Take A Pick Tuesday : Working The First Season

Take A Pick Tuesday- Working!!!/Wagnaria: The First Season

 

 

 

An interesting thing about anime is that you never know where you can get a show out of, so it makes sense that they would have a show about working or well at least being in the workplace. I know it isn’t the first one to be made but it doesn’t stop it from being a wholly unique experience. In need for another employee Popura Taneshima asks a young man with glasses if he would like to work at the family restaurant Wagnaria, although she’s a complete stranger that asks him out of the blue he says yes, why? That would be because of his love for very tiny cute things and she happens to be very short.

 

      So we hit the ground running and see Sota Takanashi starting at the restaurant but everyone there is similar to him that they are a bit unique for sure. His love of small things that in some terms can make him come off as being a pervert is not the oddest thing this family restaurant has to offer. There is Yachiyo Todoroki who has a fixation on her female manager Kyoko Shirafuji, who also happens to be Yachiyo’s childhood friend,  who eat or snacks I should say more than anything else, mostly this means parfaits that are prepared by her chief waitress,. Even so Yachiyo is a star waitress except for the fact that she carries around a katana with her that tends to make people just a little nervous.

 

        Another waitress and one whose largely focused on is Mahiru Inami, who has androphobia,  a phobia of men so every time Takanashi sees her he gets punched in the face. Although in truth any men is in danger which includes the other employees as well. The focus on her is as large as the various attempts made in helping her get her androphobia under control. The effort means as terrified as Inami is of all men, she takes a certain liking to Takanashi. There is of course certain other issues involving her such as with her father, a major jealous type and Takanashi having to dress like a woman, when the man comes to pay a visit.  Of course you also have the cook Jun Sato, he may be a little more normal except for the way he teases Taneshima with her height, which believe it or not she is a year older than the main character Sota Takanashi. The cook also reminds me of Sanji from One Piece if the pirate cook was less hyper to see women and a little quieter and cool as he is when Nami, Robin or any hot woman is around. He is also in love with Yachiyo but for obvious reasons he can’t tell her this considering her fixation on the manager who had saved her from being bullied and would then become childhood friends.  

 

        Then there is also Hitoomi Soma who seems to be kind of nosy and manipulative but everyone just sort of deals with it, he also works in the kitchen with Jun Sato, no one knows anything about him which he uses to his advantage so that he always has leverage on everyone else. Though occasionally in between lying to certain workers like Taneshima he’ll tip the line and comment on the unrequited love that Sato has for Yachiyo and get hit or have to be face to face with Inami and her androphoiba. In fact his fear like everyone else is if the main character Takanashi leaves then her reaction to her phobia will be taken out on the rest of the men.  The big manager Hyogo Oota whose never really there is gone most of the time searching for his wife and is afraid of Kyoko even though he’s her superior especially if he doesn’t bring souvenirs. Often he’ll have to fear Yachiyo who seems to want to kill him with her sword when she thinks that he’s trying to seduce Kyoko. This makes his visits back to Wagnaria very brief and returns to looking for his wife, though his wife couldn’t even find herself if she wanted to, with her horrible sense of direction.

 

     Although in one return Oota did bring something other than a souvenir Aoi Yamada a mysterious sixteen year old he met during one of his vast searches for his wife.  Soon after she begins to work and actually lives in the restaurant. Although she worries about her place in the restaurant want she really wants is a family, something no doubt brought on by Oota who in the second season she asks to adopt her.  Then you have the quiet Maya Matsumoto who isn’t so quiet on the fact that she is the only “normal worker” among the rest of the staff in Wagnaria, when I first started watching the series it almost seemed like the character was meant to be a joke, in the background always but never introduced, supposedly she is the normal one. Although she gets her occasional moment here and there it’s clear she’s not nearly as focused on as is the rest of the characters.

 

      The show does a fine job at being able to make its jokes without having to cross that cautious line of being old and used,  you know starting to miss the sensitive funny bone spots. At least I keep laughing at especially when Inami sees Takanashi and punches him in the face.There is also Takanashi’s  family who he tries to keep under wraps, though they show them at home. Well most of them shown in the first season anyway. As said there are various love connections in the series, though you could say it’s love that goes unnoticed mostly, something you might believe as a show that will for the most part be unresolved and shouldn’t have any expectations of connections can be something more. If nothing else they leave room by the end of the season to dive deeper on the characters relationships. Time will tell as I get on to the second season and then wait for the third season in works.

 

      The family restaurant is the center piece for the show even if they’re not in the restaurant like when they go to a hot springs trip together though a complication stops them from having a ride over there and Sato the cook happens to drive by and ends up attempting to take them to the hot springs. Though not planning on making another much longer stop he runs out of gas and they end up getting a ride elsewhere leaving him. Even a pretty big episode where two characters go somewhere else, the other characters are meeting about it at work, even though there not scheduled. One of the great strengths of the show is how the characters complement each other. Which is kind of essential in a slice of life comedy and it offers that warm relaxing feeling that brings just a simple joy to watch and may be a great change of pace depending on the show you watched before it. While this means that they also give you sufficient time to understand all the characters, you know without a doubt that there is plenty of room to explore. Though I do like how they get a grasp of each other’s niches and deal with it in everyday situations in the workplaces like Kyoko hiding the toys that come with the kids meals from Takanashi since he’s obsessed with tiny things.

 

 Definitely in some ways it feels like a 4-Panel manga and in fact it is, at least that’s what it’s based off of from the manga but that also can be misleading in the sense of it being non-linear, it definitely continues whatever the story in each episode is, there is just so much going on. Which is a good thing in this instance, especially what they managed to squeeze in on such a short episode count for these season. The charm and confidence in the show makes it unsurprising to see the popularity and attention it has. It’s hard not to feel your spirits lifted when watching it, the only surprise is that it took so long for me to watch it.  Sure enough though I’ll be following the second season with the same enthusiasm.  As well as the third season coming out this summer! It won’t take long either, the first two seasons are only twelve episodes. If anything seems obvious from watching the series is what they promote with the characters that the essence that draws them together is the enjoyment that they having in being around each other, there are a lot of anime that have settings in restaurants or more so in the kitchen these days, if you’re looking for one to start with that might be a little different than Wagnaria might be for you.

 

25 Years of Seeing The Ghost: Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex

                               Take A Pick Tuesday: Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex

 

 

In anticipation for the new Ghost In The Shell film coming out this summer and a desire to spotlight the twenty five years of Ghost In The Shell. We look at its ambitious TV show series Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex.  Often a corner stone in the evolution of anime and one of the titles that managed to influence film  and bring a new generation of viewers from the western world,  it stands as both a technical achievement,  the use of computer animation integrated with hand drawn 2-d animations as well as the dark turn over it’s head dystopian political thriller story telling pinnacle in anime. Of which a wealth of stories would be built on, insight would allow for expansion, which is always interesting but can be boggled down with mixed results but this is Ghost in the Shell we’re talking about, so it’s expanse  brings something else, something entirely new.

