The best thing I can say about Tsukasa’s arc is that at least it was the best one next to Sae’s. Tsukasa was a far more complex character than any other heroine in Amagami SS, which made for some entertaining drama at the first half. However, as this show has done time and again, it failed to follow through on its potential, and the arc ended all too conveniently. The final episode, a separate story dedicated to a 7th girl Risa, was a fitting end to the series that brought forward everything that was wrong with this show.

It started off with promise, to be sure. The cliffhanger ending to episode 21 was well done (and really hot, by the way), giving us a glimpse of the selfish side of Tsukasa for the first time. And though her coming clean almost immediately at the start of episode 22 was a bit disappointing, it didn’t change the fact that there was still something dark, something interesting within her. Plus, that episode also had more of Tsukasa’s odd sister. The mystery of their relationship was actually intriguing.

But as has been the case so many times already with this show, all the potential from the first couple episodes was wasted and never amounted to anything. The notebook wasn’t brought up again until it was burned, without giving us much of a clue as to its contents. Tsukasa’s apparently strained relationship with her sister wasn’t explored further.

What was explored a bit in the 2nd half of the arc was Tsukasa’s bullheadedness and hubris when it came to preparing the Founder’s Festival. Her getting bullied was another plot point that had potential. But this was solved all too simply by Tsukasa seemingly flipping a switch and becoming a different person in episode 3. There was more potential with Junichi confronting her about this, saying that that wasn’t the Tsukasa he liked, but things just fizzled at the end with a good hug and crying about a bad Santa memory from her childhood.

Where was the real identity crisis? Where was the struggle to find out who she truly was? And, most importantly, where was the romance? At least in some of the other arcs, we got to see the romance between the couples develop organically. In this one, Tsukasa just ups and decides that she likes Junichi. And, of course, Junichi accepts. Who could say no to the hot class president?

This arc’s ending wasn’t downright offensive like Haruka’s, but it also featured a “10 years later” ending, which means that the series has been bookended with arcs featuring such endings. And just like with Haruka’s ending, this one served as a reminder that we missed out on all the interesting parts of the romance, the struggles and conflicts sure to arise between the two after they become lovers. Instead, we get to see them already with a family, happily ever after, etc.

So this was yet another unsatisfying, uninteresting arc. That’s 5/6 for those keeping score at home. To its credit, Tsukasa’s arc remained potentially interesting for the longest time with potentially the most complex and juicy character developments compared to the other failed arcs. But it couldn’t escape its seemingly inevitable fate as an Amagami SS story of hastily wrapping things up with no facing of the real issues and no exploring of meaningful plot or character threads.

Series End and Risa episode

If you’ve read this far down, it should be abundantly clear that I did not enjoy Amagami SS. The final episode really epitomized the attributes that made the show fail as a piece of romantic fiction. Risa’s stalking behavior was mysteriously successful, merely for the convenience of the show. Seriously, if girls were that easily swayed by one doctored photo shown to them by someone they didn’t know, the entire genre of drama would cease to exist. Furthermore, Risa’s disturbing and borderline insane behavior was accepted by Junichi without a blink of an eye because, well, she’s the heroine this time, which means he had to accept her. This also meant that this actually interesting aspect of Risa’s personality, one that could have been fodder for character development, was glossed over. And finally, everything got resolved easily by a few simple apologies.

I’m not even sure “wish fulfillment” would the proper way to describe this piece of work. Because, generally, works of that sort have people going through interesting lives, having interesting interactions with interesting people, reaching a resolution in some interesting way. Amagami SS gives just hints of those before skipping all that right to the “resolution” part. The only times when this show was actually entertaining was when it was actively making fun of itself – as was the case with Sae’s arc, the only good one of the lot – or presented some insane or absurd situation, such as the ramen eating scene from Ai’s arc. Everything else was sterile, devoid of humor, emotion, or drama. It was, in a word, boring.

As much as I hate the forced drama of a lot of anime – Key’s works such as Kanon or Clannad in particular – I think I prefer that to the complete lack of it in this show. Amagami SS isn’t just a show that underdelivers; it’s legitimately a bad show, void of what makes shows entertaining. Even Sae’s arc was only decent, made great by the fact that it followed – and was followed by – the very horrible arcs that it was parodying. Seen by itself, it was a slightly humorous self-referencing piece of comedy with a bad and borderline offensive romance story underneath. It may be too late for you or me, but please, tell your friends, tell your family, time spent watching this show would be better spent taking a nap. At least then, you have a chance of dreaming something with actual entertainment value.

Though still pretty interesting, this episode seemed like kind of a let down after the last arc. It’s not that I don’t like Benio or any of her antics, but as the title suggests, I felt that the episode featured too many of them. With that in mind, this episode provided a few new pieces of insight on the story, even if it felt like we had seen it all before.

Seriously, I sometimes wonder if Star Driver is really about Takuto, which is probably a good thing and probably done on purpose. Still, since every episode features an opponent of the week, and more recently Sugata’s interactions with Head, I don’t feel as though we have gotten any plot development on Takuto since episode 8 or so, and the show seems to have completely forgotten about Wako. This reliance on weekly supporting characters is kind of the show’s Achilles’ heel, in that if you don’t really like that week’s character, you aren’t going to like that episode. That’s not really a problem when the story centers around Kanako or Mizuno, but I have found characters like Benio and Keito not as fun to watch.

