Category: Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama

Hana-Saku Iroha – 21

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



I’m sorry for doubting the ending of this series. I should have known: writing good drama is what this series is best at, and this episode wasted no time: we’ve finally gotten to the finale of this series and so every moment of it should count.

So yeah, last week I said that this show has the tendency to completely ignore certain subplots, only to randomly make them appear later on. And guess what? It pulled that again. We don’t see Enishi and Takako for a few episodes, and WHAM: they’re suddenly getting married. I did not see that coming.

What I did see coming was that finally the love triangle would start moving again. The way in which it happened though… I have to praise the creators for it when Tohru just said so many things he shouldn’t have said. Minko was finally pushing herself to get closer to him, and then he starts to praise Ohana for all the things she’s done, right in front of her.

The wedding planning by the way also was great. There was some great tension between Enishi and Takako about the costs of the wedding after Ohana’s grandmother forced them to hold a ceremony. They’re a bit of a strange couple, but that makes it all the more worthwhile (after all, how often do we get to see actual marriages in anime?). It wasn’t romantic, but it did feel very genuine.

The biggest WTF was the cliff-hanger though. You’re forcing us to wait a full week after THAT?!
Rating: *** (Awesome)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 33

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou



This episode started a little clumsily (Natsume escapes, gets pulled down a hole in a well hidden place, is about to be attacked, and WHAM! Nyanko-sensei appears from out of nowhere. Didn’t expect Deus ex Machina from this series), but as it went on it once again was an excellent episode. This arc was very different from the other episodes, but the pay-off was just wonderful.

Also, with this episode I also realized something else: anime tends to abuse fast healing. I was really surprised when the wounds that were inflicted on Natsume and Nyanko-sensei… actually hurt. Especially the way Nyanko-Sensei got animated along the way was wonderfully done: it wasn’t life-threatening, but he really felt weak after having an arrow lodged inside of him. Overall I can understand why anime makes their characters very fast healers and all, but it’s much more satisfying to watch someone get hurt… and actually get hurt.

The big strength of this episode, and this series overall by the way, is that it has really good endings that throw a subtle twist and give an extra dimension to the characters involved. Here too, where that Matoba guy threw that anti-climax and it all turned out that he came for nothing. The storytelling also really came together at the end.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 20

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



As expected, this episode was not as good as the Nako-episode, but it did avoid the cliched way to solve everything, and Minko definitely received some development. Festival arcs remain a dime a dozen, and while this episode wasn’t amongst the better ones out there, the characterization still managed to shine.

Instead of the cheesy “let’s all make up and be friends now”-speech, Minko actually gradually made up with her classmates. She was really calm in this episode at the points where it mattered, unlike the previous episode where for some reason she refused to explain exactly why the omelet rice would be impossible. It’s much more fun to watch her character this way. But yeah, her problem is that things with Tohru still aren’t going anywhere, or at least: things aren’t changing. This episode did tell us that Tohru knows Minko’s cooking really well; that was a very nice touch. Oh, and Ohana was a really great side-0character here, who made sure to throw in a light note once in a while, while at the same time Nako and her friend also were surprisingly good.

I just get the feeling that this series is deliberately ignoring certain things in order to save them for later. We got this at first with Nako’s shyness: that to disappeared for like, thirteen episodes before it returned. In the meantime we also haven’t heard of Kou in ages either. My best guess about what the ending will be about is indeed the love polygon. This does sound a lot less interesting than Ohana’s issues with her mother, so let’s see how the creators are planning to make this one interesting. What I really hope will happen is that the focus on the final climax will rely more on the themes of “working” than the romance. That one has been built up much more consistently in any case.

Oh, and while I’m bitching a lot about this series, but I do consider it to be very good. It’s definitely something else and it always manages to find ways to annoy me and flesh characters out in ways I did not see coming. It’s really well detailed, but because of that I just keep finding things that get to me.
Rating: * (Good)

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – 07

by psgels, posted in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée



And here we have the first time where this show really gets something wrong: the dreaded cold!

I’m really not sure where this trend started. I know that back in the days of Perrine Monogatari (1978) they also portrayed diseases in the same way, but back then it was believable: when Perrine got sick, she slept outside in the rain for an entire night: of course that would terribly mess up her system. Nowadays characters spend a second out in the rain and immediately collapse. And everybody in the anime business seems to believe that that’s the accurate way to represent a cold. Even the great Sato Junichi doesn’t seem to realize this.

