the more I think of my 'reviews', the less I understand whether they are for people who have already watched the anime or for those who have not. if for the former, then why do I write recommendations in the conclusion? if for the latter, then why do I insert so much spoilers? the answer seems to be simple - being the egocentric person I am, I write in order to put my own head in order, and therefore, no practical sense is t be found in my posts like this, moreover they are unnecessarily long
plot and characters
first of all, I do not separate the OVA 'Light and Shadow' from the rest, since the OVA was remade into ep. 17. both OVA and episode are good, thought there are a few differences, but from now I am going to speak about the TV
plot and characters
first of all, I do not separate the OVA 'Light and Shadow' from the rest, since the OVA was remade into ep. 17. both OVA and episode are good, thought there are a few differences, but from now I am going to speak about the TV
Tegamibachi starts as a typical shounen. naive - perhaps this is what many would think of it at first. yeah, 7-year old Lag is behaving like a teenager, 12-year old Lag is almost a young man, 14-year old Zazzie is as if he were a grown-up - and we are supposed to believe this is all right, and also believe all of them are for real. and this line of Niche
made me worry whether she would turn out to be just one more capricious
main heroine who is constantly getting angry with the main character
shouting '... no bakaaa!', especially when Niche's seiyuu is
Fujimura-san, who voiced such girls several times
I almost see how people throw tomatoes at this anime and shout - 'cliches! stereotypes!', and they would be right sometimes. who else but a person with a Russian surname could be the mayor of the city in the North covered in ice...
but very soon after the beginning I realised I need not have worried. seemingly grown-up main characters still stay children
the general image of the world where the events are taking place is deliberate and even sophisticated. actually I decided to watch Tegamibachi because I read that the world reminds of XIX-XX century Europe and this is true to some extent
but I must say honestly we do not get to see much of that XX-century-Europe-ish design
as for characters, I found myself torn apart by thinking who is the character I sympathize with the most, as my usual strategy is to find one or a couple of favourite characters and pay attention only to their story. this strategy failed, and I felt huge sympathy and/or respect towards absolutely all the characters. probably, this is mostly the mangaka's achievement, though
I almost see how people throw tomatoes at this anime and shout - 'cliches! stereotypes!', and they would be right sometimes. who else but a person with a Russian surname could be the mayor of the city in the North covered in ice...
as for characters, I found myself torn apart by thinking who is the character I sympathize with the most, as my usual strategy is to find one or a couple of favourite characters and pay attention only to their story. this strategy failed, and I felt huge sympathy and/or respect towards absolutely all the characters. probably, this is mostly the mangaka's achievement, though
the story development has a nice pace which doesn't make you feel the anime is hurrying towards its end, and doesn't make you feel bored, either. so-called 'fillers' like season 1 ep. 19 'Ill Letter Bee and the girls' were not looking like fillers but rather contributed to the general flow of the story and even if we can use the word 'filler' then it will have positive connotation, because this 'filling' was necessary - there must be peaceful days, too, do you not think so?