Though I loved Benio’s collection of awesome faces, more specifically her eyes, there were just too many things about her character that I didn’t like this time around. Her constant flirting with Takuto, for whatever reason, just wore thin with me, and it seemed like her character didn’t have enough to do, considering the scene with that kid confessing to her added nothing. Still, the revelation that her first phase power has lost its effect, though this has been hinted at earlier in the series, was fairly interesting, especially when you consider this week’s conversation between Head and Sugata. In that conversation, Head mentioned that the things people think they’ve lost were never really lost at all , which was in reference to his painting. I tend to get the feeling that Benio hasn’t necessarily lost her first phase ability, but that she may be focusing on other things instead. What this means for Sugata,  I couldn’t say, but it looks like he is losing some of his childhood harem of Wako, Keito, and Benio to Takuto, which probably doesn’t make him too happy. Or is he?

The other big plot line in this episode was that the Glittering Crux Brigade finally succeeded in regenerating a Cybuddy. Seeing as how Benio, and Filament in general, seem to be having a tough time in the Glittering Crux, it does seem like Benio took a big risk in being the test subject for regeneration test, and it also may be the reason she couldn’t use her first phase. Regardless, Filament does really look to be nothing more than a bunch of test subjects for the Crux, so that they don’t take any unnecessary chances with the pilots and Cybuddys that matter. Though it is interesting to see that this is the third episode since his defeat in episode one that has shown George, so I still wouldn’t be too surprised to see him come back eventually.

That is really all that stood out to me in this episode, though I will say it was pretty funny when Benio realized that she would have won if she hadn’t challenged Takuto in the real world before fighting him in Zero Time. You would have to think that sooner or later the Galactic Pretty Boy’s luck is going to run out, if for no other reason than for a change of pace.

New season around the corner, or is it already here?, so let’s take a look at the lineup and choose five that look interesting to me. Gosick Last season I watched Milky Holmes for a detective anime, this coming season there’s Gosick to try! And this one looks to be a whole lot better at [...]

Woah, those last two episodes were pretty good! If only the rest of the anime was as bad-ass as those two. Oh well, retarded fun is all good too! What I found dumb was that they got their toys back, they figured out Arsene was Henriette because bewbs (great evidence gathering detectives!), and they didn’t [...]

Oh wow. Talk about leaving on a high note. The final episode of this show brought together everything that was good about this show into one hilarious, quirky, crazy, emotional, touching, moving package. What a great way to bring out the first episode in which just one story is told start to finish, with no gag transitions or lack of chronology. What started off as another story about Hotori’s naivete and rashness getting her into trouble ended up being a very touching look back at this show and all of its characters who have made it what it is.

The first half of the episode was innocent enough, with Hotori foolishly thinking she could win a literature contest to buy a new pen to replace the one given to her by her uncle, all because she excitedly modded it during the cold open with a magnifying glass without doing any research into the pen’s value. Never change, Hotori. The scene in which Hotori shows Futaba the cafe and reunites her with Toshiko served to remind us of when in the timeline this was taking place, in case we missed the title scroll. And seriously, Hotori’s mystery short story was horrible, but, of course, that was part of the charm. The super deformed adaptation was a gag that actually worked, thanks its quick pacing and wonderfully cliche writing.

But shit really hit the fan when Hotori got hit by a car in front of her house while fallen in despair over the rejection. Ironically, this accident was due to no fault of her own, as that truck really had no business going that fast that close to a gate where people might enter and exit. But regardless of whose fault it was, she was hit and quickly found herself ascending to the heavens just like the old man from a few episodes back.

There is no shortage of depictions of the afterlife in fiction, but if one were to exist in real life, surely SoreMachi’s vision of it being another typical government bureaucracy would come close. After all, why should things become all neat and tidy for us humans after death? Even after passing, it turns out, people have to wait in lines, fill out forms, work for money. Except here, a job might be of being one of the angels to guide up newly dead people, and one spends one’s earned money by “haunting” photos of friends down below using a photo booth. Very pragmatic, to say the least.

The heart and soul of the episode was getting to see how everyone reacted to Hotori’s hospitalization, of course. It was an emotional look at virtually every single side character in this show. I have to admit I teared up a bit during the scene with Takeru and Yukiko. Something about seeing those two younger siblings being left behind, the older one still just a child and telling the younger one that they have to be strong was particularly powerful. There was also Sanada, who again cursed his inability to tell Hotori he liked her. Except this time, he wouldn’t get another chance.

The finality of it all was what really got to Hotori, when she realized that she would never again get to try harder next time. This scene of her coming to terms with her own death was something unexpectedly mature from this show. What Hotori regretted the most was the life full of friends and relationships she would leave behind, but at the same time, her regret was proof that her life was worthwhile. The feeling of loss was both real and heavy, even as she quickly learned to look ahead to her new life after death.

