Tag Archives: crunchyroll

Just Enough Magic: Flying Witch

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When it comes to stories about witches, it’s quite common (and perhaps even expected) to have magic be prominent. Whether it’s American sitcom classic Bewitched, Archie’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch comic, or an anime and manga like Witch Craft Works, the influence of spells and sorcery is, if not grandiose, at the very least quite large. The anime Flying Witch is a much mellower series in comparison. As a show where just the lightest of touch of the supernatural appears, it makes for a most delightful series.

Adapted by J.C. Staff from the manga by Ishizuka Chihiro, Flying Witch follows the daily life of Kowata Makoto, a teenage witch who moves in with her cousin Kuramoto Kei’s family as part of her coming of age. Residing in Aomori Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan, the people there still have a fairly strong connection to nature, and just going back and forth from school is enough to take in the greenery. For the most part, magic doesn’t make much of an impact, but when it shows up it’s just enough to make their world feel a little bit more unusual, and a little bit more wonderful.

Though the show consistently succeeds at its sparse but effective interaction between the human and witch cultures, the most memorable example has to be in the very first episode. Makoto is walking home from school with her new friend, Nao, when she sees an unusual plant. For anyone who’s familiar with stories about witches and wizards this is a red flag. Sure enough when she gives it a hard tug a mandrake pops out and gives its shrill cry.

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As Makoto cradles the demon plant, she cheerfully explains to an aghast Nao that it’s a good thing that they found a young Mandrake because an adult one can literally send people to the hospital or worse. The anime doesn’t stop being this fairly laid-back series, but the result is that the tiniest bit of magic feels that much more amazing.

What also helps Flying Witch is that all of its characters, guys and girls, are extremely charming. Makoto’s older sister Akane is a more experienced witch whose penchant for mischief contrasts delightfully with her younger sibling. The Kuramoto family is entertaining all around, whether it’s the dad’s thick Tohoku accent being indecipherable for Makoto or Kei trying to get his little sister Chinatsu to try more vegetables.

The fanservice in this show also has a deft touch akin to its use of magic, to the point that it might not even be right to call it fanservice. Just to be clear, generally speaking the female characters in this series are all extremely attractive, but Flying Witch never goes out of its way to show them off. When it focuses on Makoto or anyone else, the anime just lets the audience see how nice they look without lingering or leering.

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Another notable aspect of Flying Witch is its focus on Aomori, because it at times feels like a promotion for the prefecture. In fact, it makes me wonder if this is one of the reasons it was adapted from manga to anime. The Tohoku region has in recent years been known more for the Fukushima disaster, and a lot of effort has been put into reviving the region in terms of agriculture, tourism, and more. A series like Flying Witch might be just the thing to really get people to visit Aomori and Tohoku again.

Overall, because of how delightfully mellow yet powerful the show’s humor and characters are, Flying Witch has become one of my favorite anime of the year. When I get the opportunity, I’m definitely going to pick it up, possibly in multiple formats. If you want to check it out, you can find the entire anime on Crunchyroll, and Vertical Comics is releasing the manga in 2017.

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Life Goes On – Digimon Adventure tri. 2: Determination

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What was originally supposed to be a review of the second Digimon Adventure tri. movie has now taken on a different context with the passing of Digimon singer Wada Kouji at the age of 42 after a long battle with cancer. While his voice was absent in the English dub of Digimon, many fans around the world came to know his distinct, powerful voice across multiple works, and in many ways his songs have defined and encapsulated the swirl of emotions and memories that Digimon brings. In listening to Wada’s tri. renditions of “Butter-fly” and now “Seven,” the softness in his voice comes across not simply as the melancholy of growing up, but also Wada’s last push to make his voice heard, similar to Freddie Mercury in “These Are the Days of Our Lives” before succumbing to AIDS.

Although Wada’s unfortunate passing does not any direct impact on the story of Digimon Adventure tri. 2: Determination, it does cast an interesting light given the primary focus of the second film. What do we as people do with our lives? What does it mean to be an adult? How do we handle the challenges that life throws at us? How can we continue to be the Biggest Dreamer?

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Determination, like Reunion, places great emphasis on character exploration, with greater attention on how difficult it can be to both aim for and avoid conformity as we get older. In particular, the film puts the spotlight on worrywart Kido Joe and Tachikawa Mimi. Just like in the last film, Joe has been actively ignoring the call of the Digimon because he’s more concerned with trying to get into a good college. Mimi has to deal with the fact that her aggressive attitude and individuality (implied to be a product of both her personality and her time spent in the US) rubs her classmates the wrong way.

