Hatarki Man [Boxing Day Review]

Here’s something I haven’t really experienced for a while – a series where I really enjoyed the characters, the setting and the individual stories, but deeply disliked the message.

Now, whether I’m actually correct about the message – is there a message at all? – or whether I’m wrong, might certainly be up for debate.

I would like to be wrong actually…

Hatarki Man (2006)

In any event, here’s the premise (as per Wikipedia):

Hiroko Matsukata is a woman who works for a magazine company. She puts all she has into her work, and is known as a strong, straightforward working girl, who can at will turn herself into Hataraki man (working man) mode. Despite Hiroko’s success at work, her life lacks romance. Even though a hard worker, she would leave early anytime to go on a date. Too bad her boyfriend is an even bigger workaholic than Hiroko.

Okay, so what makes the anime work for me?

Well, aside from the almost ‘too-close’ character design of Hiroko (that was nevertheless compelling), I think it is the characters themselves. They’re all stronger than their flaws, and more, they’re able to reflect. And there is variety in both their look and personalities, their problems and the solutions they come up with. I wish it had a been longer anime.

For fans of episodic + overarching plot lines, Hataraki Man should satisfy too. And if you’re like me, with little idea of how print publishing works(ed) in Japan, then you’ll probably learn a few interesting things about the industry too – especially in the ‘Reward Man’ episode.

Throughout, the writing verged on dark comedy, but overall it’s a work-drama. And while I could very easily relate to some of the central struggles both Hiroko and Shinji faced, especially when they were doubting the value of their work, this point brings me to my problem with the message or theme (at least, as I see it).

And it seems to be something like “work is more important than anything else”.

Again, maybe I’m performing a bit of a shallow reading of the text here – I’m very curious to see if anyone else has seen the anime/read the manga?

Soon, I’ll finally present my ‘evidence’ as it were, but first I want to note that I’m basing a large part of my response on the final episode especially, and two moments in particular. (Okay, and a quote from the author, but I’ll include that at the bottom).

Okay okay again, I’m also basing it on a few other general things I’ll outline now:

That ‘work above all else’ thing that I keep harping on about in this review seems to be echoed in just about every character onscreen, since so few seem permitted to/able to make time for anything but work, and if they do, it is not shown to us very often.

Spoilers below:

More, the main long-term romantic relationship in the anime decays week by week in favour of work, and meaningful conversations between characters usually happen jammed in between other events or during periods of exhaustion.

The one character in the office who dares to draw a line between work and the rest of his life is scorned by our main character, and management is so void of compassion that even a water leak that destroys the MC’s apartment doesn’t seem to be relevant. (Of course, folks like that are a dime a dozen in management, but it’s always sad and ridiculous to see someone fight so hard for a company that will immediately discard and replace them the second they burn out).

And burn-out is a vital theme in the anime, and one that I reckon is handled really well too. I could probably recommend Hataraki Man for that aspect alone.

But at last, the notion of burn-out leads me to the concluding episode.

When finally Hiroko and Shinji drift apart enough to call it quits (initiated by Shinji who seems to have given up on the relationship first) Hiroko is stunned into something of walking-coma. Of course, she’s unequipped to process her emotions, but gets some advice from a colleague, which seems to boil down to “it wasn’t your fault you put work before your relationship”.

Which is not true. Both Hiroko and Shinji absolutely put work first, and that’s why everything falls apart for them.

The ending of the episode basically lets Hiroko snap out of her depression thanks to work, and Hiroko’s voice-over even tells us that she will be okay… because she has a job.

Now, obviously after something deeply painful, pouring yourself into another facet of your life can be great – necessary even.

But for every scene of Hiroko working until 2am or slumped over her coffee table in her day-clothes after having stumbled home from work, every time she rang to cancel a date, or was stuck at the office long after others left, it was clear this work ethic left her with nothing else, not even a fun hobby – especially since by end of the series, Hiroko doesn’t even had a boyfriend anymore either.