Once again, I’m inclined to make a comparison to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, with its finale. This is a comparison I don’t want to push too hard – Melancholy is a far better piece of work than this show – but there is definitely a parallel here, with the finale featuring the protagonist going through some powerful and possibly irreversible ordeal in an episode that we know takes place before many of the events that we’ve already seen. Indeed, there was never any doubt that Hotori would come back to life. It’s a bit of a shame that her memory of the afterlife was wiped clean, meaning that she was the same person before and after the events of the finale – a significant difference from the finale of Melancholy – but that didn’t take away from the emotional power of seeing our heroine face her own death. Also, having the story come full circle to her uncle’s pen was a nice touch.

This was a far more emotionally affecting finale to this show than I could ever have expected. It truly lived up to its episode title, SoreMachi, by highlighting the importance of what was easily the most entertaining aspect of this show, the interpersonal relationships between the various characters. They were what provided the funniest moments in this show, but also the most powerful and touching ones. After all, more than anything, our relationship with others is what truly makes us happy.

I was not planning on making this list because I missed the starting point, like last year…and this year I’m four days away from when the ‘moment’ posts are supposed to end. But hey, nothing says I can’t make one big post for all my favorite moments in anime for 2010! I watched even less [...]

A theme that appeared in a few series this year was the power of the individual – the idea that anyone can make an important contribution, and often also the idea that what makes people different is what makes them valuable. Sometimes, this theme was used well (generally, when the concept cropped up more subtly/not as forcefully). Sometimes, it was used not so well. Frequently, though – in my eyes, at least – it was used memorably. Minor spoilers for Railgun and Liar Game, and slightly bigger spoilers for Occult Academy under the cut.

The power of the individual was a huge theme in Railgun. Of course it was; after all, Railgun was a series revolving around several super-powered people, and it enjoyed shifting its focus – when it wasn’t focusing on day-to-day adventures – to how its characters chose to use the powers they had. Supremely strong lead character Mikoto used her abilties to dole out justice in an often less-than-lawful way (even more so in the Sisters arc of the manga). Powerful (but weaker) sometimes-sidekick Kuroko also used hers to fight for justice, but she used the law as a tool. The actions personally taken by Harumi Kiyama were also motivated by a desire for a better world… and even later antagonist Telestina’s actions were, too, though her “better world” was decidedly warped. Yes, the theme of the power of the individual was employed heavily in Railgun – if you want to get critical, we were somewhat beaten over the head with it. The instance of this that was most memorable for me, though, was in Saten’s case. The superpower-less girl, who was so desperate to be among the ranks of the espers, was the finale’s true hero. Armed with a baseball bat, guts, and determination, she threw a major wrench into Telestina’s plans, and saved the day where her teleporting, electricity manipulating, and constant-temperature-keeping friends were unable to.

Railgun was set in a city in which those without strong powers were essentially taught that they were worthless. The message in Saten’s heroic scene was loud and clear: nobody is worthless, and everybody has the potential to do good. It was a message that popped up with regularity throughout the anime.

In Occult Academy, this message was something more like ‘even a wimpy, selfish jerk can save the world’. Fumiaki, also known as Bunmei, was easily unlikeable in the first three-quarters or so of the series, mostly because he was so incredibly quick to save his skin (even when it meant endangering others). As well as this, though, he, like Saten, struggled with feelings of powerlessness. And also like Saten, with a huge amount of bravery – which in his case was summoned up just in a nick of time – and aplomb, in the end he managed to save the people he cared about. Soon after, he gathered up even more courage, and sacrificed himself to save his friends and everyone else once again.

In addition to the two above, we have Takuto in the currently airing Star Driver, who is the new guy in a place where everyone else has deep ties to each other and to their home. He is quickly popular, but also very much an outsider. And he fights for what he believes is right, despite this meaning fighting against a force much larger than him. He stands out as an individual, and takes this completely in his stride, using this to his advantage or for fun.

Earlier this year, too, we had Angel Beats!‘s Kanade/Angel/Tenshi, who strove to do her best and preserve order, even when she was the target of some (mostly unintentional) cruelty. She fought against alienation and loneliness, as well as the SSS brigade, to do the job she felt she had to do. She did it well.

I think my favourite ‘power of one’ moment of the year, though, came in the fourth round of the tournament in Liar Game. Yukiko Abe, member of one of the opposing groups in the Liar Game, was initially cold, pushing away main character Nao when she attempted to form a friendship. As the round progressed, however, the two were able to get closer. When Yukiko was called “useless” by the leader she had placed all her belief and trust in, she was shattered. She opened up to Nao, and we saw flashbacks to her childhood, where she was abused by her parents and told she was stupid, worthless, and a burden. Of course, Nao’s response to this was to tell her that “no-one is useless”.

Nao soon proved her words right, as Yukiko became of vital importance in a manoeuvre that led to the protagonists turning the tables. Many people played a part in said manoeuvre; indeed, the success of it depended solely on people, quite literally, standing together. Without the cooperation of any single one of them, all would have failed. Yukiko was seen as the weak link in the human chain and she was targeted, but she showed her strength and pulled through.

I can understand how the power of the individual theme could be annoying, given its prevalence in anime and manga – particularly in those aired over the past year. But I think it’s a nice sentiment, and I believe that, when used effectively, it can definitely add to a character and to a work.

That’s it for Borderline Hikikomori’s Twelve Days of Anime series! Have a very merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy 2011.

