Baseball, Greek goddesses and Valentine's, among other things…
17 February 2008
I’ve been sitting around trying to figure out a good way to talk about Ookiku Furikabutte for a while, but I can’t. Nothing I say seems to be right and the more I write the more dissatisfied I become with my words. So, going to back to my second grade English class, keepin’ it simple: I like it. Yes, three words, ‘I like it’ and it being Oofuri. I can’t say anything else. I’m in love with Mihashi, Abe, Tajima and everyone else on the Nishiura team. There’s something wonderful about the whole series and it permeates through the story, the characters, page after page, episode after episode like hot fudge on a sundae. I can’t resist Mihashi’s awkward tenderness, I can’t resist Abe’s seriousness, Tajima’s humor, or anything the series throws at me, hook, line and sinker, no puns intended. The whole experience is just like ice cream on a hot summer day, the fluidity of Mihashi’s pitches, the sharp noise when the batter connects, the hardball sailing through the solid, cloudless blue sky, the expressions on their faces, the love they have for the sport. If I go any further, my words will become muddled and lost, even edging on pretension, so I’m going to stop here and stick the original statement, with a slight alternation: I love it.
I realized today that I’m only following two shows from the fall season, Gundam 00 and Rental Magica. I gave up on Dragonaut. Watching anime shouldn’t be like fighting an already lost battle. When you walk into a GONZO production, you have to brace yourself for terrible animation. Unlike their other shows, Speed Grapher, Pumpkin Scissors, even Last Exile, Dragonaut’s missing GONZO’s only saving grace, good stories, not so subtle moralistic undertones and likable characters. Everything Kazuki does is like a bullet to the head, starting, way back when, with the haircut. Dragonaut’s story had potential, it’s not everyday you see some guys riding around in space dragons. I even overlooked the gigantic, bouncing breasts! But after a dozen episodes of “Toa!” “Jin!” “Toa!”, I’m through! I don’t care what happens on Mars, with that creepy prince guy and Scarlet, I’m done! Maybe one day I’ll pick it up again and finish it, but for now, I need to go dunk my head in cold water.
Gundam 00, on the other hand, is starting to pick and my interest is increasing with each episode. The introduction of Trinity and the three new gundams and that strange prologue near Jupiter, along with that AEU Professor’s death and Nena blowing Louise’s family to hell is setting the remaining six something episodes up for a really big, loud, possibly emo conclusion. And, I loved Graham Aker totally pwning Johann Trinity. Half a minute of pure pwnage. He comes in flying, pulls out one energy sword, bam, bam, pulls out a second sword, more bam, bam. Then, sends Johann’s saber flying, ditches the two he has already, grabs Johann’s sword and even more bam, bam, he severs one of the gundam’s arms. Haha! Take that! And, then he coughs up a lot of blood. Graham Aker feels like G00’s November 11, it’s almost like they share a spiritual connection. I was looking forward to Exia either getting pwned, or pwning the Trinity guys when the ending set it. According to the previews, Lockon’s got a gun and is aiming it at Setsuna. It happens a lot, the whole point guns at Setsuna thing, but no one’s pulling the trigger. And, oh! The kiss! Nena’s kiss, I almost saw that coming, almost, but I can’t lie, it did shock me. Where this is all going to go? Who knows. Maybe all the leagues will join together with Celestial Beings to take down the Trinity gundams. I still can’t really figure out what Louise, Saji and Saji’s sister role in all of this is. Maybe Saji’s sister will fall victim to Trinity, seeing how the prof kicked the bucket because he finally figured out the whole story and Saji’s sister’s chasing the same end.
