Top Ten Countdown - Numbers 6 Through 4

I've been terribly negligent on the Top 10 Countdown of my Favorite Anime Characters of All-Time.

This is in part because, after my Yuki Nagato write up in the Number 7 spot I didn't feel like I could match or top that write-up for my Number 6 selection. And, as such, I kept putting it off... and putting it off... and putting it off. ^_^;

However, I think that those who had been following my Top 10 countdown list, and particularly those who actually voted for me to do it, deserve to see that list brought to its conclussion.

So, with that in mind, I'm going to speed through Numbers 6 through 4 on that Top 10 countdown list in this blog entry, and then get back to lengthier write-ups after it.

So, with out further adieu, here are Numbers 6 through 4 for my Ten Favorite Anime Characters of All-Time! :)



Top Ten Countdown - Number 6: Simon

Moral Alignment: Chaotic Good


Simon was a very cool and good-natured guy, but also ambitious. The young digger that had to drill through difficult mountains of angsting dirt in his young adolescence, eventually grew into a man that would carry on the dreams of his beloved bro Kamina, only with those dreams refined into something more practical and reasonable. Simon was like the polished and more complete package of the immeasurable raw energy and force of will represented by the wondrous personified symbol of Kamina.

In the end, Simon made a choice that I'm not entirely comfortable with, and that I feel undermines the overall thematic thrust and passion of the GL/TTGL anime. That's the main reason why he's not even higher on this list.

However, his titantic tumultuous triumphs over first Lord Genome, and then over the cosmic Anti-Spirals, speaks very well of Simon and the relentless but thoughtful force of will; refined by his moral core and his faithfulness to his friends and comrades.

Simon's inherent goodness is beyond question, and while he's not as chaotic in his means as his bro, there's no doubt that he is known best for fighting against oppressive universal orders, in sharp contrast to Rossiu...




Top Ten Countdown - Number 5: Fate T. Harlaown

Moral Alignment: Lawful Good


Fate Testarossa simply has one of the colossally coolest character designs of all time. Her personal style and panache is beyond reproach. However, there is substance as sharp as Bardiche that accompanies this supremely sumptuous sizzle.

While there is a certain simplicity of heart and purpose that drives Fate on, that is complimented by a profound depth of character that this simplicity rests upon as though it were a firm foundation of rock. In the original Nanoha anime, this comes through the "sad beautiful eyes" that Nanoha Takamachi peers through to make a full assessment of Fate's very soul.

From that point on, the two magicl girls were fated (no pun intended ;) ) to be the closest of friends... if not more. ;)

I've heard Fate compared to Batman, and while she may lack the Dark Knight's breadth of intelligence and skill, I think that she shares a similar drive and determination with him, as well as a heroic honorably heart.

In many ways, Fate and Nanoha are to their universe what the World's Finest are to the DC comics universe...




Top Ten Countdown - Number 4: Shana

Moral Alignment: Lawful Neutral


As many of my readers know, in particular fellow Anime Suki posters, I've long been a critic of how the term "tsundere" is used today. However, Shana is the ultimate exception to that.

Shana is THE tsundere. She defines the term like no other anime character, imo. She is the idealization of this anime archetype; the character that fits it like a glove and shows the considerable comedic charm, and solid characterization, that can come from the true tsundere.

Shana's fiery attacks are emblematic of her fiery persona. And yet, that fiery persona is grounded in a role and mission that Shana takes very seriously... that role and mission being the one of the Flame Haze.

This is what makes Shana a lawful netural character, at least until Yuji begins to alter her thinking slightly, and impact her heart substantially. At the start of her anime, Shana is entirely cought up in her role, and does not question it or even feel much pity for the victims of the world order that she seeks to work within. As explosive as Shana's methods are, she is a character that seeks to maintain order and stability in a world cursed by tomogaras that can consume the very life essences of human beings.

What I admire in Shana is her firm resolutness, her competency, and her uncompromising stage presence. Her battles with tomogaras are always a treat for the eyes... especially her fights with Hecate, in my view.

I also love Shana's romance with Yuji, and how it brings out the softer and more human side in Shana.



There is much more that I could write about each of these three, but for the goal of speeding up the completion of this Top 10 countdown, and with the hope of soon bringing it to a close, I have decided to be relatively short and sweet on numbers 6 through 4. Nonetheless, I welcome any feedback to the brief blurbs that I wrote for each. :)


My next blog will delve down into two of the final three... and that's when, hopefully, you'll get to see me recapture greater exuberance and thoroughness in my writing. ;)


For now, though, I close out with a wonderful picture of two of my all-time favorite anime characters for you to feast your eyes upon...