As The Legend of the Legendary Heroes ends, I guess that I’m still waiting for this series to still show me why it should be called Legendary. Twenty-Four episodes in and I can see that all of the elements for a great sequel/conclusion to this series are in place. Yet, the evidence already presented suggests that even if there is a sequel, it would not be able to adequately combine those elements into a polished final product for a variety of reasons. That said, LOLH does offer a fairly interesting cast of characters and it occasionally delivers interesting action sequences, which  makes it an above average show, if only barely.

First, the good. Some of the characters in this show are genuinely interesting, and furthermore, they actually develop over the course of the series. If you’ve been reading my posts on this series, than you probably know how much I love Ferris, and for good reason. Her development, while a little cliché, from a generally cold and sarcastic character who is scared sh*tless of her brother to a person who seemed to genuinely seemed to care for Ryner, as she continually sought to be by his side. Though the series failed to capture on some of the chemistry it generated between the two early on,  the promise they made later on in the series shows  how close they have become, and it also seemed like a pretty interesting plot point.

Unfortunately, every good interaction between these two seemed to be followed up by some side character of the week. In general, these weekly guests, if you will, seemed to take time away from the main story. If you’ve watched the show, do you remember who the hell Fiole, Toale, Salawell, or Arua are? While some of these characters, the ones still living at least, may play some sort of role in the future, do I care? No. Even some of the side characters I did care about and who received some development, like Tiir and Noa, seemed like they only showed up for one or two episodes and then disappeared for months at a time. This lack of continuity from week to week is never a good thing in my opinion.

Then there was Sion Astal. If you want to know how not to develop a character, I would suggest looking no further than this guy. Early on, the series made many interesting comparisons between him and Ryner or Riphal, by showing the differences in their moral character. Then, the series does a complete 180 by dropping what it spent 7 or 8 episodes building up to focus on Sion’s personality crisis. Though the show eventually combined the moral fiber thing with the explanation for his dual personality, this shift was far too sudden and poorly introduced for it to have any real basis in reason.

However, the sudden jumps from one topic to another were not limited to the characters. I never really got a good idea about what the focus of this series was, or that matter I never really understood the logic behind the magic and the relics the characters used. Episode one gave the impression that the series would focus on Ryner and Ferris collecting relics and fighting monsters. Then the series seemed to shift to Ryner’s Alpha Stigma and Roland’s politics. Then there was that five or six episode stretch in the middle of the series where the show didn’t really do much at all. I will say that the last eight episodes were pretty entertaining, but the transitions from one episode to another were never handled well, and we only really got one cliffhanger.

Plus, the show never really explained to us what exactly the legendary relics were, how many of them there were, or what kind of past they had. Sure, you could infer some things from events after the fact or from the occasional flashback, but the critical information always seemed to be lacking in the moment.  Same thing applies to the magic used in this series, though to a lesser extent.

Perhaps the biggest issue I had with Legendary Heroes was with its pacing. From the material that was included in the series, did Legendary Heroes need to be 24 episodes long? The simple answer is no. Too much time was spent rehashing old points and flashbacks seemed like a common occurrence. During the second half of the series it seemed as though every week featured Sion trying to come to terms with his past decisions and Ferris somehow trying to reunite with Ryner. Since I assume this was a result of following the source material, I’m not really going to fault the show for including it, but did I need week after week of Ferris semi confessing to Ryner, or Sion moping for weeks on end? Again, no.

But on the flip side, this series could have easily been longer had they explained some of the unclear parts in more detail. I mean, how was Clough able to get his arm back after Tiir consumed it? How did Ryner and Ferris end back up in Roland at the beginning of episode 15? Who or what is controlling Sion? What exactly can a rule fragment do? To what lengths did Riphal go to when investigating Kiefer? Ok, that last one probably isn’t that important, but I still wanted to see it. The creators could have easily taken some of the time they devoted to the constant flashbacks and superfluous character development to flesh out these issues, but they didn’t. I’m not going to say they are lazy for doing this, but it does leave you wondering if they are crazy.

One thing the show did do a better job of over the course of the series was improving its animation. Early on it seemed like Legendary Heroes utilized a lot of blank spaces and had difficulty with lighting. Whether this was on purpose or not I don’t know, but I found it pretty annoying. Over time though, it seemed like there were fewer occurrences of this, and the animation as whole looked a lot sharper, especially in the last eight episodes.

There was also just enough comedy to keep me interested in Legendary Heroes when I might have otherwise dropped the show. Obviously Ryner and Ferris were the source of most of this comedic relief, but a few other characters, like Sion, Noa, and Clough occasionally got in on the act. It did seem that the show pushed the Ryner X Sion jokes a bit too far, especially considering that Legendary Heroes doesn’t seem to be on the viewing list of people who like that sort of stuff, but I’ll let it go.

As for the fighting scenes, they were a mixed bag in my opinion. Anything with Tiir was awesome, because let’s face it, he is awesome, but every other scene that featured a large number of combatants never really impressed me. It seemed like both Ryner and Ferris were powered down to meet level of their competition in these situations, and there were multiple occurrences in which the show had poor choreography for its fights, in that some characters disappeared for long stretches of time during fight scenes. That said, fights featuring few combatants were almost always interesting and well done.  Episode four’s fight between Ryner and Ferris, Episode 17′s Clough/Tiir fight, and Episode 24′s fight between Ryner and Sion are prime examples of this. Of course, almost any scene in which someone used a legendary relic was an instant win as well.

