Magilumiere Co. Ltd.

 Magilumiere Co. Ltd. (株式会社マジルミエ) is a 12 episode magical girl series based on the manga of the same name by Iwata Sekka.  The first season originally aired during the Fall of 2024.

    Sakuragi Kana is a recent college graduate who has struggled to find employment.  She puts unparalleled effort into researching each company she applies to but ultimately fails to impress them enough to want to hire her.  At one interview the room suddenly becomes infested with a supernatural being known as a kaii.  In recent years kaii have increased in frequency, causing danger and destruction in their wake.  This has lead to a boom in the magical girl industry, where hundreds of companies taught the series of these specialized women in combating the kaii.  The company she's at that is being attacked have been negligent in their kaii prevention measures and decided to hire a small magical girl business for this extermination, feeling they can be less than open on the level of threat involved.

    Sakuragi ends up assisting the magical girl, Koshigaya Hitomi, as she battles the powerful kaii, showing off hr ability to be flexible and objective under preassure.  Koshigaya tells Sakuragi that she should come work for her employer, Magilumiere Co. Ltd.  Overcome with emotion she agrees to join up, grateful for a job, but is uncertain if she is really cute out to be a magical girl.  Not counting Sakuragi, the company only has 4 members.  Its head, a middle aged gentleman who dresses as a magical girl named Shigemoto Kouji has an unconventional approach to how the business operates and what their goal is.  He's not concerned with being the most profitable, instead he's focused on the aesthetics of the magical girl industry and evolving it to a place where the kaii may no longer be a threat.  Sakuragi adapts to the unconventional ways her employer operates and appreciates it for its vision.  As she gains more experience in her roll she becomes more confident in her own abilities, but something dangerous is lurking in the recesses and there may be a preventable tragedy around any corner.

    I don't really watch magical girl series', as its not a genre that appeals to me very much.  I do however respect the genre and am glad that its fans have so many quality titles to choose from.  I've watched a few over the years, most enjoyable being Magical Girl Ore but was intrigued by the initial concept of this series.  I liked the concept of the world in Magilumiere being one of magical girls being rather common place.  The abilities behind them as well seems to stem from advanced technology instead of super natural elements.  The kaii themselves feel like yokai under a different name.  Honestly...this is pretty much the anime version of Ghost Busters when it comes down to it.  At times the action got boring, with the need to continuously call out attacks, largely made of nonsensical words stringed together that had little standardization.  But that's all par of the flavour in the genre so its not with out its precedent.

    This series is a little unconventional for a magical girl story.  Its really the story of a scrappy group of idealists fighting for their own sense of whats right, against standard conventions.  They all have their own past trauma's that have lead them to their fated union and they are stronger as a whole compared to what they can do alone.  Through out the first season bits and pieces of past events in the world leak out, working as foreshadowing for a greater narrative tension to come.  Like a video game, it slowly ramps up the difficulty as the audience and the main character are exposed to the nuances of the world.  At this point I am invested enough to continue watching it when the second season comes out but I'm not sure if I really enjoy this series over all.  All the while I was watching it I rally wanted to shut it off and re watch the original OAV's for Maho Tsukai Tai instead.  Either way, its a fun change of pace for the magical girl genre that adds an amount of maturity, both with the story its trying to tell and the fact that its characters are adults working in an industry, instead of randomly selected (some would say kidnapped) adolescent girls forced to carry the worlds burden on their shoulders.

The series was simulcast on Prime.

365 Days to the Wedding

 365 Days to the Wedding (結婚するって、本当ですか,) is a 12 episode slice of life romance based on the manga of the same name by Wakaki Tamiki.  The series aired during the Fall of 2024.

    Ohara Takuya and Honjoji Rika are employees at a branch of a nation wide travel agency who keep to themselves and live isolated lives.  When plans for a new branch are finalized to open in Anchorage Alaska, their location is chosen to produce the person who will head the new office as it establishes its self.  No one volunteers for the job when the announcement is made so management informs everyone that they will choose the candidate.  It will be someone who is young, unmarried and without children, so as not to cause a disruption to others.  Ohara has little desire to move to Alaska, particularly due to his efforts to rehabilitate his adopted cat.  Honjoji similarly does not want to be forced into the assignment, having no strong interest in her work, only taking it due to her love of maps and sight seeing.

    In a moment of calculated desperation Honjoji suggests that she and Ohara pretend to be engaged, to eliminate both of them from the transfer pool.  Seeing this as the best way to ensure he doesn't have to move he agrees to the plan.  But how easy will it be to convince everyone around them that its real, instead of an elaborate lie?  Both of them have little interest in the other, preferring the comfort of isolation and solitude.  But they approach the ruse with strategy and meticulous planning.  Their efforts, while somewhat rocky, appear to be working but they continue to get mysterious phone calls from someone claiming they know they are lying.  As their lie grows they find themselves having to do more to make it look convincing and as they are forced to spend more time together they begin to question if there are any legitimate feelings for the other person or if that's something they even want to explore.

     Its always nice to have romances with purely adult characters in purely adult situations.  That is exactly what this delivers, a cute work place romance that centers around two adults who are a little too innocent for their own good.  Innocent may not be the correct way to explaining them.  They are both very comfortable being alone and they struggle with the idea of changing their routines.  They also work to resist any misconstrued emotions related to their get out of being transferred scheme.  The story follows two parallel narratives.  The first is their efforts to maintain their lie enough to convince the people around them its true.  The other is their growing awareness of the other person and their inner turmoil over that growing awareness.  Its not the best work place romance out there, but its heavily grounded in reality with enjoyable characters.  Both Ohara and Honjoji are grown up social outcasts who have decided that its much more preferable to isolate yourself with your own interests instead of being outwardly motivated.  In other worlds, their both introverts who interact with others as little as possible.

    I feel like a broken record but the artwork is passable.  Realistic and believable character designs but nothing to wow the viewer with.  Outside of the inevitable and predictable conclusion of the two main characters relationship, there are a few side stories that show the viewer and the main pair different sides of the world they are only pretending to live in.  One particular episode deals with a younger man who looks to Ohara as inspiration for romance, taking the initiative and putting himself out there on a dating app.  He ends up connecting with a young woman over a shared passion and develop a strong friendship.  When he wants to take it further with her she informs him that she is a single mother and needs him to accept that.  He falters for a moment and she cuts him off, leaving him filled with regret as all of his confidence resulted in a critical moment of panic.  This one episode story line alone is well worth watching this fun and quirky romance.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.

