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I'm in the mood for a light and fluffy post today, so without further ado, here are (in my humble opinion) the five best bishonen designs ever seen in anime.
First, the runners-up:
Sannan is the nerd scholar of the Shinsengumi in Hakuouki. I like his refined look - or perhaps I just have a megane fetish.
Here are some nice depictions of him from the otome video game that inspired the anime:
And then there's Tieria Erde of Gundam 00, the prettiest purple-haired and occasionally cross-dressing Gundam pilot out there:
And now, on to the five best bishonen designs, starting with No. 5.
Mirage of Blaze's Nobutsuna Naoe is a biseinen (beautiful man) rather than a bishonen (beautiful boy), as are Sannan, Tieria and No. 3 and No. 1 below. Interestingly, Mirage of Blaze was originally based on a series of prose novels and not a manga series, and thus the character designs for Takaya and Naoe had to be created from scratch based on the novelist Mizuna Kuwabara's descriptions.
No. 4 makes me feel a bit like a cradle robber, but...
Kunimitsu Tezuka, from The Prince of Tennis, is just a great design. The stern unsmiling captain of Seigaku's tennis club embodies the hard-to-get kind of guy, the type of guy a girl almost needs to aspire to. Not to mention he's another megane
No. 3 used to haunt my dreams - literally.
Hakkai, one of the four journeying misfits in Saiyuki, was one of the first characters I fell in love with in anime. His tragic past hooked me in and I actually had a few dreams about him. He's the most popular character for female viewers in Saiyuki, according to a fan poll.
Kazuya Minekura went on to create the Wild Adapter manga, in which all the characters look like takes on Hakkai. I read that Minekura based Hakkai's design on her husband, and that's why she can't stop drawing characters that look like him, lol. That's rather sweet actually.
No. 2 involves more cradle robbing:
As beautifully depicted in Eldanis' portrait above, Sasuke Uchiha is simply one of the greatest bishonen designs ever.
Masashi Kishimoto aged the characters perfectly after the time jump. The Shippuuden Sasuke, like post time-jump Naruto, contains fragments of the 12-year-old he once was, and the (deadly) man he's turning out to be:
And finally - the No. 1 bishonen character design:
The above image depicts the first moment we see Toshizo Hijikata in Hakuouki. The perspective is the protagonist Chizuru's, as she stares up at him from where she's cowering on the ground in an alley.
All of the character designs in Hakuouki are exceptional, but Hijikata is just breathtaking. The interesting thing about Hakuouki is that the romance begins very slowly. For most of the first season, it's unclear which of the Shinsengumi - if any of them - Chizuru is destined to be paired up with.
As the second season progresses it turns out to be Hijikata, despite the age difference between the two. The long build-up to the relationship made it more believable than if it'd been obvious from the beginning.
Though it has nothing to do with the character design, I have to say something about Shinichiro Miki's performance as Hijikata. Hijikata is the first role I've heard Miki play that was dead serious. Miki usually seems to play breezy characters with a light touch, and I never would have imagined him as the Demon Vice Captain of the Shinsengumi, Toshizo Hijikata, or that he could pull it off so well.
Hijikata is cold and stern, only bending a little at the very end as he finally admits to his attraction to Chizuru, and Miki was perfect in the role. There's an underlying warmth to his voice that he can't mask, and it's that warmth that makes his Hijikata someone you can see Chizuru falling for.
The following gorgeous fan art by Cilou, from animepaper.net, shows the appeal of Hakuouki's Hijikata in all his glory:
I think any words after that illustration are kind of unnecessary. ;)
Last week, when I mentioned Crunchyroll's streaming of Voices of a Distant Star, it made me think about which animes would be the best ones to show to anime newbies. I came up with two criteria:
1. The anime would have to make anyone who says "Oh, anime - that Japanese cartoon stuff?" - never be able to say that again;
and
2. The anime would have to invoke deep emotion, as the greatest filmed entertainment does (i.e., the best live-action movies and TV).
Until now, I probably would have considered myself still a relative newbie to anime and not able to fairly judge. But if the records of my anime watching that I keep on MyAnimeList are accurate, I have now watched a total of 145 anime series and feature films. So I think I finally have enough standing to do "best of" type lists. ;)
So in that respect, I thought about "gateway" animes, the animes you'd show someone to convince them that anime can be both great art and great entertainment, and I came up with one OVA, two series, one short OVA series and two feature films.
Voices of a Distant Star, pictured above, was Makoto Shinkai's first work. He wrote, directed, produced and did the animation in this solo tour de force OVA.