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... ;)

Clannd Review: Part 2 - After Story

This blog entry is the second, and concluding part, of my Clannad review. This part of the two-part review will focus on Clannad: After Story.


Note: This review will include a lot of content spoilers. You have been warned! ;)


Since this part of the review won't include much background information on my own personal life as an anime fan in general, it will enable me to get into greater specifics. With Clannad: After Story, I'm going to have a couple sentences (or more) to say about each of the following sections:

Episode 1 Kick-off

Episodes 2 through 4 (Sunohara arc)

Episodes 5 and 6 (Misae two-parter)

Episodes 7 and 8 (Yukine two-parter)

Episode 9 turning point

Episode 10 through 12 (Tomoya becomes an adult arc)

Episode 13 turning point

Episode 14 through 16 (Pregnancy arc)

Episode 17 through 21 (Ushio arc)

Episode 22 Conclussion


However, before delving into the specifics of these ten tremendously
thought-provoking sections, I will make a few general observations, with the first alluding to the picture that I used above.

The "hidden world" underlying subplot involving the lonely girl and her lonely mechanical friend was handled exquisitely well by the Clannad writing team. The appearances of this disturbingly daunted duo were spaced apart between good intervals. They never felt like they were overly encroaching upon the main storyline, but they also maintained a frequent enough presence to foreshadow their eventual importance in that main storyline.

The Clannad: After Story opening is amongst the ten best anime openings I've ever seen, and is probably the best anime opening to be featured during 2009.

The background music was masterfully handled from start to finish. There's little doubt that the folks in charge of that would have made fine additions to Nagisa's Theater Club. ;)


With these general observations made, though... it's time for me to share my thoughts on the ten specific sections of Clannad: After Story!


Episode 1 made for an excellent launching episode for an anime sequel series, as it launched with all the force of a baseball struck soundly by Tomoya. It made for a seamless transition from the end of the original Clannad season to Clannad: After Story. The core cast was utilized well in this episode, and it gave fans of each of the key characters something to be happy about. It served its primary purpose, I think, of reminding fans of the original Clannad season of just why they loved this anime. All-told, I have no major criticism to make of this episode. Well... it might have been better if the celebration had happened after we see Tomoya bat in the winning run, but I can certainly appreciate the theatrical drive behind the plot direction of showing that celebration as a "flashforward" before showing the hit that made it possible.


Next is the Sunohara arc...



Episodes 2 through 4 went a long ways towards fleshing out the character of Youhei Sunohara. It took a character that had been used primarily for comedic relief during the original season, and helped to make him seem much more real, at least to me. While Sunohara certainly had his intense and meaningful moments in Season 1, he was so often used as the butt of the joke that it became hard for me to take him seriously at all. This arc changed all of that, all the while providing added insights to the characters of Mei Sunohara and Sanae Furukawa, as well as insights into the friendship dynamics between Youhei and Tomoya.

While After Story Episode 1 served the necessary purpose of seamless transition from the original season, this three-parter served the purpose of maturing the Clannad anime franchise, so to speak. It represented a bit of a break from the feel and style of the original season of Clannad, and it served notice to the viewer that the ultimately cheerful, happy, and victorious endings of arcs that typified Season 1 may not always be the case in After Story.

In a way, I was actually glad that all of the efforts of the protagonists continually backfired; especially the sports related idea of Mei's that was starting to represent a bit of a Clannad cliche. Some of the backfirings created splendid moments of hilarity, while other backfirings served to make the Clannad universe itself seem a bit more real to me. In real life, lasting solutions to important problems usually aren't as simple as playing a game of sports, or practicing with a sports teams. And here, Mei's idea, well-intentioned and understandable as it was, failed.

But while it failed, it did lead into some powerfully pulsating punching processions that were an unexpected delight for the eyes. I never knew Kyoto Animation had it in them to show brutal physical combat that actually had some slight shades of Kazuma vs. Ryuho from the final episode of s-CRY-ed. Beyond even this, however, it forced Youhei Sunohara to be more honest to himself, more open to Tomoya, and more appreciatory once more to his sister.

While I found myself questioning many of the actions of many of the characters in the arc (specifically, I felt that Youhei took more of the blame for the sibling squabbles than what he should have given Mei's abyssmal treatment of him during her earlier appearances in the two Clannad seasons), I was still impressed in the overall effect of it.


After Story than moves from cries of sibling affection to cat/girl love... ;)


Episodes 5 and 6 presents such a blushing sight for sore feline eyes, does it not? ;)

After this two-parter, there can be little doubt that "Katsuki Shima" is the luckiest cat around, ha ha! :D

These two episodes made for a nice break in the action, and a colorful charming contrast to the much more angst-ridden Sunohara arc.

