Currently Watching: Bakemonogatari
We’re well into the Summer season now, so much so that Autumn is just over the horizon. But Autumn 2009 isn’t really looking all that appetising to me right now, so let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. Or not cross it at all, as the case may be.
The next few posts will really just be a sum-up of what I’ve been watching recently, but not regularly blogging about.
I’ll admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for SHAFT. They make some of my favourite anime (Hidamari Sketch and Pani Poni Dash! to name but two), and I think that their particular style of presentation is more striking than that of other studios. It doesn’t necessarily mean their animation is better, but I like the mood that their fast-paced meta-slideshows create. Now, the studio’s applied their style to Nisioisin’s Bakemonogatari. And God almighty have they cranked up the quality.
Bakemonogatari (roughly translating to Ghostory, keeping the portmanteau basically intact) is a supernatural story, which centres around Koyomi Araragi and his encounters with girls who seem to be afflicted with strange problems. Being the upstanding man that he is, Araragi gets involved somehow or another.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 04
Sorry, I know I’m falling behind on this series, despite it being the only one I’m seriously blogging this season. Episode 5 is out already, but I haven’t seen it yet.
Also, someone needs to own up. Who was the one to tell the world to just break this time? But really, I guess we should have seen this coming. It wasn’t as large as the one depicted in TM 8.0, but I guess it will increase viewership. It’s like free advertising by mother nature.
There are a couple of things I noticed this episode. Chief among them being that Mirai has exceptional unluckiness. If something bad can happen at any one moment, it will happen to her. And it’ll be caused by some really annoying person too. What doesn’t help is her snotty twelve-year old attitude about everything. It’s exasperating watching Mirai go through her routine.
We’re again reminded of the horror of the situation when Mirai’s unluckiness strikes again and someone stomps on her foot while running past. About to argue, Mirai then realises they’re running to a van with some body bags inside.
You may be pissed off, but at least you’re not dead.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 03
You know you’re in trouble if when you wake up your alarm clock has been replaced by a military helicopter flying overhead, and the world is still going to hell. While Mirai’s line “This isn’t a dream, right?” is terribly clichéd, I guess it is pretty jarring to wake up to the aftermath of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake.
The show somewhat fulfils its premise here too. Did you know that convenience stores may give out food at times of crisis? Did you know that aftershocks can be as large as magnitude 5.0 and continue for three days? Well, now you do. Given that this could happen for real soon, I suspect people will be lapping up this info, especially when it’s presented in the form of an anime.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 02
We left Mirai and Yuuki at a bit of a precarious point last time, and this episode picks up exactly where we left off – Mirai wishing for the world to just break, and the world breaking quite spectacularly.
I noticed this episode that Bones display the horror of an earthquake of this magnitude incredibly well. Remember the loudly dressed woman whose son gave Mirai an ice-cream ass? Remember they were having a photo taken beside the mini Statue of Liberty? Well…
Thank God they don’t spell it out explicitly, for it would have ruined the realisation that a whole family who were made to be the villains last week have (presumably) been wiped out. It’s quite stark, and it’s no wonder that Mirai’s attitude has changed from last time after her foreboding e-mail and events like this.
Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 01-03
Looks like enough people bought the DVDs then. This is the continuation of the shenanigans of the most negative teacher in the world and his class of stereotyped characters, all vying for his attention. Yay! So Long, Mr. Despair is back!
If you’ve never heard of this before, it would be unwise to leap right in now. Otherwise you’ll be like the “new customers” that the show lampooned last year. The first series is called Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (look for a.f.k.’s fansub in the usual places), the second series is Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (fansubs incredibly patchy – go with a.f.k., then Uu, then anon, then volans) and the third series is a collection of OADs called Goku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (looks for gg’s fansub). While the manga has been licensed and is currently being released, the TV series hasn’t been touched. Funimation have been linked to it, but they haven’t announced anything yet.
Anyway, on to the new series. It didn’t have the strongest of starts, in my opinion. SZS always has amazing openings (though it’s a running joke that SHAFT never have it done in time for the first few episodes). This one isn’t immediately obvious. The first openings of the previous series both have an immediate catch in their oft repeated lines (“Bure!” and “Rumba!” in the always awesome tracks by Kenji Ohtsuka), but Ringo Mogire Beam! doesn’t immediately stand out in comparison to its two predecessors. But as with songs of any substance at all, it took a week or two for it to settle in.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 01
Summer 2009 looks like it’s going to be a pretty good season for new anime, not least because of the premises that some of them are putting forward. Like this show, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 – the story of a huge earthquake hitting Tokyo. It seems simple enough on the face of it, but delve down in to specific characters and there’s great potential there.
The opening, while unlike its peers with flashy and expensive animation, is simple and conveys a real sense of disaster, what with its black and white stills of destroyed landmarks and vegetation growing in their wake, with our future protagonists steadily marching through the whole thing. It won’t win any “Best Opening” awards, though.
The message at the beginning of the show, warning people that this is fictional, based on research, and may be different to the real thing, really focuses the mind – remember that Tokyo is well overdue a massive earthquake and there are regular classes as to what one should do in the event of one. Take in to account that this is being broadcast on Fuji TV’s noitaminA block, which is scheduled between their normal programming and their late night anime as a gateway of sorts. You can tell that they’re trying to appeal to a wide and fearful demographic with this one.
It looks like this has worked – in the anime ratings for the Kanto region (source) for the 6th July – 12th July, the show managed to break in to the top 10 (usually a preserve for daytime shows) at number 9 with an average of 5.8% of households watching – the highest rated “late night” anime.
