Anime: Now Completely Under Siege

Faces of Anime's Past and Present, Reflecting a Troubling Future...

This blog will be one of the most important ones that I ever write. It reflects fears that I've had concerning the anime industry for some time now. Two recent (but in some ways looming) events now come perilously close to confirming that those fears are justified. The picture above is presented here for multiple reasons. For one, these faces are those of prominent anime characters, from animes that can effectively serve as two bookends of a period of incredible growth in the anime industry. 

From 1995's El Hazard: The Magnificent World to 2009's The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya movie, anime has been a place of grand and compelling narratives, and of entertaining and psychologically fascinating characters, able to rival the best that other entertainment genres and mediums could muster. It is true that there were great animes both before, and after, the dates of these two animes, but I personally feel that 1995 to 2009 is where you find the bulk of great animes, and where the industry had both the quality and quantity of material to put it on par with even the best that other narrative mediums could offer. 

But that may sadly be about to end...

Number 2: Katsuhiko Jinnai!

In my previous blog entry, I spoke of that great invention called fiction.

Fiction, however, usually entails more than just imaginative creation.

Fiction usually involves conflict.

In high school, I learned of the three basic sorts of conflict present in fiction...

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. Himself

Man vs. Man


Of these three, the one that tends to most convincingly completely capture the emotions of the player or reader or viewer... is Man vs. Man.

Seeing two personable forces locked in a struggle, be it a purely physical confrontation or a battle of wits or a challenge of ideas or some combination thereof, can truly draw in the viewer, and often force him to view the conflict from multiple perspectives. You don't identify with the blizzard, but you may identify with an antagonist.

Sometimes, this is best achieved through great contrast between the combatants.

And when such contrast is aimed for, you frequently arrive at one of the oldest and most tried, tested, and true character types of many a fictional story...


The Villain


The villain confidently swaggers, struts, and strides into the work of fiction, leaving an immediate indelible impression of antagonistic arrogant attitude.

The villain... many a good villain, in any event... simultaneously repulses you, but yet also beguiles you, with his abnormal morality (or complete lack thereof) and his breathtakingly bold brazen aims and goals.

And Katsuhiko Jinnai, my favorite anime villain of all-time as well as one of my three favorite anime characters period, is no exception.


Jinnai's willingness, if not exciting exuberant eagerness, to murder his greatest enemies is not morally defensible... but it does make for a cool clamorous conflict...


The ferocious frenzied feud between El Hazard's Makoto Mizuhara and Katsuhiko Jinnai is one of the most riveting feuds in all of anime, if not in all of fiction. It is a feud that reaches decidedly deeply down into the tormented psychosis of a man unhinged. Of powerful penultimate pride being badly bruised one too many times.

Jinnai's descent into malevolent manipulative madness, brought upon by the perception of a vexing foe that has been nothing less than a cancer upon his life, is truly a sight to behold. It is one of the highlights of the first episode of the El Hazard: The Magnificent World OVA.

It's ideological intensity is also reminiscent of some of the great feuds of western fiction, such as Superman vs. Lex Luthor, Batman vs. the Joker, and Reed Richards vs. Dr. Doom. Part of the feud between Makoto and Jinnai is their vastly different world views, and their respective senses of their places within it.

Makoto desires to help others, pursue knowledge for its own sake, live a productive but safe and simple life, and get along with others as best as he can. In most respects, he is an admirable soul, but he is also a bit of a meekly mild milquetoast of a character. Makoto is pushed along by the plot, often unwillingly and with whiney complaint, and only near the very end of the El Hazard OVA does Makoto begin to show real signs of trying to control his own destiny, so to speak.

Jinnai is the complete opposite...



Jinnai is the optimal outspoken opportunist, as he never fails to seize the moment, or take advantage of every opening or potential gain that comes his way. His desire for personal glory is insatiable, and his need to placate his sense of superiority is ever-present.

You can see it in his beady eyes, his hungry haughty hellacious grin, and in his dynamic mannerisms.

His ambitions, his drives, his lusts... they are akin to a force of nature. They are every bit as great as those of any contemporary anime character... yes, even including the likes of Kamina and Haruhi Suzumiya. In fact, in some ways, he is even more forceful than them! Because Jinnai is not driven by a sense of brotherhood, or by a desire to gain extraordinary friends... feelings that can be moderated by the moral guidance of a Simon, or a Kyon.

No... Jinnai theatrically triumphantly thirsts for no less than complete and total rule!


Yes, a triumphant thirst, as Jinnai moved at rapid pace to an unparalleled position of power and influence within a totally alien empire, and even through out an entire alien world. The statue above represents the zealous zestful zenith of Jinnai's lofty aims. How many fictional characters can say that an entire alien race of innumerable many, had come to adore and love and even worship him, so much that they make the grandest of statues in his or her likeness, even while he lives?!


And do you know what is absolutely astounding about this?

Jinnai is, at best, a physically normal human being. His only "super power", if you can even call it that, is his ability to communicate with the bugrom. His lone super power, as it were, would be rendered obsolete by a mere Star Trek universal communicator.

Everything Jinnai accomplishes is through sheer brilliance, cunning, guile, resiliency, and wits.

And incredible degrees of courage.

Don't believe me? Then perhaps the talented Deviant Art contributor who made this piece of artwork can add support to my words here...


Here is what the artist ~chad-spider has to say about Jinnai...


"This is Katsuhiko Jinnai from El Hazard, the ballsiest man in anime. I will explain why in case anybody reads this and does not know him.

Jinnai is a high school student--not a high school student who is also a ninja or an alien or a superhero, just a high school student. He gets transported to a fantasy world full of wacky stuff through means unknown to him, and is quickly discovered by a race of insect monsters at war with humanity. They take him back to their fortress, and their queen demands to know if he is the prophesied messenger who is supposed to lead them to victory in war. And Jinnai, without missing a beat, tells her that yes, yes he is. Then he takes over their army and spends the rest of the series at war with the human race to satisfy his own ego." (Emphasis mine)


Katsuhiko Jinnai could even teach Barack Obama a thing or two about audacity. ;) :D


Is there any wonder why Queen Diva is so enamored by him? ;)
A man that exudes such raw potency as Jinnai will obviously hold a massively magnetic masculinity for many a woman...