another important point is that all peripeteias and twists and turns of the story were properly designed. they do not create the feeling that I hate the most in any fiction - when you see clearly that this or that episode or moment is dictated not by the logic of the story, but by the author's whim. for example in season 1 ep. 15 while the long talk between Frank, the elopers and Lag was taking place, I was afraid I might have the usual question all the spectators have in such cases - why don't they do something but just stand and listen? however, I notice a wise move on the part of screenplay writers - Niche couldn't interfere because she was busy with collecting Lag's bag which fell from the rock. the fact that it fell may also be considered as necessary to move Niche away and make her unable to help, but the falling itself is not unrealistic, while her standing near and doing nothing would undoubtedly be
I would also note the wise use of all the characters. in other words - nothing and nobody odd. Maka helping in the battle with Cabernet is good. Vincent Alcott who was thought to be an untalented writer takes notes of everything that happened during the battle and creates a bestseller which Lloyd reads in the last minutes of the last episodes. brothers Signal and Signales turn to be more than simple gatekeepers. and Lloyd himself exceeds the 'understanding boss' and shows a great deal of courage and involvement
being so full and detailed, the story is interesting. yeah, really interesting and intriguing. this is a rare thing. Tegamibachi is an adventure which appeals to your heart and your brain equally, making you both think of your own life and the world we live in, and also - sympathize with and worry about the characters, who have been dear to you right from the start. Tegamibachi is the case when you just cannot stop watching because you long to know what comes next. nowadays people often say 'this anime's attraction is not that it makes you want to watch the following episodes one by one, but the one that slowly gives you graduated pleasure' and consider it to be the right kind of charm, but I do think thrilling, breathtaking story is no less wonderful
and this story is flavoured with humour. this humour is actually a dangerous thing making you feel relaxed and sure that everything would be the same throughout all the episodes
and special moments like coming to a very strange forest
or Connor making a delivery of erotic magazines
and special episodes
and themes embracing the whole story in the person of, for example, Niche
and Steak, and some others
and praiseworthy is that the authors understand that some ideas may seem ridiculous
but do not get washed away by the funny episodes. they become more and more rare as the story continues. I said, the characters become dear and make you worry, and this does not apply exclusively to the main ones. if you didn't cry in moments like this
then you are probably made of stone...
actually, being the crybaby I am, together with Lag and Sylvette, I spent most sad and touching moments exactly like this
and finally, Tegamibachi is not a typical shounen because 'tis... too serious, especially when you do not expect it
what I went through emotionally while watching the series is hard to describe with words. how many times I cried is impossible to count. how painful 'twas to watch the last episodes is something I would not wish even my worst enemy to understand
you know what? I sincerely believed in an absolute happy end with 'happily ever after' until the last several moments before the last episode ending 'Perseus' started. I believed Gauche's heart would come back. then I believed he would throw away everything and live with his family and friends. then I thought even if he would not 'throw away everything' he and the other 'unable to become spirits' would stay in Yuusari. I believed Lag would get to Akatsuki and change the world. or something like that. I was waiting for a relief but all that I have left is hope. I expected to see shounen adventure, but I got drama
Tegamibachi exceeds the level of typical shounen, but is it an entirely good thing? I doubt. if I am to accept the anime as 'tis, taking its ending as the end, and ignoring the fact that the manga is not finished, then the anime's ending is not even in the least satisfactory, as it leaves too many things unexplained, from not-so-important matters, such as the photo of Jacob and Sandra Gobeni's photo with a child, to urgent problems, such as prof. Thunderland's experiment on returning the lost hearts back, and up to global ones, such as what was the meaning of the Day of Flicker, and why the guy on the airship heard a lot of voices crying 'mother, mother' when the flicker happened, and why Lag's mother was taken to the sun, and how did Gauche get to see her, and in the end - what is Lag, if he is not human. to some extent we can guess and speculate, but proper explanation was never provided. and of course, the greatest disappointment is that we do not