Misae Sagara had been one of the least featured characters of the original season of Clannad, and hence it was nice to see After Story provide a bit of an added focus to her here, especially in how it helped to show why Tomoyo admires Misae so much and the similarities between the past and present Student Council Presidents.

Younger Misae was very easy on the eyes, as vicious as she was to the poor limbs of "Katsuki Shima". ;) In many ways, younger Misae was like a mixture of all of the "other" girls of Clannad; the ones that "lost" the "competition for Tomoya" to Nagisa.

Misae's younger self looked a lot like Kotomi, had the skills of Tomoyo, had the terrifyingly tumultuous temper of Kyou, and she had a sweetness that could compare with Ryou.

There's not a whole lot, really, to say about this two-parter, aside from what I've already wrote. I will add that it was a very heartwarming and pleasing story; in many ways it was like a modern romance fable. It certainly puts the love between a pet and his owner in a whole new light, doesn't it? ;)


From here we move into the Yukine two-parter...


Yukine pretty much spent all of Clannad Season 1 being a cute human female Yoda to Tomoya's Luke Skywalker. And just as Yoda's wise words, but lack of action, had left Warsies wanting wanton wicked wallops being delivered from Yoda to a servent of the "Dark Side", Yukine's wise words but lack of action no doubt left many Clannad fans wanting to see what the girl could do when the focus shined on her and her own life. And much like Yoda vs. Dooku, Yukine didn't disappoint when it came her turn to hold the audience's attention in Episodes 7 and 8. ;)

I found it funny that the rough gangs of Tomoya's city where honorable and polite ladies and gentlemen compared to a certain scummy school soccer team, but nonetheless, their feud had a fever pitch, and many nice twists helped along by the usual deceptiveness and pranksterness of Sunohara and Tomoya. Getting back to that for a second, I liked how After Story really highlighted the problems that can arise from deliberate dishonesty. This was a subtly casted "moral of the story" for much of After Story, and it was nicely played by the Clannad team to say the least.

So was, once again, the fighting scenes that we have in this anime. It's good to see that Kyoto Animation can handle these at least decently well when the plot calls for it.

My only criticism of the Yukine two-parter is that it would have been nice to have seen a bit more of her brother, even if only in a short minute or two flashback scene.

Nonetheless, Clannad gets props for taking three characters that sometimes got lost in the crowd of romantic conflict in season one; namely, the characters of Youhei Sunohara, Misae Sakara, and Yukine Miyazawa; and doing yeoman work to make them greater than merely the sum of their respective odditities and quirks.


And with that character upgrading complete, we then move... quite shockingly to me at the time, but quite logically so in retrospect... to the major turning point of Episode 9. Here we see the graduation of all the key school-based characters, except Nagisa, Tomoyo, and Yukine.


The Episode 9 graduation episode was a startling turn of events for me on initial watch throw, and it had left me questioning the wisdom of it, to be honest... particularly given how it threatened to divide up the cast into several separate parts. There can be no question that Episodes 9, 13, and 16 were all very bold, decisive episodes on the part of Kyoto Animation. Either one of them could arguably have concluded an entire anime series, at least if altered slightly for that purpose.

Those three episodes, as well as the episodes between them, were a distinctively unconventional approach to a "school life" anime, for in their three broad strokes, this school life anime metamorphosized into a more mature "slice of life" anime, it could be argued.

Beyond that, the most notable element of Episode 9 is how it put the focus squarely on the blossoming romance between Tomoya and Nagisa...


For me, personally, Nagisa Furukawa was the main strength of these "middle third" After Story episodes. Of the Episode 9 through 16 run. Of course, this meant that the events of episode 16 were that much more jarring, shocking, and heartwrenching...


The romance between her and Tomoya was one of sincerely sweet serenity, and I heartily approve of its every aspect, facet, and nuance... with one slight exception. Although, even this lone exception can perhaps be excused due to how Clannad might have had to err on the side of pure innocent love in order for Tomoya and Nagisa's romance to come off as brilliantly as it did.

That exception is that... it might have been nice to have seen a bit more sexual chemistry between the two. However, that may have taken away some of the romance's charm, and Tomoya's romance with Nagisa is still lightyears ahead of where most anime roamnces are. The key reason being that it is a romance that progressed at a healthy and natural pace, involving mutual feelings of caring and love that are gradually made more open over time in a believable manner. I also have to admit that Nagisa's amused and/or shy giggling at some of the softer moments between her and Tomoya is absolutely awesomely adorable... ^_^

Also, and to be brutally frank, it's nice to see a major anime romance where neither half is a tsundere, and where neither half needs a major attitude adjustment.