The premise: In 2047, Mikako and Noboru are junior high school students. Mikako, the girl, is chosen for a space expedition to fight mankind's alien enemies, while Noboru, the boy, goes on to enter high school. As the years pass, the two send messages to each other but due to Mikako's journey into deep space, the time it takes for her messages to reach Noboru begins to increase, to the point where it takes years.
It's a "gateway" anime for newbies because: At only 25 minutes long, this anime presents beautiful imagery, a compelling and believable love story and a fantastic science-fiction concept: that of time passing at different rates for the girl and boy. I like that it's the girl who goes to space - and the boy who stays behind on Earth. ;) And it evokes a surprising amount of emotion for such a short anime, and different emotions too - sadness, joy, contemplation, but most of all - a deep feeling of longing. It's simply stunning.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the anime adaptation of the completed manga series by Hiromu Arakawa, is one of the most thrilling anime series you will ever see.
The premise: In Amestris, a fictional European country in the early 20th century, two young brothers experiment with forbidden alchemy in an attempt to bring their mother back from the dead. The experiment goes horribly wrong and the older brother, Edward Elric, loses an arm and a leg and his younger brother Alphonse loses his entire body to "The Gate," a mysterious doorway leading to the "other side." The two seek to restore their bodies by finding a special "philosopher's stone," and become caught up in political and metaphysical mysteries hidden in Amestris' unexpectedly dark past.
It's a gateway anime because: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has everything: shonen adventure, beings with fantastical powers, compelling characters and a story that draws you in from the start and never lets you go. Despite the story going in seemingly many directions, by the end it all comes together. The climax is perfectly played out and the ending is completely satisfying on an emotional level. The story is too complex to discuss briefly and sound like you're making any sense ;) - but trust me, no one could watch this series and not be moved and deeply impressed.
Death Note is a brilliantly-told suspense tale, a cat-and-mouse story with a supernatural twist.
The premise: Light Yagami, a high school student, finds a notebook dropped by a shinigami that contains the power of life and death. By writing a person's name in this notebook while picturing their face, that person will die.
It's a gateway anime because: Death Note is a dark, cold story, one with an evil protagonist and a good antagonist (L, the detective) and moments of real horror. But it's enormously compelling due to the build-up of suspense, the what-will-happen-next that kept me watching episode after episode, unable to stop. At 37 episodes, the anime series is just the right length for the story it tells. The presentation is cool and contemporary, making it a good gateway anime for teens and young adults.
The movie Paprika is the most visually compelling and easily accessible of the late Satoshi Kon's works.
The premise: A research device called the "DC Mini" allows users to view people's dreams. Dr. Atsuko Chiba, a psychologist, uses the device to help patients by adopting a dream persona, a girl named "Paprika," who enters their dreams to assist them. One of her patients, a detective, has a recurring dream about a murder that he cannot solve. Before the device can be made available to the public, three prototypes are stolen...
It's a gateway anime because: It's a complex story telling the interwoven stories of both Dr. Chiba and the detective, with stylish imagery that makes it a visual feast. A perfect blend of fantasy, mystery, humor and unexpectedly at the end - a little romance - Paprika is a great way to introduce adults who aren't familiar with anime stories for adults to - well, anime stories for adults. ;)
I rented Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal) from Netflix a few years ago, not knowing anything about it except that I'd never seen any of the Rurouni Kenshin anime episodes before and I was in the mood for a samurai anime. What I saw was an anime I can never forget.
The premise: (This is the prequel to the Rurouni Kenshin anime series.) Ten years before the start of the series, when Kenshin is still known as the Hitokiri Battosai assassin, he kills a bodyguard named Akira Kiyosato. On the run, Kenshin meets Tomoe Yukishiro, unaware that she was Kiyosato's fiancee. A spy is suspected to be in their clan, the Choshu, and arrangements are made to hide Kenshin and Tomoe away in a remote village...
It's a gateway anime because: You can watch Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal without knowing a single thing about the Rurouni Kenshin storyline; it stands alone as a classic Japanese romance-tragedy. Unlike the manga and the anime series, which contain a lot of humor and are somewhat light in tone, Trust and Betrayal is deeply serious and transcendently beautiful. The four OVA episodes comprise, in essence, a two-hour movie. The maturity of the story and the presentation would appeal to any adult-age audience.
Finally, Sword of the Stranger, my favorite anime movie of recent years.