Though overall decent, I find this second film to be weaker than the first one, mostly because the pacing feels stiff and that not quite enough was done to explore Joe and Mimi’s conflicts. The comedy, including seeing Gomamon cook instant ramen for Joe, and even the bath house hijinks (including a brief steamy moment between Takeru and Hikari) are all wecome and keep the film just light-hearted enough, but the story’s progression still feels quite uneven. However, one potential point against the film, namely that it focuses on boring ol’ Joe, is something I see as a point of contention. I think that Joe’s story is something that can be hard for some to relate to while others will connect more immediately to his plight, and that the extent to which Determination resonates with viewers can therefore vary tremendously.

Given that Joe’s choices are between studying for college entrance exams or helping to save the world the choice should be “obvious,” but it’s clear that Joe is trying his hardest to become a responsible adult. After all, he’s supposed to be the responsible one, and the fact that this pressure seems to come not so much from his parents but from society as a whole and his own expectations for doing what’s best makes his inability to improve his test scores despite all of the work he’s put into it feel that much more devastating. Joe is essentially struggling between doing the right thing and doing the right thing, and the fact that he cares so much about both is what makes it a conflict in the first place.

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By comparison, I think Mimi’s troubles are easier to understand, but both her and Joe have to confront what it means to live and exist among others, when one is increasingly expected to fall into line. Mimi also pushes through her problems with greater determination than Joe, but that also comes down to their differences in personality. That’s not to say Mimi doesn’t struggle in this film herself, or that her concerns are any less important or difficult to deal with, but if there’s one thing Mimi doesn’t lack, it’s confidence.

I think what made Digimon and Wada Kouji such powerful presences in many children’s lives is the sense of discovery and (of course) adventure that they conveyed. Determination plays with these feelings, asking whether or not they should be left in the past or should be carried into the future even as we become adults. It’s a simple yet profound fight that many must go through, and I’m confident that the next film will deliver hope to all those who believe their childhoods have long since disappeared beyond memory.

You can watch Digimon Adventure tri. on Crunchyroll.

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Moe Norton vs Avast: Garakowa -Restore the World-

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This post was sponsored by Johnny Trovato. If you’re interested in submitting topics for the blog, or just like my writing and want to be a patron of Ogiue Maniax, check out my Patreon.

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This might not be a universal feeling, but I think there’s nothing quite like your first emotional and heartrending anime. It could be something as simple as Pokemon, or something more known for its sense of tragedy, such as Kanon. Perhaps it comes from Japan’s literary tradition of valuing the ephemeral, or maybe it’s something more modern, but as you watch more anime, you start to notice trends in how sadness is portrayed, how characters are used to facilitate this sorrow. Though you don’t necessarily get tired of these trends, after a while recognizing the trend can cause the sheen to come off the anime model.

Garakowa -Restore the World- is a recent film from A-1 Pictures that I’m compelled to describe as “a standard interesting anime.” It doesn’t quite do the movie justice, as I think it’s actually a solid piece with a strong story, characters, and lots of interesting ideas to chew on, but there’s an odd sense of familiarity I get from the work.

At the center of the future setting of Garokawa are two antivirus programs, visualized as teenage girls named Dual and Dorothy. Their sole task is to protect their computer world containing vast archives of human history, known as the “box of knowledge,” by deleting any memories that have been infected, at least when they aren’t butting heads with each other (it’s why you don’t install two different antivirus software!). During one virus-purging, they encounter a mysterious other program named Remo, who seems to possess all of the human traits that are simply absent in Dual and Dorothy, and the three form a bond that leads them to the truth of the world.

Garakowa‘s atmosphere is like a cross between Madoka Magica, Corrector Yui, Reboot, and She, the Ultimate Weapon, in that there are elements of magical girl anime mixed with the idea of a world inside a computer, a looming sense of tragedy, and a grand scale whose exact dimensions are intentionally ambiguous. This might be more obvious when looking at the Japanese title, Garasu no Hana to Kowasu Sekai, or “the Glass Flower and the Crumbling World.” The official translation, by the way, is the odd-sounding Vitreous & Destroy the World. However, what makes Garokawa simultaneously not the most daring and original work while also filled with material worth contemplating is the way it creatively utilizes its science fiction setting alongside its emotionally resonant moments.