Another strength of the "middle third" was this guy...


Having Tomoya end up working alongside Yoshino was a stroke of genius on the part of Clannad's writers. It helped set the stage for Yoshino's bodacious bombastic backstory performance, and there was a lot of great content that the viewer could glean from that.


However... here is where my most controversial critiques of Clannad: After Story begin. This is the first of two parts of my review that I expect will meet with the most disapproval.

As wonderful as episodes 9, 13, and 16 were, I found most of the episodes inbetween them to be, well... a bit dull, to be frank. Part of it is purely an issue of taste, I'm sure. There wasn't much wrong with the actual execution of the plotline. In fact, if anything, it was too realistic; which is a disconcertingly odd criticism for me to be making, as I tend to love realism in my animes.

But Clannad: After Story showed me that perhaps anime needs its oddities and quirks as much as it needs realism, if not moreso.


For in episodes 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15, I found myself missing much of the primary and supporting cast a great deal. I missed Kotomi, Kyou, Ryou, Sunohara, and Tomoya.

After Story turned into the Furukawa family story, and while the Furukawa family are all groovy characters, with the amusing Akio antics and the sensuous Sanae sweetness and the nicely neat Nagisa, they still couldn't quite make up for the complete absense of most of the rest of cast.

Simply put, I wanted my Kotomi back... :(


Aaawwww... isn't she so tall and voluptuous, yet so huggably moe? ^_^

Clannad: After Story may have been even better if it had taken an episode or two to focus on the other members of the cast. It might have been nice to see a few scenes of Kotomi adjusting to life in America, or of Kyou beginning her teaching career, or of Tomoyo saving all the trees. ;)


Still... if mature realism and thoughtful execution were the main goals for the makers of Clannad: After Story episodes 9 through 16, I can't criticisize them too much... because it met those goals in flying colors.

Needless to say, though, I was greatly enthused with much of the primary cast returning, en masse, for episodes 13 and 16.

Nagisa's special surprise graduation ceremony, and her ensuing speech, were wonderfully wrapped like a gift under the Christmas tree. It was serious sentimentality that made me think a bit about my own life, and my own high school graduation slightly over a decade ago. Clannad: After Story certainly succeeded in causing feelings of school nostalgia to rise up from within me.


And then there is the utter masterpiece that is Episode 16. Episode 16 was one of the very best anime episodes that I've ever seen. It was flawlessly presented from start to finish, with every scene and scene transition just feeling right to me. It brought the "hidden" or "illusionary" world subplot back into center-stage, and Kotomi did a great job of linking that world to the actual world through exposition.

And the ending... and the drama... and the suspense... and the timing... of episode 16. It was a perfect effort shown from start to finish. Clannad: After Story kept me guessing at the actual fate of Nagisa right to the oh-so-bitter end. Tomoya's emotional displays throughout the entire birth sequence were clear and raw, yet so appropriate. It never felt overdone, or underdone. It was just right, in every respect.

Except, of course, that Nagisa died...


When I finished watching Clannad: After Story episode 16, I was deeply saddened for Tomoya and Nagisa's family, but I was simply too impressed with the sheer showmanship put on display by Kyoto Animation to be brought to tears. I couldn't help but think of the expertise of the craftsman even while the picture perfect craft itself tore at my heart strings.


Oddly enough, though, After Story episode 18 actually did bring me to tears. It brought me to tears for this reason...



Clannad: After Story made me feel... really, truly feel... for Ushio. She was born under the most regrettable of circumstances, and hence she was born to a father that, in some ways, resented her for something that was not her fault. I felt so badly for Ushio... and while I also felt very sorry for Tomoya, I was also angry at him for how he had neglected his daughter for a full five years.

Against this backdrop, I just couldn't help but cry when Ushio confirmed to her father how lonely she had been during those first five years, and how she had missed him. It was so tempestuously touching and monumentally moving.

Here I want to point out that I don't cry easily.

For example, touching as it was in the end of its second season, Higurashi did not bring me to tears. Akasaka brought me goosebumps, but that's a different matter... ;)


Only two or three times previous to Clannad: After Story had an anime managed to move me to tears... and that's with me having watched, in total, dozens upon dozens of animes from three different decades. For After Story to accomplish the feat, then, speaks volumes to just how immersive the anime could be, and how likeable these characters are.

Since Clannad: After Story speaks volumes for itself with the general quality of its content, then, I should try to end this blog entry, which I fear is growing voluminous, as soon as possible.


