Netflix’s “Bleach” 2018 (Review)

I would never call myself a fan of Bleach, a shounen anime from the early 2000s period. In fact, I’m pretty sure that, in another post, I accused it of stagnating with too many characters and subplots. But I do recall enjoying what little of it I had seen when I was much younger and thus found myself intrigued when I stumbled upon its live-action adaptation on Netflix. I later found out that many consider it to be a success in terms of adaptation. This makes my negative impressions of the film all the more worrisome.

Not the first time I’ve disagreed with the masses, likely not the last. I’m open to discussions in the comments.

For all the praise that Bleach has been getting from both fans and critics, I find myself unable to invest in it. As much as I enjoyed all the flashy action scenes and great acting, I couldn’t help but feel like the film was forced to hold back, hurting itself all the more.

And now, Spoilers Ahead.

Our story opens with a scene that will make most fans of the original blanch: Young Ichigo Kurosaki is out for a walk with his mom, Masaki (Masami Nagasawa), in the rain. After a cute scene that establishes Ichigo’s protective instincts (thud, plot-point landing) he sees a little girl with no umbrella and rushes to lend her his since this was when he was still nice. Cue the creepy music and camera angles, and we cut to Ichigo’s mother on top of him, with both looking very beat up. As she dies, I and many fans of the series are likely wondering why they picked this middle-season scene to start this shebang.

One weird credit sequence later (in the shape of a sword, nice touch), we learn that mysterious sinkholes have been popping up and causing some trouble. Then, we’re dropped in Karakura Town, where we are shown and told about teenage Ichigo (Sôta Fukushi) and his special ability to see ghosts. After beating up a gang of thugs who’ve knocked over a memorial, Ichigo scurries home to the rest of his family: his father, Isshin (Yôsuke Eguchi), and sisters Karin and Yuzu. We some familiar home dynamics from the anime/manga, mainly Isshin beating up his son for being late to dinner and the sisters’ deadpan disrespect at his lack of parental prowess.

Eventually, Ichigo decides to skip dinner and head to his bedroom. Here, a woman in black and white robes… appears, out of thin air, and shuffles past him to remark that a “Fishbone” is on its way. The woman, Rukia Kuchiki (Hana Sugisaki), shows surprise that Ichigo can see her and clarifies that she’s no ghost, but a “Soul Reaper.” They’re basically protectors of innocent spirits and hunters of evil monsters, called Hollows, and one just so happens to be on its way. And, sure enough, the monster crashes into Ichigo’s house and kidnaps Yuzu. Big Brother Ichigo and Rukia try their best to fight the beast – in a surprisingly well-done action scene no less – but it’s clear that neither of them can take him. Rukia has one option: transfer her power to Ichigo and turn him into a Soul Reaper.

They win the fight, but Rukia can’t get her powers back through some rather stupid reasons. The only option, according to her, is to train Ichigo to fight more Hollows so that he can have the energy to transfer back the powers and not die. Ichigo naturally refuses, because he’s an angry teenager, but their time is quickly running out. Fellow Soul Reapers Renji Abarai (Taichi Saotome) and Captain Byakuya Kuchiki (Miyavi), are on the way to kill Ichigo and possibly Rukia. Because it’s apparently illegal for a Reaper to give their powers to a human, which I’m sure was explained in the anime but not here.

I got pretty much what I expected from watching this movie: a rushed exposition of characters, nit-picky story changes, and a big desire to hit plot points. But the characters themselves did display some familiar traits from the show, so it certainly had more insight into the story than the last two attempts at adaptation did. But I was really surprised to find that the action in the story was well choreographed, and the passable CGI gave us some great designs for the Hollows. In fact, barring some weird transitional choices between scenes, the movie passes as a generic action film, right down to a training montage at the end.

But Bleach was never a generic action series and that is where the movie has a big problem. When compared to its original source material, I find the film to be far too calm and reserved. The humor is there, but barely slapstick; the characters have hints of their source material, but can’t quite go beyond that; the plot points resemble the important moments of the show, but don’t really hit home. Bleach’s over-the-top vibe is woefully restrained by the natural limitations of a live-action film and I feel it made the story limp by comparison.

In the end, I believe Netflix’s Bleach can only hope to be divisive. Viewers looking for a mindless action film may take to it, and people who don’t mind the changes could very easily get swept up into the flow of the cool fights, the good acting, and decent pacing. But I just couldn’t push past the half-energy feel of the film, and I imagine others won’t either.

Your thoughts on the movie? Feel free to share below, discussion is encouraged. And don’t forget to like and follow for more content.

Shingeki No Kyojin/Attack On Titan Season Three Episode One: Smoke Signal (Review)

It’s no secret that Shingeki no Kyojin, or Attack on Titan, was one of the more anticipated shows to return this year. The last season ended on a massive bombshell that fans (who haven’t read the manga) are still trying to piece together, and memories of season two’s delayment hell left lots of people nervous. But, thankfully, season three kicked off right on time and most of us didn’t know what to expect. I can tell you this: none of us predicted we’d get an opening so out of place it’s jarring.

“Red Swan” by Yoshiki feat. HYDE

Maybe its just a taste issue, but this series should stick to heart-pumping battle metal instead of this softcore-shounen stuff. Pushing all that aside, I can safely say that I left this episode feeling satisfied and curious, which is all one could ask for. While it’s too early to make a solid prediction, AOT’s season premiere suggests that conspiracy and betrayal will take center stage, alongside some old enemies.

As a warning, this review will be very spoilery of the new episode. SPOILERS AHEAD.

 

Our new story begins with our favorite surviving cadets joining Levi’s special scouting squad (since the last ones got turned into Titan chow). The return of the friendly banter and bickering between Sasha, Connie, Jean, and Eren is a welcome relief and a great way to pull the audience back in. Titan-Eren also makes a return appearance but seems to be suffering from performance issues. His titan form now resembles a failed human transmutation, unable to break ten meters in height or stand up under its own weight. In short, Eren is very likely to be MIA this season, or at least out of the spotlight.

Meanwhile, the next goal for the Levi-squad is to protect Christa, recently outed as Historia Reiss. As the illegitimate daughter of an inner-wall noble, they’re hoping she can provide some more information on the walls, Titans, and other big reveals of the previous season. They’ll have to rely solely on her since Pastor Nick is very dead. His death seems inconsequential until you realize that the First Internal Squad of the Military Police came down to Trost to “investigate,” with dried blood on their knuckles. It isn’t long before the scouts find themselves marked for arrest, especially when the much anticipated “Kenny the Ripper” makes his appearance.

Cue obligatory shout of “KEEEEENNY!”

