'Saiunkoku monogatari' ~ The story of the Kingdom of colourful clouds

The advantage of long stories is that all characters have enough screen time to develop and show what kind of individuals they are. The problem is that not only the viewers, but the creators themselves become bored and start thinking up one plot twist after another for the sheer sake of twisting the plot.

Still, 'Saiunkoku' is a refreshing example of shoujo genre, because the main female character, despite a huge reverse harem around her, behaves like a normal woman, trying to pursue her career and still unsure about her feelings. Because the characters around her are not the standard set of handsome love-interests, but are just as colourful as the clouds that the country is named for. Because their feelings and relationships are as colourful too.

Because the creators were not afraid to make fun of what could be otherwise awkward.

Because the emperor of the country is comforted by little pandas in the woods when he is feeling down. Because a nobleman makes a flute out of a radish.

Because a loyal friend protects the heroine with bamboo shoots.

This anime may be far from ideal. After all, I spent 2 months watching it, too long for less than 80 episodes, which means I didn't feel like I couldn't wait to watch further.

Still, I'd recommend it to absolutely everyone, because I know I already miss them - the people of the Kingdom of colourful clouds.

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. 'Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan o Erande Iraremasen' ~ The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Fantasy stories are stories that contain a fantastic assumption - some fable that has to be accepted as-is, while every other element in the story maybe far from fantasy. 'Dracula' assumes there are vampires. 'Star trek' assumes there are spaceships with warp function. What does 'Honzuki' assume? That a college graduate from Japan founds herself in another world confined in a body of a 5-year-old girl? Nope. The fantastic assumption of  'Honzuki' is that right after she gets up from bed, she begins her attempts to produce books. No acclimatization, no after-death shock, no troubles with establishing relations with people around her. The only problem of the new world is the absence of books.

'Another world', an 'isekai', should be either extremely fascinating, impressing enough to make the viewers forget all their possible questions, or stop pretending to be serious. It's all very nice that Main makes commercial deals, but while everyone around calls her a weirdo who behaves as if she's much older, in fact the problem lies not in her, but in almost all children around her, and nobody seems to notice it. I'm sure children were helping parents from a very young age in Medieval Europe, but I'm also sure they were children, and that they didn't make any philosophic conclusions like chibi characters in 'Honzuki'. At the same time, Main behaves like a real child with no trace of her former 20-something-year-old self, despite the fact she remembers how to produce things.

So I've been watching anime for something close to 20 years. And my parents have had enough chances to have a look at what I watch. And 'Honzuki', I must tell you, is one of the few anime series that my mother asked 'Is this an anime for children?' about. She also praised voice acting. And what this means is simply this: that the voice actors speak in a manner easy to comprehend, so that even my mother, a foreigner with no knowledge of Japanese, can hear where one word ends and another starts, can guess the moods of characters based on their intonation, and can understand that the speech is clear. In other words... this IS an anime for children. I mean, it's not supposed to be, but it surely looks like one.

Only after my mother said this I realised what bothers me so much in 'Honzuki'. Despite getting a rating of PG-13 for some serious topics and some violence such as killing a pig, 'Honzuki' is a children's fairy-tale-cum-textbook. It's no wonder Shou Hayami with his low voice narrates the beginning of every chapter like a local Drosselmeyer. Every character explains their actions and Main herself comments on everything she does. Older characters constantly remind her what she needs to do being a daughter / a merchant / a noble. Sit down and write down, children, this is the role model for you.

Sometimes there comes in a person into the anime studio who exclaims 'But this is a drama!'. Then the staff rush to make it dramatic. They add touching moments of Main suddenly remembering that she hails from another world... Twice in 3 years, huh?

Soon season 3 will come out and it looks like it may be far from the last. But I'm sure the ending of this story is like this: they lived happily ever after. What a pity I don't give a damn about it. I only give it the 3 out of 10 it deserves for the few funny moments there were.

Now that I think of it... I didn't even make a single screenshot of this series. I guess, this is as much as there was to capture.

my humble opinion on 'Hakushaku to Yousei' ~ why so upset?