The picture immediately above is from a late 90s anime convention, and is a picture featuring the star of the show... Y2KJ... a fusion of sorts between pro wrestling's Chris Jericho and anime's Katsuhiko Jinnai.


Just look at the way women literally fall all over Katsuhiko Jinnai. ;)

But not only women are inspired by him.

One of the most famous anime music remixers in the business was so inspired by El Hazard's Katsuhiko Jinnai that he named himself after him.

I'm sure many an anime fan are familiar with DJ Jinnai.


It has to be said that El Hazard, as a whole, was a great classic mid-90s anime. In some ways, it's unfortunate that it came out the same year as Neon Genesis Evangelion, causing it to be overshadowed somewhat.

But Katsuhiko Jinnai is a character who's influence continues to be felt... not only through DJ Jinnai.


If Katsuhiko Jinnai was a brand new anime character, many would call him a mixture of Light Yagami with the CCP of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, or a mixture of Lelouch Lamperouge with Sunohara of Clannad. The general competence and lofty aims of the former displayed by the pratfalling yet flashy style of the latter. A well-groomed meticulous villain with a great mind and commanding presence... but also played for laughs quite frequently.

Many others would point to how his demeanour is the male equivalent of Umineko's Beatrice, as a previous blog entry of mine displayed.


I would argue that parts of Jinnai's character has inspired each of these other five prominent anime characters, and hence the ripples of his character's impact on the anime world is felt to this day. His uproarious famous laugh also reverberates well over a decade after the animes starring him finished production...


Jinnai is truly a classic anime villain for the ages. A character that helped make El Hazard one of the best animes of the 90s, if not one of the best animes of all-time.

However, I will admit that some of his strengths are also, in a way, weaknesses...


Personally, I have always found it impressive when a charismatic villain who has mastered the art of the dramatic entrance... is a physically normal human being, challenging dangerous metahuman protagonists. That does indeed take balls.

Lex Luthor putting his mind to the test against Superman's brawn.

The Joker often trying to get to Batman through attacking the vaunted Justice League.

And Katsuhiko Jinnai is like them in how he must deal with extraordinarily powered foes... all by sheer wits, and the military forces that he takes charge of.


This is a weakness, in some ways, though. There are not many grand one-on-one physical confrontations involving Jinnai and a protagonist. There is the swordfight between him and Makoto in El Hazard: The Wanderers, but there is not much more than that.

I can understand how this can be a negative for some... even though I think that Jinnai more than makes up for it with his overall strengths as a villain.



Others judge Jinnai harshly because, well... many anime fans have an unique liking for the sympathetic antagonist, I think. They don't like the unprincipled sociopaths that many villains are.

However, here I come to Jinnai's defense. For while sheer, unadulterated ego is what pushes him forward, there is a genuine and sincere camaraderie between him and the bugrom race. A good example of this is how Jinnai, for a short time, even adopted bugrom armor to create a greater sense of unity between him and his legions...


Another one of Jinnai's strong points; points that distinguish him from the totally insane and entirely evil villains, is how Jinnai actually aided in saving El Hazard... from Galus and the Shadow Tribe.

Jinnai doesn't destroy simply for the sake of destroying... he is a true and forthright conqueror, who wishes to rule over lands worth ruling; which means that they have to be left standing in decent condition. Jinnai clearly values pristine conditions, as we see in how tightly dressed and impeccably groomed he is...


Jinnai is, in fact, famous for always carrying a comb with him, and making sure not a signal hair on his head is out of place. And, judging by the following picture, his dental hygiene is above reproach as well... ;)


But don't let these good points fool you either... Jinnai is the ultimate laughing villain. He is equal parts Lex Luthor, Joker, Kane (of Command and Conquer fame), and Sunohara (Clannad).

That is what I love about him... he is The Villain.

A great villain, who quickly takes charge of almost every scene he's in; who's impact is felt loudly, if not literally, with his every charismatic entrance.

A 17 year old boy who shakes an entire alien world to its very foundations, and who leads a World War; very nearly winning it as nation after nation after nation falls to his relentless advances.

Jinnai's military genius is perhaps his greatest strength. His tactics... his strategics... his maneuvers... they are all applied with a magnificent mixtue of finesse with overwhelming force.

The best example of this is Wanderers' Jinnai's complex plot to capture Princess Rune Venus. That plot is hilariously named "Operation: Permanent Vacation!", complete with an outrageously funny jingle in the English dubbed version of the anime. It was a plot that met with great success, as Princess Rune Venus was kidnapped by Jinnai and the bugrom, and delivered into the welcoming hands of Queen Diva.

As far as Magnificent World's Jinnai is concerned, there is the method he used to reach Ifurita; a method that made complete fools out of his enemies.

All told, Katsuhiko Jinnai wraps himself in the timeless cape of evil overlord villainy, and wears it with such splendid spectacular style, that he has earned his joyous laughs...



Katsuhiko Jinnai is, for me, the greatest anime villain that I've ever seen.


So why, then, doesn't he solely win the spot of Number 2 on my Ten Favorite Anime Characters of All-Time list, or even come in at the very top spot?

Well, my previous blog entry went into great detail about the illustrious female character that tied him. She is not with out her charms either. ;)

To compare the two further... Haruhi Suzumiya is, in most respects, a nicer person, and perhaps a touch more realistic at a personality level (although I could imagine someone like Katsuhiko Jinnai actually existing in real life).

However, Jinnai is a far more focused character, and I do like that about him. Haruhi's energetic zeal roughly matches his, but its less polished and coherently channelled.