So even considering the possibility of a second season and that the source material is supposed to be much better, this anime series on its own didn’t really stand out to me. Sure, it is a far better waste of your time than some generic moe show, but when compared to some of the more “involved” shows that are out there, this one just isn’t up to par. To sum it up, this show is just too inconsistent, but it does have a lot of good points. I’ll probably rate this as an 8 on my MAL list, but in reality this show belongs in 7.5/10 territory.

As this year comes to a close, I have been thinking about what shows or works top my “best of” list for 2010. Well, I didn’t think too long when it came to TV shows: The Tatami Galaxy took the title easily. It occurred to me that, in fact, The Tatami Galaxy was not only my pick for 2010, it was the first one to surpass in my eyes 2006′s The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Other shows had come close, including 2007′s Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and 2009/2010′s Bakemonogatari, but The Tatami Galaxy was the first both to match it and to surpass it.

Then it got me really thinking: what was it about these works that had made me hold them in such high regard? One thing that immediately popped out to me was that each one of them had a strong, focused denouement, one that not only provided satisfying closure to the events of the show but also provided a peek into the new beginning of the new beginning of the changed lives of the characters. That last part in particular is quite important; the denouement should not only close out the current story but also acknowledge that life goes on beyond what’s shown on screen. This holds true as well for the show that I see as being greater than any of those mentioned above, FLCL. And for (at least, a classic narrative based show) a show to join the ranks of the elites, to be considered one of the greats, it needs to have such a strong denouement.

(Please note that this post contains spoilers to the endings to Bakemonogatari, The Tatami Galaxy, Strike Witches 2, Angel Beats!, Gunbuster, and various arcs of Amagami SS)

Bakemonogatari was a summer 2009 TV show, but due to delays, its last episode came in the summer of this year. And it was a fine example of a denouement done right. After the climactic encounter between Koyomi and Tsubasa Cat, things return to normal, even if, as Koyomi’s narration stated, things have forever been changed. To drive in the point that this is the end of the story, Meme Oshino leaves, without even saying goodbye, but we’re still treated to the main characters reminiscing about him while exploring his now vacant home. They hardly even exchange words, but their mere actions give that all important sense of closure. And finally, the show ends with the two protagonists, Koyomi and Hitagi, looking to the future to their relationship together. Koyomi’s narration mentions not only this but the fact that he is likely to encounter oddities again – the story of his life is far from over. But he has taken a step forward, and this is a new beginning, where he can face the oddities without Oshino’s help. The show properly ended the threads of the main story while still emphasizing the fact that life goes on.

The Tatami Galaxy did very much the same thing with its last episode. The climax came, of course, when Watashi leaped to Ozu’s aid, followed behind by a swarm of moths, only to fall into the river. And, just as important, there was him finally returning that doll to Akashi, allowing them to take a step in their relationship. With Watashi having learned his true path to happiness and escaped from the maze of his constantly repeated timelines, he finally gets started on his new, happy life, with Akashi and Ozu both beside him. The show is explicit in that Watashi and Akashi really are in a relationship, but also emphasizes that that relationship is not part of the show (Watashi’s comment that “there is nothing as boring as a story of successful love” both rings true and tells us everything we need to know). Similarly, we see Watashi make peace with Ozu, coming to see him as another human and a friend. Plus, he now gets to turn the tables on Ozu and torment him just as he was tormented. But, importantly, the show only tells us that that’s what is going to happen. The story of the show is over, and the denouement performs its job to show us that what follows is a new beginning.

But it seems to me that this focus on the denouement is something that is all too often ignored by studios that seem happy to build everything up to the climax then call it a day. While a good build up and climax can make a show still be good, not having a proper ending keeps it from being great. There were a few shows this year that confirmed this to me.

Look at this summer’s Strike Witches 2, an otherwise excellent show that was happy with giving us a simple full stop immediately after the climax. The only glimpse at an ending we got was a brief scene of Yoshika taking care of a bird at her clinic back home over the credits. A real ending that showed how the lives of the members of the 501st went on afterward would have left the series on a high note and could have made the show great.

AIC’s other summer show, Amagami SS, had the same problem, but multiplied many times due to its parallel story structure. 2 of the arcs – Kaoru’s and AI’s – ended right after the climax with no closure or even an attempt at trying to show us how this marked the new beginning of their relationship. A couple others – Haruka’s and Tsukasa’s – gave limp attempts with brief “10 years later” scenes that showed the couple only after the real “next story” had occurred. These weren’t real endings; they were either awkwardly placed full stops or lazy failed attempts at providing closure. And though there was certainly a lot more wrong with Amagami SS, its failure to provide a competent denouement to any of its arcs was a major factor in why it is such a poor show.

