We've already established that the Earth is best saved by Japanese schoolchildren, even if, or rather, especially if they need to pilot gigantic robots brought to Earth by another civilisation and equipped with weapons of mass destruction.
It's also clear that galactic problems are nothing in comparison with the problems people experience in their youth, such as love, friendship, school club activities, applying sunscreen on gilrs' backs...
Actually, the more girls - the better. Let's have more of them introduced in the middle of the story even if nobody saw it coming.
If singing voice actors are engaged, much attention is paid to theme songs, with the characters singing everywhere possible, including not only karaoke, but also beaches, school corridors, bus tops, and who cares where else. My personal suggenstion would be, however, not to make 3 out of 4 important songs just happy cute pop hits, so that you don't have to use the remaining one as your only option to add drama when necessary. My personal wish - start searching for decent opening and ending songs, or the art of anime music will be lost.
The final battle will easily fit one episode, with the decisive fight taking no more than 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the remaining budget. Why not turn on theme songs here again.
And at least one furry animal to accompany the story, remember.
There is something new established by 'Star Driver', though. Seems like you can be a Galactic Pretty Boy even if you're a girl. We live in the modern age, no discrimination, okay?
At least they didn't forget about the humour, that I do admit.
This is already a symptom and not a coincidence: the in-between animators are modern youngsters, they don't want to to sit in the studio office and slave away until midnight like people did in Ghibli, they want to go home early and have a life.
I'm joking, of course, but here's the result: despite being 'gekijouban', or 'theatrical movie', 'Haikara' is no Ghibli, and the in-between animation is so poor it seems Ranmaru is shaking with convulsions when he's supposed to be performing a traditional Japanese dance, where 'traditional' inevitably means graceful and smooth. Compared to the beautiful, but static backgrounds, moving sprites in less important scenes are just as awful as they were in TV series from 90s with a very limited budget and very limited production time.
I am surely getting repetitive, but how can I pretend I don't see it when I do: Benio is already beyond the first dozen in my list of shoujo Heroines possessing the same traits:
positive and cheerful - check
tomboyish, fights and climbs up trees though she's not supposed to - check
clumsy in everyday life, poor at household chores and bad at studying - check
capable of a profound feeling - check
has at least one or even a whole harem of boys falling in love with her, but choosing her only one - check
finds happiness even after something devastating happens - check
This may be still continued.
There's one more common trait I haven't yet mentioned in the list which is the one that makes me instantly disappointed:
No, you don't have to change your mind and suddenly start doing your best in something you weren't initially interested in every time somebody points out you can't do it.
We must remember that the original manga and TV series were created in 70s when this kind of shoujo was a standard. And while the original TV series may be watched as a specimen of its own kind, the new 'Haikara' is nothing more than a very unskilled attempt to pack a very long manga into a little more than 3 hours, which is the length of 2 movies combined.
Certain moments introducing an element of humour made 'Haikara' watchable, thanks to the level of their absurdity.
However, fun doesn't make up for everything else, and inserting old songs re-recorded as instrumentals does not instantly make the new anime classic.
'Haikara' has probably one of the highest concentration of stereotypes per a unit of time. Not only Benio is that typical shoujo Heroine, but everything that happens to her seems to be taken from some kind of 'how to write a shoujo' manual, and under a condition that anyone who fails to follow the instruction wouldn't be published. Of course, her beloved regains his memory, and of course there's some woman fatally ill or hurt whose side he cannot leave, and of course the Heroine wouldn't want that woman to suffer, so she decides to break up, and of course she pretends she loves another good guy, but of course that's not true, and of course he understands because he's such a good guy, of course another woman conveniently dies and of course a happy ending follows. Wait, I know a story that didn't have that convenient ending. Well, at least something is different in those old shoujos.
Why did you bother at all to hire such nice voice actors, I wonder, Nippon animation? I mean, you didn't give a damn about animation, story, characters even - so why Miyano and Hayami? Kazuya Nakai and Kenta Miyake, voicing the two favourite characters of mine - just because they weren't as predictable and were real fun, were particularly impressive. Others were pretty good too.
My guess is - there was no money left. Maybe you can turn to crowdfunding, dear Nippon animation?
By the way, Vodka again - that hurts. I mean it, stop mentioning it whenever Russia is discussed. It's not funny already. Well, I'm grateful they didn't write ВОЛКА instead.