Katsuhiko Jinnai was, also, the ultimate gateway character for me, as he reminded me so much of many of my favorite comic book villains. He, as much as any anime character, helped me become an anime fan.

However, Haruhi is the character that keeps me interested in anime, more than any other. If not for her anime and character, it's unlikely that I would be writing this blog at all.


That makes it immensely hard to choose between them... and, in fact, I couldn't.


Jinnai is the villain that I loved cheering for, and could even relate to... I, too, was a Student Council President at one time, and I, too, was in a tight academic conflict with another particular classmate who was good at computers...

Whereas Haruhi is precisely the sort of classmate that I wish I did have.

Sometimes, it's the little things that count when evaluating a character, or trying to relate to him or her.


As for my No. 1 pic... in the end, The Hero defeated The Villain.

I wanted a hero, a true hero, to win this Top 10 race. A hero who I look forward to writing a great deal about. I hope that you'll join me for that write-up as well, my friends. ;)


However, I hope that I've done justice in speaking well of this often underappreciated anime villain. In anime, a decade can feel like a century, and hence even a character as great as Jinnai can become a sadly forgotten... or even never known at all... character.

But, I hope that this blog post can reflect the never say die nature of the man who kept fighting on, against all obstacles, in spite of the most horrendous of setbacks... a man who never lost his smile, who always kept his laugh, and who is forever etched in the hallowed history of El Hazard!

No 2: ...TIE! Haruhi Suzumiya & Katsuhiko Jinnai!!

The beloved rulers of the omnipotent Bugrom Empire in my

El Hazard of Haruhi Suzumiya
fanfic.

Top Ten Countdown - Number 2, Female: Haruhi Suzumiya

Moral Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Supporting Quotes - "I've decided that Mikuru is my toy!"

"Unleash the fires of hell on them!!"


Top Ten Countdown - Number 2, Male: Katsuhiko Jinnai

Moral Alignment: Neutral Evil

Supporting Quotes - "The law must serve my purposes!"

"Ha ha ha ha! Attack! I order you to crush them!!!

To many of my closer anime-watching friends, Katsuhiko Jinnai must seem to me what Troy McClure is to The Simpsons. ^_^;;

There's no question that Jinnai is an old and sustaining favorite of mine, and a character that I tend to put in a very large percentage of my fanworks. He's the only 90s anime character to not merely crack my Top 7, but also to come in as high as sharing the Silver Medal of Olympian levels of anime entertainment value, along with Haruhi Suzumiya.

And, indeed, these two are like the top pairs skating team at the upcoming Winter Olympics in my Great Native Land of Canada; how fitting that they could represent Japan together. ;)

I not only like using each of them, I love using them together. And, indeed, for two characters from two different animes of two very different anime eras (mid-90s and the last decade respectively), I find that these two have a lot in common, and serve as great complimentary and reflective foils to one another. Hence, why they're the co-stars of my largest fanfic ever; co-stars with a fair deal of chemistry and dynamism between them, I would argue.

They also appear in this AMV, which I think is a fitting tribute AMV for this dastardly dynamic duo sharing the Number 2 spot. ;)


At this point, many of my fellow Haruhi fans at Anime Suki who aren't familiar with the 1995 El Hazard anime may feel lost.

Well then, here's a few words from Jinnai...

KJ: Hello, I'm Troy McClur... er... Katsuhiko Jinnai. You may remember me from my role as the President of Kyoto Animation in these two spoof videos!


Yes, folks, when I compared the people at KyoAni and Kadokawa to a classic anime villain... Katsuhiko Jinnai is who I had in mind. ;)

Who else but the devious prankster Jinnai could concoct a scheme as incredibly bold as releasing eight episodes of Endless Eight? Causing such unstoppable pandemonium to force others to accept his every whim is very consistent with Jinnai's modus operandi.


Of course, this is also rather true of Haruhi Suzumiya, is it not?

Whereas I felt that the E8 arc shows that KyoAni's top dogs had the mind of a Jinnai, the Sigh arc made clear that Haruhi takes after the people who run KyoAni in how she handled the making of her movie. ;)


So, here, you have two magnificently megalomaniacal masters of conquest and victory, regardless of what computer nerds (be they Makoto Mizuhara or the CCP) need to be ran over when they get in their way.

Alas, both of them are set back by eyes... the Eye of God in Jinnai's case, and the ever-critiquing eyes of Kyon in Haruhi's case; each "Eye" causing critical catastrophes (or risking thereof) through giving rise to attacks on the targets of its displeasure. In Jinnai's case, it meant the almost complete annihiliation of his Bugrom forces. In Haruhi's case, it meant the almost complete annihiliation of her mood. ;)

However, neither of these two anime characters succumb easily. It didn't take much for either to recapture his or her spirits, and push forward in causing ever more problems for their immediate surroundings.

These two are also, in their own way, determinators.


They are both decidedly determined domineering leaders. They carry themselves as though they were royalty, sitting upon thrones or having pyramids outlining their rank of command.


And they certainly both love playing military commander...





They both know how to party when they win...






Perhaps most importantly, they both love bugs... ;)




Oh... and they both share the ability to point like Phoenix Wright... ;)



So... in conclusion a rather fitting pair to share the terrific Number Two spot on my favorite anime characters of all-time thread.


However... these two characters each deserve their own separate write-ups, for while there's a lot of characteristics that they share in common which I like, each also has his or her own unique appeal to me.


That, friends, is what I will delve into with my next two blog entries.

One will be a write-up on Haruhi.

The second will be a write-up on Jinnai.


I hope that you, faithful readers, will join me for both. :)

Here's a piece of commissioned artwork for my El Hazard of Haruhi Suzumiya fanfic which I think is fitting to close out this blog entry with...

Umineko Review

Umineko is an anime that I had actually dropped after completing the first arc.

At the time, I had felt that it was destined to descend into a somewhat infantile shouting match going something like this...