Once again, maybe I’m being somewhat unfair – many times the series is committed to show us the awfulness of a ‘work is everything style’ culture, yet after I finished the anime, I stumbled across this quote from the creator of the manga, Moyoco Anno:

“The traditional virtue of Japan was that people took everything very seriously. As those traditions have been eroded, the quality of Japanese work has been downgraded.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20080706032642/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/japan/article2806731.ece

The full quote contextualises the comment more around accusations of laziness, which struck me as rather thoughtless when I apply it to Anno’s own industry, one that seems rife with creators working themselves into the ground etc.

I have to note that it’s obviously incredibly risky for me to take one quote (or even a full passage) and use it as evidence of ‘what the anime was saying’.

Even supposedly saying.

And it’s also risky of me to claim the quote as evidence that the anime conformed to more than it critiqued the dominant attitudes toward work that I tried to identify above. Again, I’d like to be wrong.

Because in the end of course, I obviously don’t (and couldn’t possibly) have a handle on what’s going in Japan right now, nor when the manga was written for that matter, or the anime aired, but the stories about burn-out that do reach me today certainly don’t fill me with happiness.

Obviously, overwork is a problem that’s not going away (not just in Japan but anywhere in the world) without radical change – and this rant from me won’t make any difference. Even so, I enjoyed getting it onto paper, as it were.

So… to crawl back to the review itself at long last, I still really liked this anime.

In fact, I love that it gave me pause and made me think. And I will definitely watch it again one day, but I find myself wondering now, weeks later, am I supposed to be happy for Hiroko at the end of the series, or worried that she’ll work herself to death, just like her poor interview subject from episode 9: “Full-Fledged Hataraki Man”?

4 Stars

**This resolve and drive is more typical of her as a character, actually – I probably should have taken more similar screencaps for the review.**

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: (Saibāpanku Ejjirannāzu)

If anyone out there hasn’t heard of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners yet, and you happen to be looking for something new and something that is aimed at more of a seinen audience, and you also like sci-fi, then take a look.

Maybe even if you don’t like the sub-genre all that much, still give it a try, I reckon. Especially if you’re a huge Studio Trigger fan in general, or perhaps you just love bright, fast-paced anime?

Because as I keep saying, I reckon Edgerunners is worth your time.

(Even if you’re a bit gun-shy after the disastrous release of the Cyberpunk 2077 game, I believe that should you start and finish this anime, you won’t find it to be ‘unfinished’ or ‘rushed’).

[Spoilers from here on in]

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: (Saibāpanku Ejjirannāzu) 2022

Actually, to keep jamming descriptors into my lumbering introduction, and also to go out on a limb a bit with this recommendation stuff, maybe consider trying this anime if you’re into the ‘doomed romance’ thing too.

Especially if you’re not adverse to gore and nudity, since Cyberpunk has a lot of one and some of the other. But to sneak back to my comment on its audience, about it being more seinen, I’d argue that not only due to the visual content, but the themes.

I’m making that claim for a couple of reasons, I suppose.

For one, it feels like the way Cyberpunk: Edgerunners uses revenge almost as bait-and-switch might bug an immature audience (which is not the same thing as a ‘young’ audience). Or the way that communication (or lack thereof) remains a very human theme, and one entirely distinct from the amazing technological advances in the setting.

And further, the anti-corporate, anti-capitalist bent is so clear – perhaps some of the more pointed ‘punk’ aspects to the series.

Body modification is another main theme in the anime, though Edgerunners spends most of that aspect on related violence rather than identity. No surprise, I guess – since the anime is an action-thriller too…

… and I’m suddenly back on ‘genres’ and ‘conventions’ once more 😀

Well, for me, that stuff is almost always interesting at the very least.

And in Edgerunners, I remember the first few episodes setting up what seemed to be an underdog-revenge story. By the end, it’s clear that it fits in a whole lot more.