Dan Da Dan - Season 1

 Dan Da Dan (ダンダダン) is a 12 episode shonen action series based on the manga of the same name by Tatsu Yukinobu.  The series originally aired during the Fall of 2024.

    Ayase Momo is a stereotypical high school gyaru.  She has close friends and dreams of finding a man that exhibits all of the qualities of Japanese cinema's every-man Takakura Ken.  When her good-for-nothing boyfriend breaks up with her because she won't have sex with him her faith in humanity plummets.  She yearns to expend her frustration and roams the halls of school looking for a target.  She comes across another room where a social outcast boy is being actively harassed by classmates.  She causally intervenes before they can escalate the bullying but reuse to engage her, further frustrating her.  As she returns to prowling the halls the outcast chases after her...but not to express his gratitude.  The boy is an alien otaku and has taken Momo's desire to fight someone as interest in him.  Disgusted by his gross misunderstanding of the situation they begin to mentally battle each other over their beliefs.  Mom, who was raised by her medium grandmother, fully believes in spirits and possession but refuses to believe that aliens exist.  The boy, feels the opposite way and their mutual stubbornness leads them to challenging each other to test their beliefs.

    The evening Mom finds herself wandering a condemned hospital, a spot the boy claims is a hot bed for alien abductions.  He on the other hand finds himself entering an unused tunnel on the outskirts of town, supposedly home to a powerful spirit.  The two remain chat with each other while exploring their own mystery spot, working to understand each other a little better.  The boy encounters a strange old woman who scares him out of his senses and he begins to flee the tunnel.  Momo warns him that he's encountered the spirit known as 'turbo granny' and is she catches him he will be cursed.  The line goes dead and before she can call him back 3 strange men appear before her.  The next thing she knows shes stripped down to her underwear and is strapped to a chair.  The strange men tell her they are aliens who have come to take her reproductive organs in order to reintroduce biodiversity into their species.  Before they can begin the procedure a strange creature expels its self from her cell phone and begins attacking the aliens.  It is the boy, who lost the race and has become cursed/possessed by turbo granny.  Stressed by the situation and the danger the boy and she are suddenly in, latent psychic powers manifest within her and the two of them defeat the aliens, crashing back to the ground in their UFO.  They both admit they believe what the other person believes but are forced to remain together until they can remove turbo grannies curse, as the only thing keeping her at bay is Momo's powers.  Momo is stuck with the weird otaku now...who's name is Takakura Ken.

    If you're one of the few people who have not watched Dan Da Dan, don't worry, the synopsis only covers the rough plot of episode one, the catalyst for the entire series.  At first I was excited for the series, having never read the manga.  Particularly due to it being done by Science Saru.  Then the first preview dropped and I had doubts.  Ken...or as Momo calls him Okarun, refusing to allow him to share a name with her idol, looked like a knock off Bleach character when in his possessed form.  The tone of the series felt like some garbage zero to hero power fantasy that I really had no interest in.  Either way I decided to watch the first episode and the animation exceeded my expectations.  Science Saru knocked it out of the park with the life the breathed into the production.  It felt like they looked at Trigger and their style and said hold my beer bitch.  But I still wasn't fully sold on the actual story with the first episode and felt I should at least give it a second episode to try and sell me.  The second episode did that and each consecutive episode continued to show that it was worth my time.

    On the surface, DanDaDan is a shonen action series where the nerdy outcast kid gains super natural powers and begins battling dangerous foes all while the ladies swoon over him.  Literally the same power fantasy pervasive throughout the genre.  It doesn't stop being that but there is so much more to it.  The series usurps all expectations with each plot line.  The real core of the story is the growing relationship and respect between Momo and Okarun.  Momo is someone who cares about other people but can't be bothered by others.  She feels responsible for Okarun being cursed and does what she can to remove it.  Okarun on the other hand doesn't want to have to rely on her to solve his issues.  He's grateful for all shes done for him, not considering her at fault for his situation, but also desires to let her be free of him.  His ideas don't work well and they are forced to spend a lot of time together, growing closer as they do.  Both kids are really just lost in the world around them, struggling with their lives and have found a weird kinship in their incredibly strange and dangerous situation.  As a final thought, there is some level. of discomfort in the amount of fan service there is in the show but it doesn't always feel out of place or unwarranted, it just seems uncomfortable at times.

The series was simulcast on Netflix and Crunchyroll and season 2 will be releasing in the Summer of 2025.

Tsuma Shogakusei Ni Naru

 Tsuma, Shogakusei Ni Naru (妻、小学生になる) is a 12 episode super natural drama based on the manga of the same name by Murata Yayu.  The anime originally aired during the Fall of 2024.

    Niijima Keisuke lost his wife Takae ten years earlier in a traffic accident.  He was left to raise their daughter, Mai, by himself.  Takae was everything to him and with her gone he sank into a deep despair, moving through life without any focus.  Their house continued to be a dark and depressing place for the decade following her death, both daughter and father living in perpetual mourning.  One evening as they sat to consume a miserable meal from the convenience store the door bell rings.  Keisuke answers it to find a young girl who tells him she is his wife.  Stunned he invites her inside at which point she goes through the process of convincing the two skeptical adults that she really is Takae reincarnated.  She tells them that her old memories began returning recently and something triggered when she passed by their house one day.  She felt it was time to approach them and not a moment too soon, looking at the state of them and their lives

    Keisukei and Mai are overjoyed with this miraculous return of Takae, but she is more cautious.  She is the daughter of a recently divorced single mother and doesn't have complete freedom to spend time with them as they would like.  She starts by telling Keisuke that she will begin making lunches for him a few time during the week.  Takae wants to make sure that her family can move on and live their best life, uncertain why she is back among the living and what it means.  Aside from the strange reality of having the memories and personality of a middle aged mother while living as a ten year old girl, Takae has the difficult situation at her home to content with.  Her mother, Chika, is often neglectful of her daughter, usually away from home, leaving the young girl to fend for herself.  This allows Takae some freedom to spend time with her old family but when she becomes careless her mothers fury unleashes and the young girl finds her self in a precarious position between the old life as Takae and the current life as a girl named Marika.

