Nowadays, there are few series that you could really call unique. Nearly all shows base their ideas and concepts off of some other work that came before them, or build further upon concept introduced anywhere else. Once in a while though, an anime appears that just can’t be compared to anything. Hyouge Mono is one of those series.
I mean, seriously, I’ve got nothing. At first sight this might be lumped with the other historical series, but there are just a ton of elements in this series that no other historical anime has. Here we have a series of 39 episodes that is solely about a bunch of old guys talking about aesthetics, while making the most bizarre faces in the process. Beyond my wildest expectation, this series ignores just about every convention that has been established over the past ten years and just goes into its own direction. It has really been years since I last saw a show do that.
Being unique is of course one thing, but you still need to be interesting. A show can be unique, but a chicken riding a unicycle while singing the Estonain National Anthem is too, but that perhaps isn’t the most interesting to watch. Thankfully though, Hyouge Mono is a delight to watch for those who are looking for something slow, yet substantial. There are a lot things that this show does right.
The acting in particular is just sublime. This series managed to deliver the most accurate version of the Sengoku era we’ve seen so far (which admittely isn’t that hard with shows as Sengoku Basara), and put down very believable portrayals of characters like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the tea master Sennou Rikyuu. And on the other hand it’s also chockfull of the most bizarre facial expressions that are almost glorified throughtout the entire series. And strangely enough, these two extremes blend in really well. The performances of the main characters in particular is stunning, but also the side characters (and that cast is HUGE) shines with very diverse and true to life characters.
By far the biggest mystery of this show is how on earth it managed to land itself a whopping 39 episodes. In a time when all experimantal series can consider themselves lucky if they can get 13 episodes, and here this show comes from out of nowhere with a length three times of that. Because of that, it can get really in-depth into its subject material. This both is a really good look into history, but it’s in particular the detail into aesthetics, and the teachings of “wabi sabi” that really stand out in this series.
In terms of flaws, I’d say that this series is a little too slow for its own good at times. It’s not exactly dragged out or anything, but when you look at each individual episodes, there is relatively little that actually happens, for the sake of detail, and that balance at times was skewed a bit too much to the slow side. The visuas in this series are limited, but most of the times they try to make very good use of their budget. There are some exceptions here, resulting in badly drawn faces on what are actually key moments.
Also, this series can be quite misleading in its actual subject matter. At first it might seem like there will be quite a bit of attention into medieval warfare, and the first half of the series has some very interesting battles (including what could possibly be one of the best death scenes of the most recent years). There really is signfiicantly less action and even more talking in the second half. The action that’s there however is incredibly stylish. This is a series that really evolves and changes over time, amd the conclusion they went with really fits the series perfectly.
| Storytelling: | 8/10 – Excellent direction. A bit slow at times, but the use of camera angles and the dialogue are just wonderfully written. |
| Characters: | 9/10 – The acting for these characters is just sublime. Rock-solid performances from the main cast in particular. |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – The animation is simple. but very effecitvely used with very detailed character designs. Soundtrack also is excellent, but doesn’t get many chances to really stand out due to its restricted nature. |
| Setting: | 10/10 – Spends a huge amount of time fleshing out the teachings of wabi sabi, japanese tea ceremonies, and is an amazing look at the days of the Sengoku Era. |
Suggestions:
– Not gonna even attempt to find similar series for this one
One thing that did strike me about this show is how little I have to say about it on a weekly basis. I mean, at this point, everything that has been said about it has already been said. The pacing in this series is really slow, but not too slow: every episode features something interesting that happens, and every episode does something new with the characters. This time it was the turn for that pale guy.
And really, in the meantime I’m just enjoying this show for its excellent acting and atmosphere. I really can consistently count on this series to deliver with that.
And I mean, this is how a slow pacing should be done. My big issue with series with a slow pacing is that they’re unnecessarily padding out their precious airtime. This show actually uses its time to fully bring its characters to life. The things that this show does to fill up its time are interesting and filed with historical references to all sorts of things, ranging from art to construction. Not the umpth show about random teenaged antics.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]> 
The seemingly impossible has happened: someone actually eclipsed Sasuke in terms of eccentricity. This entire episode was dedicated to Date Masamune. And dear god. When you thought that his version of Sengoku Basara was exaggerated, you haven’t seen anything yet.
This guy was hilarious, but in particular when in the vicinity of Sasuke himself. It’s amazing how well these crazed idiots managed to play off each other. As for Sasuke, I guess that last week, his voice actor had some sort of cold or something, because here his voice was back to normal. It remains very strange to suddenly have a different voice for just one episode. That was the first time in which I actually noticed something like that.
Rikyuu meanwhile… oh my god. Just when I thought he was done with his character development, the creators put an extra notch to it.
Rating: *** (Awesome)]]>