Bear Necessities

I remember a few years back when Mawaru Penguindrum aired, I was constantly surprised at just how few people cared. Naturally I expected Ikuhara's next show, Yuri Kuma Arashi, to get a similar cold shoulder. So imagine my elation at finding its first episode one of the most talked-about new titles of this new season! And then my disappointment at finding it one of the director's weakest shows.

Ikuhara, of course, is most famous for directing Revolutionary Girl Utena, the shoujo masterpiece that never seemed to get the attention its peers at the time enjoyed. His other major directing credits include the aforementioned Penguindrum and some of Sailor Moon's middle seasons. Though few, his works leave an impression because of Ikuhara's penchant for surreal imagery. The surrealism is cranked up to eleven for his latest work, but a half dozen episodes in I'm watching more out of obligation than lasting enjoyment because he's neglected other crucial storytelling elements.

First, the setting. Although all the crucial elements are outlined up front, such as why bears are intelligent and the necessity of the Wall of Severance, there are still too many questions. What is the Wall, exactly? Why is everyone a girl? What is the Severance Court, the significance of one's Yuri being approved, and the meaning of the subtext-heavy “eating” that follows? Questions like these are par for the course when viewing any of this man's works, but I think this is the first time he doesn't give us a lifeline to grab. Penguindrum, for instance, doesn't throw the crazy imagery at us until episode 1's very end, instead taking pains to set up a world (seemingly) exactly like ours and the struggles of three siblings in it. We have solid ground beneath our feet to stand on, and have only to figure out what the deal is with this Penguindrum and possessed hat. Likewise, Utena gave us a simple yet likable heroine in a typical, if gaudy, school. Although an incredibly surreal show as a whole, we don't learn of the weird shit going on in the shadows until we're already invested in the characters' issues. Yuri Kuma Arashi just leaves us wondering how anything at all works.

Which brings us to the next major failing, the characters. I'll just say it: Claire is not interesting in the slightest. Though maybe she isn't the intended protagonist if the opening credits are to believed, Claire is certainly the focus thus far, and damn does she drag things down. Her only apparent motivation is to find true love, which even she knows is probably unattainable, but she never really tries to attain it. Claire is the definition of a reactive character, the opposite of the proactive go-getter Utena, and as such difficult to root for. She mopes and moans about being friendless and loveless yet always returns to her ridiculously nice and comfortable house. Her herd-like classmates meanwhile, despite their cruelty towards Claire, are unsuccessfully doing everything they can to avoid getting picked off like flies. Who exactly has the more pressing need here?

Third, and this is more minor a quibble, there are way too many flashbacks. Penguindrum had its fair share of these too, but I like to think they were fewer, focused on more important events, and didn't interrupt the narrative's flow. Here, when a character looks pensive or nostalgic, Ikuhara doesn't let the scene play out and leave their thoughts to our imaginations. We will see a flashback, even if it's one we've already seen multiple times, or of events that happened only an episode ago. Given how hard it is to figure out this world's rules, the irregular flow of time is not helping things.

With all that said, I'm still watching to the end. I'm prepared to endure any amount of moping until the final episode, when the director finally reveals his inevitably dark thoughts on love. This still feels different from anything else airing right now, and such anomalies should always be treasured. I'm not saying there's no chance to turn things around before the climax, and certainly not that anyone should stop watching. But if you're considering picking up this show to witness for the first time one of anime's most unique directors ever, you might want to look at his previous works first. Ikuhara's strengths are definitely more prominent elsewhere.

Any thoughts on this show or Ikuhara's stuff in general? I'd love to hear them, so go ahead and post them!

The Knight's Darkest Before the Dawn

February hit my area with a vengeance. Just snow every day, everywhere you look. Luckily I'd heard the forecast, and set aside a series to watch just in case I got frozen in my home for days on end. It's been on the edge of my radar for awhile now, and the recent favorable write-up in Otaku USA pushed me to finally give it a shot. The series' name is Knights of Sidonia, and you should all watch it. Like right now.

Though it aired way back in early 2014, I never gave it much thought because of the plot description: all humanity lives on a single spaceship, is being attacked by mysterious monsters, and one boy must pilot a robot to save everyone. Pass! It wasn't until much later that I learned the original manga author was Tsutomu Nihei. Then I started paying more attention.

I'd read his cyberpunk classic Blame! some time before, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Though the plot's incoherence and characters' relative lack of emotion still turns me off a little, these flaws contributed to the incredibly rich, bleak atmosphere. Forget those weaksauce “sci-fi” shows that thrown in a few laser guns and lightsabers, then called it a day; Nihei takes scientific concepts to their logical extremes, and isn't afraid to put his audience in a totally alien setting (read: no high schools). I watched hoping for something like this once again, and I wasn't disappointed.

We get to see a population that's evolved beyond needing three meals a day, even beyond having just two main genders. We get to see a city-ship that actually has to take propulsion into account, that literally cannot pick up fighters left behind in space because it's too big to do a 180. We get to see what happens to that ship's civilians when it's forced to make a hard turn. And we aren't even subjected to droning technobabble explaining what is going on every single second; a few sentences at most gives us a general idea, then the scene plays out naturally to show us the consequences. What a concept!