    Taking this title of this series at face value sets up very different expectations.  "My Wife is a Grade School Student" has a significantly more comedic or potentially perverted quality to it, that absolutely hides the heavy soap opera like drama that the story really presents.  The potential optics of the series is very likely the reason the Japanese name was kept when it was licensed in the west, officially shortened to TsumaSho.  While at first uncertain about what the overall story would be, this became a quality drama with focused story telling and realistically motivated characters.  There are moments where the melodrama becomex too think but the story is compelling and pushes through.  It is both a study on the age old yearning for reconnecting with lost loved ones and a thought exercise of what such a situation would be like in reality.  How do you hide this sort of reincarnation?  It would be almost impossible to convince the authorities about what was going on.  When a 50 year old widower is being overly familiar with a 10 year old girl that he should realistically have no interaction with, the authorities might be a bit...protective.

    As with a lot of slice of life stories, the artwork isn't the focal point of the anime but that doesn't mean its terrible.  The character designs are realistic and believable, something highly appreciated.  The story doesn't dig into the mechanics of Takae's reincarnation until the back half of the story.  As they begin to question why such a thing has happened a potential resolution to the situation begins to come into focus for them.  This adds another layer of drama and tension to the story as the Niijima's face the very real possibility that Takae's reincarnation may not be permanent. What would you do if you could reconnect with a lost loved one again?

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.  Hopefully the manga will get licensed at some point as well!

In Defense of the Gyagu

    One of my all time favorite genre's is the raucous styling of gag manga.  Largely joke driven instead of plot driven, many times yonkoma formatting and just indecipherable for those not in the know.  Many times the artwork is crude, either to enhance the absurdist nature of whats being presented or because the author is a far better jokester than artist.  Out of all of the genres of manga or anime that see distribution in North America, it may be one of the hardest types to sell, perhaps similar to the difficulty of sports stories to gain traction.

    There are some well regarded titles that sit firmly in the gag camp, Gintama, Nichijou, Lucky Star, etc.  Yet the titles generally have a hard time finding large audiences especially with audiences that are looking for something familiar and/or story driven.  I have long been a fan of the genre, eagerly seeking out the bizarre titles that no licensing firm would ever contemplate bringing to America.  Titles like the fantastic Gag Manga Biyori or Super Radical Gag Family.  America has its own history of absurdist humor and what amounts to sketch comedy.  Its not difficult to make connections between Saturday Night Live and Gag Manga Biyori.  They both deliver short, self contained concepts who's sole intent is to deliver a punchline.  Some gag manga is difficult for Westerners to approach because of the localized nature of the comedy.  This can be especially hard when the comedy is styled on the manzai form of stand up.

    I had initially started to write about my love for gag manga ten years ago and just sat on a partial script until finally scrapping it.  The week of this writing the Netflix exclusive American cartoon inspired by the card game Exploding Kittens premiered and I watched a few episodes of it.  I enjoyed it at first but then noticed a common pattern in American adult animation.  The need for the writers to force a plot in a single episode as a weak support system for the jokes that are the real focus of the writting.  What I enjoyed with the Exploding Kitten cartoon was the absurdist cringe humor peppered through out.  Unfortunately the bulk of each episode was consumed with trying to develop an unnecessary narrative that was both contained in the episode and could be expanded across a larger story.  I believe the product would have been far more satisfying to both the audience and I suspect the writing staff if it compartmentalized its self focusing on the jokes as the most important, in the way Robot Chicken does.

    Even the original source material, The Oatmeal, is self contained jokes and musing with zero over all plot of connectivity.  Yet the choice was made to follow the formula used in all manner of adult cartoons designed for Adult Swim and it turned into something that was an imitation of those other show sprinkling with some amusing biting commentary.  It could have been some much more if it hadn't fallen victim to forced expectations instead of relying purely on the strength of the joke writing.  I have a similar opinion on the Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy films.  Both of those series have no need for a structured plot as the joy of the movies is the absurd interactions between the characters.  Trying to force in a grander story or message only gets in the way of the joy.

    Gag manga is a hard sell, even if there are a number of well received titles that have found homes in North America.  It doesn't usually get the attention that other more exciting genres get so large portions of the fan base shy away from something that is so different than they are familiar with.  But all it takes is to find that one title that scratches an itch that's never been scratched before to make someone a believer.

    In conclusion I think my gravitation towards gag manga and anime was laid down as a young child, growing up on sketch comedy like SNL, Monty Python and SCTV.  I'm of the opinion that the greatest comedy movie ever made is The Jerk and its story barely does anything other than to set up all of the jokes.  There is so much gag manga out there that is difficult to get into because of how obtuse the jokes are if you're not familiar with the medium, that and some legitimate cultural differences.  But honestly, thumb through a copy of Life Lessons With Uramichi-oniisan and tell me you didn't laugh.

Look Back

 Look Back (ルックバック) is a dramatic slice of life movie based on the manga of the same name by Fujimoto Tatsuki.  The movie was originally released in theaters in 2024.

 Spoiler Warning: In order to properly discuss the film plot points will need to be somewhat spoiled.  Please be aware of this before you continue.

    Fujino Ayumu draws the 4-panel manga for her school weekly newsletter.  The praises of her efforts by the other students and her teachers carry her through her days.  She sits confidently on top of the world through her artwork.  Another student begins to submit 4-panel manga for the newsletter as well, a girl who doesn't come to school named Kyomoto.  Fujino figures that a girl who can't even attend school on a regular basis might not be able to meet the weekly deadlines.  The first strip by Kyomoto completely devestates Fujino.  The shut in girls highly detailed creations offer a stark contrast to the juvenile nature of Fujino's artwork.  Everyone notices and in an instant her praise and admiration evaporate.  Bulking at the difference in ability, Fujino doubles down and consumes herself with studying art, feverish to improve her abilities.  Time slides by as she does nothing but study and practice, trying to surpass Kyomoto.  Her single minded focus causes her friends to grow distant and her grades to slip.  After so much effort and sacrifice she realizes she doesn't have the ability to surpass the other girl and decides one day to completely give up drawing manga.