 

It’s obvious right out the gate that the threat has shifted. The last two episodes tangled with the absolute horror of massive beasts devouring the human race, while the dangers this round are all coming from inside the walls. The conspiracy hinted at in season two is in its “cover-up” phase and it doesn’t take long for things to get very real: people are dead; others are arrested, and Eren and Historia are in deep trouble. To complement this change in narrative direction, we have a plethora of technical and quality changes. The action animation looks fantastic in this episode, with the action scenes running smoother and fewer animation shortcuts than last time. I can see that the show’s got itself a budget bonus; it’s exciting to see where that will go.

Speaking of, the premiere is supposed to set the stage for the flavor and direction of the season. And, while I still hold that is far too early to make a definitive call, I definitely have an inkling of what the spotlight will be focusing on this round. I predict that this season will be laced with more drama than horror, dragging Levi’s past out into the open and forcing Eren to really push himself. It’d be too damn easy for Eren to just use his coordinate powers and end humanity’s suffering after all, and I’m pretty damn sure Isayama’s gonna make the boy fight tooth and nail for his happy ending. Either way, we’ll have a body count (not a limb count) by the time this section of the stories finishes.

Attack On Titan OVA: No Regrets Part 1 & 2 (Review)

I’ve always believed that anime fans suffer from some serious separation anxiety. The times between seasons of mainstream shows can range from cantankerous to downright sadistic, depending on how fast the manga or source material is coming up. Such has been the case with the ever-popular, always horrific, hit horror/action series, Attack on Titan. Before Season two hit the ground, it was running for its life from delay-hell. Thankfully, season three managed to avoid such a fate and should be airing its first episode in Japan sometime tomorrow.

Fans are of the general opinion that the second season was amazing, albeit too short. So, it’s a relief that season three is not too far on the horizon and it looks to be heading in a new direction. This time, hero du jour Eren will be taking a supporting role, while everyone’s favorite deadly buzzsaw, Levi, will be taking center stage – alongside a new villain that manga fans should recognize. It’s quite the bait and the reason why a good buddy recommended I track down No Regrets, an Attack on Titan OVA that gave Levi’s full backstory.

Given my own infatuation with Levi, I jumped on that.

 

The OVA came out between season one and two to tide fans over between seasons.  And, while it didn’t satiate a very hungry fanbase, it did provide a window into a very tight-lipped character. Levi finds himself humanized through a rare moment of vulnerability, inside a narrative moving so fast that you could blink and miss it.

Our story takes us to an odd place in this series: underground. It appears there’s a section of the population that’s been pushed to live inside a series of caves beneath the walled cities, and it’s as dingy and poor-ridden as one would expect. Because the lack of light makes everyone’s legs eventually go bad, people are forced to bribe their way up to the surface, where they are likely to be denied citizenship and sent back down. So, if you didn’t think the government of AOT was a pile of trash before, you certainly will after this and season two.

 Enter Levi and his two pals Isabel and Farlan. They survive by stealing from merchants and found success after stealing some ODM gear from the military police. Their reputation for mastering the gear, sans training, reaches the ears of a high-up noble who informs them that the Survey Corps is coming to find and recruit them, like it or not. But, should they decide to take their offer to join, he has a risky job for them. If they succeed, they’re guaranteed citizenship above ground.

Let me be the first to say that this OVA was a perfect likeness to its subject: Short and blunt. Each episode is only about thirty minutes long, so the story has to run at a dizzying pace to fit in all the important plot points. Most often, you’ll find the next plot point hurtling in while the last one is just finishing up, meaning there wasn’t any room for extra lore and there was barely enough room to give Levi some humanization. And that didn’t come until the tail end of the last episode.

When you see blood, there is drama in full swing

In fact, Levi remained pretty much the exact same as we’ve known him since the beginning of the episode. He’s still a brash neat-freak with a real gift for violence, but at least now that personality makes some sense. Furthermore, the show managed to distract from the break-neck plot through some fantastic visuals and a cute moment between Levi and his friends. It gave us a side of the scout leader fans hadn’t seen before but didn’t really give us any sense of massive character development.

It did prove he can smile if he wanted to.

Were I to sum up my thoughts on the episode, they’d be rather simple. Both episodes are fun to watch and reveal the heavy past Levi is carrying with him. But, if you were never a fan of Levi’s antics, or if you wanted this long, drawn-out expose on his life, you’ll be disappointed. I rather enjoyed what I saw of the episodes, especially the rather twisted ending, and I think your average fan will too. At the very least, it leaves a lot of room for season three to wiggle with if they’re aiming to crack Levi wide open.

 

What were your thoughts on the OVA? Feel free to leave your comments below. And don’t forget to like and follow for more content!

 

 

Batman Ninja (Review)

Oh, I’ve been waiting for this one. And I am quite pleased.

As I’ve mentioned previous times, it is rare for my “geeky comic book fan” side to enjoy something from the anime community. Those few and far-moments are precious and awesome, which was why I waited with bated breath for today’s specimen: an anime about one of my favorite heroes.

The hype is REAAAAAAL!

I’m of course talking about the movie I was so excited for last year, Batman Ninja. The film had a major pedigree attached to it with names from Afro Samurai, Gurren Lagann, and even JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure attached to it. So, the hype was very real, but it may have also been its undoing. Because, while the movie is an amazing marriage of western stereotypes and anime tropes, it didn’t have a lot of time to show off. But oh, what little time it had was filled to the brim.

The story itself is ridiculous and utterly fun. In true comic book fashion, we begin with Batman swooping in to stop Gorilla Grodd’s new time machine and accidentally activating it. Everyone in the area finds themselves thrown into ancient feudal Japan, with Batman arriving two years later. Five of the Rogues’ Gallery have become lords of Japan, each one ready to conquer and unite the country under their banner. But, when it seems like Bats has no means of stopping them, in swoops a bat-suited clan of ninjas, ready to fight alongside him and his ninja-trained sidekicks. Giant robots, samurai sword-fights, and sumo-Banes ensue.

I saw this and laughed so hard. It’s amazing.

If that sounds crazy to you, well, you’re not wrong. Screenplay writers Kakuzi Nakashima, Leo Chu, and Eria S. Garcia took a whole bucket of anime tropes and threw into the stew: transforming battle robot-fortresses that have their own special names, Batman admitting that he cannot win with his futuristic toys and be accepting the power of friendship, and, best of all, Our Animal Friends™ joining together to aid their human allies and becoming a near invincible army. Mixed in with all this anime gobbledygook is a handful of well-known comic book absurdities as well, with costume quick changes, villain/hero team-ups, betrayal on both sides, and so much more. It’s a near-perfect marriage between what fans love about both mediums; I literally couldn’t stop smiling.

