塵乱舞) is the 8 episode continuation of the Heroic Legend of Arslan 2015 TV series.  The anime is based on the novels of the same name by Tanaka Yoshiki.  Dust Storm Dance aired in the Summer of 2016.

    We pick up from where we left off the original TV series.  Arslan and company have made significant grounds in their quest to free the King and reclaim their capital and country for themselves.  With out getting into too many spoilers, Arslan's plans are side tracked and he majority of this half season series deals with him in the port city of Gilan to muster more troops and financing for the push to take over the captured capital.  Unknown to them all is not well between the leaders of the invading forces and their job may be a little easier when they finally march on Ecbatana.

    Sadly and surprisingly, this series was apparently cut short for what ever reason and leaves up hanging yet again.  The resolution is in sight but as with the entire anime existence of this story, it has been outside of our grasp.  Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the continuation of this arc and we may see the push for the final campaign.  The final novel in this long running book series is due any time now so perhaps the anime is waiting for that.  But something tells me there is a significant amount of story with what books already exist that the series could work off of.  So perhaps the series really wasn't as popular as it needed to be and all we got was an updated expansion on the original OAV series and a little bit more of the story.  Yet we are still left with no conclusion in the anime edition of this epic story.

    The artwork is the same as the preceding TV series.  It has its ups and downs.  What really stood out in this one was some weird CG integration when it came to large combat sequences, but it wasn't enough to really be problematic.  The only real complaint is the brevity and cliff hanger of an ending...we need more.

    The series was simulcast through FUNimation and we should see a disc release in the future as well.

Koi Kaze - manga

Koi Kaze (恋風) is a slice of life romance manga by Yoshida Motoi.  The series was originally published between 2001 and 2004 and has been collected into 5 tankoubon.

    Koshiro lives with his divorced father, works as a marriage consultant and losses his girlfriend of a few years for being uninteresting and disengaged in life.  When his younger sister, whom he has not seen since she was 2, decides to move in with them to go to high school, his life becomes more complicated.  His coworker gives him two tickets to an amusement park to try and cheer him up.  Koshiro ends up giving running into a school girl he met earlier on the train and invites her to the park.  The girl is thrilled and eagerly takes the opportunity.  In a moment of weakness he breaks down, only to be comforted and consoled by this young girl he suddenly is attracted too.  Once he has regained his stoic composure they leave the park only to run into their father...learning that they are siblings.

    The first meeting in 14 years between Koshiro and his sister Nanoka was awkward enough due to his attraction to her, but he has a difficult time dealing with her because of his emotional breakdown on the Farris Wheel due to his life's outcome.  Nanoka doesn't know how to deal with him because of how angry he appears all of the time, but tries as best as she can to make up for the years apart.  As he slowly opens up to his sister he begins to feel more passion for her, rejecting it strongly, causing him to become easily agitated with her.  Nanko on the other hand struggles to spend more time with the brother she has idolized and dreamed about all of these years, not realizing what kind of signals she is sending him.

    I watched the anime adaption many years ago when it first came out, 2004 or 2005, before it got released in North America.  I don't usually do insect pieces and they are typically pointless deep fantasy fanservice fare.  But there is something about the realism and character development in Koi Kaze that makes it a really enjoyable story.  The story primarily deals with Koshiro's internal struggle and his growing realization of his desires and impulses.  He continually fights with them as base urges that can't and shouldn't be realized.  He has a difficult time of doing so and turns his internal revulsion into aggressive behavior with his sister.  For those looking for some fap material this isn't the direction you want to look.  There is nothing explicit in the series as it focuses more on the mental anguish and turmoil of the main characters and the awkwardness it creates in their lives.  Aside from Nanoka being a bit more naive than a girl her age really is, the characters are portrayed pretty realistically.

    The artwork is interesting.  At times its really well done, particularly the characters facial expressions.  At other times the artwork gets a little weird and silly.  You can tell that some of it is meant to be comedic, to break the thick tension, but at other times it seems to be either out of laziness or someone else taking over a particular panels artwork.  Its weird...almost as if the assistants were required to kick in a little more than they usually would.  Either way, when the artwork is on, its on and does really well with the flow and feel of the story.  Through out the series, particularly at emotionally tense and dramatic parts, there are lovely pages that are deep from the school of shojo manga.  Faded outlines, backgrounds with flowers or pedals, perfectly captured character reactions.  You could build an entire story just with these panels alone.

