Having Your Hands Full {The Parent Edition} Part 2

Having Your Hands Full {The Parent's Edition} Part 2

 

Yu Yu Hakusho- This isn’t even a joke, no matter which show I used to introduce someone to anime, Yu Yu Hakusho has always played a pivotal part in their conversion.  My favorite series of all time, Yu Yu Haksuho manages to transcend the usual shonen fair to bring something really potent, poetic, hilarious and edge of your seat, it does this while still finding a way to be wholly relatable and carrying a big heart on it’s sleeves.  

       Yu Yu Hakusho focuses on young outsider Yusuke Urameshi, who can’t seem to go anywhere without people pointing fingers at him, fighting him, so much so he doesn’t see the people that really love him and are trying to understand him. When Yusuke does what seems like the unthinkable to some, rescuing a boy from a speeding car, he dies (first episode everybody), it’s then that he sees all the people who care about him. Not knowing it this would be the first time his moral perception would be opened and altered leaving it open for everything that would come afterwards.

     Yusuke goes through an ordeal to get his life back, as he does it he gets an insight into the lives of those who love him, his rival Kuwabara who is more than a thug but an honorable young man with a code, as well as his true love Keiko. someone who can open her heart to the world around her and see the special things in those that most would ignore. Someone who would help bring him from the brink of death.

       Once he returns the powers of Spirit World ask him to be Earth’s new Spirit Detective, someone who investigates demons and rogue humans that may be endangering all three worlds. So this is where Yusuke’s life would undergo constant transformation, as he connects with his true self and his feelings and how it would affect the countless lives in the world and those closest to him. Defying expectations as he does, always thrown into situations he shouldn't be prepared for and seem destined to rip him apart.

       It’s a hell of a ride, Yusuke being the take no crap sort of person he is, Kuwabara as mentioned the determined honorable human that will make you laugh, Kurama the well-mannered intellectual demon who used to be the legendary bandit of demon world and Hiei the cut throat, fiery tempered demon. Along with the rest of the cast that includes a talking baby who is actually the prince of spirit world, you  realize that nothing is truly strange but it is moving and beautiful, Yu Yu Hakusho does that to you and will to anyone you show it to.

 

Hellsing/Hellsing Ultimate- People always complain that the vampire concept is dead to a mainstream audience, no one has told Anime this or Comics or TV shows with vampires in it like The Strain and  even Penny Dreadful. Hellsing is a momentous achievement, one that if you have a parent that is into horror can see how anime knows how to push those boundaries in many ways, sometimes they push in a way that becomes quite iconic. While maintaining enough vampire lore to make fans of Stroker and of countless other stories cheer in glee. Hellsing is a masterpiece painted in blood.

        Hellsing shows an organization with the same name that hunts in the shadows in the name of her majesty the queen and all those that live in England. They hunt vampires, the ghouls they control and organizations who wish for complete anarchy and chaos. Among their trained killers they have a secret weapon, a very old and powerful, seemingly indestructible vampire by the name of Alcuard.  Something one cop Seras Victoria learns first hand, after being attacked by a vampire and bitten by Alcuard in order to save her life.

       Once he has, Seras has become apprentice to one of the greatest vampires in history and a part of an organization that hunts and kills her kind and the strange abominations that have been artificially created to seem like vampires. Alcuard has an interesting relationship with the leader of the Hellsing organization, Integra Wingate Hellsing.  One of master and servant and yet him being chaos against the forces of chaos may lead to some devastating results. The first series was moody and atmospheric and though it doesn’t followed the manga the entire way through it quickly established Hellsing as a favorite among anime titles. The other Hellsing Ultimate is a tribute to the manga, adapting the style and story more closely that will leave you in awe as well as your parent. An Amazon review I once saw called it distasteful in some of the things it said, they believed it was for shock value but they forget these are monsters and you're in their world now. Just warn them to put on their big pants because like many titles on this list the show is very mature.

 

Case Closed/ Detective Conan- If there is one thing anime does well, it’s show love for the genres that we appericate here in the West. It takes you down some fun routes and some surprising places. Detective Conan is a great example, the most successful mystery anime series of all time as well as being one of the longest running series (I believe 8th), it manages to incorporate all the necessary things to turn anyone, including a parent into an Otaku.

 

       Easy accessibility, I say this in how there are many episodes that can be watched without feeling that  your missing something. Yet once you find you really enjoy the series, there is an underlining story filled with twists that reach explosive points you aren't going to expect. It’s not easy to run almost 800 episodes and keep the underlining story interesting but they do so.  Of course the mystery aspect is always captivating, complex and unique, it takes someone as gifted as Conan Edogawa to figure out who did it.

         The characters are built on throughout the series and there is a surprising amount of focus placed on love, which shows that underneath Detective Conan there is a big heart there. Parents may get the references to the large array of detective novels and TV shows that character’s names are rooted from or certain cases as well as locations, which means they get to tell you something that maybe you didn’t know. As I’ve said there’s plenty to sink your teeth in and there does seem to be a slow movement of getting more Conan back here in the US. You have to hold out hope, in the meantime there’s movies and specials, several parts to cases, that will keep you occupied for a long time.

       The series focuses on Shinichi Kudo/ Jimmy Kudo who is considered the modern day Sherlock Holmes, this teenager helps the police with what seem like impossible mysteries, his keen observations skills and intellect are unsurprising when realizing he’s the child of a world famous novelist and a retired actress. He takes his friend and love interest, Ran Mori/ Rachel Moore to a theme park when he witnesses a shady deal taking place. Unfortunately during the deal of a man and two mysterious men in black, he’s caught seeing too much, attacked and given an experimental poison that’s meant to kill him, instead it turns him into a child.

 

       Now a child he seeks the help of his neighbor Professor Agasa, together they make a new identity for him, Conan Edogawa, it allows him to move in with Rachel and her bumbling private detective father Koguro Mori/ Richard Moore. Now as a kid he uses tools to solve crimes and lifting her father’s reputation, knowing that no one will listen to a kid, in the hopes that the cases will be able to present these two men, the organization they are a part of and a way to return his body to normal.

 

Master Keaton- I can’t help it I’m a sucker for both Master Keaton and Monster, so any chance to pitch them to the doubtful or a way to get  someone into anime I do so. Master Keaton is a wonderful series that focuses on Taichi Higura Keaton, a former SAS member who teaches part time and also is an insurance investigator for Lloyd’s of London. These cases lead him around the world, meeting all sorts of people with hopes and dreams, like his and others that run parallel, sometimes (more often than not) these investigations lead him into dangerous situations that along with his training, his knowledge of archeology often helps to save him.