However, while enjoying all the nonsensical fun, I did have one niggling feeling in the back of my mind. As all the colorful, glorious chaos sped by me, I paused and realized that the “speed” was indeed the problem. This movie takes no real time to flesh things out or let any moment have a significant impact. From pressing play to credits, we are hit with near nonstop information and action that will leave you mentally tired. The movie had a bunch of ideas and no real time to fit them all, but dammit it tried. As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have been, had it been an episodic series instead of a feature film.

I couldn’t chase that thought out of my head for the whole movie. However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t buried under my love for the movie’s art style. Character designs were headed by the creator of Afro Samurai, Takashi Okazaki, who took great pains to make sure the iconic characters retained their regular style while still adapting to their new surroundings. Meanwhile, animation studio Kamikaze Douga provided the 2D, cel-shaded animations that moved fluidly from scene to scene and gave the whole piece a very distinct look.

Overall, I believe Batman Ninja did what it set out to do; it presented Batman in a new, creative way to reflect how Japan sees heroes. It’s fun, fast-paced action with the absolute insanity that makes anime one of my favorite genres to watch. And while I wish this story had been a full series instead, just to see it fleshed out better, I still like the final product. And, while the English dub was on the messy side, I think everyone could enjoy this film.

Otome Review: Stardew Valley

Been awhile since I did one of these. That’s been mostly due to a lack of material from the recently passed NANOREN, where a good deal of the entries had to be either a demo or unfinished. So we’ll do what must be done and play the only one that caught my eye but, for now, let’s talk about one of the most successful indie games on the market: Stardew Valley.

Naturally I preface this with the fact that this game is, of course not specifically aimed at girls and has far more to it than the relationship elements. But, since it’s listed on several Otome websites, and it plays to wish-fulfillment like nobody’s business, we’re gonna discuss it. This game is Harvest Moon on steroids, guaranteed to make you waste your life away in the best way. It’s almost impossible to believe this game was programmed and illustrated by one guy.

This is Stardew Valley, the runaway success that will take you in, cuddle you, and refuse to let you leave.

 

• Plot

 

Much like the original Harvest Moon, our plot centers around the start of a new life. And, of course, it begins with the ending of another life. Spoiler Alert: Grandpa’s dead. Before he passes, he gives you an envelope to be opened when you feel your spirit crushed by the burden of modern life.

Such a “happy” start…

An lo, you find yourself miserable while working your job at the soulless JoJa Corp, our resident Evil Corp with Traces of We Will Assimilate You. Fed up, you open the envelope to discover the deed to your Grandpa’s farm in Stardew Valley, next to Pelican Town. Pack’em up and head out kiddies;, it’s time to get back to nature! I mean yeah, your farm is a debris-covered swatch but it’s your debris-covered swatch, so get your tools and get going.

 

• Gameplay

 

Oh, sweet butterball turkey, where do I start?

If you don’t think that upon stepping out of your tiny house, then you’ve probably played this game before several times. Because you are quite literally given the keys to your own place, a handful of means to get there, and only a few directions of what to do first. It’s your farm, kiddies, and you have a crap-ton of options to get it going. Your first project: make a character you can stand to look at for several hours, because there are no redos unless you wanna befriend the town wizard and shell out some cash.

Yes, there is a wizard. You’ll see.

Once you solve that conundrum, you’re given a bag of 15 parsnip seeds and released into the open world. Minecrafters of the world will delight when they realize they now have a debris-covered slate to build off of. You can hoe the ground to plant and grow seeds; you can chop down trees and smash rocks to get wood and stone for building; you can use said resources to make kegs, preserve jars and other farm sundry; you can take what you have to the local carpenter to build coops and barns. If farming’s not your business, you can forage for food and resources to do all of the above. A few days later, you’ll also find you can fish or go mining in caves, slaying monsters.

But this game is a spiritual successor to Harvest Moon so, naturally, there’s a social element to complete the Farm Life Simulator™. The game sets a mission for you to introduce yourself to most of the townsfolk, bachelors, bachelorettes, and most of your vendors. You quickly learn that the social element is extremely important to this game as each character has a carefully crafted personality, well-drawn sprites, and even their own storylines you can follow by befriending them. Just like other games of this caliber, you will befriend them by giving them gifts they like (feel free to use the wiki) and occasionally participate in personal quests. And, as always, there’s at least five bachelors and five bachelorettes you can marry with enough gifts and the right trigger items, and each one has a unique personality and set of Heart Event cutscenes. Granted, they all do the same thing once you marry them, but I appreciate the effort they do get.

I picked Elliot, because I, too, am a mushy romantic.

But hold your horses, cowboy. You see, just like Harvest Moon games past, you have a mission here. You see, JoJa has a big supermarket set up in town and they’re interested in the dilapidated community center, which has some seriously supernatural guests inside. These creatures of the forest, called Junimos, are willing to leave provided you can give them some gifts from the land in little care packages. Thus, you’ll collect the items they request and they’ll fix up the place. You can get all the rooms fixed up… or you can side with JoJa and have the place sold.

 

• Art

 

Because this game was a spiritual successor to Natsume’s original game in the Harvest Moon series, it has an extreme super nintendo look. Everything is displayed in bright, paint-like colors with pixelated in-game sprites and very detailed portraits for all dialogue. Said pixel-sprites are also animated for certain things, be it reading a book or playing the flute, adding yet another layer of uniqueness to each character. In short, this game is super easy on the eyes as you roam around and get to know your community.

 

 

• Romance Options

 

And, in true fashion to this game’s progenitor, some of those people you meet can become your sweetheart-to-be. As mentioned, there are ten partners you can meet and fall in love with, no matter your gender, and each one has their own unique storyline. They act about the same once you marry them but, for once, they also make themselves useful. Your partner will occasionally water crops, feed animals, fix fences, and even make coffee. It’s a nice touch and I think it makes starting a family in-game totally worth it.

Since there are quite a few here that I don’t wanna spoil, we’ll just give a brief summary and let you make your pick.

 

Elliot

Elliot came to Stardew Valley about a year before you, deciding to commit hard to being a writer. He looks like he stepped out of a romance novel and almost behaves as such, making lots of poetic statements about life, the valley, and, yes, you. He’s a gentlemen first and foremost, but just struggling with the burden of living in a small shack, all alone, pouring over his new novel. He just wanted someone to talk to, providing an awesome but schmaltzy experience for his pursuers.

Sam

 If one can ignore Sam’s ridiculous hairstyle, one will find a reasonable, easy-going, guy who’s had to grow up real fast. With his dad off in the war (because there is one, not that it’s talked about much,) Sam has risen to the occasion to help his mom with the house and his little brother, Vincent. But Sam does have the ambition to start a band with his best buddy, Sebastian, and an unfortunate penchant to start projects without finishing them. In short, he’s the kind of guy most people would seek out in real life but doesn’t have much to offer here.

