As some of you know, I am a big fan of the Library Wars anime. I have been reading the Library Wars manga (available in the US from Viz), and I am eagerly anticipating an opportunity to see the anime movie that was in Japanese theaters last Summer, Library Wars: The Wings of Revolution. Now there is a live action movie based on the same novels that will be showing in Japanese theaters this Spring.

For those who are not familiar with Library Wars, it takes place in a near future in which the central government (of Japan) has passed censorship laws to “improve” society through book burning. The (regional) libraries arm themselves to defend the freedom of expression and the free flow of ideas. The main characters are librarians, and there is an interesting mix of action and romance.

As you can see from the video, above, the action sequences look like they will actually be decent, but I am, nevertheless, worried. In my experience live action adaptations are rarely well executed. I am very fond of this franchise, so if they are going to do it, I hope they do it right.

Some additional info about the movie, and alternative trailers (mostly recut, but with the same scenes), you can check out the report on Anime News Network.

Anime: Amnesia

Those who watch anime regularly are used to seeing characters gleefully declaring their eagerness to fight. Competitiveness is both the bread and butter of shounen titles, but the convention of rivalry and the desire to get in there and mix it up is now commonly seen throughout anime, regardless of the target market. Here I offer just three examples of the “Bring it on!” poses that I saw this week.

Anime: Chihayafuru

The first two screen shots are people getting serious about their games and were used for comedic effect, in Amnesia Ikki challenges Ken to a game of sudoku, in the second image, Chihaya has aspirations for her card-playing club. Our final example is a bit more serious, as Captain Genda is still healing from a previous mission, in which he used his own body to shield a work of art from gunfire.

Anime: Library Wars, Wings of Revolution

The exciting conclusion of the Tokyo Regional High School Championship Karuta Tournament!

Episode 6 of Chihayafuru season 2 concludes the Regional championship tournament, and it was PACKED with suspense and exciting reversals. Things didn’t really work out as I had expected, but I can’t imagine a more fitting end to this arc.

Tsutomu’s confidence was just one sign of how much he has grown since his debut in season 1.

As the episode opened, Yuusei (AKA “Nikuman-kun”) had already lost his game, but Chihaya had broken out her secret weapon. The early part of the episode, then was about Mizusawa High’s come-back, and a great part of that was Tsutomu’s section, in which he holds his own against the opponent that bested him by 15 cards in their match last year. Tsutomu showed his growth in three ways: first his Karuta playing is much better, second, he is far more confident than the desk-clutching bookworm that was introduced in season 1. Third, and perhaps most important, he has a better attitude about life in general, commenting not that he has worked harder than his opponent, or learned more, but that he is sure that he has ENJOYED playing Karuta more this past year. This is, of course, one of the ways that Chihayafuru excels, in the way it shows character growth.

Yuusei Nishida is smart enough to know what must be done, but he has lost his opportunity to take action.

This episode was full of stunning reversals. Just as we start thinking Mizusawa High is ready to take the cup again, we are treated to Yuusei’s inner monologue as he realizes that a rare but disastrous situation is evolving. Unfortunately, having already lost his match, he has no right to speak, and thus is unable to aid his team mates. This sort of slow-moving train wreck can be fascinating, but it is especially effective when we have the dramatic musical score of Kousuke Yamashita.

After the tension inherent in the reveal of Mizusawa’s impossible position, there was another reversal, first Chihaya fanning the flame of hope, then Taichi refusing to speak until he could say he had won his match, and yet more reversals right up to the very end. All in all a worthy match for the title of the best team in Tokyo.

Chihaya Ayase’s emotions overwhelm her.

Finally there were some great extra bits, including Harada-sensei’s welcoming of new members into the Shiranami Society, and the awkward scene between Chihaya and Taichi as Chihaya receives a text message from Arata Wataya that leads to an emotional outburst.

A young Chihaya Ayase in the falling snow.

This weekend has been snowy and windy, so I spent a fair amount of time inside, and that means more time for anime. In part, this meant I finally had time to watch a series from 2008, called Kaiba. I also spent some time reading more blogs about anime.