get to see how the characters live after that, because we are not that dumb to believe that Lag is going to continue cheerfully his Letter Bee duties, Connor - bring up his child(ren) with Sunny, Zazzie - take care of local cats, and Aria - do the paperwork at Bee Hive as if nothing had happened. this incompleteness almost breaks me now that I finished watching the series today at 2 o'clock in the night, and all that I was thinking about while going to sleep, waking up in the night, getting up in the morning, having breakfast, washing the dishes, drinking tea - was Tegamibachi, more precisely, I was trying to deal somehow with what is called 'cognitive dissonance' scientifically, but in reality is a pain somewhere inside that makes you feel empty and unable to do anything else but to try to get rid of it
another important point is that all peripeteias and twists and turns of the story were properly designed. they do not create the feeling that I hate the most in any fiction - when you see clearly that this or that episode or moment is dictated not by the logic of the story, but by the author's whim. for example in season 1 ep. 15 while the long talk between Frank, the elopers and Lag was taking place, I was afraid I might have the usual question all the spectators have in such cases - why don't they do something but just stand and listen? however, I notice a wise move on the part of screenplay writers - Niche couldn't interfere because she was busy with collecting Lag's bag which fell from the rock. the fact that it fell may also be considered as necessary to move Niche away and make her unable to help, but the falling itself is not unrealistic, while her standing near and doing nothing would undoubtedly be
I would also note the wise use of all the characters. in other words - nothing and nobody odd. Maka helping in the battle with Cabernet is good. Vincent Alcott who was thought to be an untalented writer takes notes of everything that happened during the battle and creates a bestseller which Lloyd reads in the last minutes of the last episodes. brothers Signal and Signales turn to be more than simple gatekeepers. and Lloyd himself exceeds the 'understanding boss' and shows a great deal of courage and involvement
being so full and detailed, the story is interesting. yeah, really interesting and intriguing. this is a rare thing. Tegamibachi is an adventure which appeals to your heart and your brain equally, making you both think of your own life and the world we live in, and also - sympathize with and worry about the characters, who have been dear to you right from the start. Tegamibachi is the case when you just cannot stop watching because you long to know what comes next. nowadays people often say 'this anime's attraction is not that it makes you want to watch the following episodes one by one, but the one that slowly gives you graduated pleasure' and consider it to be the right kind of charm, but I do think thrilling, breathtaking story is no less wonderful
and this story is flavoured with humour. this humour is actually a dangerous thing making you feel relaxed and sure that everything would be the same throughout all the episodes
actually, being the crybaby I am, together with Lag and Sylvette, I spent most sad and touching moments exactly like this
you know what? I sincerely believed in an absolute happy end with 'happily ever after' until the last several moments before the last episode ending 'Perseus' started. I believed Gauche's heart would come back. then I believed he would throw away everything and live with his family and friends. then I thought even if he would not 'throw away everything' he and the other 'unable to become spirits' would stay in Yuusari. I believed Lag would get to Akatsuki and change the world. or something like that. I was waiting for a relief but all that I have left is hope. I expected to see shounen adventure, but I got drama
Tegamibachi exceeds the level of typical shounen, but is it an entirely good thing? I doubt. if I am to accept the anime as 'tis, taking its ending as the end, and ignoring the fact that the manga is not finished, then the anime's ending is not even in the least satisfactory, as it leaves too many things unexplained, from not-so-important matters, such as the photo of Jacob and Sandra Gobeni's photo with a child, to urgent problems, such as prof. Thunderland's experiment on returning the lost hearts back, and up to global ones, such as what was the meaning of the Day of Flicker, and why the guy on the airship heard a lot of voices crying 'mother, mother' when the flicker happened, and why Lag's mother was taken to the sun, and how did Gauche get to see her, and in the end - what is Lag, if he is not human. to some extent we can guess and speculate, but proper explanation was never provided. and of course, the greatest disappointment is that we do not get to see how the characters live after that, because we are not that dumb to believe that Lag is going to continue cheerfully his Letter Bee duties, Connor - bring up his child(ren) with Sunny, Zazzie - take care of local cats, and Aria - do the paperwork at Bee Hive as if nothing had happened. this incompleteness almost breaks me now that I finished watching the series today at 2 o'clock in the night, and all that I was thinking about while going to sleep, waking up in the night, getting up in the morning, having breakfast, washing the dishes, drinking tea - was Tegamibachi, more precisely, I was trying to deal somehow with what is called 'cognitive dissonance' scientifically, but in reality is a pain somewhere inside that makes you feel empty and unable to do anything else but to try to get rid of it