    On the day of graduation from middle school her teacher tasks her with bringing Kyomoto her diploma.  Begrudgingly she does only to find her house lifeless.  She creeps in through the unlocked front door and sees piles upon piles of sketch books lining the hallway, to what she assumes is the other girls bedroom.  Angered by everything she grabs a strip of paper and jots down a quick manga, attacking the other girl.  A gust of wind slips the strip underneath the closed door, panicking, Fujino flees the house.  Kyomoto notices the art and realizes who the intruder is and rushes out after her.  The disheveled timid girl yells after Fujino as she briskly walks down the street.  That works and she stops, tuning to see her rival for the first time.  Kyomoto addresses her with admiration and respect, gushing about specific panels Fujino drew over the years that she loved.  When she asks her why she stopped drawing Fujino concocts a lie about changing her focus on creating a manga to submit for publishing.  Kyomoto begs for Fujino to let her read it.  Even though no such creation exists she tells her she will and leaves to return home, propelled by the admiration her rival pours upon her.

    Fujino returns to manga creation as she enters high school, crafting a concept to submit for publication, she decides to partner with Kyomoto, tapping into the other girls abilities.  To their complete surprise their creation is selected for a new artist contest and wins 2nd place.  The success gives them some money to use and a foot in to door to produce more works for the publishing company.  Through out high school the two girls feverishly produce short manga one after another, all getting published.  Kyomoto has dropped out of school, still unable to interact with other people very well and wanting to pursue art full time.  As graduation approaches their editor sets them up to begin a longer series for the magazine.  Kyomoto tells Fujino that she has to step away from the work.  She has a great desire to improve her art and to grow into a more productive member of society by forcing herself into social situations.  Fujino is upset with her decision, relying on her artwork and design input.  Fujino believes that she is all the other girl needs, that she can always lead her into the future.  Kyomoto is determined to improve herself both mentally and artistically and goes ahead with art school.  Meanwhile, Fujino pushes ahead with a serialized manga that gradually becomes successful and popular.  But her success brings problems as her reliance on assistants causes her extra work.  Her world shuts down when a rampage at the art college Kyomoto attends leads to the other girls death, along with many other students.  Fujino struggles to comprehend the loss and believes that the choices she made lead to her friends death.  The story ends with a quiet note of reflection and speculation on Fujino's part as she faces the world without her rival and friend.

    Fujimoto is known for his super natural shonen action hi Chainsaw Man, a series that has never interested me.  This however, has been on my mind since the first preview came out for it.  I absolutely love dramatic retrospective stories and this hits a lot of those beats.  I feel the message that we can take from this story is to appreciate the time we have with those around us as we have no control over how long that time is.  Nothing you can do will change things once they have happened, no matter how much wish crafting we do.  The story telling is poignant, precise and well paced for what it wants to say.  There is really no wasted time and the majority of it is the set up of the relationship between the two girls during their formative years, using a fantastic time lapse of them working on manga during high school.  That said, I still have no interest in Chainsaw Man...even if I can recognize some story telling skill on Fujimoto's end.  This however is well wroth the hour run time.

    A lot of people may bulk at the artwork, which is full 3DCG.  Its not clean or pretty by any definition of those words.  But it fits well with the characters and the story.  At times it felt like it was rotoscope like that found in Flowers of Evil.  With all the uncanny quirks with this style of animation, the production team showed off how it can be used effectively for framing and motion.  But in the end this is a no frills production that focuses more on the dialogue and exposition to tell the story and it does a really good job at that, a fantastic job.  This is a heavy movie that may not be for everyone but it doesn't make the subject material a spectacle.  It doesn't romanticize anything, choosing to be stark and bare in its emotions.  It's been a while since an anime kept me awake at night thinking about it.

The film is currently available in dub and sub on Amazon Prime.  I am going to need to pick up the manga to add to my collection. 

Returning to Ninja Scroll

 Ninja Scroll (獣兵衛忍風帖,) is an action movie from 1993 created by Kawajiri Yoshiaki.  The movie was originally made available in North America in 1995.

    Set in the 16th century, Kibagami Jubei is a wandering swordsman who finds himself wrapped up in a plot to over through the Tokugawa shogunate.  He encounters a beastly man in the middle of 'assaulting' a woman.  He doesn't enjoy the idea of forced anything and does what he can to help the woman out.  She however was helping herself out as well and with some quick thinking on both their part the monster is distracted enough for them to escape.  The woman introduces herself as Kagero, the sole survivor of a team of ninja's from the Koga clan, sent to investigate a strange rumor around a port village.  As the team came to investigate the stories of a plague wiping the village out the monstrous being attacked them, killing all of the men and kidnapping Kagero for some entertainment.  She parts ways with Jubei to return and report the tragedy to her master.  Jubei continues on his way only to be attacked by the same monster, a super naturally enhanced man going by the name Tessai.  His body is made of stone he towers above mortal men, at perhaps 3 meters in height and weilds a massive double ended...sword?  The battle seems lost to Jubei, he is a normal human with some tenacious abilities and sword handling.  Tessai's stone body suddenly begins to crumble, allowing Jubei's sword to do damage leading to the creatures downfall through his own weapon being uncontrollable.  

     A wizened man appears and gives the swordsman some details about what he just faced.  Tessai is a member of 8 demonic ninja's who are working for a shadow shogun, planning on over throwing the real shogun and restoring power to a different clan.  The old man is a Tokugawa spy and forces Jubei into helping him in his current mission.  A few years earlier Jubei was part of a ninja team who had uncovered an illegal gold mine.  In a series of unfortunate actions he was forced to kill all of the members of his team due to an order to try and hide the gold mines information from being leaked.  Jubei exacted revenge for his comrades by killing the man responsible for their death, a man named Gemma.  The old man informs him that Gem,ma still lives, after Jubei cut off his head, and is the leader of the demon ninjas who are protecting the gold mine.  The old man poisons Jubei and tells him he will receive the antidote once his investigation of the gold mine is completed, forcing the swordsman to face against the demon ninjas and a man he killed once before.  Kagero returns to the area after informing her master of the failure and arrives in time to save Jubei from another of the demon ninja, deciding to join him and the old man on their mission, looking to learn more and for a chance at revenge for her teams destruction.  The three venture into the heart of the beast, facing super naturally powered beings with their only goal being survival until the next day.