The first element that really stood out to me about the film was the idea of personifying the conflict that occurs when multiple antivirus programs are installed. The way it’s presented here, with the anime trappings of magical girl accoutrements and cute girls, is to be expected to a certain extent. However, even as it’s reminiscent of the OS-tan craze of personifying computer operating systems in the early to mid-2000s and even as it draws upon the power of moe, yuri, and a kind of sensuality, the story of Garakowa also somewat implicitly justifies their human appearances.

From there, the part of the movie that really stays with me (outside of some spoilers I’m choosing not to divulge) is the idea that Dual and Dorothy cannot taste food or understand human behavior even as they’re modeled after humanity. In particular, in a scene straight of Urasawa Naoki’s Pluto, Dual contemplates Remo’s advice that, if you think that something is delicious, it feels like it will become delicious (Atom in Pluto says something similar). While it might all be in my head, I feel like that interaction sets up this idea that the antivirus programs are part of the greater presentation of humanity that is the box of knowledge. Even if they aren’t able to directly feel human emotions or sensation, they can at least exhibit a record of the ideas. If the box of knowledge is a kind of catalog of human history, then perhaps Dual and Dorothy are just as much a part of that purpose.

Overall, Garakowa is a very “anime” film in terms of its combination of science fiction, attractive female leads, and heart string-tugging narrative that contextualizes an everyday environment as something larger than life. It’s the kind of work where I feel someone who has less exposure to Japanese animation, or at least anime of this variety, could be strongly affected by its ideas, characters, world, and presentation, but it’s also enjoyable for long-time fans. Garakowa -Restore the World- is actually available for free on Crunchyroll, so it might be worth your while.

 

Eat! Eat!: Sweetness and Lightning

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Over the years, I’ve talked about some interesting manga about food and drink, but a good number of them haven’t been available in English. Fortunately, if you have a hankering for seeing the joy of cooking (and eating!), then Sweetness and Lightning is there for you.

Sweetness and Lightning follows a high school teacher and single dad, Inuzuka Kouhei, who is too busy to cook meals for his daughter Tsumugi. This has transformed into a daily habit of buying bento for her as an easy way to provide delicious meals, but when Tsumugi starts to miss eating as a family, Kouhei looks for a way to make up for his lack of culinary skills. With the help of one of his students, Iida Kotori he begins to learn about preparing homemade meals and experience the wonder of watching his little girl’s eyes light up after tasting a delicious dish.

Thus far, the series follows the same formula, but a lot of care is put into the characters’ facial expressions as they both work through the trouble of cooking and the satisfaction of enjoying the fruits of their efforts. The series isn’t as over-the-top as Yakitate!! Japan in that Sweetness and Lightning lacks those extreme reaction shot moments, but the two food manga share a similar sense of all-encompassing excitement. It also comes with a recipe at the end of each chapter.

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My favorite character is probably Kotori. I think it mostly has to do with her intense eyes and her constant desire to eat, two of my favorite traits.

Sweetness and Lighting is available on Crunchyroll Manga with a premium subscription.

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Growing Up in a World of Monsters – Digimon Adventure tri. 1: Reunion

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Digimon Adventure, known around the world as simply Digimon, is an anime that helped to define a certain generation of fans. For many, it was either the anime, or the the other anime, relative to its thematic rival, Pokemon. Where Pokemon was about traveling in a world where monsters and humans co-exist, and the stakes were generally about winning tournaments, Digimon was about traveling to an alternate digital world of monsters and saving the world. Where Pokemon generally had a core cast of three, Digimon had over twice that amount. Perhaps most important for our purposes, where Pokemon‘s characters seem to remain eternally young, Digimon‘s characters would age.

This brings us to Digimon Adventure tri., a direct sequel to the original two Digimon anime. Taking place with its main cast now older and in high school, main character Yagami Taichi (Taichi Kamiya in English) and the others have long since lost contact with their old Digimon friends as they transition from childhood to adulthood. Suddenly, Digimon start appearing in the real world, prompting the old team to reunite with the Digital World.

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Digimon Adventure tri. is very intentionally a more mature series than its prequels, though not in the sense that it’s supposed to be “darker.” Rather, between the more subdued character designs, a general aesthetic that’s closer to the Hosoda Mamoru-directed Digimon movies than the TV series, a new version of its beloved theme song Butterfly featuring hints of melancholy, and just the portrayal of the subtle turbulence that comes with being of high school age, Digimon Adventure tri. is aimed towards the young fans who are now adults themselves (or close to it). The series says, “We’ve grown up with you, and we know what it’s like.”