Blogging Chihayafuru

When I started this blog (back in 2010), I had thought I would try to incorporate a perspective that looked, in part, at anime as seen by the aniblogiverse. Basically, I thought it would be interesting to show what the reaction for a given episode was by incorporating comments from many other blogs. Recently I haven’t been very good at that, since I have tended to only check in on certain blogs. This weekend I took the time to look across many blogs to see what they had to say about Chihayafuru episode 6.

This episode was Chihayafuru at its very best: creating an extremely tense situation in which anything could happen, which gets in everyone’s head, contrasting those whose minds are clear in such situations and those who may be over-thinking, showing characters figuring things out…or not, all while introducing yet another dimension of karuta.

–  Rabujoi

There seems to be a consensus around the aniblogisphere that this episode (or these episodes, including episode 5 and 6) are some of the finest episodes of any anime series to have aired lately. I certainly won’t disagree, although the quality of the competition is poor. IMO, Chihayafuru is (and has been from the first episode of episode 1) the best show to come out in the past couple of years.

At any rate, Rabujoi provides a good explanation of what makes this series so special. The conclusions are far from obvious before the fact. The tension while the game develops is intense. And somehow Chihayafuru manages to keep a fairly large cast of characters involved. Not just present, but actually partaking in the storyline. Guardian Enzo picks up on this last point:

I have to marvel once again at Chihayafuru’s ability to turn seemingly minor characters into worthy subjects to build episodes around.  Amakasu-kun was a throwaway character last season if ever there was one, but the message from Suetsugu – as is often the case with the best sports series – is that everyone has a story, even the people we pass by in life without so much as a second thought.

– Guardian Enzo (Lost in America)

It’s not just Amakasu. They managed to develop so many characters in interesting ways over the past two episodes. For example, Sumire’s decision to join the Shiranami society was yet another step that I could not have imagined when her character was first introduced.

For Sumire, who believed she could get Taichi just like that and focus all her efforts on love and nothing else, she has come full circle, and seems to now be focused on learning how to play karuta by joining the society as well.

– Justin (Subdued Fangirling)

I wouldn’t say that Sumire is a “great” character (at least not yet), but I am very impressed that she continues to grow, and we already have some other side characters that have become much more interesting than I ever thought they would become. Retro-kun, for one. He started out being an obnoxious twerp (way back in episode 3), but along the way he has shown his determination, and love for the sport, even if he hasn’t become an A-class player.

I also liked Blindability’s comment on the importance of losing:

In many ways, Chihayafuru makes losing just as important as winning, and – very realistically, might I add – uses it as a vehicle to push the development of the characters.

– Blindability (Bokutachi no Blog)

At any rate, I’m glad that so many people are also enjoying this series. There are others who, I’m sure, would really like it, but won’t give it the chance it deserves.

A character from the Otona Joshi no Anime Time project.

The Spring 2013 anime season will be here in just a few weeks, and that means those of us hangin’ ’round the abandoned factory are looking ahead to predict the greatest anime of the upcoming season, as well as picking a few others to keep an eye on. It is also our tradition to point you to other sites if you want a comprehensive analysis of the new season, since we only look at the good shows, and don’t waste our time on the rest.

The Rest

For those interested in seeing the entire season’s offerings in one place, you can take a look at the Spring 2013 Chart at Neregate.

For those looking for a reasonably complete listing, but with more commentary, including a subjective ranking of all principal offerings, PSgels’ post at Star Crossed Anime is always worth reading.

Abandoned Factory Picks ~ anime to keep an eye on

The Spring 2013 season looks pretty interesting compared to Winter 2013. There are intriguing entries in several categories. Of course we’ll have to see how these shows turn out, but the following shows have some potential.

Hataraku Maou-Sama ~ Hard-working Demon King

The Demon King works at McDonalds.

Just as the Demon King was about to make his control over the world absolute, the hero opened a portal to another dimension and banished him. Haven’t you ever wondered what happened after that? As it turns out, the dimension the Demon King was banished to is our own. Since he can’t use his magic here, he needs to start all over, and gets a part-time job at McDonalds. But his desire to rule over everything is undiminished and so he sets out to rise, from fry cook, to shift supervisor, to assistant manager, then (skipping a few levels) ruler over the whole world! Mua-ha-ha-hah!

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2199 ~ Space Battleship Yamato 2199

The Yamato, a legendary battleship is pressed into service once more.