Beatrice: I'm a witch, and magic exists!

Battler: BS! Witches and magic can't possibly exist!

Beatrice: But they do! Watch me prove it to you!

Cue Beatrice creating a gruesome scene most easily explained by magic

Battler: Heh! There's a perfectly logical scientific explanation for this. It is... insert incredibly creative but laughably implausible explanation here.

Beatrice: Fool! Your alternate explanation proves nothing! I am a witch and magic exists!

Battler: No it does not!

Beatrice: Yes it does!

Battler: No it does not!

Beatrice: Yes it does... and you're a fool to think otherwise!

Battler: I know what you are, but what am I?!

Beatrice: A witch!

Battler: I know what you are, but what am... blast it! You tricked me!

Beatrice: Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-HA-HA-HO-Ha-ha-ha...!!!


While those last two lines would be quite amusing, the general idea of a shouting match over whether or not the main villain is a witch didn't really appeal to me. Especially given how this is what I thought Battler and Beatrice would be arguing over practically non-stop while Battler's family would be getting brutally killed all around him. Repeatedly.

Yyyyyeah... you really have your priorities straight there, Battler! ;)


Thankfully, though... this wasn't what Umineko was focused around. While the philosophical struggle over the existence (or lack thereof) of magic and witches was a recurring plot point and catalyst in the anime, it didn't feel like the clouds of Clannad hanging over everything and burying everything in its relentless snow.


So, long story short, and thanks to a close cousin of mine who watches anime and recommended that I finish it off, I recently picked Umineko back up. And, watching it at around a pace of three episodes a day, I just finished it off yesterday.


Umineko is one of 2009's more prominent animes, and for that reason, as well as others, I feel compelled to now do a review of it.

Before I continue, though, there's a few key points I want to make clear.

First of all, I'm not familiar whatsoever with any of the Umineko games. My review of the anime, as such, will not touch upon how faithful (or unfaithful) it is to the source material.

Secondly, I will first look at the general pros and cons for the anime, before getting into the four specific arcs one after the other.

Finally, this review features many major spoilers.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN CAUTION AND DISCRETION!!!



Pros:

- Umineko does an excellent job of taking a somewhat groundhog day-esque plotline and keeping it superbly dynamic and fresh. As we all know, such groundhog day-esque plotlines, if not handled very well, can feel as excruciatingly endless as the loops in an eig...



... Er...
Well...

...this is awkward. ^_^;;


Sorry, Yuki, I didn't mean to open up really old wounds like that. Mind you, if it's any consolation, Umineko tends to have a lot of old wounds as well; old wounds that leads into the following pro...


- Enthusiastically encourages excellent emotional investment. This is definitely a strength of Umineko's, at least after the first arc. Many of the characters I came to care a lot for. In my case, I came to care a lot for Ange, for Maria, and for the lovebirds of George and Shannon, and Kanon and Jessica. Speaking of those two pairings...


- Romantic aspect. Romance is very much an accentuating, as opposed to primary, feature in Umineko, but to the degree that it's there, it's handled as smoothly and heartwarmingly as George's sauve gentlemanly attempts to win over Shannon.


- The fight scenes!

Kanon's not afraid of no goats! ;)

Quite possibly the main element that the first arc was missing, relative to the other three, was exhilirating and startling fight scenes. While these tended to be won conclussively by the villains, making their endings a bit predictable after awhile, they were still always quite the treat for the eye, and always felt intensely immensely important.

However, no treat for the eyes was quite like the following pro...


- Thigh-Girls! :D

Col. Sanders has nothing on these thighs... ;) It'll take more than eleven secret herbs and spices to match the spiciness of these girls and their alluring sex appeal! :D

The very aptly nicknamed "Thigh-Girls" made for some delicious candy that Rosa better not try to crush underneath her feet. ;)

The purgatories were also very fun characters in general, and one of the strengths of the final arc was how they were surprisingly used there; in a way that really developed their characters, and provided insights to them.

The "Thigh-Girls" were certainly not alone in sex appeal, though, as many of the female characters in this anime were attractively and/or seductively drawn.

Which seques into another pro...


- Character Designs

In general, I very much liked the character designs. The Uroshimiya family crest is a good representation of the streamlined elegance to how most of the characters were drawn. The artwork and animation weren't particularly good or great, but the basic character designs were well done. At a visual level, it wasn't hard to tell the characters apart from one another, either, I found.

And finally, the main pro...


- The Villains


Not all of these women are villains, of course, but it's the closest I could find to a group shot of the main four...

The villainous witches, and their servants (including, again, the Purgatories) are all extremely entertaining antagonists. They're simply more fun than a happy hour Halloween party! ;)

For me, at least, Beatrice is the character that carries this anime, much moreso than any others. She is the zest of this anime. An anime villain that I frequently can't help but find myself rooting for. In fact...

...She's my favorite anime villain since...

...This guy. ;)

Quite the similarity, eh? ;)

Looks like Umineko has a big El Hazard fan on its animation staff. Or, at the very least, a Katsuhiko Jinnai fan.

So... Beatrice is my favorite anime villain since a famous villain in his own right from a 1995 anime. Best anime villain in 14 years!

Not bad, Beato!


So... with that long list of pros taken care of, let's look at the cons...



Cons:

- The very story premise itself. Of all of my criticisms of Umineko, this is the most subjective, I'll admit. Basically, the idea of an anime being about a guy trying to deny what's frequently right in front of his "lyin' eyes" is a bit... silly, to me.

I'm sorry, hardcore Umineko fans, but it really is.

It would be different if Beatrice was like the villain Mysterio of Spiderman fame. If she was a normal but skillful human using smoke and mirrors, and it was all an exquisitely effective elaborate illusion.

But... if the scenes of this anime can be trusted at all, anyway... she's not like the villain Mysterio.

She's obviously a magic-wielding witch... or empowered by one, anyway.