I finished the anime wondering if, in addition to everything else I’ve mentioned above, there isn’t a bit of Psychological Horror included, with a touch of the ‘last girl’ trope thrown into the pan too.

Connected, perhaps, are Splatterpunk elements, both in terms of story and visuals, which feed into the action and horror as much as the cyberpunk.

That’s the beauty of really effective stories though – they can easily fit more than one aspect from more than one genre. Sometimes, the mix results in something that escapes the bounds of any one genre and either creates something new or at the very least, something that will last.

Having said all of that, the guts of the Edgerunners story does have a single focus, it’s the relationship between leads David and Lucy – and to a lesser extent, between David and his sort-of mentor, the imposing but flawed Maine (not that he’s the only one with flaws).

That core relationship between David and Lucy keeps all the moving parts of the anime together, and each thing I learnt about the setting and world seemed quickly or eventually relevant to David and Lucy’s struggle to survive, and to protect one another.

I’ve already mentioned the range of genres, but another I could see an argument being made for is that of tragedy – well, kinda.

And I’m not talking about the fact that pretty much everyone dies but Lucy, instead it’s that David destroys himself well before his futile (yet understandable) battle with Adam Smasher occurs, even after seeing Maine destroy himself in nearly exactly the same way.

The more I write on this anime, the more I’m thinking that Edgerunners is not precisely a Tragedy. Or, the more I can’t decide how well it follows the classic conventions of a tragedy. So maybe it could be, after all.

Could be that the show is simply not a tragedy in a somewhat narrow sense, wherein a character does all the right things and yet is still punished/made to suffer/fails.

Because I believe that the narrative perfectly shows that our main characters don’t do all the right things, that they aren’t at all ‘unfairly punished by circumstance’. Instead, they make choices themselves, and those choices just don’t work out.

Not that the choices they make are easy ones.

After finishing the anime, I wonder if I missed something or not… because I’m still doubting the idea of it being a tragedy.

For instance, Lucy is shown to be able to hide extremely well. Could not she and David have fled the city? And maybe they wouldn’t have been able to hide forever, but the simple fact that they were (perhaps understandably) too afraid to be honest with each other about who was protecting who and from what, I’d argue that they were doomed by their own failure to communicate.

And so perhaps character flaws (or fear) drove their actions as much as anything else – but whether I’m off the mark or not about genre doesn’t really matter in the end, because that doesn’t change the fact that the characters were written really well.

In terms of an actual issue at last, the first thing that came to mind was that a certain amount of prior knowledge about the Cyberpunk77 universe and world-building would probably help a little. Still, I was never lost.

I kind of hinted above that the body modification theme wasn’t explored all that much, so that felt like a bit of a missed opportunity.

But moving back to a couple of positives to finally wrap up this review, I found it refreshing to see actual daylight in a cyberpunk story! It seems far too often that low-level lighting is the default for the genre, the predictable fall-back for production design (of course, you’ve got to show off all those neons, but still, I really enjoyed the variety here).

And finally, I think that the ending was very, very effective. I was so happy to finish an anime with a conclusion that really worked… but I’d argue it was not at all bittersweet – it was only bitter 😀

5 Stars

Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (Rupan za Saado ~Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna)

Thanks to its position as sort of a prequel series, the first thing you might notice about The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is how it features character designs hearkening back to the manga (and the 1971 Lupin too), something I really enjoyed.

Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (Rupan za Saado ~Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna) 2012

The design (and pretty much everything else in this series) is a little grungier, perhaps, thanks not just to the ace visual style – but also smaller things like visible body hair on legs and wrists/knuckles. And also, of course, the storylines themselves.

If you haven’t come across The Woman Called Fujiko Mine before, it basically explores how ‘the gang’ first meet.

Well, a little more specifically, it’s focused mostly on Fujiko and Lupin as they uncover the truth about her past.