Space Battleship Yamato 2199 is the relaunch of one of the series that got me hooked on anime as a kid, in English it was called “Star Blazers”. This new version could be quite good, as folks like Yutaka Izubuchi are involved. Searching for a distant star, heading off to Iskandar; leaving all we love behind, who knows what dangers we’ll find?

Prediction: the greatest series of Spring 2013

Otona Joshi no Anime Time ~ Adult Girls Anime Time

Scene from Otona Joshi no Anime Time

Three stories about older women who have doubts about the direction their lives have gone. Each show will be 50 minutes and is independent of the others (though thematically related), with different animation styles. This series of shorts follows a very successful first installment broadcast in January 2011. That story was about a woman who left the small town she grew up in, but later questions the choices she made. It got into some interesting stuff, like eating disorders and infidelities.

Essentially this project is something like what Noitamina started out being: serious stories made for a non-traditional anime audience. One interesting aspect of these shows will be the casting; each show pairs well-known male seiyuu, such as Hiroshi Kamiya and Jun Fukuyama, with female actresses who aren’t known for their anime work, but rather their work in film.

It will only be about a half course worth of anime, instead of a full series, but I am very much looking forward to seeing more of this interesting project.

Encouragement Award

RDC ~ Red Data Girl

Red Data Girl in traditional Miko hakama.

This show is possibly a supernatural thriller combined with school life. We have a miko (Shinto temple maiden) who discovers her family has some sort of mysterious secret. Not the most original concept (Blood-C and Hiiro no Kakera both fit the description). The animation is by P.A. Works, who can make things look good, but I tend to think their shows are lacking in substance. Nevertheless it’s worth a three episode taste test.

Librarians defend the Freedom of Expression from armed government agents.

This post is a spoiler-free comment about the Library Wars: Wings of Revolution movie (2012). For those who do not know, Library Wars is a franchise that takes place in a near future in which the central government has claimed the right to “improve society” through book-burning. Libraries, being creatures of the regional or local governments, resist the censorship campaign, which leads to armed struggle between the two sides.

Library Defense Force members Doujou and Kasahara.

A 2008 television anime series based upon the Library Wars series of novels was created by Production I.G., but never became available in the USA. A translated manga based upon the same material, however, is being published by Viz Media. Wings of Revolution is a follow-on and conclusion to the story presented in the TV series.

Does one really have to have watched the TV series to enjoy the movie? I would recommend doing so. If, however, you have read the manga up to the point it has been published in the United States (Volume 8 as of this writing), the story will make sense, and all of the characters will have been introduced. The TV series went a little further into the story, however, so the exact situation at the beginning of the movie might be clear at first.

If you haven’t seen the TV series or read the manga, I can’t imagine being sufficiently invested in the characters to get anything out of the way their various stories were wrapped up. I would highly recommend watching the TV series first.

Asako Shibasaki, special agent: information retrieval.

The story of Wings of Revolution examines the way the political situation contributes to further erosion of the right to Freedom of Expression. It also brings the stories about several of the main characters to a satisfying conclusion. In terms of capping off a great series, I think the movie did a good job. It clearly wasn’t intending to be a bridge to another arc of stories about the same characters, but rather a conclusion.

In my ideal world, someone would make high quality blue-ray sets of the original series, together with this movie, available for purchase in the American market. I think the larger issues about the pernicious nature of censorship are well worth discussing, and the series would be very accessible to folks who are not anime otaku. The artwork can be quite distinctive. The action sequences are well handled. The romantic comedy sub-plots (which the manga adaptation has a tendency to play up) are generally entertaining.

The only reason I am qualifying my recommendation is because I do think people need to have watched the TV series to get the most out of this movie. If you haven’t done so, I urge you to check out the series, or at least pick up the manga.

I’ll leave you with the words of Iku Kasahara, the heroine of the Library Wars Tv Series:

I too have many books that I cherish. Movies, television shows, art, music, manga, anime. Everything that allows humans to express themselves have made my life richer. Haven’t you ever experienced that? I believe it is wrong for anyone to take away that human right of freedom of expression.

Blogging powers … ACTIVATE!

Yes, it is official. The Abandoned Factory Anime Review began publishing in the distant past of February 28, 2010. Through the years I have met some great people online, and watched countless hours of anime, both good and bad. Now a new year begins and I look forward to more of the same.