    Ninja Scroll was one of the most important and influential anime for American otaku in the 90's.  It was one movie that almost everyone who watched anime saw.  I have been meaning to re-watch this for a while now, as I have not seen it since the 90's.  I wanted to revisit it and see how my opinions of it have changed over the decades as anime and myself have changed drastically.  I ended up finally watching it when we chose to do a side quest episode for the Otaku Network Podcast around it.  I wanted to have David watch it and get his thoughts on it from the perspective of someone younger and much newer to anime fandom than myself.  Listen to that episode here for his, mine and a guest opinion on this 30+ year old samurai film.  I talked about it at length but wanted to also express that here with just my thoughts to focus on.

    Ninja Scroll is absolutely a product of its time, coming at the end end of a decade of decadence in anime production.  Through out the financial boom on the 80's a lot of risky anime was produced, stuff aimed for either direct to video or theatrical markets, unburdened by censorship.  Ninja Scroll came to light from a mutual love of Japanese period drama's and American action films and it shows.  There is a lot of visceral violence and degradation.  The story is shallow and linear, being little more than an excuse to have the character fight a series of bad guys.  My love for anime has fallen heavily into the slice of life and romance genres.  I am not impressed by rippling muscles and ultra violence like I was as a teenager.  I suspected for a while that I wouldn't have any lingering favorable opinions on this movie.  I was quite surprised that I still held a somewhat favorable opinion on the movie.  I have never been a fan of the character design and a lot of the artwork is simplistic, at least in its detail.  There are some well directed fight sequences and some moments of amazing cinematography.  The sexualization of its female characters is problematic and definitely a product of its time...even if there is still a problem with that in anime as a whole.  Ninja Scroll really is the feudal Japan answer to the 80's American action film.  Jubei, the stories hero, is an enviable and noble hero and strong man.  Able to over come any physical injury and situation to win in the end.  Yet he's also vulnerable, one aspect that's not present in 80's action films.  Outside of that 'flaw' of masculinity, he is just another action hero to make the male audience swoon with envy.  While it doesn't have a lot of merit as a piece of art, it is a well enough crafted action movie that it shouldn't really slip into the sands of time.  It's still worth checking out for new and old anime fans, unlike a lot of the iconic titles from that time period.  I don't plan on ever watching it again, ever.  There is no need.

For a long time this was widely available streaming.  But it's become scarce, I believe tied to a recent theatrical return and new blu ray release.

Weekly! Ranma podcast series

 You may not have noticed, but there is a new weekly segment for The Otaku Network Podcast called, Weekly! Ranma.  The first episode is already available on YouTube and Spotify at this point and each episode comes out Friday mornings.

 

    Given my anime fandom started in the early 90's, Ranma is a a vital part of that fandom.  I became aware of the franchise a little before the concept of anime took over my brain though.  It came in the form of an article in some forgotten gaming magazine in 1993.  The article, promoting the newly release Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle release for the SNES, provided and overview of the story its self and then went on to talk about the game.  I don't remember anything about the article other than it highlighting the entire concept of the series...the Jusenkyo curses and Ranma transforming between boy-type and girl-type.  I also remember it talking about one character doing the same but into a panda instead of a girl...Ranma's father.  That novel concept stuck with me and I remember mentioning it to friends at school but it kind of filed its self away.

    Skip ahead to either 1995 or 1996 and the obsession with anime is in full force.  As we scoured the shelves of Blockbuster I noticed tapes for the Ranma TV series immediately recalled the article from earlier in the decade and started the journey with episode 1 of season 3...and the introduction of Ukyo to the story.  Look, don't judge, back in the day we weren't bothered by continuity and just watched whatever was available and figured it out from there!  From that point the series became a core title in frequent anime consumption and as a key piece of bringing new people into the cult.  So...to say I was excited about Ranma getting its own remake treatment like Urusei Yatsurai...I would be understating my joy.

    I wanted to discuss it with David, who had only ever seen the first episode of the original series, as part of a whirlwind I put him through trying to find anime that trigger an interest in him at the beginning of his journey.  After episode two, his reaction was exactly what I was looking for!  Ranma still has it.  I really had no idea what to do with the episodes from the direction aspect.  Of course the dialogue will follow the standard of doing an overview of the plot of the episode followed by a discussion about it.  Thats the easy part, but I sat there as the deadline was staring me down, trying to come up with a way to make it different from the other podcast episodes, which are mostly quite static and uninteresting.  I spent about six hours a day and a half before its publishing date and just started throwing idea's against the wall to see what would stick.  Its a bit messy, but I like the groundwork laid with the first episode, with showcasing the way similar scenes look between both versions.  It became pretty time intensive at first to pull them and try to fit them in with the narration of the episode and then find something to fill in the discussion portion.  With episode two, which was recorded and edited down the night before putting this blog post together, I believe I am satisfied just using the comparison panels showing the progression of the episode to occupy the bulk of the background.  Regardless of where we are in the discussion.

    This may change as the episodes progress in this series, but I am OK with a change in consistency.  Also, the song was slapped together in about an hour in my studio...though maybe I shouldn't admit that!    The original opening theme from the first series is so icon to me I really wanted to play around with it for the podcast.  It took a while to isolate the samples in a way that was fun to program with everything else, but I'm not that embarrassed by the work!  Oh, also if you didn't know...again maybe I shouldn't admit this.  All of the background music for the podcast episodes are done by me...

Closing, I hope that my love of Ranma can come across in the podcast episodes dedicated to it.  I'm also really open to suggestions from you about ideas that can be implemented to enhance the experience.  Thanks for reading and listening and enjoy!!

First Look at the New Titles for the Fall of 2024

 We are into the Fall season, here are my thoughts on the initial episodes of the new shows I had picked to check out.

Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister

    A struggling high school student ends up boarding in a shrine run by three miko sisters, all with distinct personalities.  He has to juggle the insanity that they present in order to focus on his schooling but they continue to invade his life in unusual ways.

    Two and a half minutes into it we got fan service,  14 year old, 17 year old and a 20 year old in sexy lingerie.  Pilled up for the viewing pleasure..   I could have sworn this was based on a series by Seo Koji, but he's too busy with that Goddess Cafe thing.  I digress.  There is zero redeeming qualities to the tired and played out tropes in this show.  Its so excessive it has to be a joke right?  This has to be making fun of shitty shonen romance stories by mocking them?  No...its really just repeating played out concepts for literally no purpose?  Ugh, yeah pass but I also didn't have any hopes for this one, it was more an off hand inclusion to the list.