Maybe it’s Valentine’s, or something, but there’s been an awful lot of kissing and love, despite tragedy. Somewhere along the way, Adelicia ended up kissing Itsuki. It was going to happen sooner or later and at no better a time than facing a fire breathing demon queen with sharp claws. I’m glad Ituski’s no longer pulling the eye patch off and is finally learning some magic of his own. Seeing him get rid of that larva and holding his own against the aforementioned demon queen was good. Even more curious was the whole thing with Daphne and Seriken, which seems to parallel Adelicia and Ituski’s situation. I’ve always been for Ituski and Honami, but, you never know, he’s always surrounded by women. The real surprise came when Daphne ended up being Adelicia’s sister and that the Gara guy had sabotaged Oswald Mathers’ ceremony. Rental Magica is probably one of the few series I’m content with. Every episode, every arc, I’ve never had a real complaint, I’m just watching the story progress, enjoying each new twist, each new character, each new development. It’s nothing ground breaking, but it’s a good feeling knowing that you’ll walk away at the end with a solid series under your belt.
And, finally, the show I’ve been waiting for: Mnemosyne. With a name like that, how could I refuse? Judging by the first episode, Mnemosyne is probably a series I’m going to enjoy. The 1990s setting is slightly reminiscent of Speed Grapher and in a similar fashion, Mnemosyne doesn’t hold back on the sex and violence. The protagonist dies in the first two minutes. Some chick with a shotgun blasts her, hanging from the edge of a roof, a couple times and her corpse falls off snapping power lines and what not. She wakes up and you’re thinking it’s a dream, but it’s not. I hate and love shows that tease you with ambiguity, leaving subtle clues here and there. It’s like a painfully slow striptease, a flash of skin here and there just to keep you awake. There are also these random bubble floating through walls, people, cars and everything and a giant tree thing in the background, coupled with that phone call. It’s got my gears turning, but I’m not connecting any dots.
There’s a lot of blood, a lot of piercing, a lot of breasts and a lot of death, gunshots, zombies, all that nice sci-fi, but it’s set in the ’90s. I mean, the cars aren’t hovering in mid air, nothing fancy going on, trucks are still trucks, shotguns are still shotguns, it’s like a little bit of the future in the past. Mimi, the loli, when I first saw her I rolled my eyes, when I thought something unique came down the pipe, behold, a loli. But apparently, like the series, she’s got her own little secret, Mimi, forever. Every once in a while, I need something that’s not a meditation on life, deep things and existence, but just blood, gore, death, action and a little of bit of thinking, to keep everyone happy.
As for Valentine’s Day? Well, I meant to make a post, I meant to. I had nothing good to write about and I was out most of the night and just gave up on the idea in the end. Happy Late Valentine’s, everyone!
Woo-hoo for Oofuri! I’m slightly worried Mnemosyne might eventually try to serve us up some form of ‘meditation on life, deep things and existence’, but I suppose it’s not the main draw of the show and will come second to everything else it offers. Happy Late Valentines to you too, lol
I just started watching Oofuri a couple of weeks back and I’ve nearly caught up with the fansubs now (and so tantalizingly so close to the end too!). It’s a great series, very charming and character-driven, I’m so going to blog this too. And I’m really disappointed it’s only 25 episodes, I could quite happily sit through another 100 episodes just like this. Fingers crossed for a second season.
Oofuri is great!! I’m really looking forward to the release of the last DVD, with the unaired episode 26!!
@issa-sa – Woo-hoo indeed! Mnemosyne does have a little bit of that life, deepness and existential issues vibe already. I was so glad Maneo didn’t kill himself. lol, I was expecting him to run after Rin in the truck, BUT! They make me wait a couple of scenes and he shows up with the cat, I so fell for that. There was enough violence and body piercing and zombie action in the first episode to keep it balanced. Definitely secondary to the other components.
@bateszi – The subs are stuck on episode 23! I’m so glad I caught up with manga first, but the anime brings the story in a different way. It certainly has a charm, especially the manga. Fingers crossed over here as well, from what I know, the manga isn’t over and episode 25 leaves some room for another season. I hate it when they make a second season seem possible, but then they don’t follow up on it. Still crossed though!! ^^
@usagijen – I love the fact that you posted two minutes before my response. There’s an unaired episode 26? Que pasa!? The last two episodes were subbed? When did this happen!?
OMG A 26TH EPISODE OF OOFURI????
Now if only episodes 24 and 25 get subbed soon…