Best wishes in the New Year, everyone!

NASA chief, Jason Butler, gets serious.

Even though this was a low key episode, I think episode 47 of Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyodai) did a pretty good job of setting up the conflict for the next arc. First we have an ominous reminder that even when the two year astronaut training program is over, some people quit, because they realize they don’t have “the right stuff”. Even those who become astronauts, such as Murasaki, never get a chance to head out into space.

Here comes trouble: Vincent Bold.

Unfortunately for Mutta Namba, his trainer has already decided that he is a lost cause. There were a lot of shots of him looking disapprovingly at Mutta, and even a fortune-telling scene in which it was suggested that something very bad lurks in Mutta’s future. Clearly the next major challenge for Mutta will be the training program, and dealing with his instructor in particular. Mutta has a tendency to doubt himself anyway, so having an instructor who thinks his job is to wash out the refuse will be a tough situation. Actually you can tell the trainer, Vincent Bold is spells trouble for Mutta just by his casting. He is voiced by Kenjiro Tsuda, who played, for example, the Red King, Mikoto Suoh, in last season’s K, and he was Chikage Kazama, the leader of the oni in Hakuouki (Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan).

Shinobu Wakamiya: the ninja queen emerges.

Episode 8 of Chihayafuru season 2 was a fine tale of people sharing their love for Karuta. It even had a great moment for Tsutomu, who did something truly selfless for the good of the team. He has turned out to be an excellent supporting character. But the greatest thing about the episode, for me, was in the closing moments of the episode; Arata walks up the stairs to the temple grounds and Shinobu appears. All of the important players have assembled at Omi Jingu and the part I have been waiting for, since LAST February, is about to begin.

Shinobu was such a cool character, full of contradictions, and excellent rival material. I really want to see her face off against Chihaya again. Arata has barely been shown in action since his grade school days, but he has been the specter haunting this series all along. There is going to be some great Karuta in the upcoming weeks. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Aoi Yuuki: moe of the grotesque.

Aoi Yuuki has released, Meriba, her 2nd album. Many know her as a tremendously talented seiyuu, whose vocal range gives her the ability to play all kinds of characters. Personally I think her best role was Toshiko Tatsuno in Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru, because the role of the very unstable Tatsuno (aka Tattsuntsun) gave her the opportunity to use so much of her range.

Aoi Yuuki with pink machine gun.

When Aoi Yuuki used that surprising range on earlier work (notably on the track “Night Parade” from her first album, and “Incertitude”, a Gosick character song), the effect was something like Kate Bush, a wildly dramatic, and very expressive performance. For her second album, Yuuki has reigned the dramatics in, and the material is more predictable. I rather like “Popon .. pon!”, and “Sanctuary Alice”, but the album doesn’t have the impact of her first album. If provided the right material, she could do some very interesting work.

I’ve only found a link for a partial video for “Popon .. pon”, but here it is.

Yuuko Ichihara, the Dimensional Witch.

A wise man once said, “Every great television show has it’s monkey paw episode.” Episode 2 is xxxHolic live-action‘s monkey paw episode. Watanuki is just starting his work at Yuuko’s mysterious shop. I like the deranged atmosphere they have reached for in each episode so far. Humans are shown to be broken and kind of crazy, meanwhile Yuuko lounges idly in her shop, watching the mayhem erupt.

“There are no coincidences, only fate.”

Shinobu Wakamiya ~ a face in the rain

In episode 10 of Chihayafuru episode 2, the story of the national tournament is split into two tracks. In the first, Mizusawa High faces a tough opponent. In the second, the judges agonize over whether Arata should be denied an opportunity to participate in the individual matches that follow the team tournament.

Although this episode had some tension from a hard-fought Karuta match, it stressed both the comedy and personal dramas at least as much as the Karuta action.

Kanade Oe and the blind monk, Semimaru

Although the opponents for the second team match were tough, Mizusawa managed to win. This time the obstacle was a team that relied heavily on their memorization skills. Of course we have seen this technique presented dramatically before, because memorization is Taichi’s specialty. The most unusual aspect was that the team kept shifting the cards on their side of the board, which meant Mizusawa had to re-memorize them repeatedly. My favorite part of this match, however was the way it gave Kanade an opportunity to shine.

