Teh Animooz

I forgot the "other" tidbits in the last post! How dare I?

This is about anime! Yay, new anime to talk about! Spring season in Japan means new shows to air. And apparently about 90% of them are utter crap (just like on our television!). One is a major stand out, though.

Leave it to Production I.G. to make the stand out show. It's called Eden of the East (Higashi no Eden for those who need to know the Japanese titles) and it's directed by the one and only Kamiyama Kenji (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex season 1&2, Guardian of the Sacred Spirit). It's brilliant. Kamiyama's previous works are incredible and well executed, but they always seemed to lack a certain heart. Not so with this one.

The premise owes a lot to The Bourne Identity in that the male lead (Takizawa Akira) has no memory of who he is nor why he is naked and holding a gun and cell phone (and turns out later to have a lot of guns and passports with different names). He then sees the female lead (Morimi Saki) being harassed by D.C. cops for trying to throw a quarter into the White House fountains from the gate (she views the White House as the center of the world). Akira stops the cops by being naked and waving a hand gun, and as thanks after ditching the cops Saki gives him her coat...with her passport and wallet inside. Saki chases Akira to his apartment (he found the location on his mysterious cell phone) where he finds the previously mentioned guns/passports. He goes to Japan with her. All the while there is a beautifully recreated Washington D.C. with English lines spoken in ACTUAL ENGLISH BY ENGLISH ACTORS. Take a moment to digest that.

It sounds goofy, but the chemistry created by the leads is undeniable, and while the plot is full of gloomy conspiracy (Japan was bombed last year (2010) with no deaths and is again at the end of the first episode (2011)) and dreaded secret plots, it's done so in a surprisingly light-hearted manner. Akira doesn't seem too concerned about his apparent self-brain washing or what he was beforehand. He and Saki seem to really like and get along with each other, and while all this crazy stuff is going on they're very down-to-earth about it. It's addictive, and strangely reminds me of Miyazaki, to be honest. Couple all this rambling with an intro song by Oasis and the ending theme to stop-motion paper explosions and cut-outs, and this series is full of awesomeness and lots of promise. I'll be tuning in every chance I get.

I also started watching a well-established show: Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei (So Long, Mr. Despair). It's like if Azumanga Daioh and Excel Saga had a baby together. There are so many cynical jokes on Japanese culture (and anime) and just a twisted sense of humor. It's great. This depressed, oft-suicidal teacher who dresses in kimono and hakama has a class full of insane kids. Their names all tell what their personalities are (or are jokes about them). One is hyper-cheerful, one has excessive OCD who has to have everything acceptable, one is mute and speaks in abusive text messages, one is obssessed with yaoi, one has a split personality, etc. The opening starts with the teacher trying to hang himself under a cherry tree and the hyper cheerful one (named after Franz Kafka, of all people) Kafuka saves him by almost killing him. She thought he was trying to make himself taller.

Seriously, check it out if you like Azumanga Daioh or Genshiken or anything about Japan and Japanese high school/culture. My favorite episodes so far has to be where the abusive text message girl is introduced, with the runner up being the cultural festival (minimum of culture acceptable!). It's hilarious and beautifully animated. Check it out.