Let me just say, then, that I liked watching Tomoya make peace with his father, I liked the neat reunion between him and his daughter's sensei, and I particularly liked the return of Starfish Girl! :D


YES! FUKO-CHAN IS BACK, BABY!!! Welcome back, she who uses the third person even more humorously than Dr. Doom does. ;) :D

Fuko's Episode 19 return was very unexpected. It was a nice feel good story after Nagisa's passing.


So, all told, I liked episodes 17 through 21 more than I thought I would. They were all handled well, with Fuko's return coming at just the right spot.


But what I'm not sure I like... is the conclussion.


All through out Clannad: After Story, I detected a grand theme of life emerging. That theme is that change in life is inevitable, and that growth through life depends on adapting to those changes, and making the most of what comes your way; through all the tragedies, toils, and troubles.

The value of family is immeasurable in this grand theme of life that I felt that Clannad: After Story was trying to convey. And, ironically, part of that value of family comes from realizing how the lost of one family member, as painful as that is, doesn't mean that you should ignore other family members.


This is what Tomoya learned from his father, and his father's mother. This is what Akio and Sanae displayed in caring for Ushio after their precious daughter passed on.


But then... Nagisa is... retroactively ressurected, I guess you could say. That is the conclussion of Clannad. And while it is certainly a very happy one, I can't help but feel that it takes a great deal away from the grand theme of life that I felt that Clannad: After Story had been developing.


It also makes me feel like Episodes 17 through 21 are lessened considerably in their value by the turn of events. Do the events of these episodes even exist anymore, outside of the mind of Tomoya?


Overall, Clannad: After Story was an exceptional anime, but I can't help but wonder a lot if it's ending was the right one for it...

It does a reflect a trend in anime, though - a trend of pulling last minute switches that seem to go totally against overarching themes. I saw it in Gurren Lagann, and I saw it in Mai HiME. And, in fairness, those are two of my all-time favorite animes.

So, if nothing else, Clannad: After Story is in good company here... ;)


I hope, though, that one day, an anime will stay true to its grand theme to the very end - be it a happy ending where Nia actually lives, or a sad ending where Tomoya learns to live on with out Nagisa by his side.


And yet... if Clannad's most passionate fans were to argue that After Story actually managed to eat its cake, and have it too, I would be hard-pressed to argue the point with them. Clannad: After Story gives you the bold bitter ending of episode 16... the controversial ending that could have been... and it also gives you the completely happy ending of episode 22.

If there's one final positive note that I can make about Clannad: After Story it's that it's boldness is matched only by the character of its cast; a cast that was admirably kept to a manageable and well developed number of characters; something that the shounen animes of the day could take a lesson from. ;)

And hence, with this one final Clannad picture, I pay a tribute to that cast. :)

Clannad... and what it says about anime: Part 1

Don't worry, I'll get back to my Top 10 Countdown soon.

However, for the time being, I wanted to talk about an anime that may have altered my Top 10 list if I had watched it before I compiled that Top 10 list. That anime is Clannad.

Thanks to the recommendations of my good friend and fellow Anime Suki poster Kogetsu Shirogane, I recently watched Clannad, an anime that I had not bothered with when it first came out due to how action-oriented anime is what dominated my watching habits before I became more involved in Anime Suki's poster community.


With this in mind, I probably should provide some background information on my history as an anime fan before I get into my review of Clannad, to help those who read this blog understand where I'm coming from here.


A few years ago, a close cousin of mine, helped along by frequent discussions on animes and anime characters on the Comic Book Resources site, managed to get me interested in anime. I had watched bits and pieces of various anime shows before then... mainly the big three of Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, and Sailor Moon... but it was only at this point that I began to watch anime as a somewhat consistent entertainment hobby.

The first ten or so animes I saw, after I became interested in anime, was directly determined by my cousin (and, by extension, by his best internet friends). Those animes were, in no particular order...

1) El Hazard: The Magnificent World
2) El Hazard: The Wanderers
3) Excel Saga
4) Ranma ½
5) Tenchi Muyo!
6) Negima!
7) Full Metal Alchemist (the original anime)
8) Neon Genesis Evangelion
9) Azumanga Daioh
10) InuYasha


So, even though I only became a big anime fan during this decade, my introduction to the world of anime included a significant number of 90s animes. Also, for those familiar with most or all of the anime above, you can probably see how most of the anime I watched in the early going were of a predominantly zany and action-packed nature... with Azumanga Daioh probably being the one closest to "regular" school life, or slice of life in general.

The KyoAni titles, as such, are largely ones that were a bit different from the animes that I had cut my teeth on.