 

      After the groundbreaking film and hot off the heels of it’s follow up, in came Stand Alone Complex, a TV show that highlighted an even broader aspect of the themes with the franchise and allowing the real purpose of Section 9 which the main character Motoko Kusgani and the rest of her until work for show more evident.  Some have compared it in some ways to being a cop show and yes in a way they are cops or investigators though what could seem like a procedural cop show genre is still Ghost In The Shell and so it is its own special thing. Truly it is.  Though that really should make sense, the person responsible for bringing the films to life Mamoru Oshii had worked on and would continue to work on Patlabor: The Mobile Police Anime films, show live action films. A classic show that built something new on certain concepts that honestly felt incredibly unique being introduced by these shows and films in the first place.

 

     Many of the issues dealt with in the series are now issues we deal with nearly ten years since, as well as other issues that we are on the brink of looking at, those that may bring questions by certain groups and will become the subject of massive debate. Maybe sometimes in a not so friendly way. While both seasons of the TV show have an undertone, a story line, the individual episodes look also at the concepts and ideas raised.  Concepts of immortality, the ghost in the machine, or even what has a soul to begin with, religion, corruption, refugees, addiction, human trafficking, various political and bureaucratic limitations as well as the things played with behind the scenes, something more than intrigue, misinformation and also obsession and even mythology if you can believe it.

 

      The final theme brought to mind an episode where one of the members of Section 9 the least changed with cybernetic implants internally Tougasa, leaves a 500 yen coin on a body, saying it’s for the river ferry  before they zip up the bag. Lies and truths juggled so much that only the capable hands of someone like Section 9 could make it possible. Though what seems like assisting another section of the government isn’t always what it seems, a challenge they always have to face. As in the films there is a clear interpretation of how governments sometimes work, how sometimes they don’t play well with each other and the fallout from that can be quite something.

 

       There’s something about the way each episode is directed and written, it can easily hook someone no matter which episode their sitting down to. You get sometimes this question at the end and they won’t spoon feed the answer, it’s intentional because in some ways they are giving you the answer.  It leaves it to be thought provoking, even when the answer is actually handed to you, there is the sense of lingering that doesn’t hurt the fresh takes of the episodes.   Another driving force in the series that can't be ignored is the music composed by Yoko Kanno famed for her work for Cowboy Bebop to The Vision of Escaflowne. The sometimes jazz sometimes electronic, sometimes classical  fits very well into the thought provoking series. It's only fitting that such a legendary composer would work with such a legendary series. It helps to show how polished this show is right off from the start. It also invites for a widening scope of what the series is.  The length of the Stand Alone Complex allows more than just themes to be expanded and explored but the characters in it as well.

 

     What was it like for Motoko Kusgani, who has lived in a cybernetic prostatic body since she was young, even since before most had. What desires lie under the surface of the tough as nails major, what memories. That is something you'll definitely see in pieces, whether when helping a child with a prostatic body like herself, a strange place she dives into where people watch a movie they can never tear there selves away from or perhaps the story of when first got her body, how she managed to move on.

         Moral walls bumped into repeatedly and how interesting when Batou is the one to hit them, it allows a little more of what makes him the way he is an understanding thing. Batou has evolved in the films and show, always maintained his humor, he can be quick tempered in certain situations when the wall is hit and he too looks at many of the themes in the show as all characters do in it, interesting contrast to the rather philosophical Batou in the second film Ghost In The Shell 2 Innocence. Or is it really, the times that he gets serious aren't too different from those that are in the movie and there are quite a few times that it involves the Major. Even Batou's time as a ranger comes into play, reminding you that Batou is more than what he shows on the surface. The show isn’t satisfied with just having the Major the fascinating one.

        Certain decisions like not wanting to kill robot dogs, rather running from them out of pity and the anger of a killer he remembers from the jungle are just a couple of twists from the character. Everyone, even down to Chief Aramaki of Section 9 gets a broader tale told, while we are already attached to these characters because of the films we watch over and over again, you grow newfound attachments to the characters as well as get interesting stories into how they became the people that they are.  Not to leave out all the other characters of Section 9 in fact you may get a little insight in who they were before they joined, what might have led them down the path, as well as knowing them beyond what you may have seen in the films.

In the first season the underlining case is dealing with the Laughing man, a supposed remerging first class hacker that had originally become known by bringing a CEO of Serano Genomics at gun point on national television to confess the crime he committed. Which really was a stand on corruption in the corporate world. With this reprisal six years later of the supposed return of The Laughing Man it leaves Section 9 to investigate why exactly this hacker who leaves his trademark smile symbol with the hat on the side. Used to block his identity as well as to hack into major networks and figures. What exactly is it that the laughing man wants this time, what does he bring with his reemergence and how deeply affected will Section 9 be after investigating it.

      Soon it becomes clear that anything that is happening now is linked to what happened six years ago. It has to do with the suppression of a vaccine for cyberbrain sclerosis. Even in the future there are diseases we struggle to cure but instead of approving the vaccine they decided to veto it in favor of micromachine treatment which had already been proven ineffective but the profits they stood to gain from the process were far more appealing. As Section 9 plunges deeper into exactly how this came to be realizing that the laughing man could have been trying to expose something far worse, far more corrupt than what anyone could have feared him to be, it will lead so deep into the government that it will even threaten their existence as a unit.

What's interesting about the case is the how something that stands for truth can be twisted into something that is mass marketed, where does something that reveals what is phony also become phony. It definitely has a way of showing how so many struggles for a resolution to a problem in society can become a problem in themselves.  Which begs the question where does the real Laughing Man stand in all this,  what does he comprise of and can anything that had been the purpose of something such as The Laughing Man really survive intact.  

The second season. "2^nd gig" deals with the individual eleven and starts from the repercussions of the first season.  With a let’s say affected Section 9 just to keep you guessing.  However they would come in need after a terrorist group would become a threat known as the Individual Eleven, a group that spurs from the issues of refugees that had come into Japan for cheap labor and later were tossed to the side. Their train of thought and concern for refuges could very well be something that someone is manipulated but their belief in the cause could very well out weigh any outsider's personal motive. It’s up to section 9 to stop the group as well as one person in particular Hideo Kozua that like the laughing man is a particular interest to Motoko. Except in this case there is a possibility she is connected to him in a far more personal way.