Four poems by women on the field

Back in the first season, there was a moment when Kanade was placing her cards by things like all those bearing poems written by members of the same family. At the time, she was told to change her placement to something more useful for snatching cards. Here that previously demonstrated skill comes back as a big advantage. Instead of memorizing the cards by their placement, she has awareness of the cards on a level that defies mere memorization. It is great to see her dominating a strong opponent.

Arata Wataya awaits his punishment.

But, frankly, the story of this tournament could never have been that of Mizusawa’s loss in anything other than the finals. The main dramatic point was what will become of Arata, given his violation of the substitution rule.

The judges were clearly looking for some way to let Arata play. The discussion about how Suo is a big pain in the ass, and the way their serious expressions melted as soon as they saw an opportunity to be lenient was pretty funny.

Shinobu Wakamiya becomes an unlikely white Knight.

Shinobu’s attempt to get the judges to allow Arata to participate was both an effective tactic, because having the Queen drop out would clearly be damaging, but it was also touching, because, even if her reason was selfish it was sincere. Shinobu has been shown as having no substantial personal relationships, and her love of playing Karuta is really her defining characteristic.

Shinobu is probably my favorite character in the Chihayafuru-verse. She is as crazy for Karuta as Chihaya, but she is less well adjusted socially. She is basically the dark side of the Chihaya coin. Where Chihaya is genki, kind of an energetic blockhead, Shinobu is melancholic (she probably sits all day in a dark room obsessing about how nobody plays Karuta with her), and yet she has her pride in her Karuta skill, and her peculiar obsession with Snow-maru themed objects.

In so many ways Shinobu is a social outcast, even if she is a Ninja Queen. She also, as this episode showed, has a sincere and human need to interact with others. Her line to  Arata, “Can you please not disappoint me any further?” was the most personal and human thing she has said in either season.

And, hey, I’ve been looking forward to these matches, as well. I don’t want to be disappointed either.

Tsutomu Komano assemble the scouting notes instead of playing.

One last note: I am interested in seeing what they have planned for Tsutomu (AKA Desk-kun) next week. There was an exchange between him and Sumire, and at the very end Nishida is in the middle of explaining that he doesn’t want Tsutomu to play in the next match. Maybe he wants to hold Tsutomu as a trump card to be revealed at the last minute. After all, opposing teams could well be scouting Mizusawa as well.

Bonus Service: Shinobu Wakamiya

Shinobu Wakamiya in a rare moment of vulnerability.

Izumiko, the shrine temple maiden cuts her hair.

Just a quick comment on the preview episode of Red Data Girl. As I mentioned in my Spring 2013 season preview post, RDG, or Red Data Girl looks promising. P.A. Works is quite capable of making a quality visual experience, and even this preview that was posted in a low-quality format online is evidence of that. With Hanasaku Iroha, they also demonstrated that they can establish a great setting. The basic setting here seems well thought out, and the basic idea is intriguing, if not extremely original (shrine temple maiden lives sheltered life, then discovers she has special powers). I liked the way they mix technology in with her miko powers.

This was just a first episode, but I think things are off to a good start. I don’t know if RDG can deliver an interesting story, but I’ll certainly give it three or more episodes to make it’s case.

Ayesha eagerly whips out a flask of flammable liquid she made back in the workshop.

Atelier Ayesha: Alchemist of the Ground of Dusk is a JRPG that was released in the USA in March 2013 for the PS3. The main character is an alchemist who is searching for a way to rescue her younger sister. Along the way, the player will meet new friends, collect flowers, and make their own bombs. The storyline is a bit over-cute at times, but the game play is quite good, if you enjoy crafting and turn-based combat. The graphics are very good as well.

The rest of this post is a sampling of the fine music you will hear while playing the game.

The opening track “Hanashirube”, is credited to composer Mutsumi Nomiyama, with vocals by Annabel. It is a very pleasant track, with a relaxed vibe that only partially suggests what playing the game is like. Certainly the game can be relaxing at times, when you are considering what kinds of medicinal patches you want to create, for example.

“Wish for Treasure” is a much more high-energy offering, composed by Kazuki Yanagawa, and captures the idea of running around, looking for alchemical ingredients.