By the way, there is no such flower as 'malinka', which is an affectionate-diminutive form of 'malina', which stands for 'raspberry' and generally means either berries or the plant itself. I'm actually not sure what kind of raspberry is mentioned here, but there seems to be a smaller kind of raspberry called 'Manchurian' or 'Tibetian'. And even then, it's not the thing that Russians call 'malinka'.
I also doubt a member of aristocracy would be called by his short name Sasha by his aristocrat wife speaking about him to a third party.
And no, they didn't wear thick coats or hats with fur in summer. Even in Irkutsk.
Just the other day I noticed an Indian TV-drama being aired on one of our popular channels that targets young and emotional teenage girls. You know what it's like, right? Every phrase is followed by a row of close-ups showing how every character reacts, or even more, they may start saying something one by one.
Ugh... Japanese TV-dramas and anime are not that bad, but I kinda felt there's something similar in the way they drag the story and make it last several month without anything actually happening.
story and characters
When my friend, a serious grown-up woman of 24 years, just like me, told me she started watching Naruto, I could not understand how that could be possible, but she answered that at least she can turn off her brain and purely enjoy it as a standard shounen story from 00-s. But the next time we discussed it, this is what she said: 'you know, they just show every character for several seconds, or repeat key words of the scene several times, then you look at the timeline and see that half of the episode is already over.'
Let's face reality, pretending these moments are really that important requires being no more than 10 years old and dreaming of becoming a princess in the future. I'm slightly older than that, and I cannot really close my eyes to that. I mean you srsly want me to watch how a guy runs through the corridor, falls down simply because he is in a hurry, even though there is nothing on the floor, inserts a CD into the player and it starts glowing only because the song recorded on it is supposed to be beautiful?
Or admire how manly the prince looks with his gothic guitar?
I mean, the more I watched, the more I wanted a pickled cucumber. 'Cause it's so rainbow-coloured I'm almost blind now.
So, this is a reverse harem, a genre I genuinely despise. Why on Earth did I decide to watch something like this? I hoped that it would be slightly better than those usual stories where the Heroine always cries, gets captured and just refuses to become useful in any possible way. And it's true, our Heroine here is not a damsel in distress, she's a sincere, loyal and hard-working girl who even studied sheet music in a day or so when she realised she won't get anywhere if she does not. Not that trope when an overly positive heroine manages to get along somehow only by her mood and help from others. Though I must admit Nanami is the usual
and she's constantly praised by others 'cause
which alone makes me want to eat a pickled cucumber again, at least she studies in the academy and after graduating starts working diligently, using her ability to communicate with different kinds of people and studying their nature for the sake of creating music specially for them.
So, everybody around her is kind and caring, even though they may sometimes look cold. And they sing everywhere. Green meadows near her rural hometown? Okay!
It wouldn't be thrilling if the harem and the Heroine were separated too much, so they live together even after graduation, in an ordinary Japanese dormitory.
My bad, it was 'dormitry'.
So, what's the story about? I can't tell even after I watched it. But it's something like a fairy-tale.
One of the popular comedy sketches on Soviet TV was a parody on how documentary reports were created at the time. In it, a reporter approaches a man sitting on a bench in a park, and accidentally he turns out to have been recognised a top performer at his workplace, then he mentions his son is currently in the army and accidentally the son comes and greets him saying he has just returned from the Far East, and finally, when he mentions he can play musical instruments, accidentally there is a grand piano in the bushes so he can play it right away. The phrase 'grand piano in the bushes' has since become a symbol of developments that are supposed to be accidental but are just a bit too convenient for the story for the audience to believe in.
If not a piano in the bushes, then at least a guitar on the street.
And, the story is very romantic. Is supposed to be... They probably thought I'd swoon upon hearing such words.
That's the end. My heart is totally captured by such gallantry.
Okay. Does this receive any development? 'Cause in half of harem anime the Heroine does not make any choice until the very end, and even if she does, it does not make the story any more successful - I'll never ever change my mind about 'Fushigi Yuugi' or 'Skip Beat', they are both extreme in creating a world full of pink-coloured snivel.