       This one focuses more on war as opposed to the statement of effects on relying on technology as the first season had. It also reinforced the time frame of the series and manages to shed a little light in how Japan had come to where it was from before and after the two World Wars. To say these particular threats are nemesis would probably downplay their significance as they reinforce the problems that are present in this future world/Japan. One that would see two more world wars and it’s range of issues can be seen as quite relevant to today.

Ghost In The Shell is all about showing the boundaries we set for ourselves and how we sometimes transcend them, how we search for a way to or do so without knowing. There is no bounds in the future but of course that isn’t the end merely the beginning of something with its own set of dilemmas.  It does something very unique in which it begs you to examine and reexamine certain things in our lives,, almost everything as well as to understand the future they’re in is something close to what the present is becoming and can become.  What the movies have done for fans and may have not for those that had watched it but may have not been nearly as interested, has now something they can offer into spades. The fifty plus episode count has plenty to sink your teeth in and if that’s not enough there was a movie that took place after the second season. The Solid State Society. If the potential of these stories now begins to pique certain viewers interest than they should be prepared for more to come.

Take A Pick Tuesday - Space Brothers

Take A Pick Tuesday: Space Brothers

 

Have you ever stood outside at night, even in the crowded cities that had skies to indifferent to show the night, hoping they would give you a rare view of stars and the moon, to look up and wonder, to look up and hope. We know so much about them, we can fear them at times but always there is something about looking toward them, sometimes they ride on our dreams, sometimes they are the destination for our dreams.  Well if you recall that feeling or maybe now or have always wanted such a feeling then I can easily recommend Space Brothers.  Parts that make it up, the parts funny, the parts inspirational and all parts wonderful it looks at what it is to dream, big, big enough to take you beyond earth, beyond anything you could imagine.

 

    The story is about two brothers whose childhood dream it was to go to space. They witness something strange once when they were younger, recording the sound of animals at the time, which helps them decide that they want to explore the vast unknown. When the younger brother Hibito decides that he wants to go to the moon and beats older brother Mutta to the punch of declaring it, Mutta says he wants to go to Mars. Because an older brother must always be ahead of his younger brother. Though both settle on the notion of going together as brothers to the moon. Fast forward to them as adults and things didn’t go as it seemed it should since that faithful night. For Hibito he indeed became an astronaut as he is set to be the first Japanese Man on the moon. When asked in a press conference the reason why he wanted to go, he says it had been a shared dream that both him and his older brother had shared.

 

       So where is Mutta, you can say he strayed from the path a bit and ended up working for a company where he designed cars, in fact he was a star designer until he head butted his boss. Of course this meant he lost his job, although to his credit had been because his boss was mocking someone in the newspaper and that person happened to be his little brother. Having done it though had caused him to be blacklisted from every company, so he returns home to reevaluate his life, wondering what happened to the dream he had of going into space. When had he stopped believing it was possible?

 

      When his brother catches wind of his predicament an opportunity would arise unbeknownst to Mutta, an application for the astronaut candidacy exam would be sent with his name by his brother and mother. Soon he would be accepted to part take in it at JAXA and would be constantly tested to find the resolve to believe in himself, in why he wanted it and learn that if you have a dream than you should truly never let go of it. Right away there is a special feeling about this show, just like explorers that go to the stars, you feel something moving in the show, this wonder, this hope.

 

   Having dreams in life is shown as being an important single driving force  and how it moves people no matter what is going on in their life and of course no matter the consequences.  Mutta is an extremely human character, funny as is the show at times, very often actually well balanced with it's touching moments, he dismisses any notions of the perfect anime character, and if anything he’s the perfect human being flaws and all. He’s him or in some ways us, which is special when a character like that shows up in any medium, tall skinny and with an afro alongside his 5 o'clock shadow and funny face expressions that go so well with his usually well dressed ( mostly in a suit) appearance.  His humorous nature goes well with his touching relations to many of the other characters as it is for his brother, capable of love despite what self-desire finds at times or how inconvenient how he might wish otherwise, he is unable to resist the urge to sacrifice it for others. Having to go over it at times in consideration and at times to throw caution to the wind is part of what makes Mutta Namba such a compelling character.

 

      As much as Mutta underestimates himself he is underestimated by others even more, not all, there are friends he makes, certain ones whose friendship grows through the series to be something powerful, something that has meaning to you but instead at times the people that have to make the decisions that could allow him to continue or fail will be the ones that find something they believe they should underestimate him for. Even though there is someone and really there always has to be someone, that can see the great things he can be capable of.

     Though he’ll wrestle with it regardless of what he can accomplish  occasionally he’s allowed to be proud, as well as believing he is more than someone who is in his brother’s shadow. If that was true  that he lived in his brother's shadow than no one told his brother, who idolizes him openly even though to each other few emotions will be exchanged when they are apart, in each other’s thoughts you will see a bond like no other. Still what makes Mutta so special is what makes other people root for him, sometimes waiting for him to step up to the plate, sometimes to knock it out of the park.

 

    Hibito is indeed an accomplished person though what makes his character so interesting is he really doesn’t think much of it, he has that wonderful desire of just going to the moon. So it seems to us he can do anything, even though he seems to think more of Mutta, his fellow astronauts, those living and those that passed and the astronomer that was a mentor to both him and Mutta, Sharon. A character who is a mother figure, a teacher figure and a core reason for their desire to go to the moon. Even if it was Mutta's declaration to her one time that it was just him and Sharon, that he would help with her dream of building a Sharon Telescope on the moon to allow astronomers to see further into space, to see places they never could before.  There were plenty of moments between Sharon and Hibito or both brothers share with her that keep it as one of the constant motivations for them in their aspirations and hope.  Even so Hibito  has many things that haunt him, that drive him, that will come to cause him to doubt himself and the great dangers that comes with such a dream are ones he has to face, at times alone. At  times when he believes he is alone will be the times he faces it with many others. 

      It’s interesting how they introduce pieces of it to you later on giving you a complete picture of the character who could go do something when he was younger and not realize how dangerous or how great it was he managed to do. Also Hibito garners a lot of attention for what he’s set to do but he hardly think about it, it’s a little beyond him though he puts up with it, you’ll see astronauts who despise the attention all together and some that were born for it. So for someone who is already getting rooted for you'll find yourself surprised when it is you're rooting hardest for Hibito and it's a great feeling when you're doing it.

 

 

Space Brothers works closely with JAXA and NASA and it shows, considering it’s probably the closest to accuracy in a anime you’ll actually get about space. I mean the show managed to give the first voice over from space for crying out loud when an astronaut used his actual voice for his anime version. They managed to record his voice despite him being on the international space station. The exams Mutta will have to go through along with other characters he’ll befriend and you’ll also root for will show how intricate the process can be.