Having said that though: this was a really heart-warming episode. Everyone in this episode was just totally adorable, but also the drama that the creators got out of the cold was just wonderful. This is where the clash between cultures really shines, comparing the reserved Japanese to Europeans who much more like to speak their minds. They used the young boy really well for that. I applaud this series.

What also really surprised me was the nonchalant way this episode dealt with kisses. In Japan it really seems to be something intimate (just look at all of the teenaged couples who. REFUSE. TO. FREAKING. DO. IT), while in Europe it’s a greeting, though it definitely got a bit strange when these two interpretations clashed with each other. With some great results.

Oh, and we’re past the halfway point in the series, and there has been a significant amount of character development already. That’s great to see!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Natsume Yuujin-Chou – 32

by psgels, posted in Natsume Yuujin-Chou



From what I remember of the first two seasons, it’s that Natsume Yuujinchou was one of those series where the episodic episodes were actually better than the arcs. The biggest reason for that was that it was just wonderful in writing self-contained stories, and the arcs, while very good, couldn’t match those. Let’s see whether the third season can bring in a difference here.

This arc was very different from the previous episodes, due to the inclusion of someone who can count as an actual villain. /at the moment, he’s not that interesting yet, compared to some of the bad youkai that Natsume met so far. He still needs something, and I hope that the next episode can deliver it.

And again, Nyanko-sensei sleeves Natsume alone unguarded, but in this episode it does make sense: he had no way of knowing that the bad guy was right onto Natsume, and that he’d be particularly interested to get the book of friends (otherwise I can’t see why he’d send six of his subordinates, including himself, after Natsume).
Rating: * (Good)

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée – 06

by psgels, posted in Ikoku Meiro no Croisée



Alice stopped getting on my nerves. Quite a pleasant surprise.

Instead, this episode was completely adorable again. Alice mostly swooned all over Yune, but her enthusiasm is feeling more and more genuine, and her quips towards Claude were actually quite funny. The only part I have to complain about is the part where Oscar came in with the line “oh, you’re fighting. you must be in love with each other!” – seriously, stop using that.

Oh, and this episode was all about dress up and Japanese and French clothing. Again, surprisingly detailed about how these dresses work. The photography part was also really cute, though I do wonder why the creators didn’t explain why Yune’s image of photographs is different. The characterization of this episode overall was really subtle and nicely balanced, with a lot of great chemistry and a good, relaxing atmosphere to boot. And yeah, this was also the episode that hinted at something that happened between Claude and Alice’s older sister. It’s good for a nice bit of drama here.

Oh, and I believe that this is the first anime in which I’ve seen living statues appear.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hana-Saku Iroha – 19

by psgels, posted in Hana-Saku Iroha



This show has the tendency to develop its characters really, really well, while being really annoying in the process. the previous episode was a great example of that, and this episode continues that trend with Minko. This episode was enjoyable, interesting, and again got quite a bit on my nerves.

Beyond the attention at Minko, I also have to praise this episode for not just looking at her, but rather the entire cast. This episode was quite well balanced in order to give a lot of characters their share of screentime and to flesh them out a bit. It’s especially the small details in this episode that rocked. This episode also finally gave some character to some of the classmates of the lead girls, and despite being yet another school festival episode, I enjoyed the small individual scenes.

Minko’s development isn’t looking out to be as good as what Nako got in the previous episode, though. Her crush on Tohru had always been a bit superficial, and the entire drama around her revolved around it, where she wanted to make good food in their class restaurant to impress him and started yelling at one of her classmates for doing exactly the same. At this point anything can of course still happen, but Nako development last episode was very good, especially on hindsight.

In any case though, the entire cast is growing together at this point, and I hope that the next episode will do the same. For example, Nako helping out her classmate in the art club was surprisingly genuine.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Hyouge Mono – 18

by psgels, posted in Hyouge Mono




The acting in this episode was sublime. Its biggest purpose was to set things up and hint a lot, but the delightful acting made it a wonderful episode to watch. Especially the tension that was generated between the different characters was amazing.

Something is really telling me that Hashiba Hideyoshi’s days are numbered. In the previous episode he already went with that ridiculous get-up, but this episode really hinted that something’s going to happen to him. Especially since he finally refused to simply be Senno Soueki’s assassination tool, right in front of his face. The artists and animators did an amazing job to really draw all kinds of intricate details in their non-verbal communication. Oh, and then there was also that rape scene.