 

Sebastian

Meanwhile, you might miss the valley’s other resident hermit, the emo-tastic Sebastian. He’s got an unfortunate tendency to hide away in his room for very long stretches, typing away on the computer and only ever coming out for food, rain, or nighttime air.  But there are some legitimate reasons for Sebastian’s self-imposed isolation and you’ll quickly find there’s a cute nerd hiding in that black sweater. Sebastian will not be for everybody, but I feel he’s worth the work.

 

Shane

Meanwhile, you will get a very rude reception from the overworked Shane, Marnie’s niece. He helps out with the chicken farm, so she can’t complain, but he’s starting to show some very worrying signs. From alcohol dependence to psychological depression, Shane is a project that will require lots of patience to slowly warm him up; it’s a real turn-around story and it has a lot of potential, albeit a lot of predictability.

 

Alex

Alex is the jock and was a quick lesson for me not to judge people too much on first impressions. He’s arrogant and brash on first meeting, mostly to hide a lot of deep wounds on the inside. His story is about what you’d expect: encourage him to pursue his dreams in being a professional ball-player, teach him not to be so arrogant and ultimately help him move on from the tragedy in life. It’s just a shame that there’s no real class or style to Alex, at least not to me, so I don’t see myself adding him to my usual playthroughs.

Harvey

 Last, but certainly not least, is the resident “sensitive man” in town, and the doctor to boot. He’s the older bachelor, and respected in the Stardew Valley community, but there’s, yet again, a hidden sadness in him that only love can heal. It’s mushy, true, but there’s a real sincerity here to his path that fans of the series find super endearing. He’s kind, compassionate, and a real sweetheart; that’s more than enough for several of the fans.

 

Abigail

All those nerdy, adventuring types have quite the treat available to them. Abby has always been estranged from her more traditional family. She dyed her hair; she practices swordplay; she loves to make snoo-goons and chase frogs; and she’s an absolute gamer girl. You’ll have to be patient and open-minded if you wanna impress her, but it will be very much worth the wait. She’s the kind of girl I’d rush to make a close friend of in real life.

 

Emily

 Meanwhile, we have a slightly newer add to the marriage list. Emily, who works at Gus’s Saloon and makes her own clothes in her spare time, is the older sister of another bachelorette. She’s this town’s resident bohemian type, talking of good vibes, energy, and eating naturally. But you quickly learn she’s ACTUALLY in tune with the spiritual aspect of her universe, making her far more interesting. And, while she’s a bit oblivious – with optimism that will get grating on overuse – I believe she’s a pretty solid candidate.

Haley

 Meanwhile, her sister does not inspire too many positive feelings in me. I see what she was supposed to be: the conceited, formerly rich, girl who needs to shed her superficiality to become a fun-loving, free-spirited, woman. The problem comes in that her story doesn’t really show that transition as well as it should have. There are not a lot of lessons learned with her, nor do you do much, if anything, to ingratiate yourself to her beyond opening a jar for her. I feel like Haley’s story is in need of some fluffing because, let’s face it, it feels rushed.

Maru

In the less appearance-based sector, we have Sebastian’s half-sister, Maru, born from Robin’s second marriage. She wishes the two of them were close, but has a happy enough existence making cool gadgets and helping Harvey at the clinic. She’s bright, optimistic, smart and ambitious; maybe she’s a perfect match for a new farmer in town looking for a little love? It’s one of those “earn the attention of the smart-person” scenarios, which I have gone for before, so props there. Would have loved to see some resolution between her and Sebastian, but the end result is still nice.

 

Penny

 Meet Cinderella, er, sorta. Penny lives in a tiny trailer with her mother, Pam. Pam is a drinker prone to being cantankerous due to the loss of her job as a bus driver, so she spends her days at the saloon while Penny stays home and does lots of chores. But she also takes time to educate Jas and Vincent, the local kiddies, and has dreams of starting her own big family. She’s our “dream of a housewife” candidate (which is a perfectly fine life-goal) and just as sweet as can be, so I encourage new players to give her a try.

Leah

 But far from least is Leah, the artist who’s also living as a hermit in the middle of nature. She left the city to become an artist, a sculptor, and she needs someone to give her a little extra boost of confidence. It’s up to the player to encourage her to sell her art in one way or another and maybe win her heart in the process. And, if that isn’t romantic enough for you, you may very well have to deal with the dreaded ex-partner. Leah’s story feels more complete and quite sweet, compared to a few others.

• Final Thoughts

 

If I have not made it clear how much I love this game, let me make it clear now: I have never played any game in my library as long as I have played Stardew Valley. This game is beautiful, engrossing, and just plain fun for someone like me, and I adore just about every inch of it. If you want an experience you can disappear in, building a farming enterprise from scratch while exploring a very complex group of people, then do yourself a favor and buy this game.

The Ancient Magus Bride (Season 2 Review)

One of the most difficult parts of writing fantasy is trying to immerse your audience in your fantastical world while keeping your unruly plot herding in the right direction. It’s an extension of that delicate balance between showing and telling all writers struggle with, magnified by the fact that fantasy writers have to work from a nearly blank slate.  So, I find myself impressed that Mahō Tsukai no Yome has continued to walk this thin line like a champ for two seasons. It makes Inuyasha look slow in comparison.

And before the fans come at me, be aware that I used to adore this show too.  But a few years will do some wonders…

We’ve come upon the one year mark for Kore Yamazaki’s Shounen love story and yet we’ve still only seen a small fraction of the world she’s created. Each episode has made her world bigger and bigger, with the imagery getting darker and the story getting robust. Season two of The Ancient Magus Bride is about exploring magic’s darker half, the consequences that come with the practice, and allowing the characters to stretch out and show some much-needed humanity.

Btw, here’s your spoiler warning. There will be some. Get out, if you don’t want it.

After finishing her wand and returning to Elias in the most DRAMATIC fashion, Chise decides that she wants to better understand her master; he, in turn, hopes she can teach him more about human emotion. He hints that maybe he’s more human than even he knows and needs someone to help him understand what he’s feeling at a given time. It sets the groundwork for the reciprocity a relationship needs and I absolutely adored it.

 In fact, this entire season had a huge focus on better understanding our actors, be it the sorcerer duo from before or our main villain. Chise and Elias are fleshed out especially well, with Elias’s more selfish emotions allowed to run wild and Chise’s traumatizing past pried out of her skull. I love me some deep-dives into a character’s psyche so I was especially happy.