    The grueling choosing process is fascinating as it is at keeping you on the edge of your seat, as it is for some of the people choosing the candidates, their personal connection with the agency, of their younger life, of space, even to characters like Mutta. Sometimes it feels downright unfair and sometimes it feels the exams never really end and let's face it when you're sending people to space and choosing which ones will go of course it won't.

 

 

       While they may be rivals you hope for some of them to be together at the end though you really won’t be able to tell who it will be. Mutta even has someone he falls for, Seki Itho who like him has an important reason in why she wants to go to space, to be exact, her desire to reach the International Space Station, her explaining it to you at first is more than enough reason to root for her but actually seeing the reason later on is enough to break your heart. Many of the character’s dreams are like that and the show knows how to lay out drama and complexity, whether happy or sad it’s easy for so many episodes to bring a tear or several tears to your eyes. Seki like Mutta is extremely intelligent, she’s also athletic, with an appetite to match, despite all her reasons you can see quite often that what she’s going to eat is equally important to her. There's even a scene where she's doing work and by her desk or pictures pinned up of food. Can’t say I blame her.

 

     If anything Mutta seems to remind Seki of her father, one early scene that came shortly after introducing the character is when she sees him looking at the space suit in the glass case, trying to see his face reflect off the helmet as if he was in the suit. It reminded her of what her father had done and later he’d catch her trying to do the same. There’s so many of these scenes I truly wish I could write about all of them. You have other characters like Kenji who keeps shaking Mutta’s hand, someone with a wife and a little child and whose reason though coming from another direction is just as important, a life where he dreamed of something more when going through every day with work he didn't want to actually do, wanting to trade dismal grey skies and settings for a place closest to space where his mind can truly be appreciated. Though the cost of even reaching being an astronaut shows quite often, even in the most simplistic of ways, time. In Kenji's case if he goes to space along with training he could miss several years of his child’s life and even the testing and preparation for such a thing can show the effects on his child and the strain it could put on his wife.

 

      The exams at JAXA can seem a little impossible at times for other reasons, especially one reason in particular, when you’re kept in the dark of what it is that actually want out of their candidates and be warned even when it seems like they’re not being tested, they’re being tested or are they? Yup it’s long road if you can even get there, that’s why it’s so important for all of them, Mutta included to find reason in why they are doing it. Even at his lowest Mutta can find it, when he goes to visit Houston Texas where NASA is and Hibito is training.

      Between foiling a robbery of a man with an extinguisher accidently and befriending an important little character who also happens to be a little dog named Apo short for Apollo, he’d find why it is he wants to pass so much. In himself, through his friends ( astronauts that work with Hibito and others at NASA, as well as a kind couple that are his brother's neighbors). Even if it seems like a snowball’s chance in hell. It shows Mutta might still have untapped qualities you’re unaware of, such as his internal clock, his precise attention to detail of which Hibito is the opposite of.

 

Being as informative and legitimate as they can about space, the show doesn’t shy away from the danger and risk of space travel.  Some you see are devastating to see even if they are in the past, others happening during the present or enough cause for you to become a nail biter. When not scaring the pants off of you they also show some interesting ideas. Now I’m not caught up on all the things NASA has developed but the show brings interesting answers to the predicaments that astronauts have to face, such as a way to map out the moon in order to avoid craters which normally would be impossible to completely avoid. While developing this with budget constraints, even the questions of flying cars, their practically and what certain ideas like those could actually offer are brought up.

     As well as recreating a space station or adding to it's construction during training under water, developing a way for light to come into the station through panels. As well as various other solutions to issues that they have to face, perhaps making rechargeable stations for vehicles, to allow them to go further as well as other small adjustments that could mean life or death for any of them, Trust me though most of these are brought up in unexpected ways. It also shows you answers to everyday problems  where the answers might lie in places like NASA, who find them while trying to solve the questions so few ask but need to.

 

    There are also various training exercises in preparation or such emergencies even with the risk of dying and shows hazards, it seems to comfort the hope that you won’t find future scenes that knock around the idea of hope that is such a powerful theme around your head like it’s bruised and defeated.  You even get to watch the majority of the decision making well beyond JAXA, we’re talking in NASA too, and also obstacles even when you reach being an astronaut like the allotted time you may have to wait to go on a mission.  Yet despite all of this it’s like Sharon says hands to her chest, you think on what would be the most fun to do. You’d be surprised how the concept helps you to hang on to your dreams.

 

    All of it is worth it for the breathtaking scenes of takeoff or landing, everything you seen in the show bottled up in that moment, shook up and let out like lighting and fire. They are beautiful, quietly intense, sometimes epic scores that capture the moment, having their chance to add to something even more momentous, exhilarating, and even terrifying. With everything at stake you’ll be relived if at least some of what happens goes alright. If nothing else you’ll get a profound respect for something that if often overlooked in our daily lives, things that places like NASA mange to do. Asking what the point in anything is would be ridiculous to people in that line of work, it would be to discover. The moments are countless and whether watching it again or thinking about it will drive out the moments you first felt when you watched it.  Space Brothers is definitely about the journey but in a different sense than you’ve seen, a vivid and detail account of the steps take to pursue a dream and once having it to go further.

 

    What seems like crushed dreams or really them taking various forms proving they could never die. Taking form they shape us and it shows in how detailed the characters are as is the story, everyone has their reasons. This is one of those shows that ends and you say I don’t know what to do with my life although, it might ask you to push for your dreams once it comes into focus. Just as soon as you’ve absorbed everything from the series and there is plenty to observe. It’ll forever keep that feeling that when you look up to the stars no matter what’s happening anything is possible and that is a beautiful thing indeed. If you don’t believe that then you’re the one that’s going to have to face Apo.

A Podcast Companion

https://soundcloud.com/rats-on-a-plague-podcast

*Need more otaku time, well for more ideas why not hop on to the newly minted podcast Rats On A Plague Ship. A podcast that speaks on all matters of geekdom with yours truly and my fellow co-host Sal Almaraz. The true cure to when the hours feel like they drag!

Take A Pick Tuesday - Psycho Pass

                Take A Pick Tuesday: Psycho-Pass

 

 

 

You ever get a little paranoid, who doesn’t these days, a little paranoia is good for the soul but if you’re clutching George Orwell’s 1982 in your hand then you might want to watch something potent, plausible and fantastically done. Of course I’m speaking of Psycho-Pass which raged through like a beast, drawing in leagues of fans watching it, myself included managing to win over critics for the most part. In a future Japan there lies the Sibil System in which police arrest, investigate and hunt down cases with high psycho-passes, something measured by devices that allow them to read how much stress you’re under, the type of frame of mind you’re in and could make you a dangerous criminal that must be arrested or even killed. Along with the investigators there are those that are used like hunting dogs called Enforcers, people who had been arrested with high psycho passes that agreed to help the police, provided they know that those they assist have the ability to kill, injure or call them back if they choose so.