    I do recommend this to any serious fan of romantic drama's, even with it being about sibling love.  It is very well done and quite tragic on a number of levels.  The anime did a good job at following the important parts of the manga but either would be good to go through, or both if you would like.  The manga has not been published in America, but the anime is available via FUNimation.

   

A Distant Neighborhood

A Distant Neighborhood (遥かな町へ) is a slice of life drama by Taniguchi Jiro.  The manga was originally published between 1998 and 1999 and was compiled into 2 tankoubon.

    Hiroshi lives a moderately satisfying salaryman's life.  He works hard, has a devoted wife and two daughters on the cusp of adulthood.  But something nags at him as he goes through the motions of life.  After a night of heavy drinking he ends up on the wrong train on his way to a meeting.  He finds himself back at his childhood town.  To waste some time he visits his mothers grave where he begins to reflect on her difficult life following his fathers sudden disappearance.  Something overcomes him and the next thin he knows he is back in his 14 year old body, living in 1964.

    Suddenly having the body of a 14 year old and the mind and experiences of a 48 year old can be beneficial but Hiroshi has to be careful with what he says and does.  He has somehow traveled back in time to occupy his past self.  It would be close to impossible to convince anyone of what was going on but his personality and experiences are too far removed to be able to pretend to be his teenage self.  Once he accepts he is stuck in the past he decides he will do everything he can to prevent his father from leaving.  Unfortunately he seems to be altering his past little by little and he is uncertain if he can return to his rightful time, if the life he had been taking for granted will be there for him.

    I am a sucker for good time travel stories and this is a pretty good one.  The characters are well developed and Hiroshi's dilemma and concerns are easily relatable.  Revisiting the past and altering things, correcting mistakes, is a universal desire.  What would it be like for you to revisit your past life with the experience and knowledge you have gained?  How would you do things differently and what would you be able to ultimately change?  I appreciated the fact that Hiroshi was not overly occupied with maintaining the past as it was.  He was at first enjoying his new found vitality, reliving past experiences and building new ones.  Eventually the concern for correcting the one thing in his past that he regretted the most started to take form and he focused on how to change it.  It wasn't like some time travel stories where the characters focus is  on preserving the past or the search to undo their situation.  Instead it focused on Hiroshi going with the flow and accidentally/intentionally tweaking it a little.  There was no grand search for a return to his present, only concern for how he could correct this one thing while maintaining the life he knew.

    Taniguchi, having grown up in the post war years, may have used this as a little bit of his own personal life fantasy.  There is a chance that part of him was displayed in Hiroshi and his life as a child.  Given what group of artists he is part of the artwork is classic in character design and layout, very different from modern manga or even manga from the 90's.  The style, while intentionally his own, does well with the type and era of the story.  I can't think of a better way to present it, even if it isn't the prettiest looking artwork, especially when compared with some of the top names of the current generation.  It is simple, realistic and nostalgic.

    The manga has been available in English for a while now through Ponent Mon who just released a large single volume version of the manga.  Definitely worth picking up.

5 Centimeters Per Second - manga

5 Centimeters Per Second ( 秒速5センチメートル) is a slice of life romance manga adaption of the movie of the same name by Shinkai Makoto.  The two volume adaption came out between 2010-2011 and was illustrated by Yukiko Seike.

    The story follows Tono Takaki in a few phases of his life.  In the beginning he is a loner grade-schooler who finds a soul mate in fellow frequent transfer student Shinohara Akari.  They share a deep interest in reading and learning.  Akari ends up having to transfer away before middle school but the pair continue to keep in contact with letters.  Before high school it is Takaki's turn to transfer again.  This time he is moving to Tanegashima in southern Japan and will be very far away from Akari.  They make a secret plan to meet one last time before they are separated by half of the country.  The trip is stalled by a snow storm, causing it to take twice as long.  In the end they confide in their deep feelings for each other and sorrowfully move forward, apart.