There’s a complex undercurrent of unease and unhappy secrets that link the episodic aspects, and it all comes together in a pretty satisfying way, but I think what was of most interest to me was the fascinating glimpse of ‘before’ all the main characters meet.

I won’t spoil those moments, but a few stand out – especially a particular ‘Goemon episode’.

Another aspect that sticks in my mind whenever I think about this series, is the menace to the owls – maybe I could say it hearkens back to the motif of birds from stuff like Pyscho at a stretch perhaps, but the use of the Owls definitely has a few layers, wisdom, secrets, silence, unblinking villains; it’s all good.

But to jump back to the visuals for a moment, I think if you like the original Lupin or perhaps just the 1960s and 1970s in general, then you’ll enjoy just about everything about what Sayo Yamamoto and Takeshi Koike have done here, as it’s very evocative of the era.

I also tend to enjoy the heavy hatching look too. (Actually, on that note – if you don’t like much about anything I’ve mentioned so far, then The Woman Called Fujiko Mine might seem relentlessly dark).

There’s also a lot of fan-service, some of which you could call stylish. I’d also say that it’s less of the male-gaze variety (though that’s incidentally present), after reading this quote from director Sayo Yamamoto:

Because if the character of Lupin is going to be the protagonist, you would get a better product by having it directed by someone who is more attached to Lupin than me (laughs). And well, I also wasn’t very interested in creating 12 episodes of that. My favorite Lupin character is Fujiko Mine. To the point that when I was little I basically used to watch Lupin just to see Fujiko’s sexy scenes (laughs). I thought that if the theme is “I want to look at Fujiko for the whole time”, then I would be able to create that. (Interview here)

Despite what that quote might suggest, the story is just as focused on Fujiko’s character.

Writers Mari Okada and Dai Satō (among others), spend plenty of time giving the audience a chance to see and wonder about exactly what makes Fujiko tick.

The rest of the gang aren’t ignored either, but sometimes it’s a sub-character that makes a big impact – one of which is Lieutenant Oscar. There’s some stuff going on with this guy, too much for me to even try to go over in one review. Or even understand, I think. (I remember being left with conflicting emotions about poor, broken, evil Oscar too).

It’s been a long time since I finished the anime now, and so I wonder if I should attempt a re-watch one day, because I’m sure I missed important details here and there.

Above all, I think The Woman Called Fujiko Mine would still have things to offer me if I did watch it again, and so I’m sure I will.

5 Stars

(Images sourced from google)

Jujutsu Kaisen

One thing that (fighting) shounen anime can do so well is stretch a fight (or a contest) over several episodes – and Jujutsu Kaisen fits that bill for me, and yet my favourite episodes were probably the more self-contained ones.

Jujutsu Kaisen (2020)

And so the drawing together of the main cast, the investigations and especially Nanami’s episodes stood out most for me.

I loved the premise too, especially as a fan of supernatural stuff, and while the action sequences were ace, I do have a few niggles to report. While the ‘bro’ joke oscillated between amusing/overplayed/all the way back to maybe amusing again, I do find myself growing weary of a trend that seems to exist within and beyond anime: the zero progress per season.

Okay, I’m exaggerating.

But I’m referring to the huge battle at the end of every season that doesn’t come close to defeating even the first Big Bad, no matter how visceral or satisfying the actual scenes or blows themselves are. (That same Big Bad usually can’t manage to defeat newbie heroes either… but that’s a trope for another review :D).

And in a way, once you buy in to the series, that sort of thing never matters.

And in time too, I tend not to care too much, because I’m more interested in seeing the main characters grow and succeed.

And there’s a great deal of growth, usually accelerated, for the leads and in particular for Yuji. And he has that lovable goof vibe which is fun too. Actually, as the series continued it was interesting to see the writing team rope in Nobara to a similar role.

(Just quickly also, having hammer and nails as weapon caught my eye, certainly not something I see a lot of in anime).

