I think he is a she.
—Someone in Ranma, I’m Sure of It
Anime >> Ranma 1/2 (Eps. 1-5)
You know, after a semester of writing scholarly screeds and attempting to write my beloved fiction once more, I almost forgot the simple joys of the rant, or what I like to call “recreational nonfiction.” So, here goes:
After reading reviews and a few pseudo-reviews about how awesome Rumiko Takahashi’s Ranma 1/2 series is, I decided to bite the bullet and check it out online. I already knew that it was about a hermaphroditic martial artist engaged to… no, that’s not right. It’s about this guy named Ranma Saotome and his father, see, and they find these mythical Cursed Springs. Mr. Stereotypical Chinese Man tries to warn them of its fell waters, but they continue to train near said Cursed Springs. So Dad falls in and is cursed with transforming into a panda whenever he’s hit with cold water, and his son Ranma is cursed with turning into a “busty” (lovely reviewing term, ain’t it?) red-haired girl who still looks oddly like Ranma. They end up staying with the Tendo family, which includes the quick-to-anger martial arts girl Akane. Unlike every other screwball romantic comedy in anime or manga, these two actually have a professional background for their beating the crap out of each other constantly.
The main problem with this series, although the premise is admittedly pulled off quite well, is that the episodic and repetitive nature of the manga shows up apparently in the anime as well. There are 36 manga volumes and 161 anime episodes of this series, so you could spend a good portion of your life simply consuming Ranma 1/2 and related properties. Thus, after I sat through about five episodes, I knew I had basically seen what it had to offer… I guess (LAWL!). Essentially, new threats or suitors for either Akane or Ranma occur and reoccur on a frequent basis, along with anime-style “awkward situations.” Now, I give credit where credit is due here to Takahashi et al. for basically inventing a truckload of anime cliches… these weren’t cliches at the time–they were REVOLUTIONARY (sort of) !
Final Grade: B.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anime, douchebaggery, failure, freedom, letdowns, madness, magic, reviews, satire, surreal
Anime >> Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade (Vol. 4)
It’s no use, Sasshi. No matter how big a tantrum a kid like you throws, nothin’s gonna be changed or resolved by it. The only thing that changes is what’s in your head, in your imaginary world. But this is reality, and you can talk about all the Omryou science and spells you want, but it won’t move a single pebble. In the end, it’s nothin’ but a toy… and you’re just a kid who stayed out too late playin’ in the dark after the sun’s gone down.
–Sasshi’s Dad, Delivering the Serious Closer Lines Every Comedy Must By Law Contain
This volume begins with a witty realization of the emotional battle between the two protagonists into a literal war in Episode 11, in which almost every other major character in the realm of Abenobashi is implied to have lost their life due to the hellish nature of their conflict. You’ve got your tanks, your World War II-era fighter planes and, of course Sasshi fighting his way through a Catch-22-style military bureaucracy from hell.1 Extremely entertaining though annoyingly rough around the edges would be a good way to describe this set-up to the tragic failure that Episode 12 becomes. Ostensibly a wry look at those retarded Americans and their wacky cinema, Episode 12 quickly devolves into a wheels-off debacle that invites more pity than anything else.2
Good God, I actually frowned while watching this episode… not a good sign!
Episode 13 brings us back around to the underdeveloped “serious side of Abenobashi” and the repeated conflicts related to Sasshi’s profound selfishness and his attempts to shield Arumi from the harshness of reality, even though she seems far more capable of handling it than he is. I won’t spoil too much, but the quote box at the top of this article plus an in depth understanding of the prefix “meta-” should help guide you in the right direction.
What really, really annoyed me about the ending of this series was not that it “was too sad,” but that it almost validates Sasshi’s douchebaggery to some extent. For one, he actually succeeds in reversing Grandpa’s death in the “real world” (yeah right), keeping the shopping arcade open, and even keeping Arumi in Osaka.
ARUMI: It’s a shame I won’t be moving to Hokkaido. I was really looking forward to it!
SASSHI: I see..
See that? He wasn’t even able to make her truly happy! That little b*****d ran amok through at least fifteen different universes and learned absolutely nothing!
And what line did it end on? Something like, “Well, at least you’ve got your health”?
…
Dang it!
Had enough yet?
Final Grade: C+.
1Cartoons can be literary, too!
2Like, say, laughter for example.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anime, madness, magic, melancholy, reviews, satire, surreal, the trap
Anime >> Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade (Vol. 3)
ARUMI: Yeah, but that outfit is totally dumb…
SASSHI: STOP SAYIN’ THAT! Now listen carefully: this is an excellent costume based on geomancy and mystical physics! Its first awesome feature is the number of paper dolls you can carry with ya at all times–50! That’s an amazing 1.5 times the amount of previous costumes…. What’s more, you get the Demon’s Gate and Rear Demon’s Gate at your disposal, plus this all-directional gyroscope comes standard. Not only that, the size is adjustable, and extra urethane makes this baby completely airtight! Wait, hold the phone… it’s even reversible! [Awkward Pause] ARUMI, WAKE UP!!!