music
I could not actually believe 'twas really Ryou Kunihiko-san who made the OST until in ep. 2 short harpsichord and flute melody played in the background while Lag and Gauche were trying to catch a lizard. then I listened attentively and recognised his perfect style. at first one might think - if he is familiar with 'Emma' OST - that Ryou-san is cut for composing music reminding of classics and suitable for arranging a 19-century-Europe-like setting, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear he wrote some very memorable and unusual tracks. some of them reminded me of Scudelia Electro greatly, because there are not - well at least I do not know - many composers able to use electro in such a masterly fashion. especially Scudelish are 'Heavy-Metal Enemy', 'MA-KA', 'Attack', but my favourite electro here is of course 'Lightning'
the only frustrating thing is that again - like in 'Emma' - not all of the melodies used as background in the series are released as soundtrack. for example, 'Lightning' has a very dark, somewhat ambient arrangement used several times in the second season during scenes about Reverse, like when memories of Jeel are shown in ep. 19. also, several very sad instrumentals (for example, the one playing at the background of Lament when Lag came to pick up Connor and Sunny) along with classical pieces (like that Aria was playing on her violin) were not released at all. the only good news is that a track called 'friendship' which was used in ep. 15 of Reverse (when Lag and Gauche went together for a delivery) was recently uploaded onto Ryou-san's official website, and though 'tis not meant for downloading, it can be downloaded easily with the help of some application (I personally use Firefox plugin called download helper)
OPEDs are not too impressive, I must confess, but on the other hands - they are all slightly above average. should they have been just a bit more plain I would call them worthless, but surely all of the songs are not mediocre ones, and apparently the best songs of respective artists were chosen as OPEDs, because Suga Shikao's and HIMEKA's discographies didn't impress me that much, and surely absolutely mainstream Stereopony is not a unique band famous for their original style. however, as OPEDs the songs are good, and I watched OPEDs without skipping them several times, which is unusual for me. in other words, the atmosphere was respected
OPEDs
I would also praise most of the OPEDs in terms of how they were directed and designed. note how all the songs were chosen to fit the ideas and story of Tegamibachi
'Hajimari no Hi' - 'The day of beginning' - has lines like 'I wanted to run out of this town' which reminds of Lag leaving Campbell, and 'without knowing where to head so that we find our future, we were running together with you' and other lines hinting on Lag and Niche's travelling together
'Hatenaki Michi' - 'Endless Road' - is just centered on the theme of journey and finding someone who is dear with lines like '
'raburetaa no kawari ni kono uta o.' means 'Instead of a love letter, this verses' - even though this songs is likely to be just an average love song by an average j-pop young girl, it can be viewed differently if applied to Tegamibachi. allusion to letters conveying feelings is obvious, such as the first line - 'I wonder if you'll understand if I write it in a paper, I wonder if you'll see it if I make it into words' which describes brilliantly Lag's anxiousness when he was trying to write his message to Gauche to put it into the red message bullet. the chorus part starts with 'Even if I call your name again and again, my voice wouldn't reach you, but now that I recall your turning around to me, smiling, your face was so bright that I cast down my eyes'. and what stroke me most was the last line of this opening - 君がいないんだ - which originally would be translated as 'you are not here', but taken separately from the rest of the text can also mean 'you do not exist'. and those words are sung exactly when the opening animation ends in this frame↓