Another double-edged blade I guess, would be Ryomen Sukuna.

I finished this season with the sense that he and Yuji did not have enough screen time together.

Of course, there needs to be stuff left over for future seasons. But still, I felt that only allowing them a few scenes together, or at least limited interaction, both weakened the central narrative (as it had to take a few long detours to introduce the wider cast) and at the same time, also heightened mystery.

Basically, I wanted more, because those scenes held the most tension for me.

But that also means that I now have something else to really look forward to – keen for another season!

4 Stars

Lunar Legend Tsukihime (Shingetsutan Tsukihime)

This short anime series is based on visual novel Tsukihime, and while I didn’t see Lunar Legend back in 2003 when it aired, I believe it garnered its share disappointed fans of the franchise.

Lunar Legend Tsukihime (Shingetsutan Tsukihime) 2003

And I know that’s not saying much – disappointing the average anime fanatic is not hard, but I was able to quite comfortably side-step all of that while watching, since I didn’t know anything about the franchise before I kicked things off.

However, by the end of the anime, I had noticed where some parts of an obviously fairly rich and detailed storyline had to be left out of the adaptation. So too, it was clear that wider context about certain characters had been omitted as ‘assumed knowledge’. Neither of those things detracted from the story too much, but I did do some quick reading afterwards to fill in a few gaps.

One of the things I found interesting was the blend of genres. Perhaps not an even blend, but there’s horror, suspense, gothic touches, drama, action and also romance. So there are a lot of balls in the air during Lunar Legend. I can see some viewers finding it muddled – but for me, what held everything together were unanswered questions about the main cast.

In that vein, I guess the high point of the ending wasn’t actually the confrontation between Arcueid & Roa but the reveals about Shiki’s past. I think that was what I was most keen to discover from the beginning.

I will say that nothing within the series quite lived up to what the OP seemed to promise with its drama, costume and setting, but that’s not to say I disliked Lunar Legend Tsukihime either. And even though Shiki was kind of a flat character, it was good to see Arcueid trying to get him to live.

Time for some dot points!

Despite some creepy moments and some memorable battles, my favourite episode actually comes from the amusement park, I was laughing at poor old Akiha’s childishness fairly often, I must say
The mid-episode title cards I really liked
The OST really adds to the gothic feel – as does Akiha’s mansion itself
Interesting to see a pocket-knife as a main weapon.

I suspect that if you’re a die-hard fan of the visual novels then you might not enjoy this anime a whole lot, but I was drawn in via the promise of slowly revealing secrets. I probably won’t watch it again but I could say that about a lot of things 😀

3 Stars

Vampire in the Garden (Vanpaia in za Gāden)

You know the very-real genre known as “not-quite-tearjerker”? Yep, that one – absolutely something real that you’d find in a video store, or in the list of categories via a streaming service.

Well, Vampire in the Garden (2022) feels like it meets the criteria for the above ‘genre’ to me, since it’s quite sombre and sort of contains little in the way of hope.

(Quick warning, there are fair few spoilers below, so if you’ve been planning to watch this one day and want to avoid spoilers, please take note).

However, to some extent, the action scenes and also the defiance and determination shown by the leads (Fine and Momo) sort of cloaks what is a tragedy, but I think it’s the kind that of tragedy that telegraphs its inevitable, sad ending very clearly. You’ll most likely be able to prepare yourself, if you know this kind of story will upset you.

(For example, the berserker/suicide drug that the vampires can use never seems far from Fine’s mind, and the series is careful to remind us with close-ups etc, that it’s always an option for her).

But it’s not just the ending that is melancholy and more; there is plenty of despair and hate and war throughout, and examples to demonstrate just how hideous humanity can be. It’s a clear a parallel with real-world war and prejudice, which makes the handful of upbeat scenes almost glitter in comparison.

Part of the mood is obviously achieved via lighting – and of course, it’s about vampires and so there’s going to be a lot of shadow.