        What are Keaton’s dreams you ask. The truth is that Keaton as an archeologist as well, hopes to focus on that full time and get the chance to do an excavation near the Danube River to prove a theory that the area may have been the truth origins of European Civilization. Quite the mouthful, it’s a detailed show that leaves you open to the world around you, it’s astounding on how you can appreciate all things big and small, if there is a series that your parents may beg you to watch the next episode of, Master Keaton just might be it.

 Monster- Brilliant Neurosurgeon Dr. Kenzo Tenma is a Japanese man in Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he’s on his way to reaching the very top of the ladder, engaged to the  hospital director's daughter.  Something changes though when a Turkish woman blames him for not operating on her husband, when he could have saved his life. Haunted by this he realizes the world around him is ruled by politics and to them life is not equaled.

         When Dr. Tenma is called into an emergency he finds two twins, a boy shot in the head and his sister in catatonic shock. The complex surgery is something he believes only he can do to save the boy’s life before he’s asked to operate on the Mayor instead. Making the decision to operate on the boy crumbles everything he ever worked for.  Cast out and engagement broken, Dr. Tenma holds on to the truth that all life is equal and what it truly means to be a doctor. That’s when an incident occurs finding two doctors and the director of the hospital murdered by poison candy. Tenma gets his a second chance though he already understand what he really wants in life.

    Ten years later while seeing over a lock picker, he finds the man missing from his hospital bed and chases him to a building, starting to realize the man is running from something. What he finds is what his patient had been warning him about, a monster. A beautiful young man who executes his patient and turns out to be the boy he saved all those years ago. Soon Tenma finds out that this boy has been systematically killing middle age couples across Germany. Feeling he’s responsible he goes after the boy by first going after his strange past that leads to dark corners of where the true monster of humanity resides.  

      A meditation on the human soul, it’s capacity for good and evil, Monster is a high achievement in more than being a psychological drama, it’s a poetic expression of life and what it can make of us. It's abilities to transform you and how you may transform the world around you, the existence of a choice and how people see that existence quite differently.  If you have a few shows you know you’d want to sell your parent on, make sure that Monster is one of them.   If you’ve never seen it then the both of you are in for a treat.

 

 

Full Metal Alchemist/ Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood - It's hard to achieve such great things for one series but going back and achieving it again is another thing entirely. We've seen movies that brought great shows, defying the odds, well here's a show that brought another great show. It is something very human, very personal and very possible in being the choice to sit down a parent for. After all Full Metal Alchemist is iconic, the way shows like  so many other anime your shaking your fist at the screen for not being on the list. (Don't worry we're getting there, quite a bit you know and even more we'll have to explore and talk about in other ways.)

       A story of redemption and brotherhood, Full Metal Alchemist shows two young boys raised by their mother diving into Alchemy, the study of transmuting one thing into another. Naturals in the art they quickly feed their appetite to learn more until their mother passes away and there's no way to cope with it, with being alone and what they loved is their only hope in bringing back who they love.  However they do what is forbidden, human transmutation and pay the ultimate price. Edward loses his arm and his leg and his brother Al loses his entire body, only surviving because his brother managed to connect his soul to a suit of armor.
      Surviving they go to search for the philosopher stone in the hopes of returning their body, even if it means one might have to become a state alchemist, to some that means a soldier, a dog of the state, to do it. Their life was changed by consequences and now they'll see a world of consequences and how they may play a pivotal part in more then just their sole journey of redemption.

Not a bad start for shows to give to your parents to watch. Some of you might ask well what about Attack On Titan and all the other no brainers, well of course show these to them, the truth is you never know what show might make someone a diehard anime fan. Perhaps a Gundam series is what would get your parents to understand anime.  Trigun has Western sensibilities, Wolf’s Rain is poignant. Perhaps a movie, like Akira or Grave of The Fireflies or Perfect Blue or even Places Promise In Our Early Days. All find choices and will be on the next list but these are some of many starting points to work with.

 

     A movie list is also definitely in order (Vampire Hunter D) but there are enough anime to write all day about what you can show a parent. So I suppose more lists are in order maybe even to show over the holidays, flashback of previous lists. In the meantime pop in that Lupin The Third, that Patlabor, that Psycho-Pass, and give them series that they won’t be able to forget.

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!

Having Your Hands Full (Parent's Edition)

 

 

Are you a teenager trying to have your parents understand why you find anime so significant? Maybe you’re an adult whose watched it for years and years and feels it’s time to really sit down with them and show them what’s been more than a life obsession but a part of your life, after all we want our parents  to know our life (sometimes). Perhaps you aren’t interested in showing your parents but  know someone who is, or someone you feel you want to introduce anime to. Anime like any genre has a stereotype, what they assume is anime isn’t always the case and what is has more substance and far more rewarding at times than they think.

Then again maybe you just need a list to sit someone down to watch anime, otaku or not, well this might just be your list

 

Cowboy Bebop- Hailed as a masterpiece that had led to a turning point in anime, in story telling as well as the spread of anime in North America in a new sense.  There's so many thing about the series that that go well beyond  simply the name. Though I’ve found after years of watching anime, that I have gone back to it as a reminder on what had my eyes latched to the TV on those late nights and  how it stayed with me long after I’ve gone to bed. Shows like this, deeply thought out story telling among a wide range of styles and sensations that it leaves you with. Ones that are filled with fun, joy, sorrow, horror or the sense you’re just watching something real cool.

     Many shows try to be cool, Cowboy Bebop is cool and what so many strive to be, creative input from here on would spawn so many classics though a good deal of those arguably have come from the creative minds of this series. Space bounty hunters with checkered pasts always down on their luck and the strange places it takes them would normally seem like a fun but impersonal experience and yet Bebop managed to accomplish a personal experience, a bow tie between East and West, a wholly relatable feeling. If nothing else the name will come up when you’re introducing anime to them whether you like it or not, you might want to give it another viewing.

 

Berserk- If you are showing your folks something, no matter your age you might have reservations  showing them something well adult oriented. If you can move past that though than why not show them a series that captures an unbelievable scope when it comes to the concept of power, the rise of it, the cost, the lives it transforms, the many roads it leads to and all the brutal aspects that come with it regardless. Set upon a medieval backdrop Berserk is a mostly backstory driven show and a perfect organic combination of fantasy (mostly in the end) with all the themes and deep moving storytelling it had shown in throughout the series.