It's hard to get behind the protagonist when, well, he's wrong.
Clearly wrong.

Or... clearly wrong barring a scientific solution to everything that's so contrived that Sunrise directors would blush over it. ;)

However, as I said before, this con didn't come up anywhere near as often as I thought it would. Often, Battler's philosophical feud with Beatrice was merely background scenery to what was going on in the main plot.

The main plot itself presents one other notable flaw, for me, though...


- Kinzo and his immediate children could have been developed better.

Aside from Eva, and perhaps Rosa, none of the adults of the Uroshimiya family felt well fleshed out to me. And, even in the case of Eva and Rosa, the unique conflict between those two... a conflict that Ange alluded to when discussing "the chain of hatred" during the final arc... was never really touched upon in the anime.

Yes, there was Eva-Beatrice's slaughtering of Rosa and Maria, but that didn't delve much into the relationship between normal Eva and Rosa either, in my view.


However, across the full plot of all four arcs taken together, these are the only two cons that kept coming up, really.

Pretty good, eh?

But wait!

The arcs themselves contain unique strengths and weaknesses (unique to specific arcs) that I will look at now...



Arc 1:

Well, as I stated before, I dropped this anime after the first arc. That kind of says a lot about how I felt about it...

The first arc just felt a bit slow in its plot progression to me. And... it really needed some more spice, courtesy of the Thigh-Girls. ;)

It also had very little of Beatrice, the numero uno strength of this anime, in my opinion.

Finally, aside from George and Shannon, and Jessica to some extent, the first arc never really made me care all that much about any of the characters (later arcs did, of course).

The first arc, if I remember correctly, featured a lot of Battler debating with Maria.

Passionately debating over whether or not magic and witches exists while your family members are getting brutally killed all around you... I don't know, something just seems very wrong about that to me. And, in this case, I fault Maria as well... though at least she has the excuse of believing that everybody will be revived into 'the Golden Land'.

Also... never play chess with Battler. If you start winning, he'll just flip the board over on you. ;)

Seriously, that line was horribly overused in the first arc.

Thankfully, the line was used much more judiciously the rest of the way.

Arc 1 wasn't entirely with out its charms though. I loved the romance between George and Shannon from the very beginning, and I truly felt for George the first time he heard about Shannon's death.

But... no good fight scenes, few surprises compared to later arcs, and a general lack of these characters...
... made the first arc pretty forgettable for me. It certainly curbed my enthusiasm to watch more. However, I'm glad that I did, because for all the critiques I make of this arc, I have just as many rousing compliments to make of the second and third arcs!



Arc 2:

This arc began with a very pleasant surprise to me.

I had expected to be right back at the island, as per episode 1 of the first arc. However, the anime astutely ascertained that these characters could use some nice character development before they hit the island.

And so, we're treated to some wonderful Jessica, Kanon, George, and Shannon, background scenes here. The Touhou cosplay was a particularly sweet touch. ;)


This was definitely Beatrice and the Purgatories (a music band with that name would do great in Japan I think) time to shine though. This arc is where we get fully introduced to Beatrice, cooly charismatic crafty cunning conspirator against the Uroshimiya family. Malevolently masterful machinations manipulating Shannon into misdeeds, and many into heartwrenching despair.

What delicious villany!

This arc is where we finally get to see some stirring struggles, involving the heart, the mind, and the body.

The arc was not with out its weak points, as the protagonists felt a bit too overmatched at times, for me, but... it was still far more entertaining than the first arc, and it's what sold me on Beatrice and her colorful minions.



Arc 3:

Behold Beatrice's Pure Evil Genuis...

There's a word that I do not use easily. I take it very seriously. Many drop this word so frequently that, I fear, it begins to lose its meaning.

But, with respect to its full enriched meaning, I use it only when I feel its deserved.

And Arc 3 of Umineko is one such time.

Arc 3 of Umineko is a masterpiece.


However, its full magnificence only dawns upon you when the final glorious twist is made in the last part of this arc.

I honestly did not see it coming. It was the best anime plot twist that I've seen in a very long time; perhaps even ever. For this alone, Umineko deserves a fair deal of hype and popularity.

Beatrice's seeming ascent into rehabilitation... her acting like a redeemed soul... the "north wind and sun" plan... so convincing; so brilliant. And yet, not feeling contrived in the least.

It was such a wonderful villain plan. It deserved to succeed, really.

Alas, Battler actually reads the small print... ;)


In addition to this, the third arc amped up the fight scenes even more, and gave us the chillingly cruel chaotic Eva-Beatrice, a character who went on a rampage that would make Emperor Joker blush.

Beato's best fights were also in this arc, as her struggles with Eva-Beatrice as well as Virgilia were splendid to behold. The tactics put on display in the Beatrice vs. Virgilia contest were particularly grand.

Arc 3 may have had a couple flaws that I could nitpick, but all-told, it was far more fantastic than a certain stretchy scientist has been in a long time... ;)



Arc 4:

Finally! Umineko has yuri! :D

Arc 3 ended with such penultimately potent promise.

And Ange's awesome acrobatic ass-kicking at the end of Arc 3 was a big part of why that was.

Who was this fearsome fiery female that threatened to gain my adoration?

Would the protagonists finally put up a good physical fight against the villains?

Would Umineko's first season meet with an end that even Akasaka would be proud of?


Well... the good news is that shades of Akasaka's anime finally made themselves felt in this arc.

Until the fourth arc, it was often easy to forget that Umineko was a cousin of Higurashi.

A certain eerily familiar witch would remind us of the connection when she appeared on screen, but the spirit of Higurashi often felt lost with this anime.


Whatever flaws Arc 4 has (and they are many, I will say now), it deserves credit for bringing back that distinctive Higurashi feel.

What made it distinctive?


Incorporating the future of a time-line that didn't turn out well. Seeing what the results of the massacre was.

"Gretel" is one such result, and her story was an encaptivating one to me.