But the scenes within grand manors or military encampments are often shadowed, or chilled by all the snow, leeched of vibrancy or sick with that nuclear green. It all feels like a clear sign that points to humanity being in decline from within, something clear when we see how little music, art and joy they have – and most of all, how hard they try to stamp those things out when they are found within the vampire’s culture.

On the other hand, the human race is caught within a war of survival.

Again, the themes are clear and heartfelt – something I certainly don’t begrudge the anime for in any way. War strips away the things worth living for, and Momo and Fine turn their backs on that during their search for a promised land of harmony. Well, both of them prior to the first episode – and Fine a long time prior.

I will note that the age-gap is undeniably suspect, even before the indeterminate age of vampire Fine. It’s a pretty common vampire trope, I guess – so perhaps no surprise there.

Both leads remained engaging for me, in part because they were each given time to open up, and I definitely wanted them to find what they were seeking. Despite the story giving me many reasons believe that they actually had no chance of success, I was still a bit surprised by how close the narrative permitted them to come to happiness.

A member of the supporting cast caught my eye too – Kubo and his samurai sword. Had he played a bigger role, I’d have been interested to see more of his back-story, but as things stand I felt like I was provided enough to support his motivation. (There was also enough time to see a bit more on other side characters too, which was nice).

In terms of time, I thought I should note that Vampire in the Garden felt longer than its 2-and-a-bit-hours to me, probably due to being chopped up into five episodes.

Visually, it seems clear that Wit Studio have unleashed a torrent of stunning settings and backdrops, and elsewhere I have no complaints*, but Kazushi Fujii and Satoshi Takabatake (I believe it was) really captivated me with so much striking scenery. I kept watching at least in part to see yet another awesome background.

So, at long last – is this anime for you?

Maybe if you like bat-style vampires – or far more importantly, love stories that are bittersweet at best. And if so, then this should be pretty pleasing overall. If you prefer more conventional noble-vampire/thrall plots, or vampire-hunting stories, then I don’t think Vampire in the Garden will quite do the trick.

4 Stars

*Well, maybe the jeep’s landing and some general “invincible heroes” stuff, but it wasn’t enough to ruin anything for me.

Zaion: I Wish You Were Here (Anata ga koko ni Itehoshii)

This is a short sci-fi ONA from 2001 – not so long into the slow rise of CGI in anime, and while it has a few problems for me, I didn’t end up abandoning Zaion.

Zaion: I Wish You Were Here (Anata ga koko ni Itehoshii) 2001

Most aspects were good enough without being outstanding.

Which sounds like not much of a compliment, I know but not every single second has to be outstanding, right? The storyline was the classic ‘save the city’ this time from out of control space-virus mutations, with a small team of human-nano-machine-hybrid soldiers having to bear the brunt of the attacks.

That is, except for Ai, whose psychic powers are the only guarantee of victory.

Sadly, she’s a prisoner of her military & their scientists – and while she develops a relationship with male lead Yuuji, it was just as interesting to see the mother-daughter relationship between her and conflicted scientist Misao, who is her first ally.

I won’t go deep into the story but it plays out as expected, though with a more sombre ending than say a typical action sci-fi.

Despite things that kept me watching, I will say that the CGI is not integrated too well – the age of it is clear, and obviously Gonzo and the industry would improve over the years.

When it comes to the plot, there’s some real problems with the obliviousness of the general population too… but to go back to things I liked, the themes around the futility of war worked for me, and Kenji Kawai’s OST really stood out too.

Not sure I’d recommend Zaion, however, unless you are a fan of the era?

3 Stars

Ray: The Animation

From creator Akihito Yoshitomi comes something of a Black Jack spin-off, with another supremely talented surgeon – Ray, whose x-ray eyes help her save the day wherever possible.

Ray: The Animation (2006)

Combined with the cases she solves and illnesses she cures on an episode-to-episode basis, there is a larger story of the past pushing through in this anime, which definitely worked as a nice hook for me.