 

      Guts is a mercenary that came from nothing, seemingly born with a talent for killing, he finds some who is his better and becomes a cornerstone to this person’s dream. A man named Griffith who leads a mercenary group called The Band of The Hawk, as the faithful devoted follow him in his climb in power. Becoming a faithful necessity in this dream eventually Guts finds out more about himself than what he feels people have told him for years, seeing the darker things that are in work beyond crosses of swords to obtain this power, the cost to live with it and his own dreams and perhaps his own path.  Yet the series also shows what walking from such a thing could mean, chaos and perhaps a deconstruction of everything you could ever believe in. Riveting it not only shows others a series that has art and storytelling beyond what they may have expected but also the merits of other genres when done with a vision in many ways, one way, being Berserk.

 

 

Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex – Ghost In The Shell was a landmark film that pushed the boundaries of animation and storytelling, influencing science fiction for filmmakers and comic creators alike on both the East and West side of the world. So who could believe that it could be touched again and again and still make it more profound, more thought provoking than ever thought possible, yet it did and part of doing this was with a TV show.

 

       Two seasons of the show that took the cyberpunk classic, unwove it and wrote down all these other ideas that went with what it already contained, they went together like peanut butter and jelly. It would be easy to call it a cop show in that way and yet impossible too. The range of topics and ways the episodes were tackled were numerous and unique proving that revolutionizing is just something Ghost In The Shell does. It did so by unveiling in episodes what we loved, growing closer to the characters like Major Kusanagi, Batou and Chief Aramaki along with the rest of the team, let’s not forget the Tachikomas.

 

      Covering a wide range of topics such as mortality, immortality, corruption, cybernetics/ robotics, politics, terrorism, border issues, refugees, philosophy, personal lives, love, crime and intrigue. The stories are told with precision and the sort of high production quality that never comes off as cheesy or cliché. In fact a parent may sit down and forget their watching an anime, yet would learn that they are because that’s what anime is all about diversity in storytelling, animation, and imagination.

 

 

Fruits Basket- There are comedies that need to be watched, why? Well because they are such an important element in anime, one that those that are highly critical of anime never expect to be the sort that turns them on to the genre. There are so many classics of the sort such as Ranma1/2, Love Hina, Tenchi Muyo, Urusei Yatsura, the list goes on and on. What is great about comedy in anime is it becomes easy to relate to the characters and when things take a dramatic turn, which they do sometimes, it allows you to respect another subgenre in anime, and that is drama.

 

      Fruits Basket is one such show that masterly blends drama and comedy, it also has a unique premise that instead of being a gimmick allows you to see the perspective of the large amount of characters in the series. These characters continue to feed back and build strong center characters like its heroine Toru Honda who might be one of the nicest people in all existence, just saying.  Toru Honda lost her mother to a car crash a year before and since then has secretly lived in a tent ( not counting the time she stayed with her grandpa for a bit) in the forest, unbeknownst to anyone in order to not trouble anyone. See what I mean about the nice.

       Even though her friends would gladly help Toru, who you find can easily give sage like life changing advice doesn’t know how to take her own.  So she continues to go to work and school and lives this way when she is discovered, by the prince of her school no less Yuki Sohma and invited to live with him and his young perverted Uncle Shigure.

     That’s when she stumbles upon a secret. The Sohma family has a curse that when hugged by the opposite sex they turn into the twelve signs of the zodiac…and the cat. When trusted with this secret Toru must reach out to this family filled with traumatic secrets while trying to maintain their cover and hope that living with them isn’t a temporary thing but one in which she finds a family of her own.

     Things get real crazy when Kyo, the outsider and the cat comes to live there as well, determined to finally defeat his rival Yuki. Of course the true concern is the head of the family that all fear, and  he has his eyes are on Toru.  Romance, friendship and personal struggles make this a captivating show, if you’re looking for something a little different to show your family why not this!

 

Chobits- On the subject of different, I’ve seen firsthand how Chobits can win the heart of non-believers. Young Hideki whose lived on a farm most of his life moves to Tokyo, there he is supposed to go to cram school and hopefully then pass his college entrance exams. The big city has lots of things to offer that he’s never seen before but the most astounding are Persocoms.  Human appearance like robots essentially and in some ways walking, talking, personal computers, these Persocoms are changing the way people live.

       Usually in the appearance of women though sometimes men, Hideki finds a world he hardly understands, one he’ll be thrust into when he finds a discarded Persocom in the trash (which he mistakes for a body at first), the mysterious Chi.

        Not knowing anything about Persocoms is the least of Hideki’s problem, taking care of her as if she was a human is, Hideki is a hyper sensitive virgin which makes everything all the more difficult. When he does try to learn about Chi, even with the help of his neighbor Shinbo things just don’t seem to make sense. Chi lacks a memory disc and can only say her name, though she has the software to learn if you teach her, even so she seems to have the power of a supercomputer. While Hideki works through these strange things in this strange world, he soon finds that Chi’s importance lies in something far more potent, that something is in his own heart. Hopefully he doesn’t have a fatal nose bleed beforehand though.

      As relevant maybe even more so since it has come out. Chobits is a major accomplishment which is saying something considering Clamp’s track record.  At the heart of it this is a story about love, about the desire to be complete and the fear it brings in some people. Questions in the show on how to look at Persocoms is now a question that we are asking with robots, not so much science fiction anymore they are swiftly becoming a pivotal part of society. Maybe a more pleasant resolution to these concerns can be found in Chobits.

 

Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X- The essential epic of Rurouni Kenshin is a no brainer that must be shared, along with many on the list, this is the first one I share with those I want to give a proper introduction of what anime can be.  A story of redemption and of love is as soul searching as it asks it’s characters to be, how our past has shaped us but how our future can have a more profound effect on us. This may sound silly to say but if ever you needed a show that promoted peace over violence it would be this show.

     Before those that are familiar with the series shake their head, what I mean is truly peace is all the characters in the series want and if you want an optimistic view of humanity, maybe that’s all we as people want. The main protagonist Kenshin Himura is a prime example, having been an assassin in the war that would usher in the Mejii era, Kenshin would forgo a place in politics and live a life as a wanderer in redemption for all the lives he’s taken in his past life.

     In doing this he meets Karou who struggles to keep the swordsmanship her father  had instructed to students alive, the sword style that does not kill. Before he knows it Kenshin begins to call her home his, along with other people affected by the war and the era that has followed, outsiders that can become a family together.  While Kenshin having been a part of the war and taken lives knows there is no such style that exists, he slowly through his past coming into his present finds that like his reverse sword, there is a way to implement such a style. A way to save lives instead of taking them.