ARUMI: Alright, alright, I get it. So now you’re an honest-to-God Omryou mystic, right? Well how about shakin’ a leg and gettin’ us back to our own world?!
SASSHI: Well, uh, I could, but…
–No Sale in Abenobashi
Volume 3 sees Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade1 hit its stride once more, not only in comedy, but in heartbreaking tragedy as well. **SPOILER:** Yes, Grandpa Masa is actually dead from his fall in Volume 1. **SPOILER:** Ms. Munemune (whom Sasshi crassly refers to as “that boobalicious babe”) is, in reality, his grandmother. If there was ever a time to use my “THE TRAP” tag, it would be now.
Look, without getting into specifics, Eutus is in fact the original Mr. Abeno, a powerful 10th-century expert in the purported science of “Omryou mysticism” and the space-time architect of the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade. Since Omryou mystics are in the business of diverting horrific fates, we learn that the entire reason the shopping arcade was built on these grounds (and the only reason all this gobbledygook continues to happen) is to avoid past-Masa from killing himself and past-Munemune once he finds out the affair she and past-Abeno have attempted. Thus, when the shopping arcade was built in like the 1950s or something, Abeno, Masa, and Munemune were reincarnated around its construction. Thus, the events of Episode 7 are explained. Got all that?
Apparently, this all justifies why various friends and relatives of Sasshi keep on showing up in the young lad’s wacky dreamworlds: as an Omryou mystic lite, he has been attempting to deny the impending fates of both Arumi moving away to Hokkaido2 and Masa’s tragic fall to his death. With all the cast and characters assembled by Abeno for his original purpose, Sasshi has plenty of material to work with as he inadvertently warps reality into various shopping arcade “worlds.”
Phew!
Anyway, that’s basically what happens before they converge with wacky satire once more in Episode 10, a conventional parody of the easily lampooned “magical girl” genre.3 Whoops, almost forgot about Episode 8, this gloriously bizarre send-up of not only dating sims, but a classic revelation of Arumi’s jealousy of Sasshi and her pervasive hatred of the worlds that are inevitably for only his pleasure and no one else’s… High drama fer shure, I know. Some have sniped at what they view as an overwrought mythology behind the series, but hey, I like my dark drama and high comedy mixed together as closely as possible. In sum, this critical mass definitely qualifies as grounds for an A+. Congratulations, Abenobashi: you just accrued an Epic Win.
Final Grade: A+.
2Apparently they haven’t discovered e-mail yet.
3“Where’d you get this flimsy outfit?” “At a thrift store! But that’s not important now!”
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anime, madness, magic, melancholy, reviews, satire, sehnsucht, surreal
Anime >> Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade (Vol. 2)
MASA: Aw, come on, don’t you have a sympathetic bone in your body?
BANK TELLER: No, sir, I don’t.
–Pithy Exchange in Abenobashi
I was all set to review this and give it my highest honors.
But that would be if Episode 8 were included. And since it’s not, well, I’ll have to mark off a few points. Tough.
Episode 5, involving a Tex Avery-esque chase scene in Neanderthal times or something, was a noticeably weak point in my opinion. Granted, they did choose to steal from the best with Avery, but things just didn’t cohere as wondrously as they could–and some rather grating sexual humor and cartoon violence didn’t help. Also, for those with Internet access and ability to Google… what’s with Sasshi’s view of his aunt? Honestly, the events of this episode involving both Sasshi’s aunt and the enigmatic Ms. Munemune are somewhat of a beatdown, I think.
Anyway, Episode 6 involves a witty send-up of American gangster flicks (where “the Snail Prohibition” is still in full force), with Episode 7 giving us that sweet melancholic elixir of pure drama. Heck, isn’t that how life feels sometimes… surreal comedy bracketed by sadness? Also, Ms. Munemune is revealed to be… uh… more directly related to Sasshi than previously thought. I don’t know exactly how the writers will deal with this situation, but in any case, it will be quite an exercise in narratorial finagling.
I’ll try to keep Episode 8 out of my mind as I review, but suffice it to say that this section “prepares for great things to come” (lame phrase, ain’t it?). This review is shorter than usual simply because this three-episode slice wasn’t as impacting as the former or the latter. Here’s to completing the set.