Since Ray: The Animation is near future science-fiction as much as it is a medical drama or mystery, there’s a lot of solves via technology that may never exist, but I usually found most of it interesting, even if Ray’s eyes were often used in a similar way.

Ray herself is a somewhat cold (but not heartless) character, in a clear contrast with the nurses at her hopsital, who are quite cheerful and one of which is quite happy to regularly rib Ray – especially when it comes to the romantic subplot that rises and falls in importance across the 13 episodes.

I really liked the way the various elements were interwoven here, how the foreshadowing starts nice and early for certain reveals.

And in regard to the main villain, it was a fun surprise to see what his true motivations actually were… and the lengths he went to in order to reach his goal are typically impressive and troubling, as per most great villains.

Visually, it was also nice to see some pastel/watercolour-looking backgrounds and settings, along with the occasional ‘postcard memory’ too.

Now, if you’re not in the mood to deal with a certain amount of non-graphic but obvious cruelty toward children, then maybe save Ray for another time.

The first episode has a few surprises up its sleeve, that’s for sure – and I have to spoil just one, since it really threw me in a good way, which was the ease with which the nurses switched from the healing to martial arts.

Black Jack himself cameos a couple of times in the anime, but it’s very much the story of Ray’s search for truth about the dark organisation that kept her captive as a child, interwoven with the medical drama.

I enjoyed the characters as much as the scenarios, and some of the cases were pretty compelling – but another warning, a few of the medical procedures are shown in enough detail that some folks might not enjoy it, and a few cases probabaly verge on body-horror, so be warned if that’s not your thing either.

4 Stars

Due to copyright, Black Jack was only alluded to as BJ and never seen fully in the original manga, but because the anime was produced by Osamu Tezuka’s own studio, he appears fully in the anime (though still somewhat obscured) and is referred to by his original name.

Agrento Soma (Arujento Sōma)

After a slow start that wasn’t actually slow – I was transfixed.

Agrento Soma (Arujento Sōma) 2000

Argento Soma feels like a bit of a rare story for me, where the pay-off definitely matched the mystery and tension that had built across the previous episodes. And in an industry littered by the cast-off bodies of so many unfinished shows only given a single season, it’s nice to come across a story with a conclusion.

In regard to the pacing, what was ‘slow’ for me was warming to most of the cast.

Without Commander Ines and Sue or Michael (and to a lesser extent Hattie), I wasn’t invested in anyone’s outcome precisely. At first. Actually, unless you were to count how much I came to want Ryu to fail, to receive his just desserts.

Instead, it was the central mystery of why the aliens attacked earth, why they continued to seek the mysterious Pilgrimage Point, that kept me going until I warmed to the cast.

Right off the bat I knew Ryu was a jealous loser, and even when he became tolerable later on – usually at the cost of the emotional well-being of others – I don’t think I actually wanted him to succeed. He was a fantastic character in that respect. Not quite anti-hero, not quite antagonist, and amusingly absolutely utterly unaware that he was not the hero of the story*.

*Trying to paraphrase something iniksbane brought to my attention with that last sentence – and also, thanks heaps for the recommendation 😀

So, now that I’ve got all that out of the way – what’s the anime actually about? Well, it’s about people trying to defend the earth from aliens. And:

[From MAL] In the year 2059, the earth has been plagued by aliens for several years. In an effort to learn more about these aliens, Dr. Noguchi and his assistants Maki Agata and Takuto Kaneshiro try to revive the professor’s experiment, a large Bio-Mechanical alien named Frank. During this process the alien comes to ‘life’ and the lab is subsequently destroyed, leaving Takuto the only survivor and the alien disappearing into the wilderness.

And further, there’s mecha, mystery, science-fiction and drama aspects all neatly woven together as events expand from the premise above – even a bit of mind-games, especially when it comes to Ryu and Mr X, whose scenes together often have interesting staging and lighting, really selling the duplicity.