In fact, as big a fan of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya as I am now... I honestly found the anime more than a bit weird in the beginning. Episode 00 honestly didn't help matters when I first saw it, although I now look back on it fondly. However, Haruhi had just enough of the sorts of elements that many of my favorite early animes had to hook me in... and it particularly helped that Haruhi herself slowly grew on me after an early disliking of the character (yes, amazing, isn't it? ;) ), and in fact I now love the character.


Haruhi was likely the ideal anime to introduce me to the KyoAni style of anime... I suspect that the genre transition into Clannad was made easier because of it.


So, in any event, my knowledge of Clannad before the past two months or so was very, very nil. I was aware of it, of course, but only through its presence on Anime Suki, and also through occassional allusions to it. So, I went in watching it with out hype playing much of a role. I will admit that part of the reason why I took Kogetsu up on his recommendation is that Clannad is one of the more... relevant animes, shall we say... of the ones I have yet to see, but I read no comprehensive reviews on it before I watched it, and basically went into watching it with no preconceptions whatsoever and an entirely open mind.


So... in this blog post I will look at Clannad's original season. In Part 2, I will look at After Story, as I feel that After Story warrants its own posting.


So... with all of this regrettable exposition out of the way (sorry about that ^_^;; ), what do I think of Clannad? What were my first impressions of it? What do I think of its cast of characters, and what do I think it says about modern anime?


Well, first of all, and to get strait to the point... I very much liked the original season of Clannad. In particular, the Fuko and Kotomi arcs (basically constituting episodes 5 through 14, IIRC) were two of the best anime arcs I've ever seen, and certainly the best signal character-focused anime arcs I've ever seen. This ten episode run was one of the best anime runs that I've seen, at least as far as characterization, emotional involvement, and plot cohesion are concerned.

It helps, of course, that I almost instantly fell in love with the actual characters of Fuko and Kotomi. Fuko's mannerisms and style of speech are too adorable for words, while Kotomi is one of the most endearing and lovable characters I've ever seen.




Kotomi, to me, is like a mixture of some of the best elements of Mikuru Asahina with some of the best elements of Yuki Nagato. However, raising Mikuru here helps to get to a key point pertaining to Clannad.

While Fuko and Kotomi are incredibly moe, irressistably cute, and sweeter than Nagisa's favorite bean bread, they are not helpless or hopeless characters... unlike, well, Mikuru Asahina, to be frank. Don't get me wrong, Mikuru has her appealing qualities as well, but it's nonetheless very refreshing to see a moe girl that can pick up for herself, take the iniatitive, and gain accomplishments of worth.

This is not only true of Fuko and Kotomi, but also of Nagisa. It also holds true of Kyou, Ryou, and Tomoyo, albeit to lesser extents in my opinion.


So, for me, this is one of the unique charms of Clannad... competent, and hence a touch more realistic, moe girls. And yet, while they are competent, they are still rather good-natured and sweet.


Another one of Clannad's strengths is Tomoya.


Tomoya is one of the most well-rounded anime main male protagonists I've ever seen.

There's an outside chance that him and/or Kotomi would have cracked my Top 10 list if I had watched this anime before I began making it.

Tomoya is like a softer (and hence a bit more relatable, for me) version of Kyon... but at the same time he avoids the dreaded Doormaticus Suckitosis disease that so many anime harem leads seem to be afflicted with. ;)

Tomoya's prankster side combined with Sunohara's principal comedic relief role provides Clannad with moments of humor to compliment its sublime sentimental spectacle.

While I felt that this humor was sometimes a bit excessive and overplayed, it was probably better to have it there than to have Clannad be a deadly serious show at all times.


What I like about Tomoya, and what I like about most (if not all) of the cast, is how they feel like real people to me. The slapstick comedy moments aside, it's not hard to imagine real life people living lives, and exuding behaviors, much like those of the characters of Clannad. Oh, the characters of Clannad all of their quirks and eccentricities, but these quirks and eccentricities merely add flavour to the characters rather than outright defining them. They're like a real life best friend with an unusual hobby, or a peculiar interest, or an atypical talent.


One other strength of the original season of Clannad that I wish to note (and this particular strength is even more readily apparent in After Story) is the overall presentation style. By that, I mean, the OP, the ED, the artwork, the animation, and the background music. All of these synergistically synthesize superbly to help create an anime that's not too polished, but is also very clean and emotionally impactful.


All of the above being said... the original season of Clannad is not with out its flaws. My first impressions of it were actually a bit mixed, as it felt very much like Azumanga Daioh Light to me in the first few episode. However, the Fuko and Kotomi arcs really kicked this anime into high gear, and done loads to set it apart from other school-life focused animes.