If you want to watch it, its available on Crunchyroll.

365 Days to the Wedding

    Two employees at a travel agency are faced with the possibility of a forced transfer to the branch office in Anchorage Alaska.  They concoct a plan to fake an engagement to each other to remove themselves from consideration.  Now they just have to make it believable for the next year to avoid the transfer.

    This was a much needed palette cleaner after the Amagami Sister garbage.  This is a forced romance between two awkward office workers.  Its pretty understood that as they have to spend more time together pretending to be in love they will fall in love for real.  There is a solid chance that the woman in the situation, Honjoji, more than likely had feelings for the man, Ohara, leading her to approach him with the concept in the first place.  This will be fun, even if it probably won't be earth shattering new.  But it so far is really cute and low key.  A nice adult romance between two very socially nervous people.

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll.

Dan Da Dan

    A gyaru and an otaku end up becoming linked when they challenge each other into believing the unbelievable.  The otaku becomes cursed due to the gyaru and the gyaru feels responsible and decides to stick with him until the curse is broken...but fate may be at work here for something different as these opposites are forced into extreme situations.

    I'll admit...I was a bit hesitant with this one after the later previews came out and it focused more on Occult-kun's transformations and it appearing to be some battle anime, spurned on by libido.  It hasn't not become that, but there is a lot of charm to the work, some of it has to be through Science Saru's magic.  The first episode was fun, even if the extended moments of Momo mostly naked seemed a bit unnecessary in...the details lets say.  But hey, I guess I'm just a prude.  Anyways, the first episode was fun, sets up an interesting precedence but really made me anxious for the anime adaptation of The Summer Hikaru Died!

The series is being simulcast on Netflix and Crunchyroll. 

Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon - Season 5

    We pick up after the dramatic events of the 4th season and Bell along with the rest of the Hestia Familia is safe, rested and powered up.  Bells troubles start once more when one of the women who works at their favorite inn decides to move on her feelings for him, dragging Freya's Familia against our hapless hero.

    Ah this is a bit of a welcomed return.  I really didn't like season 4.  Felling it slid the feel of the world building back to the beginning and took too long to tell what boiled down to one characters background.  This first episode promises a change of pace back to something more in line with what was going on in season 2 were the God's are getting more actively involved in Bells life.  Should be fun!

The series is being simulcast on HiDive.

Blue Box

    High school kid with abnormally developed upper body has feels for older girl who is a star of the basketball team.  He exhibits innocent but stalker like habits in order to be near her...in the hopes she pays attention to him.  He finds out shes moving away and he does a not confession confession about how he feels she should pursue her lost dreams before she leaves.  She then tells him only her fam is leaving and shes staying behind with a family friend.  Skip to later that day and his mom is said family friend.  So now hes living with the girl he likes and the two are going to do sport stuff together.

   Honestly I feel like I'm being unduly harsh to this series.  But the semi-high quality animation pisses me off.  A lot of really nice slice of life stories get shafted when it comes to the animation quality.  Yet when we have a series that falls out of the pages of Shonen Jump it gets a big budget even if its less original of a story.  But...the quality of the animation seems to be a bit of a charade.  The characters themselves, especially their eyes is...soul less.  Their legs are also very disproportionate compared to their upper bodies...and again the MC's torso and neck are super defined and thick...like way too much for someone who plays badminton.  He looks like an Olympic swimmer!!  Half way through i really started to think about how this compares to Suzuka and wrote that of since they don't live in proximity with each other, which was a vital aspect of that series....then the last 2 minutes dropped and I was like...yeah this is Suzuka for a new generation.  I guess I will stick with it for a bit, but the length is not guaranteed.  At least its not leaned into fan service as all...so far.

 The series is being simulcast on Netflix. 

 

How I Attended an all Guys Mixer

    A college student is asked to attend a mixer by a girl in his class.  He wrangles two of his friends into it easily enough but things take an unusual turn when they show up to see 3 handsome men waiting for them instead.  One of the guys reveals to the bewildered men that they are the women they expected.  They all work at a drag king bar and figured they wouldn't have the time to change so came as they are.  The guys are a little unsettled by this but the women ham it up and convince them to party through out the town all night long, attracting more attention than the real men due to their dashing looks.  How much of this was planned by the women to toy with the hapless men and does the woman who orchestrated the entire thing have feelings for her classmate?

    This was a lot of fun and really easy going!  It felt a lot like a grown up version of Ouran Host Club and I look forward to watching this show through out the season.  There seems to be a fun romance plot thread in it but I suspect its largely going to be about the guys getting set up in situations by the women drag that make them uncomfortable.

The series is being simulcast on HiDive.

 

Ranma 1/2

    The reboot of a classic anime, one of the cornerstones 90 fandom in America.  The story of a boy whose zealous father leads him to being cursed to transform into a girl when splashed with cold water, only to revert to a boy with warm water.  He finds himself at a strangers home forced to pick one of the strangers three daughters to be his future bride to carry on the martial arts school his father and the stranger belong to.

    The first episode is a pretty faithful copy of the first episode of the origin season from 1989.  The animation is a little different and there is more going on to enhance the series, especially when Ranma and his father get into a fight in the street and the color palette changes and the line work becomes reminiscent of a manga.  It's going to be great to revisit this classic and to see what changes will take place given how the world has changed in the past 35 years 

 The series is being simulcast on Netflix.

 

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

    A crafty orphan in a alternate version of Europe in the 15th century has used his intellect and abilities to manipulate those around him to live a comfortable life.  As he is about to enter university to study theology his guardian takes in a renounced heretic who forces the young boy to be an accomplice in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge...studying the heavenly bodies and their movements in the sky.  The heretic tells the boy that the reality of the universe is not one where the Earth exists at its center.

    This is one of the three shows we're reviewing for the Fall season of The Otaku Network Podcast.  So far the intro episode was good.  It set a dark and suspenseful tone.  The main character is a pretty believable 12 year old who is cocky but easily influenced when someone else more crafty than he appears.  It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds and what type of endgame it has in store for us.

 The series is being simulcast on Netflix. 

Tsuma, Shogakusei ni Naru

    After losing his wife ten years ago, time has stopped for salary-man Keisuke.  When a 10 year old girl comes to his house, proclaiming to be the reincarnation of his long lost wife, the world becomes a brighter place but the dramatic age different and genetically different person make things quite complicated and difficult to reconcile.  But hes over the moon that she exists regardless of her age, he loved her for who she was.