However... it was mishandled.

Arc 4 is a muddled murky mess compared to all of the arcs that preceeded it. It's plot skips all over the place with seemingly reckless abandon. It's as though the correct chronology of this arc was cut up into pieces, and randomly sprinkled across the animation cels for this arc. There is often no rhyme or reason to how the plot shifts backwards and forwards and upwards and downwards.

Dr. Seuss makes more sense than this. ;)


The cliffhanger of one episode doesn't even come up again until two episodes later.

Pieces of Ange's backstory is interspersed along with pieces of Ange's present and pieces of Kinzo's villainous actions and pieces of Maria's backstory and present.

It appears as though the anime as a whole is infected with the same sort of madness that overtook a certain Aunt that received her just deserts in this arc... ;)


This arc was not with out it's spectacular swashbuckling scenes, though.

George, Jessica, Ange, and even Battler in a few brief moments, all shined in this arc.

I say "even Battler" because his final fight with Beatrice was, for me, anti-climatic. It felt rigged, or tanked by Beatrice (to use a pro sports term). And thus, when combined with its inevitable cliffhanger aspect, it felt very... unsatisfying to me, I have to be honest.


Arc 4 was like a dish with wonderful ingredients, but put together in a mish-mash way that doesn't help them combine together into a greater whole.

It almost certainly would have been better if Ange's backstory had been covered in two or three episodes all about her, before shifting back to the main plot.

As is, I found everything hard to follow in this arc.


It was nice to see Maria apparently get a happy ending though... :)


All-told, Umineko is a difficult anime to rate. Its first and last arcs are tremendously flawed, but its two middle arcs are tremendously entertaining, if not masterfully wrote.

However, I eventually decided that Umineko deserves a 7/10.


If the final arc had been better, I'd give it a 8/10, or maybe even a 9/10.


Still, the ball was dropped in Arc 4, and not in the shocking way that Eva-Beatrice would drop it either... ;)


What I've seen in Umineko reinforces some broader thoughts I have pertaining to the modern anime industry, both in its strengths and in its weaknesses. That I may touch upon in a future Blog entry.


For now, though, my words on Umineko are complete.


I hope you enjoyed reading the review as much as I enjoyed looking at this closing image... ;)

Haruhi 2009 Episode 12 Minutia Review!

Maybe Haruhi should have given herself the main role... ;)




I really have to learn to watch episodes before commenting on anything about them.

I really do. ^_^;;;

The impression that I took from the still pictures of this episode that I combed through over on 2Chan was that Haruhi's facial appearance in this episode would continue to feature bewildering deformed looks, and/or lots of broken lines and poor line definition in general. It gave me the impression that this episode was moving farther away from the 2006 Haruhi art model instead of closer to it.

That impression, needless to say, was wholly inaccurate... and boy, am I glad about that! :D

This pretty much is 2006 Haruhi art style. Very much contrary to what some contributors over on Anime Suki's Haruhi subforum have stated, it looks to me like the 2006 Haruhi art style has returned. Who knows, maybe even the frequent critiques of the more recent moeblob style has finally reached KyoAni's eyes, and upon reading it so much, they decided to switch to the older style. I guess that expressing nerd rage in a whine stick way while enduring butt hurt can actually be productive after all. ;)

Folks, this is what fan feedback is all about:

It's about rewarding good content with reaffirming and reinforcing praise, both as a show of thanks to the makers of that content and to help ensure that you get more of the same, and...

It's about punishing poor content with corrective and constructive critique, both as a show of disapproval to the makers of the content and to help steer the show (if possible at all) in a direction that's more to your liking.

No entertainment company is an island unto itself. They're not deaf, dumb, and blind. If they get enough bad feedback, they'll usually take notice, and they will at least attempt to make amends. Kyoto Animation is no different, and it's very pleasing to me to see that maybe, just maybe, they really have listened to the the plethora of artwork critiques, and have made art adjustments in response to it. Well, enough of this meta-commentary for now... unto the episode review! 8)


We begin with the imposing trio of that tall more-mirthful-than-mistletoe chap of Itsuki Koizumi standing next to the perpetually perturbed Hunchback-of-North-High Kyon, and the ever vibrant vivacious vixen Haruhi Suzumiya! This opening visual alone foreshadows the frenzied flight of fitful fibrillating fun that we're in for this week, readers of my Triple_R Queen of Queens minutia review!

This Week's Sake Shot Glass Challenge!: Take a shot for every time Mikuru pops up on screen, and appears to be suffering in some fashion. :D

And we certainly don't have to wait long to see her suffering this week, do we?! ^_^;

Haruhi: Yuki, use your magic and attack Mikuru-chan!

Aaahhh... a Director and a military commander all in one! How can somebody not love Haruhi?! :D

Well, Kyon doesn't seem to be loving her much. With eyes so slanted that it makes me wonder how Kyon is even able to see anything, and with an obvious jealousy over not having an acting role of his own, we behold Kyon put on a stirring (albeit short) performance as a traffic cop issuing a "No! Stop!" command! Makes me wonder why Kyon never bothers to simply call the cops on Haruhi. In fact, given Haruhi and her Brigade's rollicking riotous retreat! sequence shortly after the Super Driver opening, I think I'd find it even more comically side-splitting to watch the fine men and women in uniform of the TV show "COPS!" chase after a Haruhi caught red-handed committing a crime. :D

However, I doubt that even such an hot and intense pursuit as that could leave Mikuru looking like she does at 00:19! Man oh man, Asahina, with uncontrollable shakes like that, you need to see a doctor, and fast! ^_^;

Maybe the good Dr. Casey wouldn't mind checking you out... any comments from the stalwart surgeon on such an idea, I wonder? ;)

Alas, it looks like Yuki is about to blow Mikuru away with the power of magic... except, thankfully, there's this little thing holding her back relating to how Haruhi needs to be kept in the dark about the true nature of Yuki, Koizumi, and Asahina at all times. It's really nice to see this anime finally get back to that important sci-fi subterfuge angle that's been pretty much missing the entire year up until now. This episode consistently and strikingly plays up the secretive charm of that overarching plot element. It really serves as an adept accentuation of the more pure comedy elements of the episode.