So, in UtaPri Nanami does not explicitly choose anyone, but it's obvious that one character was chosen as the main one. So,
NOTHING. I TELL YA HE DIDN'T EVEN ATTEMPT. He just went to the summer festival and caught her a carp. Oh, and then he comforted her when she cried. Who said UtaPri would be romance? No-no-no. If you need romance, go and play the game. By the way, it's just what I'm going to do 'cause I'll not let this go until I make sure Nanami ends up with Tokiya.
By the way, I was probably supposed to be touched by such an emotional scene
but, chewing a pickled cucumber since I cannot endure this sweetness anymore, I can only say that I noticed how graphics changed for the better with every new season.
graphics
Well, that is probably what Mr. Oozuka was talking about. This is the case when animators were drawing beautiful faces and with nice lines, trying to make everything look as fairy-talish as possible. And though sometimes I can endure a less beautiful graphics for the sake of an interesting story, I'm generally not actually against a more refined style.
The backgrounds were sometimes really impressive
But here you reap what you sow. If Oozuka-sensei made his characters too simple but paid attention to their movements, moving objects in UtaPri are lacking natural smoothness and look really amateurish. No, you won't convince me it's all right. This is probably the most hilarious moment illustrating the quality of the video.
Just before the third season the creators probably realised that it looks unnatural themselves and made the characters 3D. Not a good decision either.
It's obvious they wanted to make their characters move like they do in Japanese boys bands, but I'm not actually sure if it was a good idea. You can just turn off the sound in the ending video and turn on a random song by a random Johnies band, or vice versa. 'Yeah yeah doki doki flavor', says the preview of this Hey Say Jump song, but it could be a line from Starish's song with an equal probability.
music
If the anime is called 'the princes of singing', then at least can you hope for a good OST and image songs? A rhetorical question.
The problem is, half of the songs is extremely dull and boring, especially those accompanying some emotional moments, like
while the other half was better than average, both image songs and background music. I'd say some pieces were even impressive, especially when we take into account it's not an anime emphasising music (oh let's be honest it's not). As expected, it sparked an row of fan-playing on YT.
And it would be even better if the all seiyuus were good at singing, but most of them were obvisouly chosen not for their vocals, but for their speaking manner.
voice acting
So many fangirls proclaim their love to the seiyuus singing their songs on Soundcloud that I'm surprised. Okaaaay... Maybe I'm just slightly wrong, but I take pride in my ears, and I can tell you that most of seiyuus cast for UtaPri are mediocre singers. I would understand if it were anything else, but they're supposed to be princes of singing.
If you manage to be cool with that, you can totally enjoy their speaking. Want to introduce your younger siblings or children to the world of Japanese voice acting? Just show them UtaPri. And they'll know the establishment of the current seiyuu world. You can choose whoever you want. And if you don't want anyone for the moment, there'll be more next time. First they added Heavens, then Quartet Night, and if you need MOAR then there are new members in Heavens so that you wouldn't sue the creators for limiting your choice.
It was refreshing to hear Sawashiro again as a cute little girl, just a bit similar to her kawaii mode in Di Gi Charat. I was also surprised to hear Imai Yuka's voice, she made a very memorable character out of her not-so-important-heroine's-best-friend.
And those teachers and agencies presidents... Oh my goddable!? Just when did I become a person who's not bothered by a guy wearing female clothes and saying 'good-morning-PUUU!' as a greeting???
conclusion
So let's get to the point, why did I watch it to the end? Why am I sad now that I finished watching? The seiyuus. Yes I know this is a cheap fanservice, but I cannot throw stones at them. They created a wonderful atmosphere, and even though there was too much saccharine, the characters really became like one big family. Such atmosphere always makes me forget that I hate reverse harems. And makes me slightly jealous. Makes me want to be a part of such a 'family' myself.
And of course... I couldn't drop because of this:
>____<
If not for that wonderful ability of the Japanese to laugh at themselves and retain a certain degree of soberness, I would have stopped watching anime long ago.
Well, if they didn't have that ability, they wouldn't troll their own characters like this
or admit that the current TV programs where celebrities participate are very superficial and contrived.
p. s.
I JUST CAN'T OMG I feel so embarrassed when I watch this video as if the seiyuus were daincing it themselves...