 

     We enter with Akane Tsunemori who is new to the force and quickly finds how her judgment of individuals bangs heads with both the way these forced hunting dogs may pursue a criminal as well as the Sibil system. Including the judgment of one of the Enforcers Shinya Kogami or as I like to call him, Kogi for short, which was ironic considering her interest would lie with him the most. Kogi has keen institution which starts to make you wonder immediately about his past, especially once they start to deal with strange cases of killers and strange cases involving psycho pass readings.  Could it be that she may find her way of thinking is understood by Kogi, if so than what is it he knows as certain cases begin to connect and what great secrets may lie underneath once this is pursued. In this world it’s debatable if people are truly free or not, technology is certainly a believable couple of leaps from ours.

      Every necessity advanced is something that can be seen a plausible leap for us, such as being able to change the design of the house by a simple touch from a hologram screen, to the outfits worn, and communications taking and yet another interactive step forward. This technology would also come along in her cases as well, with the dominators that allow the proper police in her unit to measure the crime coefficient of suspects and take necessary action. Whether to set to injure or stun or kill, the dominators are these elaborately designed guns, large that pack a mighty punch, we’re talking when set to kill bodies ending up in pieces. Of course it has to be authorized as well even so though the weapon itself is built in with the Sibil system so it can have its prejudices as well as its weaknesses.  Each person they look for is different, some seem more innocent than guilty and some seem exactly what they’re hunting for, the differences in these cases as well as how certain characters are connected with people with high psycho passes is one of the strong aspects of the show and one of the hardest to pull off for a show. However much of it is not as it seems. They go into interesting detail even well-educated professors with voiced opinions and musicians that do not play music according to government protocol have to live in danger for being hunted for their high psycho passes or soon to be ones, naturally there are also those that are against the system established.

 

     The show does everything right in how it gets in the mind of the main characters, as well as the criminals allowing you to feel that you’re almost in the Sibil System. One of the most interesting things to me at least it how can a person function in this sort of society, it seems the way we would consider a normal lifestyle is by living on the outside. The interesting thing is you feel you get a peek into what might be a normal life through Kana when she is with her friends, which isn’t often, she seems sort of disconnected as she becomes closer with her work but the most dangerous thing is when the lines are blurred. Akane Tsunemori of course has an interesting development of a character, not even from the beginning does she seem like a helpless character even as she’s trying to understand the world.  I love her design to, the wide eyes and sometimes the expressions on her face help to make her an interestingly designed that departs from the average main protagonist of a show and the world around her really makes her who she is as it does for all the other characters. The slickness in the animation can be attributed to the dark colors used to make the backgrounds, the city and the mood.  

There are of course the murders they investigate, almost always they are people that are living under the nose of everyone else. Who they are can be very misleading, probably one of the most brutal is a school girl who befriends and takes other female classmates as lovers and kills them turning them into sadistic works of art. Interestingly enough not long after being aired, the show would get a re edit which would change the episode count to 12 hour long episodes. When it was aired in Japan in this format, a similar murder happen in which a sixteen year old school girl had cut up her classmate which forced them not to air the episode since the people behind the show found it would inappropriate considering the similarities in the case. What’s eerie was this episode had already been aired in it’s 30 min format way before that.

 

 I wish I could say that it was giving away something by telling you that but it’s not, it’s merely the premise and details of the case. Right away you’d wonder how come people like this couldn’t be found in such a fool proof system that rules every aspect of life but even then, it’s much more complicated than that.  Kogi like Kana is a lovable character you can’t help but root for and a total badass who is serious but not emotionless, neither is he cruel and you find out why he is so similar to some of the others. While he has the tough guy look, cigarette and six pack and all there personality that lingers which makes the character so interesting shows in his design, like all the others there's no extravagant hairdo, dark hair slightly spiked, dressed like an inspector even if he is an enforcer just begging to see what lies under the surface. This along with his growing concern for Akane and his kick ass fighting style make him more than an effort to be cool instead they make Kogi the definition of cool. There whole group are likable but you may find frustration in the first season with their head, that seems to go against offer of insight into an investigation, he follows the book as firm as he does because often it is the investigators that are victims of the system just as much as everyone else but it becomes clear that even that is not a guarantee.

     The apparent questions and flaws with the society might be the very threat that could be looming behind everything they’re investigating. Psycho-Pass puts everything under the microscope and they know how to do it well, clearly inspired by certain films with similar themes and another thought provoking future dystopian type story Ghost In The Shell, it manages to not only be inspired but also do something unique and individual to itself in a series.

 

      Psycho-Pass know it has to examine the obvious, a perfect world as a solution that is as dangerous as a flawed one but they manged to take it further than that, using the concept as merely a building block as they explore human nature. Look at the people in this sibil system world and what you see is people that are victims waiting to happen, why you might ask well it is because no one is supposed to have anything to fear in this society. How would they know what a threat is until it was too late, sure fear can play on some awful things but being aware of danger and the darkness that hides behind people is  something anyone should caution to do in public. It’s common sense to us which is not in that world, one that has left much to be obsolete in many ways, the police in the many ways that an investigation would need to have been carried out, in all the things that make our society what it is, as well as for those that are out of place. If there are no place for certain ones how could the system control them?

    Psycho Pass asks these questions, the results can be horrifying at times as often as they could be enlightening on what builds the concept of dystopian futures and the value of what we keep in our minds for none to see, an impossible thing in many ways in this world. Why and how do we accept this and when do we start to question is, isn’t humanity’s existence always to question? Every culture in the world has a different way in how they react to things emotionally, what are acceptable reactions, what would be out of place and uncalled for and yet could any culture really live desensitized instead be arrested or allowed to be killed, just because it’s a necessary evil. Those are enough reasons to love the show but you have so many others, the characters, chemistry, connections and complexities, the animation is so slick looking, without it sounding strange the show maintains this sense of sexiness in the way everything is designed, backgrounds included, they also have spectacular animation sequences for the openings and endings credits of the show. If there was a need for incentive to watch the show it’s a very available show with the seasons available on multiple digital outlets, both  being distributed by Funimation and the movie having just been released in January.  Psycho –Pass is an addictive watch filled with questions and answers and the very thought of what they mean, it’ll leave you questioning and entertainment  reaching new highs of what you can enjoy from a series. If you're anything like me you'll enjoy it enough to find you are unfit to fit into a Sibil system run country.