“Gnome” is a great example of the battle music. This kind of track is essential enjoying the game, as you try to figure out whether you want to drench your opponents in poison, or explode them with a lightning bomb. Credited to composer  Daisuke Achiwa.

“Just a Coffin and an Automaton” is another track by Kazuki Yanagawa that I really enjoy. It is majestic in the way only a symphony can achieve.

There are a lot of other great cuts on the soundtrack, and some that I was less impressed by. In particular there are a number of whimsical tracks used during comedy scenes that are … meh. On the other hand, there are several musical interludes that are worked directly into the game, such as one bag-piping character. All in all, the music is quite enjoyable, and part of what makes the game fun to play.

Check Atelier Ayesha out if you enjoy JRPGs or crafting and turn-based battles.

The power of data analysis

Episode 11 of Chihayafuru season 2 resolved the lingering questions about Arata, as well as the surprising situation from the end of the last episode, in which Tsutomu (aka Desk-kun) was kept from playing in yet another round. Tsutomu is not just a data-gatherer, he also is very good at analyzing the information on hand, as he is able to make something substantial out of the notes that Sumire gathered on their opponents in the semi-final, First Akashi Girls’ High School.

I’m glad we are already building up the match against Megumu Ousaka, because it is a good indication that we will get an interesting match-up between her and Chihaya. Aside from that, we still have the final round against Mizusawa’s arch-rival, Hokuo Academy. It seems that the team tournament will take us through episode 13, which should be the mid-point of the series (assuming it is a 2 course season). That means the next course can spend plenty of time on the individual tournament, and still have the Meijin matches as a climax.

Saya is back, but this time she isn’t singing about the laundry.

I finally got a chance to watch Blood-C ~ the last dark, and it was well worth it. I enjoyed the Blood-C television series, and had been looking forward to the movie after that crazy ending. The movie served as an excellent capstone to the Blood-C mini-franchise (a new interpretation of the Blood world by the creative force that is CLAMP). My intention here isn’t to summarize the plot, or give theories or even criticisms. Instead I just want to point out a few things that I really enjoyed about the movie. No spoilers are included.

For those wondering if they should watch the TV series first, or if they need to watch the first two Blood offerings first: The Blood-C material stands on its own; there is no need to have seen the first two Blood productions (one a movie, one a TV series) to understand or enjoy Blood-C. That having been said, I think you would get a bit more out of the Blood-C movie if you have seen the Blood-C TV series first. The TV series sets up the revenge story that plays out in the movie. The TV series and the movie are very different in tone, however.

Production I.G. did an amazing job with the animation in Blood-C ~ the last dark.

The first thing I wanted to comment on was that the animation was superb. Scenes like the one looking down on the crowd shown above were fully animated, which is highly unusual, because animating the complex motion of lots of individuals is notoriously time-consuming (read “costly”). There were very detailed animations of coffee pouring, and a very impressive car chase. Obviously it is tough to convey the effectiveness of animation in a still shot, so you will either have to take my word for it, or watch the movie yourself.

Saya picks out a new katana: Another scene in which the lighting and textures and animation all came together perfectly.

Kumihiro Watanuki smokes a pipe: They’re not even trying to be subtle about it anymore.

One of the points in Blood-C that caused some outrage while the shows was airing was the way CLAMP … well, was CLAMP. They managed to tie the Blood universe to their own CLAMP-verse via the trans-dimensional shop that Watanuki manages in xxxHolic. In the TV series it was just strongly implied, but “the last dark” owns it. And truth be told: the shop looked great!

There were other places where CLAMP-isms came through, such as in occasional places where characters had elongated bodies. I was never bothered by these things. I don’t have any problems with CLAMP having a distinctive style, or imagining all of their stories somehow share a universe.

Saya continues to fight against the “old gods”.

I’m very happy that Blood-C ~ the last dark lived up to my expectations. I enjoyed the TV series and thought the movie was even better. In fact the movie was one of the best animated features I have seen out of Production I.G. in a while.

A cursed pair of scissors.

WTF?

Having nothing better to do, I thought I would check out episode 1 of Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge. Boggled, I had to watch it again, just to make sure I actually saw what I thought I saw.