However, I don't consider Clannad the "greatest anime ever", as I've read its widely considered to be by a strong majority of its fanbase. In fairness, though, I should point out that this is coming from an action-oriented anime fan. I tend to like epic struggles and flashy fight scenes, and that is simply not a selling point for Clannad.

Nonetheless, Clannad's major selling point is an uniquely good one, precisely because its unique.

While Clannad is not my all-time favorite anime, it is now one of my favorites, and there is something that I can say for Clannad...

Clannad is definitive anime.

By that, I mean, if I wanted to point to the sorts of characters and narratives that best represent anime as a distinguished entertainment genre with its own characteristic cultural background and flair... I would point to Clannad.

You know the old saying of "A man's man?", which has been extended upon to include sayings like "A player's player", "A warrior's warrior", and "A politician's politician"?

Well, Clannad is an anime's anime. It has almost all of the elements that differentiate anime from western cartoons... and almost none of the elements that western cartoons share with anime.


If anime was to ever die out completely, the first particular anime show I would think of... would be Clannad. And then I would feel very sad over the death of anime given how there's nothing in western entertainment that is even remotely like Clannad. If anime was to ever completely disappear, shows like Clannad, and characters like the cast of Clannad, would quite likely completely disappear with it.


And so, somewhat paradoxically I'll admit, I'd like to see anime become a bit more mainstream and hence very vibrant and commercially successful. Because I'd like to see more people become acquainted with shows like Clannad, and I'd hate to see shows like Clannad to die out completely or be thoroughly buried in obscurity.


In its own way, Clannad is actually wholesome family entertainment, with a predominant theme of the value of family and interpersonal connections and relations. It is a story of growth, both on a personal level, and on a community level.

And yet, Clannad does this with out ever seeming overly simplistic or condescendingly cold. It is a warm, friendly, and inviting anime, and I hope that there will be more anime like it in the future... however, I also hope that there may be more mainstream action-oriented fare as well.

Perhaps such mainstream animes could help somebody else find their way to their Clannad like I found my way to the Clannad.


In Part 2 of this 2-part review of Clannad, I will look at After Story. I hope that folks who enjoyed this review will come back for that one as well. :)


For now, though... Here's a toast to Clannad Season 1!!!

Number 7: Yuki Nagato!

Top Ten Countdown - Number 7: Yuki Nagato


Moral Alignment: True Neutral

Supporting Quote - "My work is to observe Suzumiya Haruhi and upload the data obtained to the Integrated Data Sentient Entity."


AMV showcase video here.


It must seem like it's been 15, 532 years since I've last updated my blog. Hence, my blog readers should now find it unusually easy to relate to everybody's favorite organic life contact-purpose humanoid interface created by the Data Interface Thought Entity. ;) Hence, it is a fitting time for Yuki Nagato to come up in my Top 10 countdown list, though I still wish to extend apologies to my blog readers for not having wrote anything on this blog for quite some time.


So, the first question many may be asking themselves at this point... why do I have Yuki Nagato listed as True Neutral? While it's true that Yuki seems to have a personal preference for lawfulness, and good and fair treatment of others, she doesn't let that get in the way of her work. And her work often means that chaos reigns unoppossed, as it did in a certain infamous anime arc that I'm sure that nobody needs me to remind them of. Her work also allows for evil... or at least callous mischief... as we saw with how Nagato stood by and said nothing while Haruhi Suzumiya mistreated Mikuru Asahina to Kyon-enraging degrees.

In this vein, Yuki Nagato is very similar to Uatu, the Watcher. Like Uatu, there are people and places that Yuki cares about, and has a desire to protect. But also like Uatu, her default state is non-interference, and she can only breech that under the most extreme of circumstances. Novel 4 arguably changes that situation, somewhat, but for the benefit of readers not familiar with the Haruhi Suzumiya novels, I'll try to focus only on what we know of Yuki from her anime appearances.


So, why is Yuki Nagato Number 7 on my Top 10 list?

Well, the following pic helps to explain that in ways that perhaps mere words can not...




Esoterically Exquistely Erudite

E to the power of 3.

And E looks like 3 reflected in a mirror, and then firmed and straightened into a more firm fortitude. A firm fortitude's like Yuki's, you could say. After all, Yuki's intestional fortitude, as the pro wrestling announcers liked to say, is obviously beyond reproach. Her conflict with Ryoko Asakura proves that beyond even an inkling of an interface. ;)

The above is a concise, yet hopefully clever, way of putting in a computer chip, a key reason for why Yuki enjoys an ever growing and subtly spirited fanbase. To elucidate further, however...

