IMHO. Maoyuu ~ problems of modern education

It's sad when an anime turns out to be completely bad and not worth one's time, but it's also sad when it had potential but didn't live up to it.

This is what happens when you try to make a shounen-harem single-season anime series out of a history textbook, even if that history is a fantasy.

The start was almost good, not least because of the funny gap between the seriousness of the main characters' undertaking and their teenage clumsiness.

It also never hurts to have the creators self-conscious of what they do, and once in a century the silly puns and comments typical for ecchi anime sound fun not because they're fun as they are but because they are so intentionally made to be perceived as your typical ecchi comments.

The epic discussion on the fates of the world, philosophical contemplations on good and evil are easily tolerated when punctuated by out-of-the-blue anime-only developments.

The ending by Arai Akino with her ethereal voice, being a nice counterbalance for the generic shounen-anime energetic song with female vocals, also contributed to the fantasy atmosphere.

I even found myself fascinated by how the development of the world is viewed by our main character, Demon King.

However, the further into the story the more the pace of the series is disrupted. It starts when the creators decide to put a whole year of the characters' lives into one episode #3. Then, in the span of 12 episodes we follow, or at least are supposed to be following, several wars and conflicts, both real and economic, developments and deaths of several major poleis, forming of alliances and church dissents, era-changing inventions such as printing and arbalests, all taking place within only several years.

I don't know if the creators meant this anime as a way to attract students not interested in history otherwise, but Maoyuu looks like a perfect ad: hey do you know there's a new version of a history course, this time with boobs and first-rate voice actors.

Maoyuu constantly doubts whether it's a fantasy shounen or a textbook. Where previously shounen characters would be admiring opponents' new techniques, Maoyuu's characters are amazed at...

And when the swaying gets too strong, there's bound to be resonance, which, in its turn it bound to increase the swaying even more. By the last episode, hardly any character gets enough time to be fully presented, new characters and directions appearing even as the last episode is approaching its 20th minute, and the series end up in a peaceful harem interaction while the world's fate stays undecided.

There are cases when I wish a book was made into an anime, but this is the first time I thought I'd be happy if Maoyuu was a proper book rather than a single-season shounen harem.

p. s. Reviving my 'how to learn Japanese' column, I highly recommend to stay away from Maoyuu if you're still in the early stages of learning the language. At least for me, Maoyuu became a source of an infinite despair because of my sheer ignorance of all the Japanese lingo pertaining to economics, politics, warfare and such.

to watch or not to watch, that is the question

with Koshimizu, Fukuyama, Sawashiro, Saitou Chiwa, Touyama Nao and Kamiya in the voice cast and Arai Akimo performing OP/ED, I thought this might be a rare jewel among the sea of commercial mainstream

and then something prompted me to learn about the director

since when am I so interested in directors? I already know that one good anime in some director's list does not guarantee the following would be as good...

but this case is actually vice versa... if Takahashi-san has only made several mainstream series, frequently dealt with harem and ecchi, and is known for two incest stories, what will he make out of 'Maoyuu Maou Yuusha'?

my humble opinion on HIMEKA

while having nothing to do with Japan in terms of her origin, she struggled and she was successful - she was able to sing a lot of songs from anime she loved and she became an anime song performer herself. however, I would separate these two sides of her

her own songs present on the 'himekanvas' album were great. this was the album I started with and I was fascinated. her pronunciation and her voice and her manner reminded me of the 2000s generation a lot, which is gradually fading away yielding to the overly cute songs of the late 00s and the 10s which we are living through

however, being so delighted with the fact that I found an almost 'classical' anime songs performer, I hoped too much that her covers would be good, too. I was mistaken. half of the songs she covered should be banished into oblivion (in her version of course)

'sayonara solitaire' - tasteless, vulgar, banal, trivial, just like millions of other singers on the Earth could perform it. even if I admit that Chiba-san is not a perfect singer herself, and this song could be covered by someone perfectly, HIMEKA was not an example of 'another version which has a right to exist'. oh no, too pops a voice, too plain an arrangement, simply terrible

'yuzurenai negai' - ohhh... and this song should be prohibited for being covered for_ever. yes. nobody, nobody ever should dare to sing this song. oh please, do not touch Tamura-sama's works. while 'sayonara solitaire' could be performed by someone else provided she (or even he) does not have an obviously pops sound, 'yuzurenai negai' should not be covered by anyone at all. never. no one.