On the flip side, what about Angel Beats!, a show that was just as full of problems as Amagami SS, but which devoted the entire final episode to the ending, the main characters saying goodbye to each other? Though the show may have been horrible, this final episode gave us some genuinely heartwarming and hilarious moments (I’m thinking Mapo Tofu) between the main characters and an amazing school gym scene as the characters disappeared one by one. And though that last twist involving the shared heart between Kanade and Otonashi was detestable, the very final scene hinting at a new beginning for these 2 main characters left us with hope, instead of the crushing despair that the time we spent watching this horrible show is something we’ll never get back.

It’s commonly said that the ending can ruin or make great a piece of work. At the same time, there’s something to be said for the idea that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination. Of course, the rules of fiction are not set in stone, and this is not a dichotomy. For most works, the rising action, climax, and denouement are all things that matter. But there are works that comfortably break these rules and come out ahead thanks to it. The End of Evangelion and Gunbuster are examples that immediately come to mind. The problem is that such works need to be exceptional in execution to pull this off, and most shows aren’t exceptional. For a narrative based work of fiction to excel, it needs to have a strong denouement, one that provides closure and adequately shows the start of something new. In 2010, The Tatami Galaxy and Bakemonogatari stood as shining examples of just how much a positive impact a strong denouement can have to a show.

Note:

• Other examples of anime works this past year that were enhanced by good denouements are: Durarara, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.
• Other examples of anime works this past year whose poor denouements took away from the works are: Ookami-san and Seven Companions, Black Rock Shooter, Highschool of the Dead, Kimi ni Todoke, A Certain Scientific Railgun.

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I’m sure you all have had your fair share of sub par gifts. Sure, you may or may not get the new video game console or the newest version of the I-phone, but there is always one thing you can count on, and that is some lame present that you have no use for what so ever. Usually, these types of gifts come from some sort of third aunt, twice removed or cheapskates who are trying to weasel their way out of their holiday obligations, ala George Costanza. The same basic concept applies to the types of characters  found in anime.

While the list of characters who had no purpose to the actual story of their anime is too long to list, the biggest and most notable lumps of proverbial coal just this year were Majo from Ookami-san, Simon for Durarara!, and Matsushita from Angel Beats. Not only did these characters do nothing in their respective shows, it seemed like they would have more pivotal roles than they actually did. It is like looking forward to Christmas all year round, and then finding out on Christmas day that there is no Santa. Very disappoint.

While I really didn’t have a problem with Majo or Simon’s lack of screen time in their respective series, the excessive amount of minutes that I put into analyzing Angel Beats, and thinking that Matsushita was the one pulling the strings was a waste of my time. I truly thought that the he was the big bad guy given that he just sort of disappeared for several episodes, but in the end, we got some half @ssed explanation saying he was training in the mountains. What’s up with that?

Call it being trolled, call it grandma giving you socks for Christmas, call it what you will, but misused and misleading characters are a cornerstone of all anime, just like the sucky present is to Christmas.

They say there is no greater love than to give your life on behalf of your friends.  It’s a concept which not only appears in the Bible, but across many great literary works, including The Aeneid.  Really, it’s a bit of a unique trait to have these days as well.  Many look at a spirit of altruism, and by extension self-sacrifice, with disdain.  “I’ve got mine!”  Well, I suppose you do, but did you really get there alone?  Where was I?  Oh yes, self-sacrifice, and perhaps even more selfless is sacrifice on behalf of people you don’t even know.  This, coupled with my penchant for unlikely heroes, has hatched this post.  I warn you, this contains massive spoilers for the game Arc Rise Fantasia.

This post really has nothing to do with the main protagonist of the game.  Instead, it focuses on Niko, the goofy yet lovable sidekick of the game.  Niko is a soldier of the Meridian Empire, but he’s a pretty terrible soldier.  From what the various skits say, his fellow soldiers picked on him constantly.  His superiors disciplined him for his lack of, well, discipline.  In addition, he’s perhaps the biggest coward I’ve seen in an RPG in years.  Half of the boss fights he’s unavailable either because he ran away or got knocked out before the fight even started.  In fact, his continuous retreats cause many problems in the game, including the event that jump-started the game’s conflict.  You could definitely refer to him as a “problem character.”

Yet, despite his continuous shortcomings, L’Arc, our main protagonist, never abandons him.  Sure, he gets miffed about the constant cowardice as well, but they’re friends.  Niko knows this, but he also knows he’s been a burden upon the party since the very beginning.  Eventually he decides to leave and return home, because he just can’t deal with the fighting anymore.  Unfortunately, the fighting just keeps following him.  Since he just can’t get away from it, he joins a resistance sect and acts as a courier.  He gets to stay out of combat, and his successful missions give him a little more confidence.  This leads straight into his first sacrifice.  When the big bad comes to kidnap L’Arc’s mother and use her as bait, he gives himself up instead.

Niko probably figured no one would come to rescue him, and I’m sure he would have been okay with that outcome.  Nope, your party goes after him straight away.  After beating down the head of the resident assassination squad and the patriarch of an entire faith, they finally retrieve him.  Not so fast!  This big bad had a contingency plan.  He activates a weapon to glass the major cities.  To their horror, the party can’t stop the weapon from firing.  Of all people, Niko has a plan.  The party runs after him, and gets as far as the control room.  Wait, is that an engine firing up?