Nagato is one of the more mysterious manga, anime, and light novel characters. Even so, there was a time when I viewed her principly as little more than a plot device, to be frank. But, over time, over discussions with some of Yuki's biggest fans, and over paying closer attention to her while watching the anime that she appears in, I began to notice that there is a... profound deepness of character and personality... lying just beneat the surprisingly soulful eyes of Yuki Nagato.

Just look at her eyes and pose in the picture above. Notice how the starry darkness wrapts itself around her while simultaneously being an accentuating backdrop. An inscrutable ether of black peppered by a maze of slightly shimmering stars. In many ways, this is the personality of Nagato. Her mission is often like an encroaching bleakness upon her innermost self, but it doesn't eradicate the light of her personality; a light that floods outwards from her mesmerizing eyes.

'What is she thinking?' you can't help but ask yourself after awhile.

What are her eyes trying to convey which her mouth refuses to tell?

Yuki Nagato is perhaps the least transparent of characters, and that hence makes her one of the most intriguing. Well, that alone doesn't. But it helps when this typical silence of purpose is contrasted with sudden stark stirrings of action!




This picture above reflects how reflectively brilliant her reflections are. It also demonstrates the forcible finesse of Nagato's fields of force, as well as her atheletic array of assaults and alterations of reality itself.

Nagato's moments of action are always dramatic and intense, for her typical demeanor is as silently serene and quaint as can be. Hence, Nagato is effortlessly theatrical, relying not on charisma as her Brigade Chief does, but rather on flawless timing and execution. Economy of motion executed excellently by the most economical of minds. Adam Smith and Bret Hart would both be left in awe by Nagato.

On a more practical level, though, Nagato's actions and personality and very nature give the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya an element that it would otherwise lack. And that is an element of serious science fiction. Nagato and Haruhi are like the children of Lain, of the Serial Experiment kind, with Lain's personality and power divided meticulously between the two... although Nagato is gifted with great power of her own.

But, that power doesn't mean that she lacks a soft side...



Well... that's quite the list of facets that Nagato is multiplying up with her computer.

Efficient
Erudite
Esoteric
Effortlessly Theatrical
The Sci-Fi Element that her anime would otherwise lack, at least to the abundance that it enjoys

And, also, moe. Not as moe as her fellow female SOS Brigade members perhaps, but moe nonetheless.

There is one other key element that Nagato brings to the poker table. And it's a poker face wielding a Royal Flush, which means its typical curtains for Itsuki Koizumi's chance at winning ;) ...

Cool.

Simply cool.

There's no other word that can describe Nagato in her Witch's Outfit, or in many of her best moments in general for that matter. But what makes her cooler than the common cool is that she's cool with out even trying. Now, that's... COOL.

Other SOS Brigade members are capable of being cool, of course, but they have to work for it. So do most characters through out the whole of anime... yes, even you, Kamina. ;)

Nagato simply has it naturally perspiring from her every pore.

Here, Nagato is like Batman himself.


Well... what more can be wrote? There's clearly plenty of superb reasons to love Yuki Nagato. She brings so many different pitches to the day, and serves as a good contrast for her fellow SOS Brigade members.

She easily transcends any character type class that you care to put her in. Yes, she's like a certain EVA pilot from Neon Genesis Evangelion, but she goes and breaks the mold of that prototype.

She's a supporting cast character with more drawing power than many anime main characters. In many an anime, Nagato would be the star of the show. As is, though, she provides her own anime with the perfect supporting cast character. Don't get me wrong, she is a primary character, but she is there to spice up and add depth to the anime that she's in, rather than making it.


With all of this being said, why didn't she come in higher on my list?

Mysterious is a double-edged sword for a character. It usually makes a character more intriguing, but it also can serve to make a character harder to relate to.

Of my Top Six, I relate to four, and the other two are at least easy to understand. Nagato and "easy" frankly don't belong in the same sentence, unless the sentence is "Nagato is easy on the eyes". ;)

Beyond that, Nagato enjoys a great deal of intellectual investment from me, but significantly less emotionally investment. I cheer for four of my Top Six because they're heroes, in the purest sense of the term. The other two tend to steal whatever scenes that either of them appear in, and they simply make for wonderfully entertaining plot movers and shakers.


Still, Nagato is my favorite supporting cast character, and that alone says a lot. Not everybody can manage to ski above the waves upon waves of anime secondary characters, and for doing that, Nagato is deserving of a place of lasting honor in the halls of anime fandom. Perhaps she can have a trophy for water-skiing excellence on display in those halls... ;)