 

         The show wins hearts instantly and is also a good way to showcase a certain style of anime, the long running sort that can at times have as much substance as any other sort, arguments against this belief are noted. If you do choose to show them Ruoruni Kenshin then you might want to also go on the hunt for what is considered an OVA but I prefer to look at as a two hour movie. It shows the way Kenshin became an assassin and what would happen to change our favorite X shaped scar  swordsman into a wanderer. The title is Trust and Betrayal. The tone is different than the TV show but rightfully so and is to me still one of the highest achievements in anime. Might as well show them Reflection after the TV show which maintains this feel and concludes the saga all together. Hey you can even show them the live action trilogy based on the manga/anime. You might have just made a true Otaku out of your parent.

 

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!

 

 

Final Thoughts: My Love Story Forges It's Own Path In Storytelling

              Final Thoughts: My Love Story Forges Its Own Path In Storytelling

 

At the conclusion of the show it’s easy to associate it with various directions or formulas it may have adopted but look close enough and you realize it’s done none of these but manages to forge its own path,  in the way it has developed its own uniqueness and drawn us in as viewers.

 

     Like the opening suggests and the episodes until this point, Suna is alone, you wonder if he will find love. Being Takeo’s friend but truly the friend of Yamato as well, Suna is the voice of reason, the calm one who observes but also a dependable friend. His amusement and admiration for Takeo knows no bounds and he doesn’t exactly keep it a secret. Being these things Suna is as Takeo has always observed, popular with the ladies who ironically never has a lady.

 

      So when someone confesses it leads to lots of twists and turns, one reason being that Suna knows the girl whose admired him from afar( besides on White Day) since kindergarten.  When everyone hoping along with the girl that something will come of this, Suna actually goes on a date with the girl, being his usual calm and understanding self. However he’s also being true to himself when he basically let’s her down gently. That doesn’t mean Suna believes he will never love someone, when asked throughout the show he acknowledges it will happen, he like everyone else though just doesn’t know when. My Love Story will not give you illusions as strange as that sounds,  not everyone can be happy or can they, perhaps, just not in the conventional sense that most shows project it as.

 

      The usual everyone gets together toward the end to wrap the show up and tie all the character’s stories and loose ends isn’t what this show is trying to do. How My Love Story does it is intelligent, while staying true to the series and what we loved about it from the first episode.  As we move to the conclusion of the series we see Rinko Yamato apply for a part time job at a Bakery.

 

     This is significant because she’s a baker, it’s also one of the connections she’s had with Takeo since the first episodes, appreciation given in the form of various pastries. In this way it kind of feels like cake got it’s on backstory or spotlight in these last episodes, even if in a small way compared to what was going on. I’ll explain what I mean but to grasp it is to understand what happened next. While Yamato is working at the bakery she meets the talented pastry chef of the bakery Kouki  Ichinose, egocentric and before she arrived, a quiet outsider.

 

       He also represents the typical handsome protagonist seen in some shows or the strived for love while overlooking the main character of the series. Ichinose finds Yamato to be his inspiration, a muse for his baking and she is wowed solely by his skills but never falters or questions her devotion for Takeo. Takeo soon catches on that this man develops feeling for her and the man says it himself, declaring that he is what Yamato should seek out not someone like Takeo, meaning his appearance. As if he was the needle to pop the bubble of this dream.  Takeo doesn’t respond in anger but feels struck as if it may be true. For a moment that feels like what we’re seeing as Takeo runs to the bakery with an umbrella because it began to pour, only to find his love getting a ride from Prince Charming.

 

    So this is rolling towards a bitter-sweet ending to the romance or a violent confrontation  in which Takeo would obviously win, something to show what we could critique as finally having conflict in the series but it’s always had its small dilemmas as well as its large ones just not in the way some other shows focus on it.  Despite the sweetness of the show, the tender affection of two people trying to understand a relationship still looks to plenty of moral questions and comments on several turns on who these characters are. So seeing it this way are we losing that with the end of the episode, a possibly surrendered Takeo.

 

 

 

 

        Yet we do not, the acknowledgment of what’s happening with Ichinose looking to be with Yamato is there for Takeo as is seen by Suna, even his sister, at the moment and in the pep talks at home. Taking place in Suna’s room. However the relationship continues, there is questioning on Takeo’s part, wondering if he really is the right choice for Yamato but everyone dismisses such a question and it becomes clear to him and us that he will not giving up loving her. Still though no violence or curses comes from Takeo, instead he sees that Ichinose is trying to accomplish something with Yamato, to win a competition (first place, no gold medal) and what does Takeo choose to do?

 

      He chooses to help in any way possible, doesn’t even consider it even if helping this man win this competition would mean that he confesses his feelings to Yamato as he told Takeo he would do beforehand. Which means running the chance of losing her.  But Takeo does this because he is Takeo and this is how My Love Story is. So when Yamato declares she’s in love with Takeo and only him when Ichinose wins and confesses (which being turned down seemed impossible in the man’s head, his internal thoughts spoke on how much she loved him.) You know that is why it is their relationship and no one else can take away from that, it also allows you to understand, this is how the show is and defies being like any other show.

 

     This allows a small step for Takeo in say her name Yamato's first name, Rina. You can even argue that Ichinose baked magnificently because he observed their love without consciously knowing this was the reason. Declaring that he would bake in order to bring such happiness it also a way of showing the cake's significance and perhaps realizing in his own way what we have seen in the characters throughout the series. Yamamoto’s ignorance toward how Ichinose felt the entire time is a shining example of her wearing Takeo’s shoes and was his character in these last few episodes.  The idea that cake is the bond between Takeo and Yamamoto is only valid because of the love she has for Takeo which could be one of the major reasons she wanted the job in the first place.

 

       In doing this  as the show ends, it forges its own path, not the conventional sense in what should happen to a show at this point (whatever that conventional sense might be), not twists that go against what it was supposed to be about, just reinforcing the idea that My Love Story was tenderness and much needed focus of love between the two and all those closest to them. It’s pure uncompromising while still looking at the little pieces of a relationship  bit by bit. All the while it promises this is a journey for two characters to take beyond the episodes of the series which is uplifting, not in a way that feels forced or needed or even unresolved but only in the truest sense of what My Love Story represents.

 

  

Take A Pick Tuesday: Blood The Last Vampire

Take A Pick Tuesday: Blood The Last Vampire

 

We’re on the forefront of revolutionary storytelling every day, new shows come out all the time that have expansive ideas or expand on ideas and transcend expectations, as well as genre to be a part of culture and film. This is nothing new and yet it is always new when it brings something that can be added to an impressive collection of shows and movies that have long since been numbered beyond count, shows and movies that have been able to make these changes within the genre of anime.