I wanted some romance, didn't I? I wanted 19th century, didn't I? so - why am I so upset? perhaps, the reason is that I am writing this post after I only watched half of the first episode?

last time when I was writing a 'review' on 'Dance' I also started writing after watching the beginning of the first episode, but I wasn't upset, no - quite opposite. then, what is the difference? well... perhaps, this?

plot and characters

ADD SUGAR, CAP!

or something like this the fangirls were shouting at the face of the director, screenplay writers, designers, and others - the imaginary fangirls that invaded the minds of those who created this brilliant (in the literary sense) work

oh, I AM a lover of shoujo. I should be happy and all drooling while seeing something like this, eh? the plot only starts, but we already have a mysterious guy who is hinted to be a notorious criminal (and criminals are always sexy dangerous - because they have committed a crime, you know? oh no it does not matter whether he really committed it by his hands or not), who is, BTW, unshaven and shaggy-haired (oh, dear person responsible for the character design, how did you guess that unshaven and shaggy-haired guys are exactly my preference?), hugging from behind (pay your attention, the scene when Lidia's mouth was covered by his hand was really THAT necessary in precisely THOSE circumstances and for precisely THAT long time), hair kissing (every gentleman in England of 19th century does this, don't you read historical books?), and at last - shining and twinkling that follows his every movement

well, of course he got better after changing in the rich clothes, returning to his natural blonde, etc. did this metamorphosis change much? nope

in the end, I cannot help comparing his behaviour with that of Usui from 'maid-sama'. guess who wins in the comparison? while being far more 'perverted alien' by words and actions, which is only natural to be counted an a disadvantage, Usui still seems to be a far stronger character, and a deeper one as well. at least, we can see his feelings and his intentions, unlike Edgar, who never grows to be less shallow than he was in the beginning. walking handsome bishie doll

MORE SUGAR, MOOOORE!!!

still the voice of the target audience is audible enough. and so, another handsome guy is introduced. he has bronze skin and emerald eyes... he speaks in a low voice... what a difference with the first guy! - or something like this the creators thought, and decided that this is what they need to capture the hearts of those young spectators who were not completely bewitched by Edgar. to make sure of their victory over this part of the target audience, they made him criminal as well. you saw this expression in his eyes, didn't you? you heard that line - 'there's no need to kill anyone over such a trifling matter', didn't you? and the last straw - you saw how he scanned her figure from the bottom to the top to prepare a dress for her, didn't you?

ONE MORE sexy DANGEROUS CRIMINAL!!!

or something like this the fangirls were shouting. the imaginary ones

nonetheless, he's not the aggressive type, you know? the victim one, yep!

oh, poor main heroine, I've been ignoring her... shame on me! as my friend told me - 'she is a shoujo heroine, but pays less attention to the main hero than 'tis common for shoujo'. well, I see. he just said almost directly that he is intending to marry her (regardless of what his true intentions could or seemed to be, his words had this meaning), but she is thinking about fairies. oh, this is not called 'she is paying less attention to the main hero', this is called - 'a kind, but a veeeery stupid main heroine'. the phrase is not mine, the credit goes to one of the commentators on world-art, unfortunately I do not remember what comment exactly

another comparison that comes to my mind is that with Ayano of 'Kaze no Stigma'. well, there is a significant difference. while Ayano simply cries 'bakaaaa' when Kazuma does something which is getting on her nerves, Lidia is more sophisticated. she prefers 'that horrible villain'

why again I have been remembering Ayano from the very beginning...

don't you recognize the passionate monologue of Ayano in the last episode? 'what am I to you? a hindrance? a burden? I want you to rely on me, too!' - I wonder if 'tis enough to prove that Lidia is no better than a usual shoujo heroine

oh and BTW, did you know that stumbling upon a safety handrail which is as high as her waist makes a girl fall backwards?

well at least there could be something interesting in the story itself... but there isn't. the story is so boring and plain despite being overburdened with 'un-understandable' and unnecessary details that I almost fall asleep, as I haven't slept much last night. I have to admit there were feeble attempts to introduce some philosophy, but this level of reasoning is too much even for me. like that line of Raven - 'are you able to teach me what's right and wrong and never order me to kill?', and Lidia does not know what to answer... hmmm... so, not ordering to kill is such a hard task, I see? wow. I never knew other people have such problems. this might be such a burden, not ordering to kill

a sudden cry from the darkness - MORE SUGAR, MORE!!!