On top of that, there were also these small details like that small intimate moment in which Sasuke gets his wife a small present. I really like how the creators portrayed his relationship with her: finally we have a romance where everything is right: you can see that they both love each other and to their best to support each other. There is no drama whatsoever and they really fit well together considering the time, setting and culture that they’re in. Heck, even Tiger and Bunny had to pull the dead wife twist: Sasuke really has just a happy family that are a large part of his life, yet know that they have no business in the story.

The real story in which grown up men fight over their toys like little babies! I really cracked up at the scene in which they accidentally broke that precious pot over their negotiations. Negotiations that were serious business, by the way, so I can’t wait to see what comes out of it, especially after what happened to Hideyoshi.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Showa Monogatari Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Showa Monogatari




Anime is dying? Hah. As long as series like Showa Monogatari keep getting released, I refuse to believe something like that. Showa Monogatary may have a few production issues, but I just have to praise the guts that the producers had to actually dare and release it. Here we have a series wit no moe, no bishies, zero fanservice, no pandering and no overblown action. Instead of aiming at teenagers, kids or otaku, Showa Monogatari is aimed at a 50+ audience, portraying the life of an ordinary family in 1964.

Now, this is a slice of life series, so it obviously isn’t for everyone, but I do have to warn people that it’s not what it seems at first sight, because this show has something very misleading about its premise: Kouhei, the rather annoying 9-year-old lead character. Because of him, this show will at first seem like a kids’ series where we see yet another coming of age story of a young boy growing up somewhere. This is not what this series is about, though.

Kouhei is just a member of the cast here. There are a number of episodes that revolve around him, but there are also plenty of episodes that don’t, and instead develop the rest of the cast: his older brother, sister, parents and grandmother. All of them together end up as a charming and down to earth family with real problems, challenges and characteristics. Every character in this series is flawed and this show actually does quite a good job to develop everyone.

This series does have its production issues, though. The animation is quite poor and the direction feels rather mellow throughout the entire series. The worst is Kouhei’s voice actor, though: this guy can’t act for the life of him, and will ruin any dramatic scene he’s involved in. It overall is a series that feels like the production was rushed, and that the creators didn’t get time to make everything click and mesh together, and present things well, because it’s very rough around the edges.

The problems that the cast face are very realistic, but at the same time the creators do force their drama. It’s again one of those cases that has a lot of flaws, yet does a number of other things right, because the cast here remains well developed. In the end though, it does lack a bit of staying power.

Storytelling: 8/10 – The direction could have been stronger, but this one is well balanced and very realistic.
Characters: 8/10 – Well developed cast, but sometimes very badly acted.
Production-Values: 8/10 – The animation is really jerky, but the background art is very accurate. It really feels like 50 years ago.
Setting: 8/10 – Very interesting premise, historically accurate and realistic. Very authentic.

Suggestions:
– Furusato Japan
– Rail of the Star
– Ushiro no Shoumen Dare

Showa Monogatari – 13

by psgels, posted in Showa Monogatari



Okay, so it turns out that the final episode of Showa Monogatari aired quite a while ago. Nobody just bothered to release it aside from a random upload on Megavideo. the long wait wasn’t really good for my appreciation of this series: looking back, the previous episode actually left a lot to be desired due to both Kouhei’s acting and pulling a sickness bomb for the final climax.

This episode meanwhile didn’t really feel like a climax. It was interesting though, because of how it forced some of the characters to think about their futures. Ironically though, Kouhei still is a pretty flat character, but thankfully he didn’t play the biggest part in this episode.

Overall, the biggest flaw of this series is the way it presented itself: the script is good, but the way in which the characters are presented, and acted lacks ways that catch your attention and end up memorable. This is indeed tricky to do with a slice of life series, but also probably the biggest reason for why this series got ignored so badly, aside from the chronic lack of moe.

Overall, Showa Monogatari was good, but not up to the standards of Wao World. Their other movies, helmed by their flagship director, did have a strong direction and focus, starting off slow and continuing to build up to a great climax where not drama stood central, but performances. Furusato Japan still was the best at this.

Now all that’s left is the movie, and do note that that one’s being created by a different staff compared to the TV-series. The director is someone who normally does just special effects or producing, so who knows what kind of things will result from a director like that
Rating: * (Good)