      Yet knowing this, it’s easy to be surprised or instead have a greater knowledge of how long this has been happening. Blood The Last Vampire came out during a time where anime seemed so cinematic that they could just be released in theaters ( some were and have since been re-released in theaters), no one had to wave it in front of your face and say this is an anime. In Japan this had been nothing new, these were made for theater releases and had been treated as such, in fact they still are. For the US those that didn’t even watch anime knew and the only thing anyone cared about was how magnificent these shows and movies were.

       In fact looking at Manga Entertainment it’s easy to forget what a difference that made in North America, how they helped to bring such an impact, minds that had been opened for years or had already unfurled were scooped up and showed something that would remain with them for the rest of their lives. Foundations of why they were an anime fan, even if the gateway had been other shows beforehand, this is where they came to explore the genre, one of many stepping stones in that journey.

      This is before Funimation would become the monster distributor it was, even before other companies would disappear, re-emerge or live on through their titles that would be picked up from the remaining companies.  All the companies were kicking through it sure but look at Manga Entertainment’s catalog and see what a difference they brought by bringing these titles to us.  Blood The Last Vampire had company alongside, Ghost In The Shell, Patlabor, Blackjack, X and even their Street Fighter films and series managed to take something that was a basis for a fighting game and add mythos to it, a story, an explored mood that would have people go wow! At least it did for me. The list goes on and on.

      Blood The Last Vampire is insight into an era, as it is an insight into one of kind storytelling, showing that truthfully we’ve been on the forefront for some time now. The film had an all-star cast of creators and animators including Mamrou Oshii. Still you’re not distracted by who are attached to this project, you’re not saying I’m watching it because these people are working on it, no you’re watching it because of the film and it captures you the moment it starts, showing you shadows, nothing but shadows in the light, with characters, with everything. You know the moment the scene opens with Saya sitting on the train, in a nearly empty car except for one unassuming tired man, until you realize that this is the beginning of the hunt you’re watching. This is a mission, that man was a creature.

 

       We’ll get back to this towards the end but that’s just it, we’re fed details, bits and pieces, the viewers are not given a beginning, there’s more of the sense that we’re in the middle of something that’s been happening for a while, another day and mission or perhaps one of the final days of a final mission. One of the most significant points in these character’s lives, not just those that will see them, characters swept in the world but also the characters that already a part of it, like Saya.

 

       The basic synopsis of the film is this, Saya along with two men who are part of some official agency of sorts, are sent to a base in Yokota Air Base, right before the start of the Vietnam War to dispatch of these creatures we know as vampires, more specific Saya is sent in to eliminate these creatures while it becomes clear that not only may she be one of them, but might be the last original.  That’s all you really need to know going in to the film and that becomes clear fairly early.

 

     You wouldn’t think a vague description like that is enough to hook you on a story but it is,  this is coming from someone that is as fascinated with the story as anything else but of course  Blood The Last Vampire is a triumph when it comes to animation. Old and new techniques are used to give even a veteran anime watcher an appreciation of the detail and style used in the film. The era captured and the mixture of Japanese and English audio in the dubbed version at least. It adds to the mood and the tension, never forget this has heavy horror elements into it and it plays with this giving a completely new dimension that is left for you to hold on to, play around with in your hands to see a depth, one that will make you run back again to see the movie.

 

     We’re talking scenes like the glossed/waxed wooden floors with a trail of dripping blood in an auditorium at the height of a Halloween costume party.  There is a monstrous appearance of people among the monster and their imperfection gives them a realistic, believable sense that they're not just fluff for the background or just a character to say a few words to keep the movie going. The designs of the creatures themselves have an organic look to them, they could be animals in our world in some ways, long jaws and a slight trace of human anatomy in them.   

      The creatures have such rapid movement that make you look at the humans going ok, what are you going to do, I mean their eyes bulge sometimes, looking like they’re going to burst. Are they a vampire, no it’s worse, they’re just plump and ready for the vampires to kill, as fleshy as they look it makes the hunt almost natural, it makes it feel like these creatures although they’re being hunted and are things that go bump in the night, are sort of part of the food chain, they just happen to be on the top of it. Also a fine contrast to the humans that have at time clumsy motions, whether intentional or not it plays well against the actual vampire. That’s saying a lot considering they’re not even original creatures though they don’t go deep into what makes them a synthetic, an inorganic version of what Saya is, so even that can be questioned and scrutinized. At least in the film.

       Am I pitching this for Halloween, well no it’s just damn good timing but of course this is a perfect Halloween film to sit down and enjoy the mood of the coming holiday.  I mean it is downright horrific even when you have someone combating these creatures, not everyone is just a victim but enough are to still terrify you. Though the scene where Saya comes in and the nurse is looking after two students in which she kills one and then gives chase to the other, shattering the woman’s perception of the world while still progressing the story, is horrifying as well as it is thought provoking. I’ve used that a few times I know but I’m going somewhere with this.

 

         To see a blend of these themes in the show is once again to see the scene showing the Halloween party in mid-swing, where the creature shows itself and the nurse sees it and Saya runs at it with an antique sword which breaks, it’s a fake and only the nurse seems aware of what's happening besides the other two in battle against each other. It was like bringing one element into another, watching them clash and of course showing the thought provoking aspect that no one can see this real world.

 

     Than we go deeper, to do so we need to look at Saya. It’s enough to have a badass character, sort of relentless, takes nothing from anyone but also to have someone that doesn’t really allow you to see another side of them while still managing to be fascinating and still help the movie be more than a horror-action film. That’s something else entirely. There’s lots of fun films with characters like that and then there are films that have depth with characters like this, that’s a harder thing to pull off. Blood The Last Vampire does it with ease.

    Characters going through metamorphosis are important elements to a story, in order for it to have a dramatic effect on you, to draw you in, you have to be emotionally invested in the characters. So it helps if they pull on your emotions through theirs. That’s why it’s a feat to do it with a character that may seem like you couldn’t have that experience with. Yet Saya is one that you can and it shows through subtle moments, through select words of which she says little and one of the final scenes.

       A good story knows how long it needs to be and it, this film knows exactly how long and when it will end, in its final scenes it gives you this metamorphosis, that’s when you realize maybe it didn't just happened in this moment, maybe it’s been happening the entire time. This final scene, seen and then pointed out by someone else as well is when she’s given the fatal wound to the last creature, it opens its mouth in agony, Saya drops blood in its mouth.  It’s also where you get a shot of her hair blowing and only a part of her face, not truly the front but a side that shows you something other than anger.  Metamorphosis, a difference, whatever you want to call it, there’s this serene face that can hold any of the emotions you would see in a character.