'tamashii no refrain' - I admit I was a fool not to know that this song is from NGE - shame on me, thousand times. well, now I know - and what? I hate it sung by HIMEKA even though I should admit she sung it so-so, not bad... but ooh... I heard it covered by Takarazuka. I listened to it just now sung by Takahashi Youko-san. HIMEKA's voice cannot add any charm to it. moreover, this is a song from 90s. and such works should not be adapted into modern ones or covered by modern performers. they do not, they cannot understand the soul of 90s. well, they could - but I have met none so far, who would

'voices' - I should I admit I have forgotten who performed this song in the original. I guess it could be Arai Akino-san, but I am not sure. however that may be, HIMEKA spoiled the song as well. no voice trembling or shouting with all your might, no pops cheap tricks can make this song more beautiful than 'twas in the original. I wonder if HIMEKA knows the story of this song and its origin. HIMEKA's voice is completely wrong here, she does not create the image that was so necessary in the movie. oh, 'tis 'Macross +' if you wonder

'sore ga ai deshou' - I thought this song to be completely suitable for HIMEKA's voice, and suddenly... 'tis also contra-indicated to HIMEKA. though the voice of Shimokawa-san was also cute and smacks of pops, it was a bit more gentle and 'airy', as she did not put too much of a strength into singing
'Adesso e Fortuna' - I thought this to be a beautiful song of HIMEKA's own creation, but then I thought it sounds strange for her, as if something is wrong there, as if 'tis not for her... and what a coincidence, 'tis a cover. I should admit I liked it a lot in HIMEKA's performance, 'tis very expressive and strong but... when I listened to the original from 'Records of Lodoss War' I felt so nostalgic, despite the fact I have never watched the anime itself or heard the song. again, 'twas the 90s. 'twas a different time. 'twas another style. it cannot be transformed into something new and contemporary. though there are a lot of examples of successful reviving of something old, this particular strata of music should be left there where 'twas, forever

the other songs were perhaps ok, but I could not listen to them while realizing that they were perhaps completely different in the original version

summing up...

somehow, while having only one voice, HIMEKA seems to be split up into 2 people. one of them is a successful singer with a lot of nice songs, and the other one is a cheap sounding pop singer spoiling everything she reaches up to. this makes me respect her as a foreigner who bravely comes to Japan to fulfill her dream but I shall listen only to her own songs and ignore her cover album

well, compare for yourselves - 'sayonara solitaire'

me loves finding links

though me was never interested in labels and companies, me happened to open the website of 'Flying Dog'
and me would like simply to list the performers who caught me attention there
first, Arai Akino
then, ALI Project
nothing in common, but for the quality of their songs
then, Chiaki Ishikawa
do me honourable guests get what her presence in the list means? oh yes, we have Kajiura-sama also in 'Flying Dog', therefore Yuuka-chan should also be there, why shouldn't she be? me daresay, the list of artists connected with them doesn't end here, but let us proceed in alphabetical order
Lisa Komine, that's again a coincidence, but she also deserves our attention, eh?
Natsumi Kiyoura is also here, well, counting the previous variety of genres and community of quality we are starting to expect certain persons there as well...
then we see the name of Maaya Sakamoto, and hey! if Kiyoura and Sakamoto are here, then... just wait!
oh yes! me missed the name of Kanno Youko, which was written in kanji, and me was a little absent-minded
then we see the awaited ones - savage genius and See-Saw! if the latter is a simple combination of previously mentioned Kajiura-sama and Ishikawa-sama, savage genius may seem a little odd to some of me honourable guests, but me should remind that Kajiura-sama wrote the 'kaze no yukue' song for them
then we see finally Yuuka-chan's name, of course, as me stated previously, and FictionJunction, of course
and finally - Round Table featuring Nino. again a coincidence, but a pleasant one, eh?