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(It's all about Haro-san. ;))
2011 marks my sixth year as an anime fan, and for me this new year has ushered in what every new year has since I started watching anime: a veritable feast of series, OVAs and movies.
Maybe I'm just a simple-minded shonen fan who is too easily pleased; but to my way of looking at it, I'm never going to run out of anime to watch. A case in point: Gundam.
I just started watching the original series, Mobile Suit Gundam. If you've never seen it, you should consider doing so. It's great. The thing is - having watched Gundam Seed, Gundam Wing and Gundam 00, I've only scratched the surface of Gundam. There are still dozens of self-doubting young pilots and their mechas in the Gundam universe left to savor after I finish the original series. ;) And that's just Gundam.
(If Tieria Erde would simply float naked through the Ptolemaios on a random basis - I'd be happy to watch a third season of Gundam 00. . . Maybe I am too easily pleased.)
Ah - as I was saying - and that's just Gundam. What about the hordes of other mecha anime I haven't seen yet?
And beyond that - the other shonen series and other types of anime series that not only haven't I seen yet, but I haven't even heard of yet?
You see, if I won the lottery and could spend all my time watching anime, it would still take me years to get through just the shonen series I want to see - let alone everything else out there. After Gundam (43 episodes), my plan is to watch Zeta Gundam (50 episodes) and then enter the wild and wacky world of Gintama (177 episodes).
Crunchyroll has, by my count, 180 anime series in its online streaming inventory. There are Viz, Funimation and Hulu with additional scores of series to watch. Other people (the ones not fortunate enough to be anime fans) complain there's nothing to watch on TV and no good movies in the theaters. Meanwhile - I'm set for life. I'll never run out of anime to watch because there are too many series I haven't seen yet, and each year more series get made, adding to the list.
I don't know how I'll feel when I've been an anime fan for ten or twenty years, but if it's anything like how I feel now I'll still be vastly entertained by the clashing of giant robots, the travails of bishonen, teenagers with supernatural powers protecting their high schools from demon attacks, ninja wars, samurais who turn into vampires, wolf goddesses who fall in love with traveling salesmen, harems, reverse harems and all else anime.
It's a feast of anime out there. Happy New Year!
Bakuman is not only the anime I enjoy watching the most right now, but I also think it's the best anime to air since Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. This anime based on the manga about mangaka was approved for a second season only halfway through its first season - and deservedly so.
Bakuman is a joy to watch. We've got the two-shonen-and-a-dream set-up, this time about a budding writer and artist team:
The focus of Bakuman is on the manga industry in Japan; how mangaka create their stories and how decisions are made by publishers like Shonen Jump about various aspects of publishing manga.
I like that the show is largely angst-free. Whenever a serious or morbid moment occurs, the characters pretty much recover and just blow right past it. ;) The story's refusal to let depressing moments linger for the two protagonists is actually one of its strengths. When you have a dream, the dream itself can carry you above the fray. I know this from experience.
Comparing the cast of characters in Bakuman to the cast of characters in Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's other master work, Death Note, is like night and day: it's like TOx2 first decided to create a cast of largely unlikable characters, and then follow it up with a cast of largely likable characters.
My favorite character in Bakuman is dead, alas.
Nobuhiro Mashiro, or "Taro Kawaguchi" (his mangaka name), is Moritaka's uncle who died from overwork while trying to make his comeback. He's not only Moritaka's inspiration, but his life also serves as a warning for his nephew: his own romance with Miho's mother didn't go too well and his attempt to regain his success as a mangaka put him into an early grave.
A lot has been said in the blogosphere about Bakuman being sexist. There have been a few sexist moments here and there, but overall Ohba/Obata have come light years in terms of presenting worthwhile female characters. One only has to compare Miho and Kaya in Bakuman to the shrill and brainless Misa Amane in Death Note to see this. In Death Note, not only was Misa in love with someone who didn't love her back - literally sacrificing years of her life for him - but he obviously didn't even care if she lived or died. In contrast, in Bakuman, Miho's dream of becoming a seiyuu is given equal respect (if not equal time) with Moritaka and Takagi's dream (well, it's their show after all). And Kaya is a solid standalone character in her own right, not just Miho's best friend or Takagi's girlfriend.
The Moritaka/Miho relationship is a little precious for my tastes (lol), but we can all remember the magical aspects of our first loves and the mysteries of the opposite sex. Their impossible promise not to see each other until they're famous seems sure to break down at some point - but until then we'll have Moritaka's 5,000-character long texts and Miho's immediate two-sentence replies to amuse us.
Bakuman literally makes me laugh out loud, which is rare for me. Mostly this is due to reaction shots of the two boys:
Bakuman is so great that it has set up an expectation in my mind. Each week finds me holding my breath a little as I watch the new episode, wondering if the show will keep being that good. We're at Episode 15 and it hasn't disappointed me yet. :)
The success of Hetalia keeps rolling along. :)
The English language version of Hidekaz Himaruya's webcomic/manga has proved to be as much of a hit as the original Japanese version. Currently, Volume 2 is No. 1 on the New York Times Manga Bestseller list. I was co-copy editor on this one and the series continues to be fresh and entertaining in its second volume.
Also, Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 3 is now available. You may notice that Vol. 3 is more expensive than the first and second volumes. Here's why: the eight volumes of Yashakiden were originally released in Japan as four "omnibus" volumes, each omnibus containing two volumes of the series. Here in the U.S., Digital Manga Publishing released the first two volumes as single volumes, but starting with Vol. 3 the rest of the Yashakiden series will be released as omnibus volumes - just as they were in Japan.