The conclusion that little witch Chocolat from 'Sugar Sugar Rune' made after living in the human world for some time was: it seems that human boys tend to tease girls they like. Well, it's ok if they really just tease. It also can be understood when a little boy kinda hates a girl and throws balls at her without mercy. But what if a story about the Heroine and the Hero starts from true, sheer hatred?
story and characters
What a usual shoujo looks like is 'they are obviously attracted to each other but cannot confess but that's SOOO CUUUUUTE'. What RDG starts with is a girl and a boy who openly dislike each other without that usual catchy 'she's just not being honest with herself'. Not that there's no room for such feelings, but they appear much later and not just because 'he's so cool' or 'she's so tsundere'. In case of RDG we have not the typical shoujo heroine who climbs up trees like Candy from Candy-Candy, travels the world seeking for adventures like Nadja from 'Ashita no Nadja', or bravely fights monsters like Hikaru from 'Rayearth', but a shy, meek, calm girl. However, she's also not the 'Diabolik lovers' damsel-in-distress MANUKE (coward, doesn't have any nerve) type who lets others do whatever they want with her. If by any chance you're interested in my opinion, the usual shoujo heroine is an IEE, or ENFp in the MBTI, while Izumiko is her 'mirror', EII or INFj. Unlike the widespread tsundere type (ENFp or ENTp or INTp), she's honest with her feelings:
In general she's completely ok when it comes to discussing feelings and relationships and does not hesitate to make a face like this when asked whether she'd agree to be hit on:
She also has strong will. It reminds me how one socionics developer said about Melanie in 'Gone with the wind'. Such heroines are frequently weak or at least not very strong physically and know nothing about demonstrating strength to the extent they aren't able to protect themselves (extroverted sensing is the sore point)
but never hesitate when they have to show their inner strength, even if they have to say something harsh.
They don't have a problem facing a morally difficult situation or when they have to make a decision that requires using not logic (T) but ethic (F).
Izumiko also reacts very calmly when facing situations where other people would not know what to reply.
And in the end she allows herself to show her true feelings which she was so much afraid of doing.
I'm not saying I'm an expert, but our Hero, Miyuki, does look like her dual type. Here's what we have - a guy who values physical and mental strength and does not hesitate to train himself, very harsh in the beginning but eventually giving way to the Heroine's kindness seeing how she never gets angry or arrogant with him no matter what he does or says (thinking, sensing). Unlike her, he knows what to do and how to do it, and wants everything done properly - I'll enter a university and become a good member of the society, he says (plus judging). Even though in the last episode he proves to be actually loyal and refuses to take actions that may hurt people dear to him, that only proves he's bad with human relations and feelings - it took him 12 episodes to get used to having a person to care for and acknowledge his feelings. In other words, he needed a proof of feelings from someone else (NF) so that he could show his loyalty with actions (ST).
By the fact he takes the initiative and responsibility eagerly I assume he's an extrovert, and thus I have the conclusion that I wanted to reach. And it was just all very smooth how he almost hated her in the beginning but then voluntarily took her under his care.
If you're wondering whether I'm really into that guy, Yukimasa, the father of the Hero, then I'll tell you - of course I'm not serious. I'm just collecting hot guys to... to look at. Under no circumstances would I ever acknowledge violence as a method of upbringing. However, this is the reality that we must face when watching this series: in this story physical damage is considered something usual, not forgivable but acceptable.
If you feel disturbed by it, you can try to manage to pay no heed to this side of the story. Since the strange relationship between Miyuki and his father will never be explained either. Or the circumstances about Izumiko's family. Or anything else. While the feelings between Izumiko and Miyuki, and also the three Souda siblings are properly shown, the story itself, unlike what you'd expect from the description, contains even no real battles with enemies that come to capture the Heroine, and the anime does not create a smooth line of events. Rather it looks like a collection of important moments from the original novel with absolutely no attempts to fill the gaps between them. No wonder it gets low rates from people writing comprehensive reviews. There are a lot of examples when I liked an anime that people rate with 1 out of ten, but that's due to the fact I liked the genre while others didn't. This time it's not as simple, RDG is not just aimed at a narrow audience, it's also too limited in time.
graphics
The very first seconds of the first episode can give you a good idea of what's graphics like in RDG.
All landscapes and objects of nature are done in detail and look extremely realistic. Places in the urban areas are also done to look like real ones with all necessary textures and patterns.
Some objects were obviously made in 3D.