Kiri Haimura, a boy obsessed with cutting. Iwai Mushanokouji, a girl obsessed with being cut.

I have no idea where this show is going from here, but the first episode was well worth watching for the WTF factor. The male lead takes no responsibilities for his own actions; in the opening moments he claims to have “accidentally” gotten off at the wrong bus stop, and then approaches the house of a girl with long hair, scissors in hand, physically acting out his fantasy of cutting her hair off. Later we learn that the scissors he carries with him were used by an ancestor of his to murder young women.

The whole issue of “killing goods” that were passed down in a family seems to be important to the plot, because we have already met others who have inherited “killing goods” from ancestral psychotic killers.

Warning: this show goes above and beyond the typical lolicon show by some sort of murder fantasy. Not only does the male lead stalk the loli, tell her he wants to kill her, and cut off her hair, she actually tells him that she wants to be killed (although they are talking metaphorically about hair?) I think I would normally find it all very disturbing, but somehow the earnestness of the presentation pushes the whole thing into terribad territory.

Perhaps my favorite line: Iwai, the female lead, laments that she should just die, so as not to bring further trouble to other people, and Kiri responds, “What can I do? I can’t even cut her hair.”

I don’t think I can, in good faith recommend this series, but the first episode was hilarious. I guess the show is moving towards a battle genre in which Kiri and Iwai have to fight against a secret organization of people who have inherited “killing goods”. Or it could be a romantic comedy? Either way it still looks like it probably will be terrible, but perhaps impossible to stop watching.

Chitanda and Oreki in an intense moment from Hyouka.

The Spring 2013 season is in full swing, and I have enjoyed watching first episodes as usual. As usual some shows are utter rubbish, but it can be fun watching an episode to see how bad it turned. And as usual I have been watching some older shows as well, including a rewatch of Hyouka. I’ve written about Hyouka on multiple occasions before, so I don’t want to rehash that, but I must point out that the series stands up to a re-watch because of four factors: 1) the amazng job KyoAni did on animation, 2) a group of characters that were all quite interesting and endearing, 3) some unusual plot lines, and 4) a nicely detailed setting.

Of these factors, I hadn’t given much thought to Hyouka’s setting on my initial watch. The series is set in the small village of Kamiyama (“Spirit Mountain”) nestled in amongst several national parks. The remote setting adds an interesting element to the series, because episodes examine things like Shinto practices from an insider perspective.

I have enjoyed watching some of the new series, such as Red Data Girl, and Chihayafuru continues to impress, but re-watching Hyouka was far from wasted effort.

“Now the flower blooms, but for winter”: Chihaya Ayase listens to the poem Naniwa Bay.

Chihayafuru season 2 episode 15 was an extraordinary thing. Essentially nothing happened. The entire episode must have been close to real time in the moments between the semi-final and final matches of the National High School Tournament at the Omi Jingu. A lesser show could not have pulled this off. It isn’t uncommon for a Sports anime to have a comic interlude episode between matches, or to have a build-up episode that sets the stakes, introduces new opponents, or difficulties the protagonists must hurdle. The difference, I would say is the way this felt seamlessly connected to the rest of the show, instead of being an interlude episode.

Difficulties

Team Mizusawa before the final round of the tournament.

In the few moments between matches we see a number of difficulties arise. First Kanade Oe asks to be removed from the lineup because she received an injury during the semi-final round. This means Tsukuba, who doesn’t seem to be particularly reliable will take her place. Furthermore Mizusawa’s opponents in the final round are all very talented (the entire team are A-class, except for Chihaya’s opponent, who is still a bit of an enigma).

The grand tapestry

One of the incredible strengths of this series lies in the many strands of sub-plots that interweave. There are the stories of the tournaments where the different teams meet to contest titles that only one team can attain. There are longer cycles that some of the characters see, in which a particular game or even a particular tournament is merely a step on the road towards some larger future. Finally there are the various personalities and aspirations and personal dramas of the different individuals on the Mizusawa team and beyond.

Hokuo Academy – this is what happens when you let people down.

As far as threads on the level of tournament stories, Hokuo Academy is a good example, although by no means alone. This is a team that had a good chance at winning the final. They carried with them the hopes and expectations of those who played on the team before. But their story doesn’t end when they lose. They aren’t merely props discarded at the end of their usefulness to Mizusawa’s story. Their thread continues to weave in and out of Chihayafuru’s tapestry.