The Works of Yoshihiro Tatsumi

The Works Of Yoshihiro Tatsumi

 

Often referred to as the father of alternative manga or Gekiga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s passing leaves a real gaping hole in the manga and comic world altogether. Like other greats of his generation, he managed to help forever change manga, showing a darker side to it, one often with sinister undertones, flirting with noir and real human drama. It's easy to see how deep an impact Tatsumi's works have made today.

       Manga had been around a while when Yoshihiro Tatsumi would begin his career in the field, although he would open it wide, leave space for a deep, adult pondering existence come to life. His career would be in good company as other legends such as the God of manga Osamu Tezuka would broaden the craft of comics plunging into dark and elaborate stories. Often Tatsumi's short works would depict stories of greed, violence, sex, betrayal and lies. He would find influences in Noir and Anti-hero related characters in both books and films, something incorporated in stories as he depicted his country with a critical eye for detail, adding perspective on something other than what could be found in usual stories whether comics or novels especially those from the west.

 

 

      In the beginning many of YoshihiroTastumi’s works were short contained stories but even then they would often be dismal views of humanity, hopeless character that fell through a hole of their own wickedness or were simply devoured by the true essence of the city. One of his longer stories Black Blizzard shows a pianist who was wrongfully imprisoned shackled to a murderer, now on the run after a train was derailed from an avalanche, both on the run, the story definitely pays home to noir films and books that had come to influence his work. In the story you see the contrasts to them and yet the circumstances are the same, it’s a great insight into the way Tatsumi made his characters, defeated individuals, wicked or innocent many would crack under the pressures of modern life. It is something you will see in many of his stories, all having the same gritty feel whether it had to do with themes involving crimes or more of a psychological downfall for those that tried to live in the Tokyo that Tatsumi now found himself living in.

Often people put Tatsumi’s works on a separate genre than other manga, many who don’t read manga in America but recognize his works would say how different it is from the manga aimed at younger audiences or less adult, outside of the themes that Tatsumi’s works represent, if they only knew. In fact manga has indeed been influenced by this Geigka style and if those that normally don’t read manga explored they would see it was such, how even manga that they believe are aimed at younger audiences maybe because a particular appearance it has could have complex adult themes, themes that he helped to introduce into manga. As mentioned before it is true that his path into drawing and writing would be much like Osamu Tezuka whose early works such as Astro Boy would give ways to dark themes and showcase his versatile and intricate storytelling. What may vary in their storytelling is that the destined self-destructive characters that are males and the mocking aspects of women is what some may say lead to a story without a particular moral.

 

      More like a voyeur into the everyday life that exists, Tatsumi might not have said as much but it could very well be this is how life has become. An indeed the pressure of life in Japan after the war was great, old values and the progression into a new age for the country can be seen in the dark conscience that lies within as they fought for domination.  So it’s easy for people to look at Yoshihiro Tastsumi’s works and find that they are a far cry from the manga that they see line the shelf. Perhaps because what’s on the surface calls to them like American works, influences that Tatsumi had but it is also a gateway for comics from Japan, as reading his works may give you an insight you couldn’t find in historical books or textbooks. In fact many manga that show insight into culture in Japan or capture stories in that light, Seinen and Geigka had Yoshhiro Tastumi’s influence to thank for it definitely. It is often for this reason that his voice has always demanded attention in the story telling.

     In another work Hell,  one of my favorites, a photographer who does the unthinkable to keep a secret hidden of an image he took of a imprint of ash seared into the wall of what seems at first as a son comforting his mother but he would discover was actually the son killing his mother. That story had been one of my first introductions to the author and has lingered in my mind ever since. There are many of other stories such as these that come from works like Abandon the Old In Tokyo, Goodbye, and The Push Man and Other Stories. Other stories that showcase the themes of sex, frustration, greed, and lies. His main characters that were male had usually an unimpressive appearance to them or sometimes they simply captured the average man’s appearances, the individuals that lived in this world.

 

    Anyone who has frequented the comics/manga area of a bookstore or an anime/manga/hobby store would have seen his most famous work in the United States and that would be the wonderfully behemoth sized autobiographical “A Drifting Life.” A book that Yoshihiro Tatsumi wrote and drew of his life as a mangaka for decades. In fact for those that would feel that they couldn’t absorb the perspectives and meanings of the artist and his struggles may actually want to read his other works and perhaps they would see why some find it to be a wonderful capstone to his great career. 

     I say this because some tend to find it hard to read the stories whether it’s the fantasies of these working class man of the women that seem like mere sexual objects or how the woman may seem manipulative and at other times down right disturbing and yet Tatsumi had that way of penetrating the brain to reveal the things that aren’t so nice in our minds at times, many should remember what he was trying to capture post Japanese culture, he enjoyed the grittier side of stories and the most psychological, exploring an aspect that many hadn’t in this form of comics. Somehow A Drifting Tale seems to be able to show another side of his talent, even as it showcases his struggles there’s something inspiring to be found when reading it. Harnessing the other aspects of the human mind and heart.

      Yoshihiro Tatsumi was for many readers, my self-included, someone who illuminated not only the city of Tokyo and Japan in Post War Japan but one of the aspects of the human heart and psyche. It helped to give an insight into life today and has not become irrelevant but only more relevant with every passing year. Whether a gritty or sexual tale or the desperation of a stranger that would have gone overlooked otherwise, even if from someone who isn’t always a morally redeemable character much like his protagonists,  it shows a storytelling that will open your mind to what comics and manga can be and showcase how great a genius Yoshihiro Tatsumi was.

Take A Pick Tuesday - Parasyte The Maxim

Take A Pick Tuesday: Parasyte The Maxim

 

 

 

 

I’ve been waiting for this one to wrap up to write a hefty article about it. Surprise and no surprise. A fantastic show that really puts the observation of humanity under the microscope, especially when that humanity in question is due to an alien parasite in you, one that is morphing you, transforming you from one tragedy to another. Yet there is the desire to remain human and cling to all the things that humanity stands for. Well the best things about them anyways. As well as clinging to those you care about, that you can only keep with you humanity intact. The greatest question is though what does it mean to be human?

 

        A whole species of parasites descends unto the human race in secret, going inside the body of unsuspected humans in order to mask what they really are, feeding on other humans to survive. Shinichi Izumi also has a parasite enter his body but like some it’s goal of reaching the head never happens and stops in his arm. Something he helps to do in a way. Naturally Shinichi freaks out when he realizes what resides in his hand,  the parasite who names itself Migi explains for what purpose the parasites had come to Earth, not aligned with any of the others, the creature is interested in its own survival which means Shinichi survival too. However that would also include for the both of them surviving to understand the way they think, morals or logic against what seems like morals, as well as the lives that could be threatened because of their known existence among other parasites, the threats would include Shinichi’s loved ones as well as himself.