the only frustrating thing is that again - like in 'Emma' - not all of the melodies used as background in the series are released as soundtrack. for example, 'Lightning' has a very dark, somewhat ambient arrangement used several times in the second season during scenes about Reverse, like when memories of Jeel are shown in ep. 19. also, several very sad instrumentals (for example, the one playing at the background of Lament when Lag came to pick up Connor and Sunny) along with classical pieces (like that Aria was playing on her violin) were not released at all. the only good news is that a track called 'friendship' which was used in ep. 15 of Reverse (when Lag and Gauche went together for a delivery) was recently uploaded onto Ryou-san's official website, and though 'tis not meant for downloading, it can be downloaded easily with the help of some application (I personally use Firefox plugin called download helper)
OPEDs are not too impressive, I must confess, but on the other hands - they are all slightly above average. should they have been just a bit more plain I would call them worthless, but surely all of the songs are not mediocre ones, and apparently the best songs of respective artists were chosen as OPEDs, because Suga Shikao's and HIMEKA's discographies didn't impress me that much, and surely absolutely mainstream Stereopony is not a unique band famous for their original style. however, as OPEDs the songs are good, and I watched OPEDs without skipping them several times, which is unusual for me. in other words, the atmosphere was respected
OPEDs
I would also praise most of the OPEDs in terms of how they were directed and designed. note how all the songs were chosen to fit the ideas and story of Tegamibachi
'Hajimari no Hi' - 'The day of beginning' - has lines like 'I wanted to run out of this town' which reminds of Lag leaving Campbell, and 'without knowing where to head so that we find our future, we were running together with you' and other lines hinting on Lag and Niche's travelling together
'Hatenaki Michi' - 'Endless Road' - is just centered on the theme of journey and finding someone who is dear with lines like '
'raburetaa no kawari ni kono uta o.' means 'Instead of a love letter, this verses' - even though this songs is likely to be just an average love song by an average j-pop young girl, it can be viewed differently if applied to Tegamibachi. allusion to letters conveying feelings is obvious, such as the first line - 'I wonder if you'll understand if I write it in a paper, I wonder if you'll see it if I make it into words' which describes brilliantly Lag's anxiousness when he was trying to write his message to Gauche to put it into the red message bullet. the chorus part starts with 'Even if I call your name again and again, my voice wouldn't reach you, but now that I recall your turning around to me, smiling, your face was so bright that I cast down my eyes'. and what stroke me most was the last line of this opening - 君がいないんだ - which originally would be translated as 'you are not here', but taken separately from the rest of the text can also mean 'you do not exist'. and those words are sung exactly when the opening animation ends in this frame↓
'Hikari no Kioku' which means 'Memories of Light' already hints on the other central theme of this work - light and memories. the most touching lines for me are 'even if you lose the sight of tomorrow in the times of change, even if your heart is taken from you, I want my feelings to reach you, that I want your memories of chasing that while light not to be broken and stay as they were on that day' - is it not the cry from Lag and others to Gauche?'A little magic' or 'chiisa na mahou' says 'gathering all the words I want to say to you, I use some magic and send them to where you are'
'wasurenagusa' means 'forget-me-not' and this is already enough for making it a perfectly fitting song which breaks my heart every time I listen to it - 'because we met I feel this pain, because we met I see this dream. if we never met, I would never love this much. please do not forget me ever. this forget-me-not blooms for you', and the second chorus - 'because we met I cry this much, because we met I see this sky. if we never met, I would not be who I am now. I will never forget you. in my heart forget-me-not blooms'
the only time I felt uncomfortable was when 'yakusoku' OP began in season 2 and I was thinking 'hey, what's with this OP? the picture seems to be all wrong and fails to fit the song absolutely!' - however, starting with ep. 18 the picture changed and WHAT CHANGE 'TWAS!!! one of the most beautiful opening videos I have ever seen, following the song's tempo and rhythm and providing all kind of pictures, wisely made OP
'one-sided feelings...
...a wish that is ready to disappear...
...surely become a promise binding me and you, it seems so to me'
and the last ending... you can read the translation if you need
graphics
there seems to be a problem in Studio Pierrot - they make beautiful scenery
and pay attention to the colouring
and draw beautiful close-up freeze-frames, or frames where only a few objects are moving
and sometimes use the manga-like graphics
but they make mistakes in drawing smaller objects - why does not Gauche's scarf here fall down by the force of gravitation but makes this strange curve?