They quickly patch into the communication channels.  There’s Niko in the hangar, jacking a ship and preparing to sortie.  The only way to stop the weapon from firing at this point is to destroy it.  Not a whole lot of options exist, so he’s going to take the largest object he can find and ram it.  Even to the very end, he’s still a coward.  He can barely talk to his friends, and just cuts off the link instead.  He’s sorry he’s always been a burden, even prompting this crazy rescue mission.  For once, he’s running into the fire.  In one action, at the cost of his life, he saves tens of thousands.

What measure is a hero, really?  You could ask a hundred people and every person would give you a different answer.  I think it all boils down to one criterion though.  To be a hero is to give of yourself above and beyond the call of duty.  Arc Rise Fantasia did a lot of things wrong in their storytelling, but they hit this one right on the head.  Anyone can be a hero.  Even if you are the biggest bumbling coward in the universe.

So this is a bit of a cheat, as it’s about something from 2000, not 2010. It’s about something exactly 10 years ago, in fact, as today, December 21, 2010, is still the 10th anniversary of Gainax’s release of the 5th episode of FLCL, Brittle Bullet. This is part of a series of posts I’m making on looking back at FLCL 10 years later. Like all my other posts, I opted not to rewatch the episode for the post and to write based only on memory instead. You can read the other posts here: (1 & 2: Fooly Cooly and Firestarter) (3: Marquis de Carabas) (4: Full Swing).

I see this as a bit of an odd episode. It was right in the middle of the tour de force that was the entire 2nd half of FLCL, yet it didn’t have the same magic of episode 4 or the significance of being the true climax of episode 6. Still, this episode was a major part of the reason that the last half of FLCL was as amazing as it had been, and it provided some of the best action sequences in the show while also pushing the plot along.

What got me about the episode at first was the action. It was full of it, from the opening BB gunfight between Naota and his father, to Amarao’s encounter with Haruko at the barber shop, to the climactic scene in which Haruko, dressed up as Gainax’s old Daicon girl, battled it out against the gigantic gunslinging hand robot.

I remember fondly the John Woo style scene at the barbershop, in which Haruko decimated Amarao’s troops with ease (speaking of John Woo, I loved the reference to him at the beginning of the episode, when the Nandaba family was watching some action movie on TV in which doves suddenly start swarming everyone, eventually escaping from the TV and entering their living room). One shot that stayed with me was when she was shown dodging bullets, not by avoiding them per se, but rather by changing the shape of her body to have holes where the bullets would hit. Or what about the scene just before, when Haruko cleanly sliced in half Amarao’s bullets using nothing but a pair of shaving razors? Talk about fucking badass.

Of course, if you want badassery, what about taking down a gunslinging hand robot while riding a bass guitar like a hoverboard and using a slingshot as the weapon? Haruko’s devil may care attitude as she performed beautiful acrobatics, flying around and shooting and running on the gunslinger’s gun was a joy to watch. As was her display of more of her unique bullet dodging abilities. There was a great humorous touch of realism as well, as the oversize shells from the robot’s guns fell right into the path of Amarao and Kitsurubami (those shells actually reminded me a lot of Gainax’s earlier masterpiece Neon Genesis Evangelion, in which the gigantic humanoid robots got proportionately sized tools and objects). And of course the climax was distinctly FLCL, featuring Canti pulling out a glowing guitar from his face as both Haruko and Amarao, watching in awe, yelling out in unison, “That’s Atomsk’s Gibson EB Zero, 1961 edition!” And just as the all of The Pillows’s Crazy Sunshine played in the background during the final action sequence of the previous episode, their Blues Drive Monster played through this one, providing upbeat, energetic accompaniment to the equally playful scene taking place.

I haven’t even mentioned its beautiful use of guns for transitions. Gunshots were used to connect many scenes, from the opening BB gunfight to a flashback of them watching an action movie the night before, from Amarao and Haruko’s initial exchange at the barbershop to Mamimi shooting Naota with the BB Uzi, from Kitsurubami freaking out on Canti back to the completion of Amarao and Haruko’s exchange at the barbershop, and even Ninamori seeing the dumped and depressed Mamimi through the green squirt gun she won via the aforementioned popsicle.

I would be remiss not to mention the famous South Park parody scenes. They were stuff just out of left field and helped add to the crazy, surreal feeling that was so important to the FLCL experience. It didn’t occur to me until a later viewing, but the latter scene, in which Naota played the role of Kenny, unable to produce anything more than muffled sounds when talking to Mamimi, may have been a foreshadowing of how his ego was about to get killed in a couple of gruesome ways in the rest of the episode.

But more significant than all the heart pounding  action was the intense character development taking place throughout the episode. One scene that I didn’t fully understand the first time around was the imagery of fellatio created by Ninamori sucking on her popsicle. Of course, it represented the overwhelming praise Naota was receiving from his friends in that scene. But what of when she bit the popsicle off? Did it show how Ninamori was one who had not been taken in by the hype and didn’t see him as some super hero? Or was it a foreshadowing of what would happen later in the episode, when Naota would be taken back down to Earth by learning that, in Mamimi’s eyes, he was still not equal to his brother?