the fangirls obviously got tired with all that philosophy. 'tis very crucial to introduce a new handsome guy once in a while, you know? otherwise the spectators get booored. BTW this character must be wise enough to 'understand and forgive'... and save them, as well. 'tis MAAAGIIIIC, you know

erm... was, then, 'Dantalian' different? we see pretty similar setting - England, mystery and magic, and who would doubt that Huey was created for the delectation of girls' eyes? still... there was something different, something tasting less like sugar

this very fact - the lack of sugar in 'Dantalian' - made me want something with a more obvious romance. but you know, I wanted romance, not a candy wrapping

the first episode is finished. I already want to drop so badly... I don't even care for the romance, and even less for the epoch portrayed - the 19th century which I was searching for so thoroughly. why am I watching further? well... because of the cat and the cute little fairies, perhaps?

seiyuus

when I asked my friends about the seiyuus participating in this brilliant work she named me a whole bunch of prominent seiyuus whom I knew and whom I considered to be really outstanding ones among the 'old school' and the 'middle' one - that is, not the most recent ones, but those who emerged in 90s and early 00s. like, Midorikawa Hikaru-san, Koyasu Takehito-san, Oohara Sayaka-san, Chafurin-san and Miyano Mamoru-san. I was expecting to hear something outstanding! and my dreams were shattered - not by the seiyuus themselves, but probably by the genre. well, probably hearing Oohara's low voice was a good experience as I usuallyl heard the higher one

MORE SUGAR, MORE! - this time 'tis the line of the directors who required the male seiyuus all to become as shoujo-ish as they could

female part is different. the main heroine's seiyuu is actually a good training in uttering sighs and inhalations of surprise/shock/admiring/all of them mixed. I hope Mizuki Nana did have a good practice. BWT her new album was widely advertised in Osaka last summer, if I am not mistaken. her very looks did tell me a lot about her, and I was not mistaken when I heard her voice in the anime. perfect! intonations as if not uttered by her, but played from an old gramophone - unchanged since the ancient time, ideal - not close to ideal, but really ideal, because they were simply a copy of a 'shoujo heroine intonations' template, 100% cliche with no imagination at all

may I have your permission to compare this with 'Dantalian' again? listen to Sawashiro-san. her way of pronoucing 'desu' with 'su' not reduced as usual but vice versa - stressed with a raised voice - was getting on my nerves during the first episode, but then I understood that 'twas her way of making herself memorable and original, 'twas her shtick, as well as her 'yyyyes', which I loved by the end of the series, to say nothing of her intonations that remained partially the same as in DGC. or Fujimura-san in 'maid-sama' - I still cannot forget her changing intonations, and especially that of her in a 'drunk' condition

Mizuki-san? nothing like this

graphics

hey, hey, did you see the ball? did you? wasn't it wonderful??? a couple of static pictures simply increased/decreased in size? this is what is called DANCING, yep!

also, notice the disappearing and reappearing on the floor small sack of Lidia in ep. 11 and Ulysses's gloves on his hands in ep. 12

and you know - I can now understand very well that BABY's and ALICE's designers DID a good job in creating clothes for 'Dantalian'. oh yes, I have changed my mind about that fact

music

the main reason my friend liked this anime was its OST. well, perhaps there was some. I don't know, I only noticed a couple of short melodies which were pretty good - but couldn't suit less to the scenes they accompanied

conclusion

MORE SUGAR, MORE!!!

the fangirls were still screaming...

I haven't said anything about the greatest masterpiece in this anime. the ending animation! yep, we believe those naked guys are sleeping. yep, with no other implied meaning!

in the end... there was nothing. so many 'special' situations, and no result. during the last episode I already wanted this to be a plain hentai with Lidia getting what she deserved from every guy in the story. and maybe not only Lidia, you know. and maybe not only the girls, you know

I better stop laughing so hard, or I'll wake up my parents who are already sleeping