 

 

 

      This show is a about a lot of things, of course the infiltration of us as a species by another species, what it might be like especially if the other was a parasite that used us in order to survive and achieve their goals. How easy it could become for them to do so, the dangers of it for us but also for them, having to be outnumbered and deal with the consequences of being in a human body, their needs for survival and dealing with things they might be unprepared for, such as pregnancy for example. Yup that’s right pregnancy.  It’s also about the human heart, direct tie to humanity, what drives us to overcome things. How love and caring for someone can recognize the change in those that they care about. What it means to hides one’s personal sufferings, the cost of it even when it’s a sacrifice for those you love. Because truly it’s never simple. 

 

With the parasites we get an outlook at our society as a whole and if it feels familiar and yet you still find it strange and tragic at times, that’s ok you’re merely looking at in at another perspective. Perhaps even looking at it through Migi’s lens, the parasite that comes into the main character Shinichi you seem to relate more to what he describes as unnecessary things that often are associated with the human emotions, you may find yourself agreeing for many reasons but why might be a thing that becomes clearer late. However it won’t stop you from seeing thing in Shinichi’s perspective, one that questions but also tries to protect the things in the world he sees, his humanity drives him in conflict with the parasite in him. Sure the parasite seem cruel, devouring especially in the beginning but it’s like a buffet, yet human violence tends to match it tic for tat. The violence first brought on towards Shinichi and everything that follows. I’m not just talking about delinquents from the street either.

 

     It’s why I say surprise and no surprise, surprise at how the show lures you in so fast, how surprising the story unfolds, unrelenting at times even downright gruesome and yet not for the sake of it. I mean the transformations really more human flesh to the most monstrous images possible. Still it never loses it heart, ironically it never loses the human factor, what we are plays a constant factor in even the most intense scenes. When the scenes focus on the drama it actually does a terrific job, you can see a character for a mere two episodes but grow attached to them very quickly. Coming from Madhouse, the animation shows its mettle from the transformations of normalcy to that of the parasites that are underneath, to the incredible cuteness that Migi just has, especially when Migi is doing what might seem like mundane things, surfing the web, reading a book. As well as growing to care how Shinichi feels about things even if he has to state the realistic situation sometimes that they’re in.

 

 

      It also isn’t surprising because of the popular the manga is, how long adaptions have waited to be done. There was quite an anticipation for this show, at least from people that read the manga when it came out, it delivers in my opinion in full. When it previewed the last episode I found myself saying but why but it was in a good way. Of course with depth comes heart breaking moments even when whatever it is happens to be over and the situation has moved on when Shinichi revisits the thought you can’t help but feel sad. If we call this horror than this is one of the aspects I love about the genre, though we may call it action instead or drama that’s ok. The horrific aspects set a tone for things I loved but I often find whatever else it has to be the things I come to love.  Some anime do that so well, I count Parasite among them.

     Some interesting things you'll notice right away about the show is the characters, how those closest to him can notice the steady change once Migi is a part of him. There is even one character that is fixated on him and has a sort of six sense when it comes to his presence. This is out of the love she feels for him of course even though she can sense other parasites. She isn't the only human either, later you see a murderer in prison that authorities use when they're trying to sense which humans the parasites are living in. I'd say that is a bit of a spoiler but not really, which such a large infiltration and all the human murders, it isn't surprising that the government would become aware of there presence even if many of them are already a part of that government. It would seem clear with there emotionless faces and piercing eyes that seem lifeless but things would change in some that would make that harder, for all of them though even though they hide their presence they don't try very hard. Shinichi's own friend and love interest Satomi Murano has a lot of problems with what she senses in him and the feeling that he is keeping something from her, even the horrors he'll go through are left to linger on his soul, mostly because he can share the truth with her, at times pushing her away. The titles of the episodes, often referring to classic books has a way of helping with the tone as does the music, which adds the intensity, heartbreak and rare peaceful moments in the series  

 

      To show something as evil and hateful is one thing, to come to understand that it’s much more complex is another. There is a scene later in the series where they show what it would be like for Migi and Shinichi to be separated, how lonely it can be. It follows with Shinichi being taken into an elderly woman’s house, how she grows attached to him, how loneliness would come to her if he left. There it show that it might not be as different between the two species as we think. Even more though is his decision to do something, which makes her fear for him knowing that it’s dangerous and he could be throwing his life away to do it. This woman has one of the best quotes in the series, when the smoke clears it becomes clear that there will be an answer given to the questions that arise from the show. What the answers may be though might come to shock you, Instead of condemning what we’ve seen, we are forced to look at, and how they could be a part of nature as much as everything else is. Is that wrong?

 

     So if our nature is just as brutal, than what is it that makes us human, maybe not better after all but simply what we are An intense episode would put all the questions and supposed answers to the test. It would show the extreme in the connection with Shinichi and Satomi, we protect those that we care about, we survive like the rest, while that might sound barbaric, Parasyte manages to make it show us as equals even show what we have in common.   You’ve got to give Parasyte kudos for managing to remain true in what the show had been about in the start, it moves fast but you feel very close with the characters. Ultimately it manages to reach into you and touch your heart in ways other horror related titles wish they could, not only that but it stands as a terrific anime, that will keep you both on the edge of your seat and have your mind wandering about it long enough to convince you to give it another watch one of many more I’m sure.

Take A Pick Tuesday: You're Lie In April

 Take A Pick Tuesday : You’re Lie In April

 

Can Music Transcend Words? Can Love Transcend All?

 

This might sound strange but watching “Your Lie In April” makes me feel as though it’s daytime even when I’m watching it during the night. Not to downplay the night scenes that naturally are plentiful, it’s only to describe the beauty of the show, it’s beautiful in every sense of the word, the coloring plays into the brightness and makes it shine yet it never feels too in your face, like it’s trying, no it is a natural beauty that flows through the entire show. Music which plays a major part in the show going hand in hand with love seem destined to be the center piece when everything around it is held together so well.

 

       It begins with a chance meeting when Kosei who is asked to tag along as his friend is supposed to meet a girl interested in him, when he gets there alone at first he finds a girl playing with children. The music as she plays is like a spring awakening for him and though he might not know it yet it would be what would connect the two characters, in music and in a unspoken love as they face the trials and tribulations of their past and the things that loom in the future, could their bond through music and the feeling for each other truly give them the strength to face everything that is front of them.