Given the extraordinary attention to setting, one would expect the characters and their emotions to be sacrificed. That isn't the case here, although they certainly aren't the series' selling point. The characters resemble the comfortable stereotypes we've seen before, especially in mecha anime: the aloof rival, the shy love interest(s), the mysterious commander, etc. The protagonist is a likable enough fish out of water, desperately trying to understand and protect this strange world, and a few others reveal interesting depths as well. The high-strung drama of combat is handled much better than the occasionally forced romantic ones, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't some touching parts in there.

Animation is what you'd expect for a mostly CG show. That is, mecha action and environment are both excellent in a way traditional methods would struggle to imitate these days, at least on a TV budget. Facial expressions suffer greatly as a result, though, especially when anyone has to cry or blush. This will probably be a turn-off for some, but it didn't bother me much, in the end. Nihei's characters have never been particularly emotive from what I've seen, so this is both a step up from Blame! and an accurate depiction of his style, to my eyes.

I really, really wish I had checked this out sooner, because it feels different from almost everything else out there. These twelve episodes are well worth your time, especially since there's a new season coming soon. Watch it now and let me know what you think! Already seen it? Tell me about your experience in the comments!

I See Dem Rollin', I Hatin'

One of the shows I'm currently watching is The Rolling Girls, the new production from Wit Studio by director Kotomi Deai (season 2 of Silver Spoon). Though the episodes themselves are far from painful to watch, the series as a whole leaves something to be desired even after three episodes. And after weeks of thinking way too much about a cartoon (as usual), I think I've pinpointed what it is.

If you read the Anime News Network season previews, you'll remember this show being compared to FLCL, Kill la Kill, and (most appropriately, I think) Kyousogiga. That's why I decided to watch Rolling Girls, even though the reviewers cautioned it was trying too hard to imitate these shows. I optimistically dismissed these criticisms, because fantasy action is still fantasy action, right? Who cares what influenced what how much as long as we get to see some crazy animation? And for the record, the action scenes are quite fun to watch with vibrant colors and an energy that grabs you right off the bat. But I couldn't help thinking of its previously-mentioned brethren, and how hollow this was starting to feel in comparison.

Was it the world-building? Kill la Kill was beyond skilled in how it gave you everything you needed to know in the first five minutes: a fascist school rules over its students with an iron fist and super-powered uniforms, and a transfer student is going to rock the system, presumably in the most over-the-top way possible. Rolling Girls by comparison is much less concerned with why the crazy fights are exploding onscreen, and at first I felt an ill-defined world was hampering my enjoyment. But really, once we figure out the action stems from a gang war between different regions under different superheroes (Bests), this explanation alone doesn't hold up; “fantasy world gang war” is all the setting you need. Kyousogiga's magical wonderland where anything could happen was a much vaguer setup by comparison, and don't get me started on Yuri Kuma Arashi's vagueness. Never change, Ikuhara.

Did the characters just suck? Closer, but not quite. Of the many introduced thus far, few are outright irritating (by my standards). I'm actually rooting for some of the Rest to take down the Best, who are mostly assholes that don't deserve their powers. It does carry the distinct stench of being gimmicky, which is a word I hate to use. Every animated character had their designers thinking, “how can I make this creation appeal to the widest audience possible?”, after all. But seriously, count the cast members who aren't cute girls. Riding on that train of thought, I smacked right into the answer, the big problem plaguing countless “cute girl” anime: there are no stakes here.

The violence has no consequences. When Best clash, not only do they suffer no fatalities, but neither do innocent bystanders. Though one Rest shrieks, “I'd die if I fought a Best!”, they are regularly blown hundreds of feet into the air by shockwaves. A group of Rest is used as hostages on a roller coaster of death, and though all are eventually flung violently from it long before the threatened crash, they all survive. “Oh, we've gotten really good at falling from great heights!” Even if one Best theoretically defeats another and takes their territory, trading your current asshole leader for a different one isn't the most dire consequence ever.

Those who watched Kyousogiga are no doubt rushing to correct me by now. “But people in Kyousogiga literally couldn't die! And all collateral damage repaired itself by magic! How can you harp on one show when this other had the same problems?” Because Rolling Girls also has virtually no emotional stakes.

Though the world of Kyousogiga was notoriously consequence-free, its three rulers radiated a sense of loss, of longing in their appearances. Separated from their parents before truly ready for it, they're clearly come across as unsupervised children locked in the world's best toy store for eternity; inwardly unhappy and unable to resolve their own issues alone. The four “rolling girls”? The main character goes on her quest to help a childhood friend, which is frankly a cheap and overused motivation in my book. One girl wants to gather these mysterious stones because they “look pretty”. Nice. The other two are along for the ride.

In the words of Boromir, “If we fail, what then?” Well, Best will continue to be assholes, which they have every indication of being if the girls succeed. The gas mask girl's implied issues with her mother will go tearfully unresolved unless, you know, they decide to talk their problems out. Some shady guy appears to also be collecting those magic stones, but we know nothing about him; he'll probably end up being the last boss no matter what anyone does. Oh, wait, the girls will all have to return to their comfortable daily lives if they fail to gather all those weird stones! Now that's scary!

I wanted to like this show, partially because I've liked nothing made by Wit Studio that isn't Attack on Titan, but this just isn't doing it for me. I'll keep watching since this show may yet pleasantly surprise me, but that won't likely happen unless events get significantly weightier, which doesn't appear to be on Rolling Girls's agenda. Though a disappointment, we've all seen bigger ones.

What are your thoughts on The Rolling Girls? I'd love to hear your opinions, especially if you disagreed with me. Do you see other major flaws I didn't mention? Post 'em!