Sakurazawa-sensei: she might come off as a cold, heartless bitch, but she does care about the future of her team.

A good example of someone who sees the larger story that extends beyond any one competition is Sakurazawa-sensei, the coach for Fujisaki, Mizusawa’s opponents in the tournament final. She is willing to remove a good player from the line-up in the final round of a tournament because she is thinking ahead to what the team will need next year. At this point she is a bit inscrutable, so all we can possibly guess is that she thinks this will be a good learning experience for Rion Yamashiro. Is she willing to risk losing a tournament final in order to strengthen the team for next year?

Hiro Kinashi (AKA Retro-kun).

Obviously this show is full of individuals who have their own little dramas. One that manages to stand out for me is Retro-kun. First he is obviously a side character who is envisioned as being primarily a comedic element, but somehow he manages to go far beyond that role on occasion. In this episode he had his own issues to deal with, but he found out that Arata Wataya was at Omi Jingu, and unable to watch Mizusawa play. He leaves the room at a decisive moment to tell Arata that his friends are fighting in the final round. He may come off as awkward, ridiculous, and even a braggart, but Hiro has a sense of fairness, and basic decency that makes him a minor hero of sorts.

Other characters could easily have been pointed out here, such as Arata Wataya himself, whose decision to stay in the room and accept his punishment was an awesome way to demonstrate his character. I probably would have placed him alongside Sakurazawa-sensei, however. He isn’t sitting there cursing his fate, he is accepting it, because he has his eyes on the larger picture. As much as he wants to see his friends play today, he wants to meet them on the tatami mat tomorrow even more.

Shinobu Wakamiya arrives like every ninja — unheard.

The one other character I can’t keep from commenting on, however, is Shinobu. She does not have the big picture in mind, she is very much obsessed with her personal story, and winning games against strong opponents. She is a complicating factor, however, in that she is capable of inspiring the other players (particularly Chihaya) to greatness. This makes her appearance at the team final a bridge to the individual tournament that starts the next day. My guess is that, if Chihaya notices Shinobu in the crowd, it will inspire her to play better, but more importantly, seeing Chihaya play will bring out Shinobu’s killer instinct — and that is what I want to see. Shinobu versus Chihaya is gonna be awesome!

Bonus Service: Shinobu Wakamiya

Shinobu Wakamiya provides anti-fanservice.

Chihaya Ayase refuses to back down.

Episode 17 of season 2 of Chihayafuru officially begins the final match of the National High School Karuta tournament. Mizusawa is playing a team of all A-class players, except for Rion Yamashiro, Chihaya’s opponent. This episode covered quite a number of interesting things: there was backstory on Rion, information about team Fujisaki’s training under coach Sakurazawa, a lot about how the reader of the poems affects the play by those on the tatami, Chihaya’s injury (!), Mizusawa’s resolve, and queen Shinobu’s curiosity is finally piqued.

I won’t bother going into all the little details, even though many of the little details are quite interesting. This was another episode of Chihayafuru in which I really felt the strength of this show is the way it develops multiple simultaneous stories. There are some who believe that the show is better when it focusses on just a couple of characters, but I disagree. I like the way the main characters are a part of a larger world. Many other shows have main characters that nhabit a world of generic background characters, but I think the trials and triumphs of side characters like Yuusei “Niku-man” Nishida give this show depth. If it were merely about Chihaya trying to become number 1, it would be a simple variation on the shounen narrative. Instead the continued presence of side-character Kanade Oe as gradually developed a lore about the poems, and the readers, which was utilized to great effect in this episode.

In terms of events, the two most significant were Chihaya’s injury and the ninja queen finally growing interested by the gameplay in the team tournament. I hope Chihaya’s injury doesn’t prevent her from playing in the individual tournament. I think a team victory for Mizusawa would be sweet, but more than anything I want to see Chihaya play against Shinobu. Speaking of Shinobu, we have confirmation that she remembers Chihaya as a good player, so we can say that the build-up to their match is under way. I really want to see them go at it head to head.

Bonus Service: Coach Sakurazawa

Coach Sakurazawa surveys the battlefield.