finally, seiyuus
this paragraph I write the last because there is not much to say. all the seiyuus were good, including both the main characters and the minor ones. Fukuyama was predictable but credible. Sawashiro-chan really surprised me with the high level of her skills of voicing a boy. Fujimura-chan surprised me that her Niche was not like Misaki from 'Maid-sama' or Ayano from 'Kaze no stigma'. that Koshimizu-san is good I already know, but this time she created with her voice a very calm woman, which was an image different from what I have heard so far. Kishio Daisuke as Zazzie and Suganuma Hisayoshi as Connor seemed good but not outstanding to me until I suddenly realised - 'twas during the scene when the Bees were having dinner at Sylvette's home - what great work and skill it takes to create such realistic characters with realistic behaviour and intonations. even Nana Mizuki whom I do not like very much did a good job. I also noticed a number of experienced seiyuus with pleasant voices such as Largo Lloyd's Konishi Katsuyuki, Sandra's Yamashita Ayaka, Niche's elder sister's Koyama Mami, Jiggy's Nakai Kazuya, Hunt's Chiba Susumu, Sarah's Komatsu Yuka and many others
conclusion
the beginning and the last episodes are as if from different worlds. probably, most stories are like this, if only they are not stories for little children or meaningless merciless shoujo for drooling
by the end of the day the sadness and dissatisfaction with the anime ending that were tearing my chest apart are slightly subsiding and I with a cooler head I can make a conclusion
one must bear in mind that if he decides to watch the anime, he will watch a screen version of several volumes of manga for a while, but considerable difference is reported to be noticed approximately in the middle. and since there seems to be no plans for season 3, 'Tegamibachi' anime as 'tis now can be considered only as a very-big-slice-of-the-characters'-life ending in nothing, which does not allow to name it a 'full-fledged' story
if this is ok with you and you can ignore this aspect, all the other aspects would bring you enormous amount of pleasure. they make Tegamibachi an example that many others must follow. as you see, I cannot, so this pleasure is almost crossed by the void that the ending left
'wasurenagusa' means 'forget-me-not' and this is already enough for making it a perfectly fitting song which breaks my heart every time I listen to it - 'because we met I feel this pain, because we met I see this dream. if we never met, I would never love this much. please do not forget me ever. this forget-me-not blooms for you', and the second chorus - 'because we met I cry this much, because we met I see this sky. if we never met, I would not be who I am now. I will never forget you. in my heart forget-me-not blooms'
the only time I felt uncomfortable was when 'yakusoku' OP began in season 2 and I was thinking 'hey, what's with this OP? the picture seems to be all wrong and fails to fit the song absolutely!' - however, starting with ep. 18 the picture changed and WHAT CHANGE 'TWAS!!! one of the most beautiful opening videos I have ever seen, following the song's tempo and rhythm and providing all kind of pictures, wisely made OP
'one-sided feelings...
graphics
there seems to be a problem in Studio Pierrot - they make beautiful scenery
finally, seiyuus
this paragraph I write the last because there is not much to say. all the seiyuus were good, including both the main characters and the minor ones. Fukuyama was predictable but credible. Sawashiro-chan really surprised me with the high level of her skills of voicing a boy. Fujimura-chan surprised me that her Niche was not like Misaki from 'Maid-sama' or Ayano from 'Kaze no stigma'. that Koshimizu-san is good I already know, but this time she created with her voice a very calm woman, which was an image different from what I have heard so far. Kishio Daisuke as Zazzie and Suganuma Hisayoshi as Connor seemed good but not outstanding to me until I suddenly realised - 'twas during the scene when the Bees were having dinner at Sylvette's home - what great work and skill it takes to create such realistic characters with realistic behaviour and intonations. even Nana Mizuki whom I do not like very much did a good job. I also noticed a number of experienced seiyuus with pleasant voices such as Largo Lloyd's Konishi Katsuyuki, Sandra's Yamashita Ayaka, Niche's elder sister's Koyama Mami, Jiggy's Nakai Kazuya, Hunt's Chiba Susumu, Sarah's Komatsu Yuka and many others
conclusion
the beginning and the last episodes are as if from different worlds. probably, most stories are like this, if only they are not stories for little children or meaningless merciless shoujo for drooling
by the end of the day the sadness and dissatisfaction with the anime ending that were tearing my chest apart are slightly subsiding and I with a cooler head I can make a conclusion
one must bear in mind that if he decides to watch the anime, he will watch a screen version of several volumes of manga for a while, but considerable difference is reported to be noticed approximately in the middle. and since there seems to be no plans for season 3, 'Tegamibachi' anime as 'tis now can be considered only as a very-big-slice-of-the-characters'-life ending in nothing, which does not allow to name it a 'full-fledged' story
if this is ok with you and you can ignore this aspect, all the other aspects would bring you enormous amount of pleasure. they make Tegamibachi an example that many others must follow. as you see, I cannot, so this pleasure is almost crossed by the void that the ending left
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