     From the cherry blossoms, a warm pink that rustles with a flair, jumping on to the characters as well as the mood, to the showcase of how Kaori Miyazono plays the violin, the character herself the focus of the main character Kosei Arima is beautiful ,to the point where you might find someone watching it with you or yourself commenting on her beauty, it’s only heightened when they show her playing, even drenched with sweat they do well to show the passion the characters have, by no one’s other tune but their own, especially Kaori and especially in Kosei's eyes, which show that everything about her manages to pierce the character’s long standing armor. They go through lengths to show how a violinist would play on stage, the sound of music matches well with the way she plays, it again shows how well the series is animated, the whole thing is beautiful but they know how to make the individual aspects shine. Once that is accomplished they know how to make them a part of something even bigger. It seems destiny that Kosei would play the piano besides her, she has that raw love for music the way it had always lived inside him and would be brought out.

     You feel it, the main character feels it and everyone in the audience feel it and that’s the point, it hits home to us as it does to Kosei who in flashbacks at first is shown as an amazing pianist, so she manages to match him tit for tat.  Before anything really starts, all of this truly sparks from their first meeting, no words of confession, no words of interest and yet eyes can say a world of things to come, they manage to show what his first meeting of her could mean, a redemption of sorts for him or the sense he no longer needs to ask for forgiveness, she is the color that we see, for him and we hope it’s the same for her at some point, hope in this case might seem insane, any doubts Kosei has of himself could be vanquished in a moment if you could see how Kaori looks at him. That is where their chemistry lies and even through the great ordeals that face them, it is one of the strongest aspects that continue to carry us throughout.

       That is important because of how grey and dim Kosei's world can be with flashbacks of why he is the way he is, his friends know for the most part, yet you feel his isolation during his look back to his sick and dying mother training him to be the top pianist in her place. His face filled with bruises, showing her abuse both physical and mental in the fact that he is willing to accept anything she dishes out to him in order to make her happy. Mind you he is even younger than, so it shows how disturbing it can be that he is so willing to oblige. It makes you long for the world of color and hope again, also allowing him not to be seen as just another depressing character, your given the chance to understand him right from the start. It's the ghosts of these memories that literally come out and attack him as he returns to play the piano through Kaori's encouragement or should I say physical forcefulness. Scenes where he just like when he stopped when younger, cannot hear the notes, scenes of him playing as if he is underwater. Trying to reach something in order to return to the surface. These psychological scenes balance well somehow to the amount of humor that is placed in the show, he is a part of a good deal of it too, showing another of the show’s strength, balancing all the aspects that as said before do not feel forced,  they are all a part of how the show is and how these kids are too.

 

      With it centering around classical music this show is no slouch in how it sounds, not just with how the character play the instruments in the animation, no it's taking the music and running with it, from his first viewing of her playing with the little kids in the playground, how music is involved in everything to Kaori's stunning performance that she managed to own, despite everyone else in the competition playing the same song, it’s blasphemy that she take it down the route she did according to the judges and yet it’s beautiful, it’s free and sort of the point in what he needs to see. Right away before she got on and certainly after you can see Kosei's desire for the piano crawling back and maybe his desire for life too. You'll be witness to an amazing show of piano playing, that reaches unspeakable levels as the show progress by him and the rivals he pushes to have their music speak for their experiences and feelings.

      An interesting way to push him too, for example Kaori conspires with one of his best friends Tsubaki Sawabe (who has been secretly in love with him for like forever, though it isn't much of a secret to the viewer) to have him accompany her violin performance which of course he feels he cannot do, not good enough for them as they plaster notes of the piece all over the classrooms, blast it on the speakers in the school, all around his home and on his phone too. When they’re not doing that they are beating him silly trying to convince him, often you’ll find him bleeding on the ground and what seems like out of his head. Once they manage to convince him, everything between him and Kaori seems ready to spark, of course they’ll will be challenges along the way as well as there is in the performance. Failing and succeeding, overcoming and who allows you to are themes that work they’re way step by step for a conclusion you can only hope will mean everything will be alright. After all the show is riddled with misunderstandings and love triangles, squares and maybe a singular line that was really only meant to be. Yet something greater is on the horizon, a true challenge to any resolution gained.

 

        Even the setting of the characters in middle school which for most of us, those days are long gone but do not put a hinder on the show, we aren’t busy questioning why it’s there because we aren’t placing them in a single time, for them this is a definitive change for all of them whatever may come and that is something that involves their whole life. Bringing an answer to youth with problems, is it really the end of the world some of their issues, perhaps not or perhaps it can be life changing. We understand the weight of it and allow the show to draw us in,  effectively crossing the line from melodramatic to dramatic, easy to tip the line yet the right story it never even gets close to it, things we may believe wouldn’t matter will matter to us as much as it does for the characters. To add to this the problems they have are very real, in fact you wonder how anyone could really come to terms with it, much less children. Love and music save us, directs us and is ultimately our freedom, it might seem on the surface to cause a gagging relax on the greatest of skeptics but there is truth in it, that’s why when a show does it right you can feel it or else why watch it in the first place right?

The show focuses heavily on Kosei and how Kaori effects his world as he wrestles with it’s changes and the deep affection he feels for her even though for some reason he feels like the odd man out. I think personally it’s crazy that he feels like friend A as they say it in the show simply because she was supposed to be introduced to his friend, the ladies man Ryota Watari. Especially after everything they went through. Right off the bat you can tell that Karoi and Kosei connection is deep, so much so there isn't this mystifying question on the character's faces for three parts of the series like in most shows, so how he can believe such a thing is a little strange but it might be more along the lines of the how wounded he’d become over the years than the actual belief of it in normal circumstances.  Eventually we do get into Kaori’s story although they leave a great deal out not because they don’t want to fill in the details but simply because that is going to be the greatest challenge in the show. Once they do it comes almost all at once and by the end of the show all the things you get off of these two characters is completely understood.  

      If you find a purpose through love and a way to stand to it, can it overcome, anything, anything that will come afterwards or do you shatter returning to what you’d been from the start. It won’t take long when you feel certain tragic events unfold, it’s no secret but the show makes you hope, that is a part of what the show is meant to do, you stop lying to yourself  and find any actual lie that was said is only meant to direct you to the truth. No matter what that truth may mean. Yeah it might sound a little philosophical but that’s the obvious meaning seen plain in all it’s complex details and colors. Don’t believe me, listen to Kaori’s own philosophical out views both positive and negative or her quotes from characters of the Peanuts comic strip.

You’re Lie in April is meant to expose your heart and follow it, that doesn’t necessarily have to be categorized as a school romance/ drama, that can be something that many works of arts become.  It accomplishes everything it sets out to do, including moving you to the last moment, powerful in a way that it doesn’t flaunt, this show just is. If by the end it feels like this show has changed something, then you’re in good company and you’re also witness to one of the most amazing animes in years.