In other words, here's the breakdown:
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 1 = one single volume
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 2 = one single volume
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 3 = two volumes in one: it's Vol. 3 and Vol. 4 combined.
The eight-volume series will conclude with Vol. 4 (containing Vol. 5 and Vol. 6) and Vol. 5 (containing Vol. 7 and Vol. 8). I am working on the English adaptation of omnibus Vol. 4 now, so look forward to its release sometime later this year.
In the end... it was all about Toshizo Hijikata of the Shinsengumi.
The final episode of Hakuouki Hekketsuroku opens with the New Government Army invading Otobe, where Ootori and his troops are holding ground, as Hijikata leads another part of the army in Futamata.
It's May 1869 - close to the end for the Republic of Ezo.
Meanwhile, the oni Kazama boards a NGA ship headed for Ezo and demands passage.
At Futamata, a young lieutenant named Takigawa leads his men on an unexpected charge against the enemy, which succeeds. Hijikata backs him up, then instead of being furious with him - congratulates him afterward.
Later that night, Hijikata tells Chizuru that they're retreating: Ootori's line has been broken at Otobe and their route to Hakodate will be cut off if they don't leave now. He then suffers a rasetsu seizure, and Chizuru offers her blood again. Hijikata notes that his body is now "near the end."
In June 1869, Hijikata and Chizuru return to Hakodate and are reunited with Ootori, Shimada and the Shinsengumi. Shimada sees Hijikata relaxing with the men, and he tells Chizuru that Hijikata has changed...
The NGA's navy attacks Hakodate's harbor. The night before Hakodate itself is invaded, Hijikata asks Chizuru if she's still going to stay and she says yes. Hijikata tells her that he's "probably in love with her," embraces and then kisses her.
Hakodate is invaded during the night, and the next morning Hijikata, Chizuru and a number of soldiers set out for Benten Daiba to provide reinforcements for Ootori and Shimada who are pinned down there. Hijikata is shot and falls from his horse. While the others continue on to Benten Daiba, Chizuru helps the severely wounded Hijikata into the nearby forest where she bandages his wound.
She cuts herself and sucks up the blood, giving it to him in a kiss. Hijikata tells her that they need to keep moving.
Later, the two come upon a beautiful sakura tree. It's now evening.
Chizuru tells Hijikata that the falling blossoms remind her of the first time she saw him, that night long ago in Kyoto.
Kazama arrives on the scene. Chizuru pleads with him not to fight Hijikata in his current condition, but both Hijikata and Kazama are determined to finish what they started. Hijikata notes that Kazama has thrown his oni pride on the line for this fight, and as such there's no way Hijikata can refuse him.
Under the sakura tree, they fight.
As Hijikata's blade pierces Kazama's chest, Hijikata collapses.
Chizuru holds the dying Hijikata and recalls the men of the Shinsengumi, all gone now, and asks if Hijikata can see the "Makoto" banner that they helped him to raise.
Hakuouki Hekketsuroku - Hakuouki's second season - is the more interesting of the two seasons, but you need to watch the slow-moving first season in order to make sense of Hakuouki Hekketsuroku. The first season sets up the premise of the oni clans, the rasetsu soldiers and their use by the Shinsengumi, and introduces Chizuru and the historical characters. The old Kyoto setting is beautifully depicted and the languorous pace is actually, I think, part of the story. In a larger sense, Hakuouki as a series is about the end of one era and the beginning of another: the movement from kimonos to trousers, from swords to guns and from the Shinsengumi - the last of the samurai - to the mechanized and westernized military that came after them. The seeds of the tragedy that unfolds in season two are planted in season one, so both seasons need to be watched for the complete story.
I think ultimately that Hakuouki is one long exquisite mood piece. The beauty of Kyoto, the old guard of the samurai fading into history and the attempt to keep the Shogunate alive with the Republic of Ezo are all presented with an underlying deep melancholy. It's painful to see the Shinsengumi becoming outmoded even as they continued to live and fulfill their duty in fighting for the Shogun, but that's historical fact. It's as if all the producers could do to make it palatable was to at least make it beautiful to watch; and this they did with great care. Hakuouki is a moving panorama of beauty from start to finish: the fine character designs, the late-Edo period Kyoto cityscape, the battle camp scenes, the clipper ships on the ocean at night in the falling snow... it's all a visual feast.
The producers' choice to go with Hijikata's route from the otome video game meant that Hijikata was really the main character of the series - though we don't realize this until the second season with the Shinsengumi's move to Edo and Hijikata's greater involvement in the plot. Hijikata is certainly one of the most celebrated of the Shinsengumi, but his romance (? if one can even call it that) with Chizuru teeters on the edge of being not believable due to the age difference and overall lack of chemistry between them. Hijikata as Chizuru's love interest was perhaps an odd choice, but then he was the last to die of the Shinsengumi so in a pure story sense he may have been the only logical choice.
I could say much about Chizuru and how she remained underdeveloped throughout the series; and also about Kazama and the oni clans, about which similarly much was left unexplained. But in the end it doesn't matter. If the best anime series are those that make you feel something, Hakuouki, flawed as it is, easily makes the list. It's an anime series made for dreaming about the end of the samurai and of a long-gone era in Japan. Sit back, watch Hakuouki and let it all unfold before your eyes.
