IMHO. 'Baccano' ~ Certainly guns, but not roses

I'm pretty sure that many people give violent shows high ratings because of a subconscious feeling that violent = mature. I'm also pretty sure that many anime producers think that the greater the contrast between different aspects of anime, the greater the effect. They create bouncy jazz soundtracks, invite famous seiyuus, and even draw the smallest details of the ceiling in the first class dining-car, and all that just for the sake of contrast between that and the heavy, unpleasant story.

I did make great efforts to at least understand those characters with their REASONS or DARK PAST, but those reasons and pasts were not reasonable and dark enough to convince me. Maybe because the characters spent much more time punching, biting, shooting and devouring each other, and when not - threatening to do so or discussing all of these, than actually thinking, reminiscing or dreaming. And while immortality certainly brings up questions of the meaning of life, physical and psychological pain, I don't think I gained any insights into these topics thanks to 'Baccano'.

People who don't know much about anime use duck typing. Yes, they are absolutely wrong in thinking anime multiplies violence or inspires suicidal thoughts. But if an anime constantly drowns the viewers in blood and has little food for thought, than what else can we think? It's a violent anime with little meaning.

The most disappointing thing is that 'Baccano' was just this close to be good. The characters could have been so likeable, the story could have been so interesting, if only there were enough time for the characters and the story. Yes, you probably need to avoid shoving such an amount of characters into a one-season anime and then spending half of that season on meticulous depicting cruel fighting and its results. Especially when clearly half of the characters were repeating each other.

 

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.

My humble opinion on 'Kaze no Stigma' - both anime and manga

Plot and characters
Let me make one thing clear. 'Kaze no Stigma' is shoujo. Even though the manga is sometimes labeled as shounen or seinen, 'tis still shoujo. There is some fanservice for the male audience, of course, but not without shoujo fanservice also
There are different kinds of shoujo in terms of characters and plot developments. If we cast aside those with fragile heroines who spend the greater part of the anime of manga crying and worrying for other characters who do all the serious work (like Miaka), among those who are left most main heroines belong to the type of Ayano. They possess an explosive character and tend to be easily provoked by caustic remarks uttered by other characters. Moreover, those remarks, reprimands and scolding are for a reason unknown supposed to be the best romance that can bloom in a shoujo. Apparently the directors and screenplay/manga writers honestly believe that the only way to make their works popular among the female audience is to create a bit brutal but sexy - no, brutal in a sexy way - guy who is never at a loss with words, who would leave the heroine on her own every time she faces an obstacle offering her to overcome it herself, or even oppose her and drive her almost to death, so that she would grow as a warrior/priestess/game player/personality/whatever. Moreover, the heroine who gets to know eventually that she was either left alone, or tricked and used on purpose, and thus endangered, only punches her beloved and shouts 'bakaaaaa!' - this is the limit of her annoyance and revenge. Of course, she has no chance to stand against him, to say nothing of winning - she is inferior, and will always be. This kind of 'sassy teacher - eager pupil' relationship is thought to be the essence of shoujo, the real advantage that would capture the hearts of young spectators or readers. Sorry for not being not one of them
On the other hand, I cannot deny there are a lot of other elements necessary for popularity. The dream of the female audience is granted in the fourth episode out of 24 - 'tis not a real kiss, but who cares? The lips joined are enough for young girls to scream with joy - and forget that the characters are supposed to be cousins. After the main event has already happened, what's left is only to increase the level of ero - so we have licking the cheek, kissing the neck and the edges of hair.
Don't forget about guys! Pantsu shots in abundance, low angles and windy weather, big breasts in the middle of the screen that are sure to jump noticeably in spite of the fact that we are in the middle of a very important battle. I could close my eyes to such things if only they were done with an understanding of how funny they look. Unfortunately, they are for real...
Dark past of the main character, casualties during the 'war', revenge, mysterious enemy, everything is on its place. Did I really watch this anime never ever before?
Even watching 'Rurouni Kenshin' where every character who was about to attack never failed to name his technique, and scenes of daily life were filled with SD and 'oro?' did not make me feel THAT awkward.
The manga 'kaze no stigma - kannou no miko' tries to be closer to the original ranobe, obviously. Kazuma is in a constant frenzy, blood is taking more space on the page, the plot and the relationships which existed in the anime are absent. Well, not absolutely absent - some phrases and scenes are completely alike but in the end manga scenes fail to create the same impression. Some events are simply 'omitted' - no one wants to have an absolute copy of the animated version, eh? It would not sell.

Graphics
Is it 2007, really? I would not give it more than 2004...
Manga is much better. Obviously the mangaka knows his trade. Cute expressions, scary expressions, girls figures exposed for admiring, and lots of lines on the page which make it almost impossible to understand what is going on... Congrats.

Seiyuus
Good staff. Most of seiyyus I am familiar with, but both them and those whom I did not know were pretty good. However, there was not much of an opportunity for them to show everything they can. This is not their fault, eh? Oohara Sayaka-san, Makino Yui-san, Watanabe Akeno-san, Itou Shizuka-san, Inokuchi Yuka-san, Takahashi Chiaki-san did a great job.

Music
The traditions of anime soundtracking were preserved. The background reminded me of good OSTs of 90s, and the OPEDs were on a high level. Lyrics by Ishikawa-sama, music by Arai-sama and nice vocal - there are all the elements for a good theme song. This applies to 'hitorikiri no sora', but the OP 'blast of wind' was good, too. The second ED was not a very impressive song, but at least the three seiyuus are good at singing - not shouting something with kawaii voice which is a frequent thing in the latest animes.

Conclusion
What date is it today? Oh! I better hurry to check whether the next chapter of 'kaichou wa maid-sama' is translated! Why? Though these two have a bit in common, 'kaichou' is thousand times better than 'kaze no stigma' because the stupid setting is not used there. Ayano and Misaki are really alike - active, extroverted girls, protective when it comes to their friends and simply those who are weaker, both are unwilling to admit their feelings. They even share the same seiyuu. However Misaki is stronger. And Usui is stronger, too, in comparison with Kazuma. Much stronger - he is able to support Misaki despite her misunderstanding - support really, directly, and be together with her no matter what, but he is able to admit his weaknesses as well, and yield to her, and is ready to trust her, and count on Misaki, while Kazuma only seem to cherish Ayano as his 'possession'. Dear shoujo makers - look carefully at Usui, THIS is the guy that girls want. Am I wrong? Well, at least I want to see characters like Usui more.
In the last episode Ayano says - 'What am I to you? A burden? I don't want to be the princess who waits until the battle ends and kisses her hero, I want you to rely on me, too!' - however she ended up being exactly what she described, forever chasing and unable to reach Kazuma, despite how much she helped in the last strike to erase the mighty enemy. Quite opposite, Misaki did not look much of a help to Usui, and the sole reason of his love to her is 'you would not smile so easily, and that cute face expression of yours' - but then why, I ask you, why do they seem to be much more equal partners who DO share the same feeling?