    This show is my pick for the Fall season of The Otaku Network Podcast and it delivered way more love and joy than I anticipated.  One episode in and I am already hooked....this may be my favorite show of the season and we just got started.

The series is being simulcast on Crunchyroll. 

Uzumaki

    The long awaited adaptation of Junji It's highly regarded manga.  A girl in a small sea side town begins to struggle with everything around her falling into madness and degeneracy due to a growing influence of spiral formations infecting the town.

    I loved the direction they went in keeping the art black a white, like they animated the pages of the manga.  Looking back into the archives of this blog I never got around to doing a complete review of the manga, just a quick note when I started reading it.  I do remember the lace of the manga being as haphazard and hectic as the anime, where it is difficult to get a feel for the passage of time.  Everything just seems rushed.  Another thing the anime highlights is how difficult it is to be truly creepy in the medium.  Some aspects are more absurdly comical than actually frightening.  Manga and anime have always had a hard time presenting themselves are frightening.  Text only stories have the ability to infect the reader and manipulate their imagination.  Live action has the ability to make things look more real than real.  Manga and anime was just drawings...it's very difficult to make that horrific.  And the amount of time and detail it takes is never going to be financially viable in anime.

The series is being simulcast on Max.

Magilumiere Co, Ltd.

    A fresh graduate finds herself struggling with job interviews.  She does everything she thinks will help her get hired by thuroughly researching each company before hand, but its all for naught as she remains unemployed.  An interview at a finance company is abruptly interrupted when a monsterous being crashes through the ceiling.  The company has been careless in their policies to keep the beasts, known as kaii, at bay and are now being attacked by one.  The only choice they have is to a magical girl company to have them come out and dispatch the menace before it causes too much havoc.  They end up calling a small and low budget company called Magilumiere and they lone magical girl comes immediately.  When the magical girl realizes that the threat is greater than she can handle alone she tries to recruit one of the by-standards for assistance.  The girl struggling to find employment offers to assist and proves to be a valuable asset.

    Its hard to tell what type of story this one is going to settle into.  Its a magical girl story with dramatic action sequences and plenty of magic babble being spewed around.  It also appears to be a workplace dramedy?  Hard to say.  Aspects of it remind me of Read or Die and Soul Eater.  I am on the fence with this one but we will see what a few more episodes deliver as its just barely scratched the surface of the story.

The series is being simulcast on Prime.

Tower of God Season 2 part 2

     We move the story into the Workshop challenge and many ofd the people from Bam's past are going to be intersecting with him as it progresses.  Only Kuhn suspects that he still lives.  When season two was announced, I suspected would get at least as far as the conclusion of this arc and something tells me we that is still the case.  Its hard to say how long it will be until we get more of the manhwa animated.  It feels like there has been a good amount of dissatisfaction with season two, between a change in animation studio and a significantly different and confusing story compared to the first season.  I do hope they keep going in the near future as there is a lot of cool story that still needs to be told but I can't read the future so we will just have to wait.

The series is simulcasting on Crunchyroll.

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School

    Abe Haruaki has always wanted to be a teacher.  A year earlier he began a job at a high school only to quite is less and half an hour later after relentless bullying by some students.  He has been offered the chance to teach again bu a family friend.  He finds himself on a friendly and isolated island, and is introduced to his class. However, his situation appears even more dire as the school only teaches yokai from around Japan and hes its sole human staff member.  He has to overcome bis fear of the abnormal teenagers around him as well as develop the tiniest amount of self esteem if hes going to be able to succeed.

    Take Sayonara Zetsubo-seinsei, make the teacher a coward instead of suicidal and turn the kids into yokai and you might be close?  its no where near as stylistically bold as that fantastic satirical comedy but there might be some potential with this one to at least be entertaining.  I will give it a few episodes to generate more interest out of me.  I admit im not very versed in the lore of a lot of traditional and modern yokai and that may hurt the enjoyment of this series.  But we will see...

This is being simulcast on Crunchyroll.

Bananya Around the World

    The third season of the fun and lovable short anime series doesn't start for a few more days.  But I know its going to stick around in my watch list.  The episodes are super short, its low stakes and ive watched the first two seasons as they aired!

This series will be simulcast on Crunchyroll.

    The Fall season is quite a bit leaner for my watch list compared to the Summer season.  Which is fine, I need some space to catch up with my ever growing back log of anime.  Hell, I just noticed Crunchyroll added Minky Momo.

Dungeon People

 Dungeon People (ダンジョンの中のひと) is a 12 episode fantasy series based on the manga of the same name by Futami Sui.  The series originally aired during the Summer of 2024.

    Clay is a young and skilled adventurer having spent most of her childhood being trained as a top class rogue by her father, the legendary adventurer Bran's.  A few years after he was last seen entering their towns local dungeon she has fine tuned her training and is ready to go after him, to find out his fate.  Clay's training has paid off and she easily descends farther than the officially recorded depth by an adventuring party.  While engaging with the boss of the seventh level, the Minotaur suddenly pauses combat after an attack destroyed an interior wall, revealing another space that would be more appropriate on the surface.  Unsure what to do Clay takes the pause in fighting as a chance to reassess the situation and regain some stamina.  To her bewilderment a young girl arrives from a door in the newly revealed room.  The girl talks with the Minotaur in a friendly manner and then directs her attention to the increasingly confused adventurer.  She explains to Clay that she is the manager of the dungeon and she wants to the take the unusual circumstance to explain things to its intruder.

    The girl, Belle, gives Clay a brief tour behind the scenes.  Clay is thoroughly confused and on guard at this point, not understanding whats going on or why.  Belle fully understands the odd situation the other girl finds her self in and does the best she can to ensure her there is nothing weird or dangerous going on, as they pass through the well maintained hallways and antechamber rooms.  Belle is the manager of the dungeon, ensuring the monsters are there for adventurers to face, making sure the chests are filled with loot and keeping the system healthy so that people from the village can continue to explore it.  She wants Clay to join her team, working to ensure the dungeon continues on.  After being defeated in a dual against the unassuming girl, Clay relents and agrees to work as a caretaker.  She see's it as a better way to look for clues to her fathers fate, instead of continuing to risk her own life fighting her way to the bottom floor.  She has doubts that she would have succeeded in the end, given that Belle is the guardian of the dungeons tenth floor and easily defeated the rogue in a friendly dual.  As she shifts her perspective from invader to employee the reality of the machinations of the dungeon reveal themselves to her as part of her on the job training.  Will the dungeons adversary become its champion and will she be able to find out what happened to her father?