For example, Kido Joe, the straight-laced and responsible one, is now being consumed by college entrance exams, and Taichi himself feels like he can no longer charge ahead like he used to when he was the de facto team leader of the Chosen Ones (“DigiDestined”). This is not to say that the new series is a total downer, stripped of any of the joy and wonder of the original anime. What I think they’re going for, instead, is a kind of rediscovery of those simpler and more magical times, while grounding that kind of experience in the process of becoming adults.

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Digimon Adventure tri. actively works to maintain a strong connection with the original series, and a lot of attention is paid to continuity as a result. Whereas Taichi and the older kids have their original DigiVices, the portable tools based on the original hand-held Digimon virtual pet, the younger Hikari and Takeru (“TK”) have different ones, a nod to their continued battles in Digimon Adventure 02. Somewhat similarly, the story is set very intentionally not in 2015 but somewhere in the mid-2000s, as reflected in the technology. Most cell phones are flip phones with number pads, and no smart phones are in sight. It’s not like failing to do these things would have made it a worse series, but it shows that, to a large extent, Digimon Adventure tri. aims to evoke strong feelings of nostalgia for both for the franchise itself and for those who know what it’s like to be a teenager.

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There are a couple of notes that I feel the need to point out for the die-hard fans (I know you’re still out there). First, if you watched this series dubbed in English (or perhaps other languages, I’m not sure), the lack of dialogue and constant banter might seem unusual or even off-putting. The original Japanese versions of Digimon had a lot more “dead air,” that is to say long moments of silence, and adding music or dialogue to fill space is an old American television tactic that you could also see in the dub for Pokemon. Digimon Adventure tri. uses even larger periods of silence and its unsteady atmosphere (perhaps all the better to convey that feeling of becoming adults), so it’s something to expect going in.

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Second, you should know that the plains of the shipping wars are revived and more serious than ever. While the previous series had some hints of romance (or maybe more if you count the controversial time-skip ending of Digimon Adventure 02), relationships are nearly front and center in Digimon Adventure tri. There’s a clear love triangle between Taichi, Sora, and Yamato (probably the site of the most fierce battles). Koushirou (“Izzy”) clearly has a powerful crush on Mimi. Takeru and Hikari tease each other about their mutual popularity among the opposite sex. If you had any stake in these old battles, the series might very well draw you in like honey.

As of this first movie (split into 4 episodes on Crunchyroll), it’s clear that Digimon Adventure tri. won’t give viewers the same experience as the original anime from over a decade ago. Unlike Pokemon, which tries its best to maintain the same constant feel (though to be fair there have been subtle changes in that series over the years), Digimon Adventure tri. wants you to know that the characters have grown, that their inner and outer (and perhaps even digital) worlds have changed as a result, and it’s inviting you back to take a look. The next film/batch of episodes won’t be out until March 2016, so you’ll have plenty of time to catch up.

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Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls Ending Theme Translation

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A couple of cool podcasts, Anime World Order and GME Anime Fun Time, recently released their reviews of Hi-sCoool! SeHa Girls, a bizarre, low-budget 3DCG anime about personified Sega game consoles from the creators of the incredible gdgd Fairies and Straight Title Robot Anime. As a huge fan of Sega growing up, the show hit all the right spots.

At one point, the AWO crew and guest Heidi Kemps talk about the SeHa Girls ending theme, which they explain is actually the company song for Sega in the 90s, but is sadly left untranslated in the official Crunchyroll release. I decided to take it upon myself to translate the song, only to realize that there is not only a full version of the original song, but that there’s also a full version of the variation used in SeHa Girls as well.

Thus, I present to you a translation of “Wakai Chikara -SEGA HARD GIRLS MIX-.”

A couple of notes: Wakai Chikara, or “Youthful Power,” was the Japanese Sega slogan in the 90s. Similarly, a lot of the quotes spoken in reference to Sega hardware are also advertising slogans.