Final Grade: B+.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anime, madness, magic, reviews, satire, surreal
Anime >> Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade (Vol. 1)
Ni hao and bonjour, you smelly old man…
–French Ninja in Hong Kong (also, Abenobashi)
When I first heard the twangy Texan drawl of the voice actors who played our two protagonists of Sasshi and Arumi, I thought I was in for a tremendous beating and looked frantically for the subtitles. Apparently, though, the actors were chosen due to the Osakan accent of the main characters (I hope?). In any case, it soon pleased me quite deeply to hear my native Tejas being spoken once more like the cactus-thumping, horny-toad-chasing varmints we are (or so I’ve heard). So that turned out alright, but the second hurdle for me was the standard elitist attitude of “I’m sorry, my friend, you just aren’t otaku1 enough to get it, y’see.”2 Well, I for one am here to tell you that yes, you too can understand this just as long as you have some grounding in pop culture at all in any of the genres satirized (Episode 2 tackled sword and sorcery, Episode 3 did science fiction… you get the idea). After seeing Sasshi thrown out into space, sucked through a wormhole, then reincarnated as a Star Child à la Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, I knew I must buy this.3 There was no other way around it, man.
Essentially, the plot of the series seems to be that the son et lumière freakshow that is the Abenobashi Shopping District has been torn down, and been replaced with… uh, that’s a real good question. Apparently, it’s one that the writers (and presumably the original manga’s author) endeavor to find out. Sasshi (boy) and Arumi (girl) have grown up in the area, and are quite remiss to see the enterprise shut down. To make matters worse, Arumi will be moving away soon to the isle of Hokkaido, leaving Sasshi waiting in lurch to pick up the pieces of his life. Episode 1 gives the audience some serious exposition, then by Episode 2… well, all hell breaks loose.
Snappy dialogue and odd sight gags pervade this series, but thankfully not enough to be distracting or to grate on the ears and eyes (for the most part). The lush and almost painfully beautiful animation comes to us courtesy of Satoshi Kon’s Madhouse Studios, and come on–the simple fact that Sasshi has to endure a brutal panda training session is almost Ferrell-esque in its Western-style ridiculousness. Good grief, and they even squish in a Rocky reference (“Adrian!”) and a Dana Carvey tribute (“Could it be, oh I don’t know… SATAN?!“). Many new fans should be pleasantly surprised by the fact that neither Sasshi nor Arumi nor anyone else’s eyeballs are bulging freakishly out of their heads, and that their hair is actually brown like many humans’ would be.
So that’s Abenobashi: it’s a thrillride, it’s a LOLlercoaster, go buy it.
NOT recommended for kids, though, unless your kids are disturbingly worldly. There’s rarely any overtly obscene sexual humor and certainly no bloody gore, but plenty of explosions, blunt and earthy humor, and a rather overendowed villain to “round things off,” so to speak.4
Final Grade: A-. ***EDIT: I heard ragtime piano at the episode’s close. +1/2 letter.***
Final Grade: A.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anime, art, film, hubris, madness, reviews, surreal
Film >> Satoshi Kon’s Paprika [Original Novel by Yatsutaka Tsutsui]
“He was invaded by a collective dream.”
–Dr. Atsuko Chiba
You should own this film as soon as possible.
After seeing it in theaters, I forgot how incredible this film is. Granted, I’m a sucker for surrealist humor, so my review will be biased… and biased heavily in its favor.
First off… look at this:
If this poster frightens you, perhaps you should look elsewhere for entertainment this evening (and no, not that kind of entertainment). The gist of the story is this: a group of psychotherapists-errant (my own neologism for… uh, therapists that go a-dreamtrotting through other people’s minds) have invented an ominous device with a rather unintimidating name–the DC Mini. One of the scientists, a Ms. Ats… Atsuko… Atsuko Chiba or Chiba Atsuko, whichever way the aficionados prefer.
In any case, the DC Mini has been purloined by a nefarious fiend that the majority of the cast is content to call a “dream terrorist.” Once a hardened policeman is drawn into this web of doppelgängers and deceit, you know it’s only a matter of time until all hell breaks loose and the worlds of the real and surreal collide (i.e., a parade of anthropomorphized flotsam and jetsam marching in time through what appears to be the Gobi Desert). Violent and sexual imagery crop up in this epic of the unconscious, but with nary a whiff of pandering fanservice to be found… Also, watch out for Himuro–he’ll getcha!
My one major quibble with this film was the denoument, at which point much of the action onscreen goes from being subversively brilliant to downright incomprehensible. Trust me on this one–I have quite a tolerance for the incomprehensible. For those of you who saw the preview, this is where the exploding heads filled with butterflies, short-circuiting robots and gigantic little girls over a partially demolished Tokyo comes in. Also, an unexpected romance blossoms for an effect which to me came off as almost absurdly forced…
The director and author of the original novel both have cameos as two placid bartenders… Susumu Hirasawa, the film’s insanely gifted composer, is no where to be seen–only heard. [The theme's available here!]
***UPDATE***
Apparently the final line of the infamous “parade theme” of cast-off garbage translates to this:
The parade of lunacy is coming, and it is in your name!
Final Grade: A.