But this season isn’t just about character development. Because, as these two go forward into the world, hand in hand, Yamazaki expands the magic it towards interesting and horrifying conclusions. She introduces the audience to even more types of magical users – mainly fairies and witch covens – and presents differences between them that are so minute they might as well bleed into each other. But with more magic comes more situations that can go horribly wrong, and wrong they go. We see family members vanishing from existence, friends put on the chopping block in the name of love, and the worrying introduction of “curses.” It all comes to a head when the darkest of all the characters, Joseph, returns to enact what is his most messed up scheme to date in one hell of a finale, in which I may have squealed like a little girl.

It made the tiny person in me squeal.

As always, the artwork in this show continues to be such a treat. Despite the dark subject matter, we did not empty out the slots on the grayscale palette. Each scene still pops with color and our fantastical designs remain cute and non-intrusive. I also appreciate the show’s efforts to stray away from gore-porn or anything visceral, as it had plenty of opportunities to show horror-show levels of blood this time around. It’s still classy and cute without being obnoxious, just like the story itself.

However, in every pot of gold, we will find a small nugget of pyrite. There were occasions in the anime where the decisions characters made either came out of the blue or just didn’t make sense to me at the time. It’s likely explained in the manga and the anime just didn’t have the time to further flesh it out, but that doesn’t help fresh watchers like myself. Speaking of, the anime has now brushed past the manga in terms of content. This, above all else, is the danger zone for adaptation shows because this is where their story will either become a separate entity altogether (FMA) or mindless filler that no one wants to watch (Naruto.)

But there’s no point in worrying about the umbrella when it hasn’t rained. In the meantime, season two of Mahō Tsukai no Yome successfully focused on characters and catastrophe, providing a harder emotional experience than the season prior. It’s a brash and fast-paced season, much like its protagonist, and we can only hope the writers can keep the momentum going.

 

Mini-Reviews: The Junji Ito Collection, Episodes 10, 11, and 12

It’s not a good sign when a show’s final round leaves me underwhelmed.

I was an excited fangirl when I started the Junji Ito Collection, and I end as an utterly frustrated fan.  The show gave me the incentive to discover his original work, but such gateways are often a double-edged sword. And as these last three episodes pan out, I’m left asking myself a question: Can a show that can’t properly edit and animate its own content serve as a proper gateway to a style/story/writer?

My answer is yes but only just.

They went down with this ship, by golly.

In the end, the final three episodes of the Junji Ito Collection leave us the same way we entered in: a flip-flop between salvageable and “meh.”

• Episode 10: Greased/Bridge

Gonna level with everyone here, Greased Oil is the only story of Junji Ito so far that I can’t stand. I’m a wimp when it comes to gross out and body-fluids, so a story concerning both is going to leave me disgusted instead of scared. But I cannot deny that the story does what it set out to do: convey a deep feeling of nastiness and disgust; t’s just a shame I can’t say the same of Studio Dean’s crack at animating it.

The story of Greased concerns a girl, Yui, whose father owns a barbecue. Their house above the place is constantly covered in thick layers of fat and oil from the fumes below. As if that wasn’t gross enough, her abusive brother, Goro, has a weird tendency to drink cooking oil as if it’s hot chocolate. When he hits puberty and starts to get harassed for his acne and greasy clothes, things quickly spill out of hand and become nastier and nastier. If you have a weak stomach, this story is not for you.

The story was inspired by Ito’s stay at a Buddhist temple, where the bedrolls hadn’t been cleaned in years. His words in his newest book were that the futons were “stained brown from the sweat of Buddhist students and had hard wrinkles in places.” He wanted to convey the unpleasantness of something so sticky, and by God, you will feel like you should take a deep shower when you’re done. BUT, if you came in here expecting a SAW II type experience, then you’re going to be disappointed. When the animation wasn’t cheating by using tons of still images it was using flash-animations that would make fanimes look decent. 

Meanwhile, The Bridge provides cool relief in the form of river-water and eerie atmosphere. Kana, on the way to visit her lonely grandma, discovers a ghost on the rickety bridge near grandma’s house. The old man sports a face only a mama could love, causing Kana to bolt into Grandma’s house.  Grandma Osode informs Kana that the ghost, and several other ghosts, have been appearing every night on that bridge. They are the ghosts of those in the village who passed and participated in their tradition of sending bodies down the river. These ghosts were unlucky to hit a rock and fall into the water, where they sank to the bottom. Osode is sure she’s due to die soon and she’s frightened that these ghosts are gonna drag her down to the water.

I adored the soundscape in this story so much. The voices calling out to Osode gave me chills, as did the images of the bodies sinking in the river. The actual story isn’t prone to jump scares or stuff to make you scream but it is super unsettling. It’s a nice palate cleanser after the heavy story prior.

• Episode 11: Supernatural Transfer Student/Scarecrow

The follow-up episode couldn’t keep that momentum going. We went from lack-luster animation to lack-luster pacing.

Supernatural Transfer Student concerns a high school Supernatural Club who just welcomed its newest member: Tsukano Ryou. He adores strange and exciting things and has an odd habit of finding such wonders by taking simple walks. But when his antics get one of their group killed, and when parts of the town start vanishing, the group’s remaining sane members know they need to start getting answers.

The writers this time tried to streamline things by shearing off small scenes between the students. It didn’t suffer as much as our next entry, but the breakneck pace did take away some of the bite in this tale, sans one scene. This concept was already a member of the “interesting but not scary” club and the story speed did not help.

Speaking of fast-paced narratives, Scarecrows was practically a shadow of its former self.  It takes place Inside a Japanese graveyard, where a mourning father has made a habit out of visiting his daughter. One day, her fiancee attempts to pay his respects and the two get into a huge fight. Dad stabs a scarecrow into her grave because “it’s meant to scare off vermin like you.” Lo and behold, the scarecrow starts to look just like his little girl,. Others in town begin using scarecrows to get one more look at their passed loved ones, but these buggers aren’t as quiet as everyone thinks. They also may be more powerful than they let on.

You had my curiosity; the scarecrow has my attention.

My sucky summary aside, the anime all but sped through the exposition on this story and left a plot that was jumpy and hard to follow. It’s a crying shame that they shortened it so bad because the actual story is a grand example of something that is equal parts screwed up and beautiful. The show did manage to get the latter, but the former was left behind so they could hit what they considered the important parts.

• Episode 12: Smashed/Rumors

Our last episode was an interesting bookend to things. Not only do we end where we started, with the less-than-popular Souichi, but also with a story that’s both weird and genius.

Smashed is a strange tale about a special South American Nectar, which Ogi risked his life to get. The nectar is the best-tasting thing he’s ever had, but the natives gave him one warning: don’t be noticed eating it. This ominous and vague warning turns out to have some truth to it, as Ogi’s friends sneak over and get a taste. He’s gone missing; they’re being flattened, and they can’t eat anything else. This story makes no sense if you just follow the plot. However, the actual twist is ingenious and makes the whole thing real disturbing.