       What is the face though, it could be anything from peace, to the sadness, of watching, what may very well be the last of her kind.  In this scene the movie breathes which is one of it’ greatest achievements. If you find flaws in it yourself, this scene might force you to ignore them. Everything that follows gives answers to some questions and leaves others for us to wonder as any good movie does. It also leaves a character whose perception of the world was opened up, to question everything. I remember lots of things about Blood The Last Vampire, with so many years of a gap since seeing it last and it isn’t how long the movie is that stays with me, it isn’t anything superficial that sticks with me, I'm not laughing at any mistakes or sitting to poke fun at the film, it was the feeling of watching something special, it’s the scene that breathes life into a film that was on the forefront of something revolutionary. That's what I sat down to watch.

 

 

*Photo courtesy of imdb*

Take A Pick Tuesday: Yona of The Dawn

Take A Pick Tuesday: Yona Of The Dawn

 

Everyone was so excited for this show I was excited and yet was delayed in watching it nonetheless. Set in a world that would remind people of familiar story influences such as The Romance of The Seven Kingdoms though with its own built mythology and a fascinating structure that is unique on its own. All the while Yona Of The Dawn embraces the feel of the traditional adventure story and that’s not a bad thing, it’s something to build on.

 

      Yona is the princess of the Kouka Kingdom, daughter to a king who chooses peace over war and despises violence, her father favors kindness over viciousness to secure his kingdom which inspires some and concerns other, including those closest to him. Many people speak on the other kingdoms gaining strength from this way of governing, which later shows that King il had even given away land to avoid war.  These mix results spill on to the four clans as well, (five clans including the sky clan) who are pillars to which the king stands on, his army and his strength. The other clans are wind, water, fire and earth.

 

       Some of the greatest warriors are bred from these clans but the strongest of all is the general of the wind tribe and protector of Yona, nicknamed The Thunder Beast Hak. Yona doesn’t necessarily see the complexity of how the kingdom is run, she’s only on the verge of turning sixteen with love on her mind, unaware of what the transition into adulthood would mean, even talks of marriage do not seem far behind.  It’s to Hak most of all that she conveys these feelings, showing where her mind is, her opinions of her father and of the things she is aware and unaware of.  The relationship between Hak and Yona is on the complex side that goes beyond protector and protected.

 

     The two are shown as childhood friends which includes a third friend Soo Won, who’s to attend her birthday.  The three were always inseparable but Yona had always been in love with him, it seemed a mutual thing as observed by Hak, in fact it seemed a no brainer that the two would get married except for the fact that King il refuses.  That starts a whirlwind when things turn somber because Yona can’t dwell on it long, despite having time to blame her father and criticize him as king, it all changes when she discovers his dead body and Soo Won standing over him.

 

       With Hak and others putting their life on the line, they manage to get Yona out of the palace in the midst of this rebellious act. Something that would start Yona’s journey within and without.  She’s scarred with the sight of her father’s body and the betrayal from the one she loved.  Hunted and saved, barely making it several times Yona brims with uncertainty, even knowing who’s responsible she seems to still struggle with actually blaming him.  Though she soon burns with the urge to protect Hak who she sees nearly die for her several times so she could live and is filled with the desire to set things right, except what is right?

"We'll go anywhere we have to, as long as it means you'll live."-Hak

 

        Having Yona face the greatest questions she’s ever had in her life she must ask one that tears her in two which splits the identity. How can she ignore her father’s wish of choosing above violence but desire to learn how to use weapons, protect and thereby killing in order to do so. It’s a dilemma she carries as she takes up learning how to use bow and arrow and soon becomes aware of a destiny she may have to follow to accomplish her journey, find the people with dragon’s blood that could protect or aid her, just as the legend was which founded their kingdom.

 

The legend goes something like this, the red dragon comes down from heaven and takes human form building the kingdom and getting swept into human affairs which also meant being susceptible to their dangers.  When in danger the other dragons come to protect him with the intent of taking him back to heaven where he belongs except the red dragon does not want to return. So to ensure his safety they give their blood to a chosen, one for each dragon in order to protect him for the rest of his now mortal life.

 

     Yona must search out the most recent incarnations of these dragons as the legends seem to point to her being the reincarnation of the red dragon.  Will they agree to help or even believe in the powers each one has, for each it is different some except their destiny whole heartily having waited like the ones before them. Others have been cast out, believed to be cursed, others run from this destiny wanting nothing more than freedom from it. Will they really be able to help Yona after all?

 

      Very early in the show Yona realizes she’s been shielded from histories and what was really happening in her kingdom. Now that the kingdom is in someone else’s hands she must see the kingdom for what it is and what it isn’t and must decide what it needs to be. What Yona found are complexities that may actually hurt her emotionally, even an understandable stance her father had made shows the ripples it had caused and the people it effected. This makes an interesting contrast on how other characters feel about the king even those that follow her. Some even admit to disliking the king themselves before meeting Yona.  Others who normally would have seen it as foolish find the ideal worth believing in, not just for what it is but for the man who believed in it.

 

      Meanwhile it shows the perspective of the one who snatched the throne, Soo Won and how he chooses to restore the kingdom to its former glory. His aggressive direction in which he believes riles the people yet he keeps the calm, smiling nature that Yona had fallen in love with. Even with his generals doubting him he accomplishes multiple things at once, for example restoring the income in the earth clan, giving them a resource of value they didn’t know they had, something to trade with other kingdoms and through an exhibition reawakening the fighting spirit in them and the belief of their general.

 

   After this peak into what’s happening in the kingdom we return to Yona’s trying to find all the four dragons. I have this theory about the dragons that each love Yona but in the sense that they’re drawn to her, destined but also because she inspires the concept of love much like her father did. If Sun Won has worked toward things to strengthen the kingdom and show himself a worthy king, the same argument can actually be said about Yona.

 

      Since her journey she’s learned every aspect of living both as a person and someone in the kingdom, understanding that it goes deeper than she had ever perceived. Everything from having to face the animal you slay in order to eat, to addressing the people that are suffering such as the human trafficking arc, what it means to be afraid, what it means to be a person that has no voice to speak on their suffering. This has driven her to protect the kingdom in the way maybe only she could. Especially when the obvious question is, how will she go about taking the throne, how will she choose to rule is finally brought before her?