The premise: Kotaro, a young boy, is fleeing from the Ming Chinese, who are seeking him for an unknown reason. Along the way he meets "Nanashi," or "No-Name," a mysterious taciturn samurai who, despite his mild manner, possesses deadly skills. Nanashi reluctantly becomes Kotaro's bodyguard as the mystery of why Kotaro is a target is gradually revealed.
It's a gateway anime because: Breathtaking action sequences, an intriguing story and great performances make Sword of the Stranger an impressive and satisfying anime feature film. Nanashi is played by Japanese live-action actor Tomoya Nagase, who had never done voice acting (as opposed to live action acting) before, and he's wonderful. The child actor Yuuri Chinen also stands out as Kotaro. But it's the amazing action scenes that bring the film alive, including one moment toward the end that threatened to stop my heart (really). Any fan of action movies and good storytelling would appreciate this anime movie.
What would be some of your gateway animes?
As part of its annual "Global Shinkai Day," twenty minutes from now, Crunchyroll will begin streaming Makoto Shinkai's first anime, Voices of a Distant Star. The anime is free and viewable in all countries around the world, except Japan.
It's a story you will never forget. The anime is 25 minutes long. Here's the link:
Edit: The free streaming period has expired - sorry! Edited to remove the link. Please do watch this anime when you get a chance - it's a classic.
I was thinking about this recently while watching Brave 10. What makes a man a leader of men? What qualities do men and women instinctively gravitate to and trust implicitly?
Consider Sanada Yukimura of the Warring States era.
(I usually use the Western order for Japanese names, but it's almost impossible to do that with certain Japanese figures. So I'll call him "Sanada Yukimura" because that order is just etched into my brain, lol.)
In Brave 10, Sanada Yukimura is the warlord who gathers a band of misfits to be his "ten brave warriors." Based (obviously) on the historical Sanada Yukimura (and obviously very loosely ;)), he doesn't so much recruit each warrior as he simply attracts him in - just by his charismatic presence - beginning with the main character, Saizo.
Saizo is known as "the Iga Ninja," a lone and deadly killer. In the first few episodes we watch as Saizo begins to get pulled in by Sanada's appeal despite his own cynicism and world-weariness.
In the most recent episode, Saizo finally puts it all together, realizing he's found what he didn't even know he was looking for, in a beautiful moment proclaiming in battle that he's not the Iga Ninja but "Sanada's warrior." In protecting Isanami, the shrine maiden, and in serving Sanada Yukimura he's discovered the part of himself that can live for others.
Sanada Yukimura is easygoing, serious when need be but humorous the rest of the time. He flirts outrageously with Ana, the worldly blonde ninja, while being gentle and kind to the innocent Isanami. He accepts each of his warriors, quirks and warts and all, with a kind of genial bemusement.
In episode 7, entitled "Sword and Fan," Sanada humiliates his arch-rival Masamune Date by besting him in a duel - not by using a sword - but with fancy footwork and a rather unbelievably sturdy fan for defense.
The last of Sanada's "brave ten" joins the group in episode 8. On board his own ship, rogue pirate Jinpachi Nezu brags to Sanada how free he is. At sea, he has no ties to anyone or anything and he is his own man.
Sanada's response is brilliant. "Those who are bound are bound no matter where they go, and those who are free are always free. Whoever you serve and wherever you live, if they are your own choices, you are free. Your heart can never be bound." Even though Nezu sees the trap, he laughs and gives in - because Sanada is literally irresistible.
It doesn't hurt that Sanada is played by Toshiyuki Morikawa, he of the rich baritone voice, probably best known as Sephiroth in the Final Fantasy games and veteran seiyuu of a hundred animes. (And also known informally as the "Boys Love King," for his numerous yaoi drama CD performances.) His easy confidence as Sanada makes it believable that eight men and two women would choose to join their futures with his.
Confidence, ultimately, is what the best leaders exude. Not ego masquerading as confidence, or bluster or aggression or conceit - but real confidence, the kind that knows when talk is important and when silence is better, and when action is required. We admire characters like Brave 10's Sanada Yukimura and rightly so. Much can be learned from observing men like him.
... and the thoughts of young women okay, not-so-young women fujoshi turn to bishonen otome games bishonen in otome games that have magically been turned into ANIME SERIES! ^_^
Hiiro no Kakera begins streaming on Crunchyroll on March 5.
Oh, the plot? 0_0 Something about a teenage girl who wanders into a forest and... bishonen show up at some point... and... who cares other things happen, and... Well, I'm sure it'll be very exciting! ^o^