If you like to compare things (as I do), there are clear classic science-fiction themes, something of a War of the Worlds feel here, and for some fans no doubt you’ll find that Neon Genesis comes to mind also, especially with the escalation of alien attacks used for some of the anime’s structure, but Argento Soma still stands quite apart from the two texts I mentioned.

Some of what differentiates the show for me is because Argento Soma feels a lot like a character study before anything else, a vehicle for Ryu to become a better person – and it’s a long redemption arc too (if you’d want to go that far). And while most events and other characters often serve that purpose, Argento Soma shows a wider cast that is notable in its own right. (A shame that Sue’s past only sneaks into the OVA, however).

Another thing that I think separates Argento Soma from any cries of ‘Eva-clone’ might be the classic, big science-fiction ideas most commonly seen in 20 Century science-fiction cinema… but I won’t spoil them here.

I will say that the somewhat nose-less designs (courtesy of one of my fav directors, Shukou Murase) took me a little while to acclimatise to, but it’s definitely memorable. And also in regard to design, I definitely felt that Frank’s look was top notch. It had a less organic but more human feel compared to the other aliens, to my eye.

In addition to the above quibble, I will note that Ryu spends most of the show as a terrible person – not just ‘flawed’ but really, a bad dude. This means he abuses everyone around him, especially women, both before and after the tragedy that inspires his childish (but not surprising) drive for revenge.

But as I said before, he does (for the most part), have a redemption arc, and in the context of the whole series, his shitty behaviour is not front-and-centre. For instance, you’re not going to be confronted with an endless parade of graphic psychical or verbal abuse, but just be aware that he’s no hero.

(Also, Hattie can be a bit shrilly repetitive).

But finally, is this anime for you?

In short, if you want a twentysomething-year-old mecha show focused on adults, on revenge, with a great cast and a lead character that is far from ‘clean-cut’, then this could be for you.

It also has a deeply satisfying conclusion to its central mystery – another reason to give it a shot if you can find it.

4 Stars

Finally! My first review in over a month 🙂

Devil May Cry: The Animated Series (Debiru Mei Kurai)

Devil May Cry is another anime based on a classic game franchise, but I can’t judge this one in terms of its merits as an adaptation, since I’ve not played any of the games.

And so I’ll focus on the anime itself.

Devil May Cry: The Animated Series (Debiru Mei Kurai) 2007

In terms of plot, our hero Dante runs a demon-hunting business, ‘Devil May Cry’, while struggling to get out of debt in order to afford more strawberry sundaes 🙂

I enjoyed Devil May Cry without being thrilled by every moment; there was some great action and memorable creature designs, especially in the first two eps, along with a few stories that stood out above the others.

One thing that I found perhaps more interesting looking back, was the way that the villain works to link together what appears to be ‘only’ an episodic format. And while he might be typical for his archetype, he’s probably not so typical as the Big Bad. (I guess that’s a little vague but I wanted to make an attempt to avoid spoilers).

To continue on with things I enjoyed, Dante stands out in part due to his character contractions, rather than only due to the very satisfying high-contrast colours he’s given. Lady and J.D were other favourites from a cast that has nice mix of recurring and new characters.

In terms of favourite episodes, ‘Rock Queen’ heavily features music and even record-collecting as plot points, so that was pretty ace. Some of the characters even got a happy ending too! I also really enjoyed the ‘Death Poker’ episode, as it was a little different to the more typical hack-and-slash of many from other plots.

Speaking of which, there’s plenty of demon-fodder in Devil May Cry, blood too, and some gore, though most (but not all) of it is focused on the monsters. Still, pretty obviously not the kinda anime for the young ones.

To quickly finish on something that bugged me, while Patty started off in brat-mode, she became far more tolerable as the series went on, but it’s a shame that in the end, Dante seemed to value her most as a bloody cleaner.

3 Stars