 

     One of the greatest achievements of the show however is how it will resolve, spoiler alert she sees Soo Won again, though we all knew it would happen not quite the way it does. It isn’t so much about her questioned resolve to kill him that may make you unsure of what will happen, it’s Sun Won given a perfect opportunity, he seems to have no motivation to end the life of his competition for the throne. If it’s love even if he knows the wrath he brought, what could he do for a kingdom he may not hold for long, if he has chosen not to defend against the true heir?

 

      Some of the best shows of the previous year and this year have left us with a major cliffhanger. It’s easier to know going in that this show is one of these though most anime fans are used to some unanswered questions that the manga can give us answers to. Making us want more is a sign of a great show and of course another season could be in the cards, there’s no way to know but to wait.  Until then what we have is a feast of crisp animation, in depth storylines, while embracing humor and other minor aspects we love in some shows, making them the show’s own unique trademark.

 

   

 

Manga Select: Oishinbo

Manga Selection: Oishinbo

 

Oishinbo is more than a manga, it’s a window into the foundations of Japanese society itself, the way all cultures differ and share similarities, food. The manga has since become essential, sold in book stores anywhere with manga and even airport stores in Japan, just to give you an idea of it’s influence, as well as it’s representation of a country with pride in its traditions that has remained intact even to this day.

     Each volume is dedicated to a particular food group such as rice, vegetables, and fish and so on. They draw from a 100 volumes in a series that is still ongoing, highlighting some of the best chapters or the most relevant to what each volume is about. Food groups used in Japanese cuisine and that’s the thing, this isn’t just food but dishes that are prepared as fine culinary dishes as well. Yamaoka Shiro along with his co-workers work for a newspaper  Tozai Shimbun, preparing to present a spotlight they call the ultimate menu, which finds them seeking out the best of the best for each dish, even the intricate aspects that go with these dishes.

 

     Though each volume is divided into a topic (sort of), there is plenty to explore within it and the first volume shows more than what’s expected, even preparing what seems simple like the perfect miso soup or green tea or even the proper dishes and cups to serve them in. Why not even have one that focuses on the chopsticks themselves, yes it is an experience you’ll relish as you read it. As insightful as it was when the manga first started in the 80’s. Natural taste and seasoning, the right balance, where they come from and how they should be used.  

 

       Quite the task no matter who undertakes it, luckily for the magazine they have Yamaoka Shiro. While he may seem disinterested and bored, Yamaoka is extremely knowledgeable about Japanese cuisine, understanding the complex aspects of dishes and why the simplicity sometimes is the key. It also helps that he knows legends and unknowns in the food industry that can bring out the taste and was raised in the kitchen much to his benefit and his dismay.

         How he has obtained such a keen knowledge for such things bothers him more than he cares to admit, especially when he finds the magazine will have to deal with a rival newspaper working on what they're calling the superior meal assisted by the top gourmet, his father Yuzan Kaibara. The two can hardly be in the same room together without shooting daggers at each other with their eyes. When Yamaoka was younger, his father was demanding, overbearing, everything needed to be perfect to his taste. His job and his home life inseparable had forced Yamaoka’s mom to redo meals over and over again. Even his father’s cooks had to walk on eggshells and for this reason there was never an enjoyable moment without incurring his father’s wrath.

 

      Still these circumstances have given him the delicate, sensitive taste buds and the keen eye for what Japanese cuisine should be.  Even so the author can’t help but bring these two together and this first collection of stories sees this face off quite often. Now the volumes are collected stories so they shoot through the time line but still you can't help but feel like the editors enjoyed the father and son showdown to splice so many so close together.  At times it even misguides Yamaoka who goes against what he would normally do in order to prepare a dish just to try and best his father, with results that make his regret this choice.  Though sometimes it feels as though his father is guiding him, teaching him even in his own stuck up way.

 

    One thing it never does is distract you from what the manga is all about. Informative and loving for the art of Japanese cuisine, it’s challenges what people know in order to expand it and as an effect brings people together. Yamaoka tends to help struggling cooks or preparing a menu or get volunteered into something when someone visits the office. When it isn't these situations, it tends to be someone disliking a dish and having to be proved wrong, there's other rivalries and other personal social issues that come up and attached themselves to the food storytelling.  These usually take readers through particular taste which come with a bit of history. Even if Yamaoka is unwilling and his co-workers have to drag him along.

 

      Many dishes or explored and the author doesn’t leave you wondering how the meals are prepared, providing recipes to many of the dishes. However what is interesting is the length Yamaoka goes or other cooks go to prepare these dishes. There is even a scene where Yamaoka jumps into the water in order to obtain the right ingredient for a meal he is preparing. Oishinbo was a part of the movement during the 80’s called the gurume movment ( the gourmet boom) and yet managed to stand apart from the rest and is still an enriching experience. Since it’s publication the manga has received numerous awards and is still one of the longest running manga titles even though it’s run into a bit of a hiatus in the last couple of years.

 

    Though it isn't the first time, the recent one was shortly after a bit of controversy. It goes back to 2014 where the author received criticism for the way he depicted a story that referenced the Fukushima Nuclear Plant post meltdown. The largest nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl, which happened as a result of the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, knocking out generators and back-up generators.  In the story, a journalist finds himself getting sick shortly after visiting the Fukushima plant. Shortly after the manga went on hiatus though the editor insisted that it had been planned beforehand.

      Naturally the concern came from how the public would react, fears of fish from the area being tainted with radiation and many wanted to assure there was no cause of concern. On the other side there are some that will defend the comic, speaking out on the symptoms that they have, similar to those of the character in the story “The Truth of Fukushima.” Tetsu Kariya, author of the manga defended the story even if the reaction came as a surprise, it was a story that was researched for two years and something he and the others that worked on it wanted to stick by.

       As are all the stories in the manga you see, heavily researched to give an authentic view on Japanese culture, when you become this iconic of course it can cause a wave of reactions. Manga is versatile like all comics, anyone that would try and argue this fact has never heard of Oishinbo. For years Oishinbo has stood out as an important cornerstone not just in manga but in all aspects of Japanese culture. As the author says, it’s something to bring us all together so it may just be a manga about us as people in general and that comes from the joy of food.

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: Witch Hunter Robin

 Take A Pick Tuesday: Witch Hunter Robin

 

 

There’s a sort of fog like atmosphere that comes to mind with this show, it doesn’t seem to be driven by any other force except its own pace and style of storytelling. How perfect that the series is an occult detective series at heart. Many fans of many generation will find the name to be familiar and that isn’t too surprising, it’s considered a classic in it’ own right and was to me at least a part of a sort of anime renaissance, shows that stormed their way from Japan to exposure from all places across the globe.  It was an exciting time and many anime fans were born at this particular time.  Witch Hunter Robin would be very comfortable with American show counterparts and not just for the occult theme purposes.