Speaking of comedy elements, Haruhi's look and voice acting of displeasure at 00:29 gave me a pleasant little chuckle. There's no question that Haruhi is in full-blown chaotic mischief making master mode for this episode, and I can't wait to see more of it as this episode continues to unfold!

Cue the opening credits!!! A satellite Super Driver will now send us streaking skyward into an outer space of unimaginable unctuous euphoria! Here we go...! ;D


Shortly after the opening sequence, we see Haruhi make the "Rock on!" signal, while talking about how she wants to film Mikuru next to pigeons outside of a temple. Somehow, I very much doubt that Haurhi's rambunctious raucous rocking is going to be particularly appreciated at a serene shrine, ha ha!

Now we see black pigeons descending upon Mikuru, perhaps symbolizing the gradual pecking away at Mikuru's decency and joy that Haruhi does on a day by day basis. But merely pecking away is not good enough for Haruhi, as she channels Lara Croft to take aim at Mikuru with both of her guns, and fires them off with such rapid flare that even a John Wayne gunslinger would feel compelled to tip his hat in admiration towards Haruhi. The pigeons than scatter while Mikuru whines. All-in-all, 3:03 to 3:06 is amazingly animated in both its quickness and smoothness and impeccably placed sound effects and voice acting bits. This synchronization is so terrific that even Hecate of Shakugan no Shana couldn't help but to feel full and satisfied by it! ;)

Then we get a gut-busting guttural grunt from a Shrine Priest... gut-busting in how funny it is! :D We then see the Ranma 1/2-esque character race out, about to put a Miroku-level shellacking to the demonic Director! ;)

3:15 to 3:25 then presents us with another flawlessly frolicking flowing of frames that is both exciting to the extreme, and hilarious to the heavens above! One of my favorite ten second sequences in all of anime... ever!.

That entire sequence made me think of a scene from El Hazard: the Magnificent World where Fire Priestess Shayla Shayla's unexpected assault caused Katsuhiko Jinnai to yell his bugrom forces into"Retreat!" from Mount Muldoon much like what Haruhi has been caused to do here.... although the SOS Brigade are quite a bit faster, and in fact downright Ranma 1/2-esque, in their withdraw than the giant cicadas known as bugrom are. ;) So, a rather neat fusion of Haruhi, El Hazard, and Ranma 1/2 here, for me.

Over at the restaurant, Mikuru appears to be traumatized by the entire event, and hence crying into her noodles. Poor girl. :(

For once, Haruhi actually takes pity on the lovely Asahina, but misdiagnoses her as simply not eating enough. Perhaps in addition to checking out Mikuru, Anime Suki's own Dr. Casey could also take Haruhi under his wing and teach her a thing or two about how to read patients. ;) Still, Kyon must think that Asahina doesn't need to be diagnosed at all, as he foresees a future with Asahina as Miss Universe herself.

LOL! Kyon certainly doesn't leave us in any doubt of what he thinks of Mikuru's looks, does he?

Loads of great facial expressions from Haruhi here. Many of her classic 2006 looks are back. For one, she has her curved at the bottom (and sometimes at the upper corners) triangular smiles back, and from 5:00 to 5:02, she has her classic annoyed look back. It looks like this...

It brings back a lot of great memories for me to see a fuller range of highly expressive and instantly recognizable emotions from Haruhi. It also kind of brings the anime much more to life for me. So good... so good like a lying on a lush green lawn on a bright summer day of clear blue skies and tranquil clouds... to see the return of what, to me, was a central element of Haruhi 2006. :)

Anyway, I found it cute how Haruhi kind of read Kyon's thoughts through his own expressions, but seemed to take them as perverted instead of malicious. ^_^; This offers up an intriguing possibility on Haruhi's character that contradicts what her eight trips over eight weeks to the "masses" swimming poll would lead you to believe - and that is that Haruhi perhaps doesn't like to be ogled. Not by Kyon, anyway.... hhmmm... I'll leave it to others to speculate on what this may mean.

Love Kyon's voice acting when he narrated "Baka!" over Koizumi's troublesome question. Kyon's anger was genuinely well-placed here, as you never should give Haruhi ideas... and Itsuki did exactly that with his question, hehe!

At 5:15, we see Haruhi make that bird beak-esque movement with her lips that I haven't seen since...

Haruhi 2006 is back, baby! :D :D :D

Austin Powers voice: Yeah, baby, Yeah! It's shagadelic! Meeoowwww...!!

Koizumi's reward for helping give us back more classic Haruhi? Why, he gets more screen time, of course! Unlike most fabulous actors, though, Itsuki doesn't seem too enthused by the idea, ha ha!

Haruhi: You need to beat a ton of minions before going after the boss.

Apparently, Haruhi now wants to be a video game designer. I don't know about you, but I'd love to first play a game made by her, and then watch the Angry Video Game Nerd review it! HA HA HA HA!!!

And who better to be evil minions than two characters actually inept enough for the role... Taniguchi and Kunikida, come on down, to the Thug is Right!

Haruhi then talks about how she wants to put Mikuru through extensive suffering, before reaching a happy ending and achieving an impacting final catharsis. Reminds me of what another famous anime Director did to a certain immigrant worker to Japan... he he he he... ;)













I wonder where Haruhi gets her love of guns and firing them from, hhmmmm? ;) I wonder who Mikuru's father may be... ;) It's all starting to make sense now, isn't it, Excel Saga and Haruhi Suzumiya fans! :D

However, perhaps my suspicions are not valid in this case, as Haruhi decides that she's going to have Mikuru drop the guns from here on out. On the other hand, Haruhi herself is still spinning one around threateningly...