    The second part is with Takaki nearing the end of his high school career in Tanegashima.  The story this time is told from the perspective of Sumida Kanae, a girl in his grade who has a strong crush on him.  Kanae struggles with whether she will ever be able to reach through to Takaki and if her feelings will be reciprocated.  While he is popular, friendly and kind to everyone there is a sadness and distraction that Kanae senses from him.  She knows there is someone holding his attention and he will leave the island as soon as possible to return to Tokyo, where she suspects this mystery person resides.

    The third part finds Takaki years later in Tokyo, working as a salaryman, living an unfulfilling life.  He does not understand what he will gain out of life and only continues on with his existence due to having little other options.  To some extent he has tried to move away from Akari and has been dating a girl for a few years, but he is uncertain if he can truly provide her with the attention she deserves.

    Much like the manga adaption of Voices of a Distant Star, this manga rendition of the award winning movie by Shinkai works to expand the world more through expanded dialogue and additional scenes.  The manga faithfully includes the majority of the scenes and segments of the movie and interjects more parts.  The first part is mostly unaltered but the expansion really kicks in with the 2nd and 3rd parts.  In addition to this there is an expanded afterward that wasn't even hinted at in the movie.  For fan's of this movie the expanded parts of the manga do well to solidify the stories core and to further flesh out the characters.

    Art wise it is not as impactful as the amazing animation and coloring from the movie.  The movie is fantastically beautiful and breath taking in the attention to the world around you.  Due to the constraints of the medium of the manga it struggles to match that.  It does well to recreate many iconic scenes from the movie but the lack of color and motion dull their impact.  But that's not to say the artwork is bad, because it isn't, it just has to stand against the movie, which is hard to do.

    It was great to return to this story, which I really really enjoy, in a new way finally.  If only Shinkai would remake the movie and incorporate these additional segments into it, of better yet, he needs to make a short series instead of constraining himself to an hour or and hour and a half.

    The manga is available through Vertical and can be purchased pretty easily.  If you have not checked it out and are a fan of Shinkai's work this belongs in your collection.

Voices of a Distant Star - manga

Voices of a Distant Star (ほしのこえ) is a manga adaptation of the OAV of the same name by Shinkai Makoto.  The single volume manga was done by Sahara Mizu in 2004.

    A little bit in the future mankind has discovered the existence of aliens on Mars.  Studying te ruins of what are being called the 'Tarsians' humanity has been able to achieve great technological advances in a matter of years.  Unfortunately the first contact with the Tarsians proved to be disastrous.  The unified Earth forces have begun to recruit people from all walks of life to join the space fleet to pursue, study and possibly fight the Tarsians.

    Mikako is a normal middle school girl who has been chosen to join the space fleet for an upcoming mission as a mech pilot.  She hides this information as long as she can from her friend and love interest Noboru.  When she tells him that she won't be able to join him in high school because of her selection it comes as a surprise.  They keep in contact through text messages but as Mikako's ship moves further and further away from Earth it takes longer for their communications.

    On Earth Noburo begins to lose interest in his life as the communications from the girl he likes become infrequent.  He learns that she has possibly known for years that she would be joining the fleet, but chose to live her life normally.  Can the increasing distance and age destroy the feelings they share for each other?

    This OAV was the first thing I saw by Shinkai many years ago and made him one of my favorite directors.  The manga adaptation does a good job of expanding the world in this story beyond the character focused dialogue of the anime.  The reader is given a more complete background that has lead to the contact and conflict between humans and the aliens.  Other characters are introduced that both of the main characters interact with and use as catalysts for their internal struggles.

    he artwork isn't bad.  The characters designs in the manga a better than in the anime, but the mechanical designs are a little worse.  Something is lost in some of the scenes through the lack of color but over all the focus of the manga draws you more to the dialogue instead of the artwork.  ven though the OAV was single handed done by Shinkai near the turn of the century it looks fantastic and vivid.  A lot of that is lost in the manga.  But that isn't really a negative trait, as stated it doesn't distract from the core of the story, the characters relationship with each other and the struggle caused by their increasing distance.  One thing that makes the manga superior to the anime is a more definitive ending, even if it may not be exactly what a lot of people want to see, it adds a little more to the feels than what the anime did.

    Either way, worth checking out, especially since its an easy read and does a good job of expanding an excellent anime.  It was published in English by Tokyopop and should be relatively easy to source.  Now, to try and get my hands on the light novel.