Shoujo & General Weblog

Movie, BD, 101 mins, 2.35:1, 2016, by LAIKA
I saw this got some very good reviews so I invested in a BD copy.
The story is set in a fantasy Japan. A woman is washed up on a beach by a storm. With her is a baby which appears to have lost one eye. Ten years or so later the two are not doing great. They live in a cave and the mother is mostly catatonic while the boy does story-telling at a local village. He uses some powerful magic from his three-string shamisen to turn sheets of paper into origami figures to act out his stories.
His mother warns him never to stay out after dark otherwise bad things will happen. Of course, on the day of the O-bon festival he does stay out and his aunts, scary black figures, fly out of the gloom and attack him. His mother uses the last of her magic to let him escape, and so Kubo embarks on a quest for a magical sword and armour, accompanied by a monkey and a beetle.

I loved this. The Japanese village setting is carefully researched. The animation is done in stop-motion, with CGI processing, and what you see on screen is often beautiful. The story moves through a large number of settings, with magic, and fight scenes, before reaching a conclusion. Recommended.
The animators, LAIKA, are the same people who did Coraline and other successful animations.

When Marnie Was There (Omoide no Mani) (2014)
An animated release from Studio Ghibli, adapted from the novel by Joan G Robinson and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi. The original book was set in England, but the movie is set in Japan.
Anna Sasaki has a difficult relationship with the aunt who is acting as her foster parent, and is sent to stay with other relatives at the seaside. Here Anna fails to bond with the local schoolchildren but meets the mysterious blonde Marnie who lives in a mansion across the tidal marsh. It seems that Anna is the only person who can see Marnie and the mansion is long deserted.
Regardless, the relationship between the two girls develops, but surprises are in store.
This is definitely one of Studio Ghibli’s better efforts, and is a good-looking film that repays multiple viewings. It is less action-packed than some, and in feel it probably most resembles the later adaptations of non-Japanese books, e.g. “Arrietty”. Anna is a more troubled child than any of the other Ghibli heroines, and the movie has an emotional impact. The plot contains some unexpected twists.
I suggest that you get the BD version if you have a player. Recommended.

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is a Noitamina adaptation of a josei drama manga. In the 60s a former petty thief nicknamed Yotaro gets out of prison and becomes the apprentice of a famed rakugo performer named Yakumo. Yotaro joins Yakumo’s household, which also includes Konatsu, the orphaned daughter of a former rakugo colleague of Yakumo, Hatsutaro. Rokogo is a traditional one-man storytelling art form in Japan in which the lone performer re-tells traditional comic stories with very limited props while performing multiple roles in the story.
After the first episode, the story is a flashback to of a younger Yakumo, nicknamed Kikohiro, and his friend/rival Sukeroku, nicknamed Hatsutaro. Initially the outgoing Hatsutaro is a more successful storyteller than the repressed Kikohiro.

Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o is essentially a parody of teens-in-an-RPG-world type stories. Teen gamer Kazuma rarely leaves the house unless he absolutely has to, but one day he does leave in order to buy a new game. On his way home Kazuma sees a girl classmate who is about to be run over and pushes her out of the way, dying himself instead. In fact the girl was in little danger from the tractor.
After his death, Kazuma arrives in a transitional world where a minor goddess Aqua tells him his options. One is to go to a RPG-type world, taking one thing with him. So he chooses her.
Following episodes have Kazama trying to start a quest in the RPG world, and collecting some female comrades, all equally dysfunctional. This show is very funny.

Mahou Shoujo Nante Mouiidesukara
An average schoolgirl is accosted by a ball with wings lurking among the rubbish bags, and the creature tells her that she is a magical girl. She gets transformed and discovers to her embarrassment that her costume is a two-piece swimsuit. The comedy revolves around the creature trying to combat her lack of enthusiasm and train her.
This is pretty funny, and if you don’t agree the pain only lasts for 4 minutes. It feels a little pervy to be watching a pubescent girl in a bikini, though.

Tabimachi Lateshow
Comix Wave Films is producing four episodes with the theme of “goodbyes and journeys,” entitled “Recipe,” “Transistor Smartphone,” “Summer Festival,” and “Clover”, as part of the Ultra Super Anime Time programming block broadcast in Japan.
So says the Crunchyroll trailer.
I watched the first two, and found that while the animation is basic, the scripts are less bland than the usual fare.
In the first of two unrelated episodes, a trainee chef labours to match his mentor’s recipe for what appears to be spaghetti with tomato sauce. (Perhaps a satire on cooking anime shows)
In the second, an episode about a friendly schoolgirl trying to befriend a loner leaves one wondering which of them is the more dysfunctional.
It could be worth checking out this series to see what you make of it.

Lupin III (2015) is one of the more entertaining shows of the new season. This show is set in Italy, and was released in Italy this August. It looks much the same as the movies and the dialogue is the usual banter between the familiar Lupin characters.
Lupin is trying to lift the treasure of a small principality and goes through a marriage with an Italian princess, much to the disgust of Lupin’s long-term associate Fujiko.
The wife turns out to be a match for Lupin in a manner other than the intended, and some far-fetched hijinks ensue. Seems she is set to be a new significant character.
Looks like this will be fun.

Young Black Jack: An anime prequel to Osamu Tezuka’s classic manga series about a maverick doctor with a disfigured face. It starts with ‘Jack’ still at medical school but developing amazing surgical skills. In the first episode he re-attaches the arm of a young boy severed in a train accident. In the second he is kidnapped and blackmailed to perform a heart transplant. This is gripping stuff and worth a look.