Meanwhile, we return to Souichi’s classroom, where Sayuri is in a tizzy because her boyfriend has to go to the hospital under mysterious circumstances. It seems that class-weird Souichi has his eye on her now, but her vanity just won’t allow it. But that’s nothing a few rumors about the “ever so wonderful” Souichi can’t fix, right? And, in a dark and interesting twist, rumors start also floating around that a creepy supermodel has been in town. Fuchi, our toothy supermodel from the second episode, is also rumored to be bathing in the Maiden’s Abyss Swamp to improve her beauty. Sayuri, suspecting her good friend is trying to steal her boyfriend, begins to think that maybe she should take a dive in as well.

It’s kinda fitting that we fade out with the same character we started with and featuring the first character that actually gave us a real start in this series. These two are known to be a minor item in the source material, making this a level of creepy best not thought about. But we can’t ignore that the animation is still pretty damn lazy in this last episode and that they skipped over a few bits that were important. While this was the best Souichi of the show, it didn’t save the episode itself.

Final Thoughts

As I close this series, I realize that this show earned its existence by the skin of its teeth. Not everyone is going to appreciate the fact that this show stripped the stories in question down to their base elements. It will put off a lot of fans, and the fact that Studio Dean all but failed to create his artwork will have a grossly negative impact. But, if you’re looking for something to guide you to Ito-san’s work and be a gateway, then this show will do. In the meantime, I eagerly hope the OVA’s do better and look forward to the next attempt at animating the work of a truly talented artist and writer.

 

Junji Ito Mini-Review: Episode 7, 8 and 9

It saddens me when a series I liked starts wilting.

I had a different opinion than most who started this series since I had come to this author’s short stories fresh. But, now that I’ve read quite a few more – and now that we’re in the halfway stretch – we’re starting to see some cracks in our creepy Ming Vase. From animation shortcuts to strange pacing choices, it appears that the Junji Ito Collection still has the content to be interesting but won’t be drawing in long-time Ito fans for much longer.

• Episode 7: Used Record/Town with No Roads

Interesting things happen when Ito experiments with his stories. The last time he played with the horror parable we got the Lovecraft-esque staple, Long Dream, told very close to the original comic. This time, we have some parables of sorts, with very interesting turnouts.

Used Record is less visually frightening and more frightening in concept. It’s about a vinyl record (those things hipsters obsess over that give better sound quality) of a woman singing in what’s described as a “sudden, choked, disinterested” fashion that has these two girls totally enraptured. The owner of said record won’t let her friend make a copy of it, so said friend steals it. The theft ends in a brawl, which ends in a rock to the head of friend #1. Friend #2 does her best to hide the body and find a place to play the record. Here, she learns the disturbing truth about the record and what happens when you let obsession run your life.

This is one of those moments when the addition of sound really makes the difference. The episode went for a dark and moody operatic feel, despite the song later being called a “scat,” but it really upped the creepy vibe the story was aiming for. The fact that they once again rushed through the story is a shame but the experience is overall decent.

But I actually had to be told what our second story was a parable of. Town with No Roads starts with our main character, Saiko, having romantic dreams about a boy from her class. She accuses the boy of sneaking into her room to whisper his feelings in her ear and, lo and behold, his death in her dream proves to be his actual death IRL. Worse yet, she’s pretty sure her family is peeping into her room at night when she’s trying to sleep, despite her efforts to get some privacy. She decides to run away to her aunt where she discovers that her town appears to have no roads at all, and traffic just goes straight through everyone’s houses.

Welcome, kiddies to the parable of The Internet™.  The show makes a pretty good attempt at getting across the lack of privacy the story was aiming for but there was some pacing issues that kinda threw it all off. Still, I enjoyed the creepy feel of it and would probably watch it again.  

• Episode 8: Honored Ancestors/The Circus is Coming To Town

And then, just when I give it praise, that infamous laziness of Studio Dean rears its horrific head; it’s a shame it happened in one of the author’s more mind-screwy stories.

Honored Ancestors comes from the short story My Dear Ancestors. The story itself focuses on Risa and her fiance just after she loses her memory from something sinister. We get a hint that something’s wrong right away when her fiance’s father crawls into the room on his back and seems to speak in voices coming from anywhere other than his mouth. Top it off with nightmares about a long, hairy caterpillar and you have a most unsettling story with one messed up twist I don’t dare spoil.

Now, someone who didn’t know what was coming could enjoy the story just fine; I got proof of someone who did. But I already knew the big twist, so I gotta focus on the overwhelming amount of animation shortcuts this episode took. It’s granted that the majority of the story is Risa and Shuichi talking, but I’ve seen shows that know how to at least frame that in an interesting fashion. But maybe they wanted to avoid animating faces and movement and the like because, each time they tried, it drifted unintentionally into the uncanny valley full speed.

But that drift kinda helped in The Circus is Coming to Town. Our unnamed protagonist is excited to see a circus in their backwater town and rushes with all due speed. He even spies the beautiful girl from school everyone knew worked for the circus, practicing her tightrope. Alas, all is not well for her or the troupe; the acts keep failing in gruesome fashions and our dear ringmaster doesn’t seem all that upset. That’s right, kids; it’s a circus horror where the clowns are innocent!

I actually really liked this story; it’s short, sweet and twisted. Ito doesn’t spare us on gruesome deaths and the animators don’t spare their gurgles and screams of agony. I loved the big twist at the end and the ambiguity of the ending as well, a wonderful experience after the sheer disappointment of the first story.

• Episode 9: Painter/Blood Bubble Bushes

That’s right! It took us 9 episodes but we’ve finally gotten to Tomie!

Confession time? I had no idea who Tomie was until way earlier in the series when a buddy of mine introduced me and complained that she hadn’t shown up yet. And,upon reflection, I too wonder why it took us so long to reach one of Ito’s most infamous horror regulars. Her face is practically front and center on the show’s cover-art and opening, so it’s strange they waited this long to bring her up. Anyway, they picked a good one for her first appearance here.

Painter concerns an artist, Mori, who’s well known for his craft. Tomie tracks him down and manipulates him into losing his current model and using her as his next one. He makes his masterpiece and hopes it fulfills her wishes to forever preserve her beauty. She laughs at his attempt and remarks how he’s not a good artist after all, walking out of his life…maybe. This rejection apparently sends Mori from angry to obsessed to crazy within the span of a minute, unable to get the beautiful Tomie out of his mind. Then, when he hears a rival sculptor has managed to recreate her, there’s little stopping him from marching over and demanding to see what he was missing.

