Recommended Posts

5 hours ago, Roderick said:

Well, that was, in a way, wholly to be expected. Whenever you dig up an old success, chances are you won't be able to repeat the magic.

 

Yeah, I'm not saying that the end result came as a particular surprise for me. I was already cynical about how big production companies, Production IG in particular, have made it a policy of consolidating legacy properties and giving them to young writers and directors in order to help them get their sea legs with a product that basically can't fail. In the abstract, I even approve somewhat, given that the first generation of anime creatives has begun to pass away and the second generation is looking to retire. I just wish they'd had something more to say with it? As it stands, the two sequels feel like a business decision rather than a passion project... which I know they were, but still. I guess anime's catching the fever for obligatory sequels, same as every other creative industry, and I guess that it's good that it's just as much to train the next generation as to make scads of money. I just want more, especially from something as storied as FLCL, and not for it to serve merely as a loose thematic framework for coming-of-age stories.

 

At least, after making a dog's breakfast of Ghost in the Shell with the awful ARISE OVAs and The New Movie, it looks like Kenji Kamiyama's coming back to the franchise, hopefully to direct a third season of Stand-Alone Complex rather than to continue the over-grim, over-dramatic world of ARISE.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, after watching too many airing anime for the winter season because of holdovers from fall and two girls-in-airplanes shows, I only have one anime that I'm planning to watch this season: Sarazanmai, the new show from Kunihiko Ikuhara. Do I think it's going to be good? No, not after the unevenness of Penguindrum and the blowout that was Yurikuma Arashi. Am I going to watch it anyway to see what will be, at worst, an interesting failure by the creator of one of the greatest anime of all time? Yup.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As coincidence would have it, I just watched the premier ep of Sarazanmai. It was about what I expected coming hot off Yurikuma (which I loved, by the way, but as a caveat I'll state that it was also my first introduction to the creator - so what felt incredibly fresh to me might have been old hat to others). The same feeling permeated Sarazanmai: one that I was already familiar with all these elements. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely: the great animation, the surprising interludes, the swift scripting...

 

And I'll also say that it feels like after the yuri-fest that was Yurikuma, the creator seems to have felt he needed to go the opposite route: this series is unabashedly gay, but in just as sweet a way as the previous show. Having said that, I've never quite seen three people link up as anal beads to extract a person's desire from their rectum before, so what the hell am I talking about when I write the word 'familiar'?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Three episodes into Sarazanmai and I'm still loving it. It's so joyously envisioned, designed and animated, it's hard not to be impressed. For a weekly show, the sets look really detailed. And boy, do the stories move quickly - it's all fast-paced character development and you're not a moment left without something else to gawk at.

 

Those kappa version of the main characters remain super cute. Right up until they extract orbs from water-spewing monster butts. (But still cute.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now