    We are in a bit of a fantasy anime renaissance currently, with a series of new and fresh approaches to the traditional sword and sorcery worlds inspired by The Lord of the Rings.  Dungeon People takes a novel but not unique approach to the standard dungeon crawling story by focusing on the dungeon its self and presenting it as an organization whose purpose is to maintain its self as a place for adventuring, instead of a threat to the surface.  Its more like an adventure theme park than anything else.  Belle is a strange girl that has a lot of questions swirling around her, who cares for the continuation and health of her amusement park above all else.  Even though she employs countless beings to help maintain the dungeon, she is lonely and reaches out to Clay as a way to have frequent contact with another human.  Clay, whose entire life has centered around training to conquer the dungeon finds a suddenly very different option in her life.  The story is primarily a workplace 'comedy', with each episode explaining various aspects of the day to day operations and its personnel.  It also serves as a story about the need for connection with others as the two odd girls bond over their situation.

    This was a cute and fun series that had some pretty plain artwork, which goes really well with the story.  Its meant to be cute and a little off putting, distracting you from the grim reality of the world they live in.  At times it dips its toes into the grimness but the artwork keeps it from being as harsh and horrifying as it really is.  But there are two major flaws with the series, two questions that exists from start to finish that never get close to being resolved.  What happened to Clay's father and why was Belle in a position to be the caretaker of the dungeon in the first place?  Both of these were sadly left hanging as the final episode wrapped up, not even hinting at any theories.  Clay is a really fun character though, as she approaches everything with stoic skepticism, constantly analyzing the situation and calmly evaluating the information before her.  While its disappointing that we don't actually have any sort of resolution in the story this was an enjoyable and lovely anime with a lot of low key comedy that built an interesting world for the viewer.  I should probably check out the manga to see what else exists in this world outside of these 12 episodes.  It also makes me want to play Dungeon Keeper.  Why does it feel like her dad may have been the previous manager?

    The series was simulcast on HiDive.

Makeine: Too Many losing Heroines

 Makeine: Too Many losing Heroines! (負けヒロインが多すぎる！) is a 12 episode romantic comedy based on the light novel series of the same name by Amamori Takibi.  The series originally aired during the Summer of 2024.

    Nukumizu Kazuhiko considers himself little more than a background character in the world around him.  He has never really had any friends through out his short life, preferring to be by himself, indulging in reading, especially light novels.  His isolation begins to crumble after attracting the attention of a classmate, Yanami Anna.  He accidentally witnesses a 'break up' between Anna and a childhood friend while at a family restaurant.  Her friend, Sosuke, confides in her that he has feelings for their classmate, Karen.  Anna has never gathered the courage to confess to Sosuke and looses him before she even had a chance to their busty classmate.  As he leaves her alone in the restaurant she notices Nukumizu watching from another table and immediately uses him to vent, joining him.  Unknown to him, Anna orders a few side dishes to help with her depression, leaving him to foot the bill.  At school he confronts he about repaying him for the therapy session.  She agrees to but confides she's going to have to do it by making him lunch.  This forces him to eat lunch with her every day until the 5000 plus yen debt is payed off and the two develop a strange relationship.

    Spending time with one of the more popular girls in class brings other people into his orbit, something hes not exactly comfortable with.  Anna's best friend, Yakishio Lemon, is a peppy member of the track team who lacks a lot of inhibition regarding her body and exposure.  Nukumizu finds himself wrapped up in Lemon's love issues when she finds out her childhood crush is dating another girl who he goes to cram school with.  Forced to be the sounding board of her frustration he does what he can to ease her pain and frustration becoming friends with another popular girl who is too open for her own good.  Before the dust can settle with that bit of drama he is forced to participate in the club he signed up for at the beginning of the year but never bothered to attend, the literature club.  One of the other members and a fellow first year, Komari Chika guilt's him into participating in the club to ensure its continued existence.  Nukumizu's participation ropes both Anna and Lemon into joining the club as well, ensuring its future until the following year.  Chika also struggles with unrequited love and all of the junior members becomes embroiled in it as she confesses to the literature clubs president during a club retreat.  Unfamiliar with love outside of the novels he loves, Nukumizu does what he thinks is best for all of the girls he's suddenly friends with as they continue to suffer heartbreak.  But is basing his advice on fiction really going to help anyone out?

    I'll just say it right from the start.  This is the best anime of the Summer season and is a strong contender for anime of the year in my mind.  Everything about this series is worth every second.  The characters are quirky and unique.  The animation is excellent and carries a sense of life and movement that is rare in anime, even in high end productions.  This was fun from the very beginning and did not fail to deliver through its entire run.  The story effortlessly wove its way across a series rejection arcs, building the characters relationships as it went.  There is little wasted time or dialogue with it.  Even secondary characters take the spot light from time to time and continue to accelerate the story forward.  But what is that end goal you ask?  There really isn't one honestly!  This isn't a series about which girl will Nukumizu pick in the end.  He himself doesn't even consider the idea of dating any of them.  Largely through a combination of his own thoughts on not being a vital part of his own story and believing that none of them would be remotely interested.

    Instead he struggles to offer all of his new found friends some amount of comfort or advice, but typically fails to do a proper job, due to his own inexperience and misconceptions about how people are.  So...don't go in thinking its going to wrap up with him confessing to anyone, Anna being the obvious choice given the patterns school romances typically go with.  No, you just sit back and take in the fun, sometimes emotional plot lines as they unfold, watching as all of the players grow as humans, recognizing their failures and successes.  Did I mention the art is fantastic?  The directing is does a lot of work to make this story as great as it is.  I wouldn't say this is a perfect anime like I said earlier regarding Pseudo Harem but it is absolutely worth your time if you enjoy fun coming of age stories.  I need to re watch this soon....and dive into the light novels.  Also...Nukumizu's younger sister has some serious issues...along with both his homeroom teacher and the school nurse...what the hell!?!?

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.