 

       The story follows Robin Sena who returns to Japan the country of her birth from the Roman Catholic Church in Italy where she was raised. As a craft user she is sent as a replacement in this branch of the organization SOLOMON, the STN-J. It’s an organization that hunts down witches that have gone astray and we’re not talking all witches, they have a vast database and can cross-check genes and family in which a person has had their powers passed down. The list is massive so not every witch is targeted, they seem the same as any other person would. Instead they hunt down ones that commit crimes.

 

      The interesting this is though Robin is fifteen years old, she is a craft user and has had experience in the organization and witch hunting. Despite that many of the early episodes show the group ignoring her or scolding her at looking, touching things in the crime scene. Almost always though it’s Robin that makes the headway in the case and is the deciding factor in solving them, she’s at times acquainted with the target even before realizing they are the target. Robin is soft spoken and extremely relaxed seeing, a little on the introverted side but despite her trench and perhaps to some gothic look is gentler than the rest of the gang whose comments can rub you the wrong way at times.

 

     One of the first things Robin finds out though it takes the first episode for any of them to let her up into the office considering no one realized she was the new person being sent is that witches aren’t hunted the same way. For the STN in this particular branch witches are captured alive, at least that’s priority and taken to a facility they call factory. Of course immediately it raises eyebrows on why the witches are taken alive and to what purpose. Seems strange to Robin whose craft allows her to control flames much to the concern of her co-workers.

 

      Her partner is Amon. The silent angry type that seems to dislike her at first but not truly, yet despite being her partner it’s a long time before he even takes her out properly on an assignment. There is also this mistrust felt, perhaps by the other hunters but more so with the head of the unit who conveys this to Amon, we’re not sure on why. Some of the vague aspects of the show instead of being frustrated help set the mood, so once they actually begin to fill in the gaps such as the consequences of hunting the witches, of who the inquisitors are and who Robin may be, it only adds a deeper layer to the show. Even so each episode feels like a case which means you can have someone sit down with you and watch it yet it has a satisfying underlining story that gives you the pleasure of watching it from the beginning to the end.

 

Some interesting aspects that go into Robin’s psyche but spread out through the complexity of the show is her relationship with Amon, as said before he hardly takes her out in the beginning but eventually does, not only that but notices that she needs glasses when using her craft, since it was fire that was probably a good idea. Still there is this unspoken relationship between the two, passed by looks and I’d like to even call it trust, where distrust would seem obvious. Romantic but not in the usual romantic since and yes she is fifteen years old. Still though it’s hard to have characters close and separate at the same time and still seem to complement each other. I think that’s why the opening song “Shell” has such a cool insight into this aspect of the show.

 

     Another insight that comes from Robin is the actual history of witchcraft, how though they are hunted there is this question of why is it still a sin to be a witch even now in present day. Sure there is a database with all the witches that there are in the world and they aren’t capturing all of them but what if they aren’t. Why does it still feel like it’s such a crime to be a witch which goes into the persecution of people accused of being witches whether real or not throughout history even beyond Salem witch trials. If anyone has an interest in the actual persecutions of people accused of witch craft, it’s an interesting history less throughout our human history and it may make you cringe a bit. Having read about some of this I couldn’t help but question when it began to finally bubble to the surface.

 

      It has a way of linking all the previous witch hunts and some episodes don’t sit right and of course leaves certain endings bittersweet and some just bitter. It’s well thought out and helps mentor the maturity that it carries effortlessly and yet has weight when these things start to come up though at first you only really get a piece.  Now these guys may be witch hunters but they are definitely not skilled in prevention, there is an episode where they literally scream for someone not to kill the other, stand there with guns pointing and watch it happen. Also it seems like Robin and Amon are really the ones leading this team. Once there is a big shift in the series you think you figure out what’s happening and yet there’s a twist in that too, the motives are more ambitious than that. It plays off Witch Hunter Robin’s subtlety.     

 

        There is endless amounts of thoughts to play with from things that aren’t said, if you follow close enough, pay attention to gestures, simple things said you can get something much larger from the show. That might take time to get used to, it might even be seen as a fault, don’t believe it is, it is the style in which the show was born to have.  Questions linger in the air and soon their crowded with more or simply the questions become greater.

 

    Luckily the answers trickle faster than confusion can set in.  Not direct questions of the twist and turns but more so this feeling that witches being hunted aren’t always threats, sometimes they are but this feeling that’s obvious that STJ-N do not know the reasons  their after their targets only solidifies the feeling. It brings to mind why animal protecting organizations have to protect black cats during Halloween. Superstitions run deep and the fear associated from them can cause horrible things to happen. In many ways Robin sees this and then experiences it.

 

     Yet when they begin to reach this point morally you’ll find yourself saying thank goodness. If they hunted no questions asked well it wouldn’t be Witch Hunter Robin truly.  The answers begin to flood in and the broader picture of what’s happening becomes clearer. Though some twists and secrets are kept close to the chest, very close to the chest, even Robin who you know very little about begins to unravel secrets of her own. This is where the mood and pacing of the show shine and show how well they worked with the story.

 

      It’s almost essential at this point, the massive change halfway through the series requires it as well as adding another main character to help probe what we are watching and the other side of what we wanted answers towards.  It becomes clear the secrets kept or a part of the organizations itself divided between its own agendas and goals, which is part of what the secrets reveal.  Soon we see it for everything it is and the truth of Robin, the truth of witches and the truth of people in general is enough to overshadow the warring organization and finally see where every character stands.

 

     We get a philosophical, ethical question to the entire premise of the series and only than do you truly understand what Witch Hunter Robin is about. So where does it leave the characters of the show, some answers are shown. Others are left a little more ambiguous, can whatever is left of the organization still hunt witches even after everything the characters see, I’d like to think things have changed but of course, it’s up to you to find what you think is the answer by the end of the series.

 

      This exciting time for anime was merely a platform for a series that stood on its own and still does today, a great example to showcase the unique versatile realm of storytelling that anime holds. A must see show that asks questions without having to shake them in front of your face, all the while carrying around an irresistible mood. It’s great to take in daily or as much as you can in a single sitting.  The horror places on the aspects that are mystery in the series and at least to me is a great heir to a modern gothic story. Characters that are shadows upon the background world of theirs that seems perfectly normal only complete the landscape, reaching far through this fog in order to reach into your after thoughts and the dreams that will follow.