Title: Wakai Chikara -SEGA HARD GIRLS MIX-
Composed by Wakakusa Kei
(Japanese lyrics taken from here)

Verse 1

知的創造 あふれる 英知
Chiteki souzou afureru eichi
Intelligent creations, overflowing wisdom

共に築こう 豊かな文化
Tomo ni kizukou  yutaka na bunka
Together let’s build a flourishing culture

夢と希望は 宇宙(あおぞら)高く
Yume to kibou wa aozora takaku
Dreams and hopes are as high as space (the blue sky)

社会に貢献 我らが使命
Shakai ni kouken warera ga shimei
It’s our mission to contribute to society

明日の創造 生命(いのち)にかえる
Ashita no souzou inochi ni kaeru
Creating tomorrow, changing lives

セガ(SEGA!) セガ(SEGA!) セガ(Fu-!!)若い力
SEGA! (SEGA!) SEGA (SEGA!) SEGA (Fu-!!) Wakai chikara
Sega (Sega!) Sega (Sega!) Sega (Foo!!): Youthful Power

Verse 2

先進技術 絶ゆまぬ 努力
Senshin gijutsu tayumanu doryoku
Leading technology, trustworthy effort

共に目指そう 新たな流れ
Tomo ni mezasou arata na nagare
Together, let us aim for a new current

夢と希望は 海原広く
Yume to kibou wa umibara hiroku
Dreams and hopes are as wide as the ocean

時代の先取り 我らが挑戦
Jidai no sakidori warera ga chousen
Anticipating the times is our challenge

未来の創造 生命(いのち)にかえる
Mirai no souzou inochi ni kaeru
Creating futures, changing lives

セガ(SEGA!) セガ(SEGA!) セガ(Fu-!!)若い力
SEGA! (SEGA!) SEGA (SEGA!) SEGA (Fu-!!) Wakai chikara
Sega (Sega!) Sega (Sega!) Sega (Foo!!): Youthful Power

Spoken Section

「すべての始まり」 SC-3000
“Subete no hajimari” SC-3000
“The beginning of everything” SC-3000

「楽しさいっぱい」 SG-1000
“Tanoshii ippai” SG-1000
“So much fun” SG-1000

「ソフトの数だけ 興奮してね」 SG-1000Ⅱ
“Sofuto no suu dake koufun shite ne” SG-1000II
“Just the amount of software alone is exciting! SG-1000II

「野球もテニスも」 ロボピッチャ
“Yakyuu mo tenisu mo” Robopiccha
“Baseball, and tennis too” Robo Pitcher

「1メガビットの大容量」 マークⅢ
“1 megabitto no daiyouryou” Maaku III
“1 megabit capacity” Mark III

「スーパーゲームメカ」 マスターシステム
“Suupaa geemu meka” Masutaa Shisutemu
“Super game machine” Master System

「時代が求めた16BIT」 メガドライブ
“Jidai ga motometa 16BIT” Megadoraibu
“16BIT: what the times were looking for” Mega Drive

「ワールドワイドでナンバーワン!」 ジェネシス
“Waarudowaido de nanbaa wan!” Jeneshisu
“Number one worldwide!” Genesis

「色いっぱいだよ」 ゲームギア
“Iro ippai da yo” Geemu Gia
“So many colors” Game Gear

「2つの頭脳がドッキング」 テラドライブ
“Futatsu no zunou ga dokkingu” Teradoraibu
“The docking of two brains” Tera Drive

「ゲーム革命!」 メガCD
“Geemu kakumei!” Mega CD
“A gaming revolution!” Mega CD

「高性能ボディコン・ペア」 メガドラ2 メガCD2
Kouseinou bodikon pea” Megadora 2 Mega CD 2
“High-performance body-conforming pair” Mega Drive 2 Mega CD 2

「メガドライブ新次元」 スーパー32X
“Megadoraibu shinjingen”  Suupaa 32X
“A new dimension for the Mega Drive” Super 32X

「脳天直撃!」 セガ・サターン
“Nouten chokugeki!” Sega Sataan
“Right in the head!” Sega Saturn

「セーブはお任せ」 ビジュアルメモリ
“Seebu wa omakase” Bijuaru memori
“Leave the saving to me” Visual Memory

「夢を繋いで!」 ドリームキャスト
“Yume o tsunaide!” Doriimukyasuto
“Connect our dreams!” Dreamcast

Verse 3

人社一体 みなぎる闘志
Jinsha ittai minagiru toushi
The people and the company are as one, with overflowing fighting spirit

共に進もう 絆も固く
Tomo ni susumou kizuna mo kataku
Let’s move forward together and solidify our bonds

夢と希望は 永遠(とわ)に尽きない
Yume to kibou wa towa ni tsukinai
Hopes and dreams are never-ending