She shoots a gun off into the air, and yells "action!"... with out first giving Yuki or Mikuru the slightest idea of what they're supposed to do other than "face off". LOL, Haruhi makes George Lucas' blue screen dependency look good by comaprison! ^_^;

A displeased Haruhi starts pounding her megaphone against Mikuru, bringing back memories to me of pro wrestling manager "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart. I guess that makes Haruhi the Mouth of the East, he he!

Haruhi also proceeds to lambast and lecture Mikuru to fittingly disturbing music, as we see glimpses of Haruhi seemingly start to believe in the possibilities of Zero-esque magical eyes. Makes you wonder if Haruhi knows more than she's letting on. Anyway, at least now we have a rationale behind the contact lens, however. On the other hand, can anybody save Mikuru from Haruhi's relentless abuse?! And the answer, of course, is...

...

...

... G.I. Kyon, a real Japanese hero... G.I. Kyon!!! :D

Kyon summons forth his inner Kamina once more! This time not to end the fans' misery, but rather Mikuru's! In the best "gar saves moe!" moment this side of Akasaka kicking the yamainu's ass in order to save Rika in Higurashi Kai, we see Kyon actually grapple Haruhi into submission!!!

Sean Connery: You're the man now, Kyon! (paraphrased ;) )

Outstanding voice acting for both Haruhi and Kyon here. Nice to see that Kyon's muscle definition as displayed during swimming poll scenes in the unmentionable arc has some real strength behind it, as he appears to actually be stronger than uber-athlete Haruhi!

I like how Haruhi handles it. She doesn't whine, or cry, or get upset, or bite and claw at Kyon, or explicitly admit defeat, or anything like that... she calmly maneuvers around the situation entirely by intellectually defending herself and explaining her reasoning. Great touch.

We then have another instance of foreshadowing in this episode as Kyon's narration continually points out how Mikuru couldn't - she couldn't possibly, could she? - actually generate a real life Mikuru Beam? Well.... I guess we'll just have to wait and find out, hehe. ;)

Haruhi finally provides some actual directing by displaying to Mikuru how she should look while emitting the Mikuru Beam.

Very solid use of extras to enhance Kyon's "I could feel the stares of the families around us burning into me" narration.

Love the sequence from 9:43 to 10:27

That entire minute or so of animation is purely flawless. Actually flawless!

From Haruhi's teeth-gritting exaggerated shout of "Mikuru BEEAAAMMM!!!", to the hazy video footage of Mikuru shooting it off, to all of Kyon's stunned facial expressions, to Yuki's AWESOME
death-defying rescuing movements and motions through out the entire scene, to the way the Mikuru Beam actually looked and sliced through things and caused things to burn, to Yuki's breathtaking Batman impersonation, to Haruhi's racing wildly out to the screening area to yell "Cut! Cut!", to Koizumi's sincerely concerned face as he rubbed the edge of the cut to his cue card... ABSOLUTELY FANTERIFFABULOUS!!!

Another top moment in all of anime history for me. And the background music for the scene...

Perfect.

Simply perfect.

To go back to El Hazard, it reminds me of the climatic fight against Galus there, and how you had just one rampageous intense moment after another after another all in a believable (that's the key charm) and gradually building in drama and suspense manner. Here again, I see familiarities between El Hazard and Haruhi - familiarities that help to make both animes two of my five all-time favorites.

And... at this juncture, I'm starting to realize just how overly long this blog entry is becoming. Also, aside from one facial expression for Haruhi that I really didn't like (at/around 16:28), I can't recall anything from this episode that I didn't like. It was a truly excellent and thoroughly enjoyable episode. And, while I disliked that one facial expression, I did love the perverted 'zooming in!' Kyon ogling Mikuru's breasts leading to jealous/upset Haruhi that built up to it! ;D

Also, aside from Tsuruya's triumphantly tremendous return (YAY!!!), I've already touched the highlights.

As such, I'll go through a few more observations quickly...

1) I adored Haruhi's expressionism through out the episode as a whole. Beyond what I've already picked up, I really like how decidedly villainous she looks from 18:30 to 18:38. What an evil open grin she has there! :D And her dialogue that went with it (as well as just before and after those 8 seconds) was such great slave-driving evil overlord megalomanical richness! I also liked her little purse-twirling cheerful-humming skipping off into the night... LOL!


2) I very much liked the art work, animation, voice work, and overall feel for the three-way discussion between Yuki, Itsuki, and Kyon in the aftermath of the Mikuru Beam firing off. What I found... not necessarily odd, but quite... debatable... about the scene, though, was how Nagato kept talking to Kyon's narration. Apparently, Kyon's "narration" gets through to more people than just Haruhi. This may make for a good topic of discussion over on Anime Suki.


3) Exquisite use of lighting and shading through out the episode. This is particularly notable for Kyon and Koizumi's one-on-one conversation starting around 18:50 or 18:51.


4) Haruhi's angry director routine during the last five minutes of the episode was another sensational moment... reflecting how no Hollywood sensation would want to work for Haruhi, he he! I do like the idea, though, of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton being put under Haruhi's dictatorial directorial thumb... ha ha!


5) Awesome use of the three main supporting case members - Tsuruya, and T&K. It was great to see those three characters put to some good use again.

Phew... I guess that I'm finally finished.

Thankfully, however, this anime isn't! I can't wait for the next episode! ^_^

Overall, an awe-inspiring 10/10 for an episode that probably ranks in my top 5 Haruhi episodes of all time, and perhaps even amongst my 20 or so favorite anime episodes of all time. I really, really liked it.

As always, any feedback and comments are most welcomed.

Oh, and since I felt like Haruhi was channeling him about half the time in this episode, and since I found this episode to be "magnificent" (hint, hint ;) ), I'm going to grace this episode of Haruhi with the Jinnai Seal of Approval (taken from Deviant Art - all credit to its makers)!!! :D :D :D