My description fails to really capture what makes a Tomie story so creepy, but any more would very much spoil what makes the character so amazing. That being said, I found Tomie’s appearance off upon seeing her. Considering Ito put quite a bit of time into making Tomie a unique and beautiful-looking woman – and how she looks correct in the opening – it’s disheartening to see her look wrong in the actual episode. Furthermore, the voice actress really couldn’t muster up the creepy-factor for her character, with a laugh that sounded forced and fake to a voice that lacked any hint of being scary. Add the quick-fire pacing issues on top of it and I found myself disappointed overall.

I went into Blood Bubble Bushes with this foul mood and left with a gag in my throat. Blood Bubble has some serious Children of the Corn vibes by starting with a couple in a broken-down car trying to find a phone inside a huge field. They run across Creepy Children who attack and attempt to drink their blood almost right away. I am stunned when the male in the couple calls this a prank and keeps going to a town that’s clearly abandoned, sans for one creepy man with red eyes. Turns out he can’t leave because he’s lost his lover, a woman who was so sure everything always left her in the end that her blood would leave her too. What nobody expected was that her blood would turn into a tree that grew the Plasma Fruit from the Sim’s games, or that the female in our couple would start growing some too.

My best guess is that this is Ito’s attempts at vampires. In concept, it works just fine, and the original artwork for the story is haunting, to say the least. I giggled at the Sims 3 connection I made but the sounds the show employed eventually left me feeling sick to my stomach. The animation still took some drastic shortcuts to avoid doing too many moving parts but, once again, I could watch it a second time if needed.

After all, I’ve been known to love me some Vamps.

Sadly though, this “meh” opinion is universal through these three episodes. What I saw was good in terms of story and adaptation but the execution is terribly lacking this time around. Stories are either spread thin or framed awfully, leaving us with this drive-by version of Junji Ito that wouldn’t impress too many people. I feel like what care we had in the first few episodes is missing and that will be a huge problem if it continues.

Netflix’s Fullmetal Alchemist (2017 Review)

I always seem to be late to the party. Ah well, this isn’t one anybody should be excited to get to.

I tried my hardest not to be angry at the new Fullmetal Alchemist film Netflix was making. Nothing’s worse than a fan who can’ let go, so I tried to do just that. But it didn’t take long for me to start picking nits with the film because, let’s face it, Netflix is expecting mostly fans to watch this one. It’s why they tried to visually recreate it and hit all the famous plot-points, but all they got was a trainwreck. Netflix’s Fullmetal Alchemist live-action adaptation is a cluster-bomb of tossed around plot points, character changes that were downright insulting, horrific CGI and writing that would piss off someone who had no idea what this series started with.

As always, spoiler warning. Spoiler warnings for Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

 

If you don’t know the plot of Fullmetal Alchemist, congrats on avoiding the majority of the anime community.  If you were ever curious, that one anime people won’t stop talking about follows the exploits of two Alchemists trying to fix their bodies after making a horrible mistake when they were children. The movie starts off with that very mistake, depicting little Edward (Ryosuke Yamada) and Alphonse Elric (Atomu Mizuishi) attempting to use Alchemy to resurrect their deceased mother. Alchemy in this universe is a science that allows users to break down objects and create new ones made from those same materials. I have no idea why this means Al and Ed were subjected to a Wizard of Oz tornado but the end result is the same as the shows: Ed loses his leg and Al his entire body.

After sacrificing his arm to get Al’s soul bound to a suit of armor, Edward vows to become a state alchemist. The goal is to gain access to the military’s vast wealth of information in hopes of finding the only thing that can bypass equivalent exchange and get their bodies back to normal: the Philosopher’s Stone. The movie decides to skip Edward’s painful process of getting a new automail arm and leg – automail being an indestructible metal – but I suppose it’s for the best. No use in showing tiny children squirming on a table while they attach the automail to every single nerve in the army. No, instead, what we get is a skinny-synopsis is of the FMA plot that speeds through the main conspiracy plot point within the military, but lacking any of the subtly and finesse that made it oh so interesting in the show.

Effectively, the movie made a big rush to hit the famous plot points of the anime: Shou Tucker’s story, the death of Hughes, the big fight between Ed and Al over Al’s memories, and so on. It’s exactly what M. Shamalyon tried with The Last Airbender and the results here are just as bad: a plot moving at breakneck speeds with moments that don’t connect well and characters you wouldn’t care about had you not watched either anime. Furthermore, condensing the story like this required changes to the plot that just don’t work. For example, it makes much more sense for Barry at Lab 5 to sew seeds of doubt about Al’s memories because Barry is a suit of armor himself; Shou Tucker doing it just because he’s an evil asshole seems utterly pointless. The whole thing results in a “check-list” story that only a marketing exec could love.

 

And, because they have this list that’s desperate to please fans, they will ironically piss them off. In the aftermath of streamlining the story, our charming and memorable characters were also stripped of what made them interesting and left with their basic plot-functionality.  Mustang loses his determinator status, discouraging the Elrics from finding the stone, and poor Edward gets called a genius despite everyone else figuring out the plot points on his behalf. We were also missing several characters crucial to our storyline, but I suspect they’ll be in the sequel. The thought of them “streamlining”  someone like Kimblee or King Bradley disturbs me.

I picture Bradley being stripped down to a pure killer with a cold attitude, which misses the point entirely.

But let’s ignore the issues you’ll have as a hardcore fan. After all, adaptations aren’t supposed to be carbon copies of their counterparts and not everyone who watches will be hardcore fans. I’d argue that most who watch this will be hardcore or casual fans, but let’s entertain the idea that people who have never seen the anime will find their way here. They will still be in for two hours of fail when they see that the writing is full of plot twists that surprise no one and super cheap CGI. The budget clearly went straight to the Alchemical reactions, with PS3-rejects left over for the monsters and poor Alphonse.

Alphonse looks passable here at least, but other scenes – holy crap.

It saddens me that this movie didn’t do well, but it doesn’t shock me. The biggest problem almost every anime movie suffers from, this one included, is that it tries to visually recreate the anime without paying attention to what made the story so well-loved or making one of their own that’s just as good. Netflix’s Fullmetal Alchemist had the right idea sometimes – the actor playing Tucker did well for what he was given and the scene with Nina still had punch – but it got buried under shaky, amateur writing more concerned with shoving in iconic moments nonsensically. In true irony, their attempts to appeal to fans have come back around and bitten them in hard in the ass.

Anime Mini-Review: The Junji Ito Collection, Episodes 4, 5 and 6

We’re back to the man that colors my nightmares. Because a good night sleep is boring.