目標追求 我らが誓い
Mokuhyou tsuukyuu warera ga chikai
Pursuing our goals, that’s our vow

世界の創造 生命(いのち)にかえる
Sekai no souzou inochi ni kaeru
Creating worlds, changing lives

セガ(SEGA!) セガ(SEGA!) セガ(Fu-!!)若い力
SEGA! (SEGA!) SEGA (SEGA!) SEGA (Fu-!!) Wakai chikara
Sega (Sega!) Sega (Sega!) Sega (Foo!!): Youthful Power

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BONES in Its Bones: Captain Earth

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Captain Earth centers around an alien force attacking humanity known as the Planetary Gears, who see humans and their “libidos” as a food source. The main character is Manatsu Daichi, who, as a child, befriends a boy and a girl and is thus set on a strange path that ends with him becoming the pilot of a giant space defense robot known as the “Earth Engine.” At the same time that he defends the Earth with his friends, he must deal with the fact that there is another faction on Earth that believes that the only way to save humanity is to create an Ark to save the best of the best, and who are willing to get in “Captain Earth’s” way to do so.

When I watched the first episode of Captain Earth, I felt that the show had to be somehow related to the anime Star Driver, a previous work from the same studio, BONES. Like Star Driver, “libido” is presented as some kind of important power or energy source. The enemy mecha, known as Kiltgangs, bring to mind many  of the “Cybodies” from Star Driver as well, not only in terms of design but also in their pilots’ very “spirited” (read: erotic) reactions. Mysterious songs herald the arrival of an enemy. In the end, it turns out that these allusions remain only as such and that there were no direct narrative connections between these two works, but I do still find it valuable to compare them because Captain Earth more or less feels like a more conventional, less wild re-telling of Star Driver.

Above: Enemy mecha from Captain Earth, Below: Enemy mecha from Star Driver

Whereas Star Driver has a main character whose sense of justice has him appear out of a rift in space like some kind of giant interdimensional Zorro, Daichi in Captain Earth is mainly inspired to do good by the example of his deceased father, and undergoes an elaborate combination sequence that has him launching into multiple space stations. While quiet scenes in Star Driver are set on a mysterious island and battles take place in an enigmatic pocket outside of time and space, fights in Captain Earth uses Tanegashima (home of JAXA in reality), and its most signature fights take place in orbit around the Earth. One thrives on symbols and mystery and is akin to being a giant metal Utena, while the other plays out more closely to a typical super robot anime, yet they share many of the same strengths and flaws as shows. Both shows have vibrant and expressive characters, a consistent sense of mystery about the enemy that gradually reveals itself, and beautiful animation especially focused around dynamic action sequences. However, they also share unusual plot reveals that are strangely abrupt, as well as changes of heart in characters that basically make sense but could be better if they were focused on more. Both stories feel liable to fall apart in a structural sense, but are held together by the dynamism and energy of their characters, for better or for worse.

How does this manifest in Captain Earth in particular? There are two points that stick out to me. The first is the fact that the Planetary Gears have an intriguing inverse relationship with their robots, in the sense that they are basically giant robots who take on the guise of their “human” pilots rather than the other way around. This is quite a unique idea, but it never gets explored as much as I would have preferred. The second point comes in the last episode, when Daichi is back to basics, fighting the enemy with just the Earth Engine and no additional weapons or frills. It’s something that happens at the end in a lot of giant robot anime such as Gurren-Lagann or Gaogaigar, but when Daichi calls out the Earth Engine’s attacks, I realized I didn’t actually remember any of them, because the story couldn’t quite ever focus on the main robot as this symbol of good and make its attacks memorable. What makes the scene a partial success instead is the fact that we are there with Daichi as he grows into the role of “Captain Earth,” and his romantic relationship with the character Hana.

Actually, when I think about it further, Captain Earth doesn’t feel like simply a different, less surreal version of Star Driver, but more the lovechild of Star Driver and another BONES work, Heroman. The Earth Engine basically looks like an upgraded version of Heroman with its red, white, and blue color scheme and its overall “physique,” while Daichi’s personality is right in between Takuto from Star Driver and Joey Jones from Heroman. What’s even more notable, however, is the fact that many of the other high and low points of Captain Earth that it does not share with Star Driver can be found in Heroman. In particular, when Captain Earth is focused on its main story, it has a sense of urgency and excitement, but often it ends up meandering in a way that is less irritating and more puzzling: “Why put this diversion here of all places? It’s not even humor to break up a serious moment?” With Heroman it’s the long number of episodes they spend dealing with that mad scientist villain, and with Captain Earth it’s the time they spend on Earth chasing down unawakened Planetary Gears. While the latter makes more sense, it just feels as if it comes at an unusual point in the overall story.