Beautiful Bones – Sakurako’s Investigation: A teenage boy has an odd relationship with an older woman who is obsessed with collecting bones. Every time they go on a bone hunt, they come across human remains and Sakurako makes forensic deductions. The first episide was very watchable.

Owarimonogatari: Another story in Akiyuki Shimbou’s “Monogatari” series. This looks like one of the more duff sections, as both the new major characters are dislikable and it’s also very static and talky. The first episode on Crunchyroll was a double length, and the whole story is about school student Koyomi Araragi’s awkward past relationship with another student.

Utawarerumono – The False Faces Fantasy series. In the first episode the slacker hero, wandering in a wilderness, is attacked by a giant bug and saved by a young woman who takes him to a village where he is forced to work. Not great, but quite diverting.

Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou, a “Watchmen”-influenced original superhero series, has turned into a dark and complicated “wheels within wheels” tale that is essentially an “anti-superhero” story. It is a wonderfully bleak, bitter, paranoid and smart parallel world story where superheroes and super monsters take the place of nuclear weapons.
Different episodes appear to take place in different eras from the 1930’s to the 1970’s. Essentially, a secret group of superheroes tries to protect the intrests of superheroes and recruit them. In society at large, superheroes are feared and distrusted, and public mention or discussion of them is banned.

Charlotte was the only new anime I followed through the whole run. The story takes part in an alternate reality where a small number of children manifest supernatural powers on reaching puberty. The protagonist, Yuu Otosaka, develops the power to temporarily possess others, and uses it to cheat at exams. He is exposed by Nao Tomori, a girl who can make herself invisible to a specific person. Nao forces him to transfer for his own protection to Hoshinoumi Academy, and join the student council, of which she is president. The purpose of the council is to contact and retrieve teenagers with powers before they are exposed and experimented on by organisations intent on exploiting their powers.
Yuu, initially dislikable, becomes a sympathetic character as he and the cute Nao contact various teenagers with weird powers. Then there is a head-banging plot twist halfway through the series …
Not a great anime, but an enjoyable watch.

Also checked out:
Akagami no Shirayukihime (Red-haired Snow White): A shoujo romantic drama in which a girl is pursued by a prince she doesn’t like. Silly. Dropped after 1 episode.
Rokka no Yuusha Six heroes are chosen to defeat a demon king. Dropped after three episodes.
Ushio and Tora (2015) remake of old anime. Not bad, but I didn’t want to watch it all again.
Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou A switch-off. Dire.
Okusama ga Seitokaichō (My wife is student council president). The main character loses the school council president election to a girl who gives out free condoms and advocates free love. She then moves into his house. I think you can guess where this piece of soft porn is going. 🙁
Aoharu x Kikanjuu Another survival-game anime, but with a girl disguised as a boy. Dropped after one episode.
Gate: Fantasy characters rampage into Tokyo through an inter-dimensional ‘gate’ but are soon shot down. Then the Japanese government launches an inter-dimensional invasion and counter -attack. Potentially interesting idea but the characters didn’t grab me. Dropped.
Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai: Very rude and funny comedy about a Japan where all reference to impropriety is banned. The hero enrolls in the leading elite school of morals, but is soon blackmailed into joining an association opposing public morals and ends up taking part in obscene acts of terrorism against the student council president, a beautiful girl whom he happens to have be in love with. The first episode was a hoot, and clearly directed against the current tightening up of comics and anime censorship in Japan, but I had a feeling the joke would turn stale long before the end of the series..

Hibiki Euphonium (Sound! Euphonium) is another anime featuring the fascinating world of Japanese school clubs. Kumiko Oumae was put off playing music because of an embarrassing incident in junior high school, but when she moves to senior high school she is drawn into the school brass band, which is improving under the guidance of an enthusiastic new tutor who encourages them to enter for competitions. Kumiko is persuaded to take up the euphonium again.
The story involves the characters of various girls and sundry minor crises, some involving the beautiful and moody trumpet player Reina Kousaka.
Not an outstanding anime but a pleasant watch.

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru:
New season of a show I watched a while back. I enjoyed it then and found the second season watchable. Much of the season is about student councils and is making fun of organisation-speak.

Baby Steps:
A second series. The hero is now at tennis camp in America. The first episode wasn’t that exciting, but it seems a new cute girl is in the picture. Dropped after two or three episodes.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches:
The familiar theme of gender-swapping teenagers appears again. Yamada-kun is a near-delinquent while the girl is a honor student. They fall down a stair and accidentally their lips meet which (as it does) triggers a body swap. Some saucy scenes as they check out their unfamiliar body parts. Then it turns out that the swapping works with other characters too.
It wasn’t badly done, and quite fun, but I dropped after two or three episodes.

The Fruit of Grisaia (special):
A 50-min special of a show I have not seen before. Turned out to be the backstory of a special forces marksman, and a rather grim childhood. Altogether heavy stuff, not really my cup of tea.

I checked out most of the new Winter 2015 anime shows, but found the majority of them uninspiring.
I am continuing to follow the charming Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April).
Kosei’s mother kept pushing him hard to become a concert pianist, but he can’t play piano ever since he failed in a competition at age eleven when his mother died. One day, he meets a girl, Kaori, playing music with some kids in a park. She is a brilliant if eccentric violinist and invites him to her concert. Soon, the bewitching Kaori is badgering him to take up piano again, and he is also being hassled by the Girl Next Door, to the same end. The GND is in love with Kosei, though she doesn’t realise it yet.
This is good fun – the girls are outrageously pushy – and the music is good. The show tends to alternate ‘drama’ and ‘music’ episodes.