That was the heart of this episode: Naota’s realization that even after everything he did throughout the show, to Mamimi, he was still nothing more than “Ta-kun,” the little brother to the one she really loved, a replaceable substitute. He was brimming with confidence as he forcibly dragged her to the cafe then tried to get a kiss, only to be rejected. But the breaking point was when they were on top of the gunslinger, Mamimi yelling out for help over and over again not to him but to his brother, “Tasuku-senpai,” even though he was right there next to her. His anger blew up then, and it was clear that he was trying to hide the immense pain he felt from Mamimi rejecting him so completely.

It was a pretty powerful moment. The episode ended with Naota getting rejected by another female, this time Haruko, who carelessly landed right on top of him to get next to the awakened Canti as she looked on with admiration. What this episode showed both to Naota and to the viewer was that despite everything, Naota was nothing more than a tool to these women whom he liked and thought cared for him. If the ending of Full Swing showed Naota hitting his zenith, the ending to Brittle Bullet showed him on his way to rock bottom.

Looking back now, it’s hard to believe just how chock full of things this episode was. It started with the threads from the previous episode of Naota and his father competing over Haruko and Mamimi’s disappointment at seeing that Naota was one to swing the bat and ended with Naota being dumped by two women whom he thought liked him. In between, we got to learn a little more about Amarao’s past with Haruko – how he had been unceremoniously dumped by her when he was no longer a use to her – we got to see the effects of Atomsk’s manliness in Kitsurubami falling in love with Canti, and we were finally treated to the first glimpse of the “final boss” since the first episode, the red Canti without Naota within.

But more than anything, the nonstop wild action was what I took away from this episode on my first viewing. It was just plain fun, and it was a reminder that, for all the notoriety it gained with the ending to the Evangelion series, Gainax was an action oriented studio, and even if it wouldn’t do it in the most traditional of ways, it could still blow your socks off with its action. And even though, again, this episode didn’t have the power or significance of either of the episodes sandwiching it, it was a key component of what had made the last half of FLCL so special, and the Blues Drive Monster scene is one that easily stands toe to toe with any other action sequence in anime.

Uhh…what can I say about this anime…the beginning episodes were entertaining and pretty good. But after the whole Arashiko drama, it started to suck. It was apparent in that weird ass episode 05 where I had no idea whose ass all that shit was coming from. I’ll admit, it was entertaining, but not good. Yet [...]

Even though there were some segments of this episode that were pretty weird (see anything related to boxing), Kanako always makes Star Driver worth watching. Setting the strangeness of this and other episodes aside, Star Driver has been doing a good job of developing its characters and setting up plot points for later on.

While Kanako losing to Takuto was nothing new and pretty much expected, the events, both before and after the fight were pretty interesting. Mizuno’s seemingly childish response to Kanako, in which she explained why people couldn’t use magic anymore, seemed pretty weird and out of place on its own. However, by combining this scene with what Kanako said about becoming the demon king so that the world can go on does leave some room for imagination. It makes you wonder if Takuto is doing the maidens and everyone really, a disservice by preventing the Crux from reaching new stages.

Perhaps Kanako, who seems to think she is in a position to do good, believes that if she can beat Takuto she will be able to unblock whatever is keeping people from using their magic. Now to say that Takuto is the show’s antagonist wouldn’t be right, but it is pretty selfish of him to prevent the rest of his classmates from reaching the next stage, while he gets to build a harem that will stand the test of time.

Speaking of his harem, it appears that Takuto tried to consolidate his hold on both Kanako and Simone/Pamela. Kanako’s newfound desire to kiss without the glass after being defeated says volumes about Takuto’s appeal. However, I thought the most interesting interaction this episode was between Takuto and Simone. Though you have to give credit to Takuto for casually working in that beautiful eyes line to Simone, she seemed to realize that he had used that line in the past, and we know that he did on Marino in episode 10. You have to think that this is going to come back and bite in the ass in future episodes, as pulling off the harem is difficult to do, but he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down yet.

Then what would an episode of Star Driver be without Sugata brooding over what his next move should be. That scene with Head was nice in that it showed that Sugata still hasn’t done everything that he wants to, and that his actions in the last episode weren’t his ultimate goal. While I suppose its possible that he didn’t want to help Takuto in this fight due to fairness concerns, its also possible that he wanted to see Takuto lose. On another Sugata related note, I thought it was interesting to see Keito ask so many questions about him at the Brigade meeting. Knowing that she and him have some sort of past, it will be interesting to see what she will do in the future, especially considering that she hasn’t lost the ability to pilot her Cybuddy yet.

Finally, there was that comment of Kanako’s, in which she stated that she would not be able to compete in the Olympics even if she wanted to because of the Crux’s plans for departure. Now I know that these pilots call themselves Star Drivers, but it would be pretty out there, even for this show, for some events to take place in space. However, given the similarities between Zero Time and space, I suppose it wouldn’t be that big of a leap. I mean, the show has taken the time to show that there are a lot of people in the world with a stake in the Crux’s operations, so it would have to be something pretty important for them all to drop a large chunk of change.

Well there goes my idea on how this “Good End/True End” was going to work. Everything was going well until Kirino said she was staying in Japan. I thought this would happen: The “Good End” would have Kirino flying off to America and end the episode with Kuroneko calling a very lonely Kyousuke “senpai”. Then [...]