Jokes aside, it’s time for the second round of Mini-Reviews for the Junji Ito Collection, whose reviews as of late have been colored between “Meh” and “fail.” I personally enjoy what I see of the series, even after reading the works its retelling, but such is the case with a show like this. When you have a strong cult-following for a niche market, the exceptions will be super high.

But enough of what everyone else thinks. My thoughts on these last three episodes were good, albeit with some nits you know I have to pick.

 

• Episode 4: Shiver/ Marionette Mansion

 

We are already off to a great start. It’s a staple of horror for bugs to be in places they don’t belong.
Shiver, besides being Ito’s more recent book release, is the story of Yuji and his neighbor, Rhina. The poor girl has been sick most of her life but has recently come down with a strange illness that makes holes appear in her skin. However, only Yuji has been able to see these holes and the strange doctor that keeps visiting Rhina’s house. Yuji remembers that his grandfather died of a similar ailment, confirmed when he and his best friend, Hideo, read about in his grandfather’s journal. It all seemed to start with a piece of jade that looked like a bug chrysalis, one that’s somewhere in their yard right now.

What Shiver demonstrates is Ito’s ability to take a concept to terror-inducing extremes, and then take it a step farther. It’s bad enough to think about random holes appearing on your skin, making you feel oh so cold. It’s even worse when you add the fact that bugs like to fly in and out of said holes, as both the book and episode describes. This story had the grizzly imagery I love and the kind of horror that gets worse the more you think about it.

Moving right along, Marionette Mansion puts us somewhere where I’m already creeped out: puppets. Based on House of Marionettes, this tale concerns a traveling family of puppeteers. Main boy Haruhiko has never really made friends since they never stay in town for longer than a month. But things change when his father falls ill and the family is forced to stay in an apartment. Haruhiko’s brother, Yukihiko, expresses a desire not to be controlled by the puppets and runs away soon after. The father passes away and Haruhiko takes over for the family, only to get an invitation from his brother some years later. Yukihiko has made a name for himself in a large business… and has started to live his life, along with his family, as a puppet.

This is an odd story, but one that I liked in concept. Evil marionettes are another staple in classic horror – something about their uncanny eyes and the concept of being controlled – but now we have a creepy puppet as drawn by Ito himself, adding whole new levels of “nope” to the equation. Not as much gruesome artwork this time, at least in the show, but the story itself is solid.

 

• Episode 5: The Ongoing Tale of Oshikiri Collection/ Cloth Teacher

 

Oh, I love it when psychological horror smacks directly into body horror – it’s the sweet spot for any horror fan. And we finally see why the character Souchi earned a place on this show in the first place.

Our first story is an almost panel to panel remake of Further Tales of Oshikiri. Our titular character notices that his house stands as a crossroads between alternate dimensions. Cool enough, but the first person he sees, the doppelganger of a female classmate, is downright terrified of him. Furthermore, the next night, another classmate doppelganger finds him but has become a horrible monster supposedly by Oshikiri’s hand. When his real classmate, Mio, vanishes inside the house for three days, it becomes time once and for all to figure out what his doppelganger has really been up to. But will he become lost in the other dimensions?

I absolutely adored this episode and the comic it started from. The idea of being trapped in several dimensions, with thousands of versions of you out to kill you, is some really delicious Nightmare Fuel, with the body-horror monsters being the cherry on top. However, I had to admit that the episode took away some of the shocks by being colorized. Black and white tends to make images pop a little more because of the deep shadows and dark contrasts, so the color in the show did soften the shock value of the monsters. But the story itself remains the star, putting it in the running for my favorite story so far.

 Which was why I was a little worried when Souichi popped back up in the second story, Cloth Teacher. This time this insufferable supernatural-maker has created cloth-doll duplicates- rather disturbing ones –  of his teachers that are running amuck and freaking everyone out. They cause special stress to the class’s resident smart guy/rule keeper, who soon becomes the target of more “curses” that are more funny than harmful. But things go from disturbing and funny to REALLY creepy and hilarious when Souichi loses control of his new dolls.

This insufferable, supernatural idiot made a very bad impression on watchers by being the very first story, not being very scary at all, and being horrifically voice-acted. The terrible voice-acting returns this time around, but now we have some imagery that is genuinely hard to look at and some good jokes. That being said, I still think the comedy series doesn’t really mesh well with the rest of the stories, so it only really gets a C from me.

 

• Episode 6: Window Next Door and Gentle Goodbye

 

This one was also a mixed bag, but for entirely different reasons. And, for that, I don’t mind the tone difference at all. What I do mind is when corners are cut.

So, let’s get the ball rolling with the adaptation that made a lot of people mad, mainly the retelling of The Window Next Door. This is a solid concept overall: Hiroshi’s family moves into a nice, cheap little house, only to discover that their neighbor has only one window that’s facing their son’s room. What’s worse, the next door neighbor appears to be a monster of a woman, who just so happens to be infatuated with Hiroshi. That’s the point where it’s time to break out the nail-covered bat.

I loved the voice actress in this episode so much. The soundscape of the entire episode is good enough, but this VA was so creepy she had me clutching my couch. What was less creepy was, sadly, her face. It was bad – I noticed – but a look at the original comic shows that she came from stock much, much worse. That, and her lack of animation on her face made it clear that the artists were trying to cut corners; no one likes it when you skimp the details.

But where everyone says the anime failed I believe is a triumph, and that’s the ending. Did it abruptly cut off the ending of the original? Yes, but an ambiguous ending where we don’t know what happened and whether or not the main character lived scares me much more than seeing our hero walk away.

 And then we take a turn for the slow and, honestly, beautiful with Gentle Goodbye. Poor Riko fears the death of her father more than anything and used to wake up at night crying after having dreams of his death. Now she’s all grown up and married to Makoto Tokura, but his parents and grandparents are cold and distant to her. She quickly discovers, however, that the family has a unique means of bringing their dead “back to life.” They create images of them that function and speak just like real people, but eventually fade away over time. But, if you think that’s awesome, just wait till you discover how many after-images are actually hanging around.

I was not scared during this episodes; I wasn’t supposed to be. Here, I was thoughtful, sad, and genuinely shocked by the twists. The idea of having a bit longer to say goodbye to loved ones, in a way where you know how much time you have left, is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. The show did a good job of playing to the strong emotions of the piece, though I fear it may just be because Ito’s style was not required to make this one a success. It’s short and would benefit from more length, but still works in my eyes.

• Overall Thoughts

More gems in this one, well-told despite not quite replicating Ito’s style. But I’ve long since accepted how unlikely it is for anyone to replicate the man who gave us freaking Uzumaki, so I was satisfied with what I saw overall. We’re knee-deep in scary with a bit of wiggle room to play with the genre. Despite some less than savory reviews, I still think the series works as a sampler for the uninitiated.