Here is one problem, however. RDG makes an attempt to look beautiful but the story is not told properly. I would probably prefer that the same amount of work be put into narration. Just to be fair I have to say, though, that the style is better than on those pictures I saw on the manga covers, and I prefer the way the characters look in the anime to the manga version.
If we take the graphics as a separate kind of art, it's beautiful and so detailed I'd even say it verges on being wasted. Such images deserve to be viewed for a longer time than it takes in RDG. If you want to check it out, just look for the menus from the DVD.
voice acting
The first time I ever heard Uchiyama was in 'Bimbougami'. Even though a comedy, thanks to the seiyuus' work the characters demonstrated a great deal of personality and deepness. Since then I wrote Uchiyama's name in the list of 'promising seiyuus'. He was the second reason for me to watch RDG, the first being the fact that it explores the world of Japanese folklore and Buddhism and Shinto religion. I was not wrong when I had high hopes for him. In case you're wondering if there's any proper romance in the anime, just watch the opening video and remember the fact it won't get any further. However, if after that you're wondering whether it's worth watching or not, I'll tell you what I thought. It's worth watching at least to hear him say these three words.
Other seiyuus were all very good, even though I don't know them. Not many seiyuus have their own unique voices - many are just representatives of a certain type. Say, Hayami Saori is the 'calm, shy girl' type, Yonezawa Madoka is a good 'active positive girl', Ishikawa Kaito and Kimura Ryouhei are 'bright and a little bit childish guys'. On one hand, it's not that I'll remember them very well after watching RDG. On the other hand, have you ever switched off the sound in an anime? Try to do so and look at the picture. It's moving but there's not enough life in it until it is animated by the seiyuu's voice, especially it's true in case of RDG because it has this kind of art which is so beautiful that it's almost lifeless.
Checking up the more famous seiyuus, Miyano Mamoru fans will have nothing to enjoy here, his Harukawa was plain. Mr Ishida was the same as always. I guess he'll never be given any other kind of a character - they are all cunning guys having ulterior motives, no matter be it for the sake of the protagonists or not. Tanaka Rie as the goddess was absolutely beautiful, at least this is how I would want her to be - self-confident, with that confidence covering all areas of her soul, arrogant, even sexy, which also is a part of her confidence. Kugimiya Rie as Wamiya, who is a boy, created a very good character, I'll give her that. Nojima Hirofumi also made his Takayanagi extremely 3D. What I'm trying to say is that thanks to such seiyuus the characters were even more realistic and credible than it could be imagined without a voice. Mr Fukuyama was voicing a character who's, like it seems to me, closer to his real age than usual, but hey, he's convincing no matter who his character is.
music
If you can distinguish between Annabel's songs, then you're a genius. I can't. All of them are the same to me. This statement includes all other singers of that kind - Yuuki Aira, Misawa Aki, Ceui etc. In other words, the opening song is extremely boring and plain. The ending song is much better, since it's by Masumi Ito (Hikaru Nanase). She also wrote the soundtrack. I'd say it's the classical type, the music is not very outstanding but it sure has its charm and every melody fits the moments it's playing at. Her songs are very unusual and though I respect her, I wouldn't listen to 'yokan' out of the anime.
A completely different thing is the insert theme song of Izumiko, 'Izumiko no mai', and 'Kakugo' - one of the most beautiful theme songs I have ever heard. That the problem lies in the composer is just too obvious because it is performed by the same Annabel, but what different fates these two songs have.
conclusion - after 4 years
How things change with time... I clearly remember being dissatisfied with the narration, namely the fact that the background is never revealed, which made watching RDG a real torture, wanting to know more and not being able to. However, after 4 years, RDG looks very different to me, and is an example of how a short story should be presented when the ending of the anime is not the ending of the story. Yes, RDG is the true way to end a season. No, no only to end a season, it should be the model of how to make a season - how to present characters, how to let them develop, how to keep everything going. Despite the vagueness and lack of enlightenment, these 12 episodes set a solid ground for further development, regardless of its existence. At least, plot holes here are not black holes, sucking any possible continuation into abyss.
Moreover, it should be no coincidence that I recalled 'The good witch of the west' and 'RDG' at the same time - both were written by the same author. Even unconsciously, I must have been remembering these two works as similar, with the same kind of fascinating, kind, tender story. Now I know for sure that if I ever want something for my soul to have a rest in, I have these two.