While its aesthetics don’t have quite the flash and razzmatazz of anime like Utena or Kill la Kill or indeed Star Driver, the show’s more by-the-books approach to looking good enhances the series and its viewability by giving care to both its characters and its mechanical designs. At the same time, I can easily see why someone looking for a cohesive narrative above all else would find Captain Earth infuriating, even if I did consistently enjoy and look forward to the series. I wouldn’t say it’s a show that you shouldn’t think about too much, but that you should think about it while well aware of where the characters and their emotions fill in the gaps that might not otherwise make much sense.

New Fujoshi-themed Manga in English

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motetedousunda

Crunchyroll recently announced a slew of new manga for its site, and given my interest in stories themed around fujoshi characters, Watashi ga Motete Dousunda by Junko stands out to me the most. Below is the official description:

Kae Serinuma is what you’d call a “fujoshi.” When she sees boys getting along with each other, she loves to indulge in wild fantasies! One day her favorite anime character dies and the shock causes her to lose a ton of weight. Then four hot guys at school ask her out, but that isn’t exciting to her at all — she’d rather see them date each other!

Also of note is the fact that there’s a naming competition for the official English title. The title literally means “What Am I Going to Do About Being Popular?” but the series also already has an alternate English title: Boys, Kiss Him Instead of Me.

I recall that this manga had some controversy surrounding it due to its basic premise and the message it might be sending to those with eating disorders. However, I hadn’t followed up on either that discussion or the actual manga itself so I can’t recommend it offhand, but I’ll definitely be checking it out.

Its characters will also eventually appear in the Fujoshi Files, my catalog for fujoshi characters in anime and manga (the list recently passed 100!).

As far as I know, Watashi ga Motete Dousunda would be the fifth fujoshi-themed manga to be licensed in English, following Mousou Shoujo Otakukei (aka Fujoshi Rumi), Fujoshi Kanojo (aka My Girlfriend is a Geek), Moehime (about a Heian period fujoshi, formerly on JManga), and of course, Genshiken Nidaime (or Genshiken Second Season).

 

 

And Yet the Digital Manga Moves: Soremachi is Back

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Back when JManga was still alive, Soredemo Machi ga Mawatteiru, aka And Yet the Town Moves, was one of its most popular titles. While that didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, it’s clear it did have at least something of a fanbase. When JManga went under, it was a big loss in my opinion, but fortunately Crunchyroll Manga has brought it back.

Soremachi (as it’s called by fans) is a manga ostensibly about a maid cafe, which is better described as “a coffee shop which happens to have maids.” Its main character is a teenage girl named Arashiyama Hotori who has a love of detective fiction and a knack for thinking outside the box but is otherwise dumb as bricks. The humor is clever and varied, and it shares a number of qualities with Yotsuba&.

As far as I can tell, it’s the exact same translation as the one that was on JManga. Also, though it doesn’t really matter that much, one casualty of the switch to Crunchyroll is the original Japanese version. JManga originally allowed readers to switch back and forth between English and Japanese text, and it was fun seeing what certain jokes or puns were originally. Hotori mishearing “calculus” as “calculator” was, in Japanese, confusing “bibun sekibun” (calculus) as “sebun irebun” (Seven-Eleven).

That said, I’m willing to make that “sacrifice” for Crunchyroll’s more sensible pricing structure.

The One Thing I Want Most in Digital Manga Readers

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Between the Negima creator’s J-Comi, Viz and Kodansha, the defunct JManga, or the recent Crunchyroll Manga, the quality of official digital manga readers has varied tremendously, but they all lack one feature I keep wishing for. I want to simply be able to magnify or shrink the page quickly and conveniently on a regular computer without having to use magnifying glass icons which either make everything super big or not at all. Most preferably I would like to be able to set my mouse’s scroll wheel to shrink and enlarge the page for when I want to get a closer look at a particular panel or set of panels.

I know that it’s easier on tablets, and when I do read manga on a tablet it’s just  a pinch or a finger drag away, and that digital readers are made more for tablet users, but I just think having this option would go a long way in making the reading of manga on a desktop or laptop so much more natural and convenient.