A shounen action series …

… about baking bread?

yj04.jpg

Serious baking is not for the faint-hearted.

Azuma Kazuma, the protagonist of Yakitate!! Japan, is a sixteen-year-old with an immense talent for baking. He’s bumptious, naive and not terribly bright, but he is extremely dedicated to his craft. He has a special gift, “solar hands” that make dough rise unusually fast, and he has a quest, creating the bread that will allow Japan to take its place among the great bread-making countries of the world. The first episode relates Azuma’s introduction to baking; the second concerns his come-from-behind victory in his first competition at the major dojo bakery he hopes to join.

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Azuma is the one with the brown shirt. It’s not clearly visible in this screen capture, but he’s wearing a pink hairband. There’s a good reason for it.

The premise sounds ridiculous, but it works. Kazuma is a typical shounen hero, but not to an obnoxious degree, and the other characters introduced so far have possibilties. The show is energetic and done with a light touch. Whether there is 69 episodes’ worth of story there is another matter, though, and I’m not sure that I want to invest that much time in it.

If what I’ve seen is representative, this is a good show for all ages.

Hmm

When I watch anime, I see meditations on despair and redemption (Haibane Renmei), speculations about information technology and consciousness (Denno Coil, Serial Experiments Lain), case studies in dealing with grief and the importance of music (Sugar, a Tiny Snow Fairy), and illustrations of the importance of families (Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch and many, many others). When Brian Alexander, author of America Unzipped: In Search of Sex and Satisfaction, watches anime, he sees sex. ((To be fair, he notes that “Of course, not all anime and manga is overtly sexual — a lot of it is meant for children. Even some adult anime isn’t sexualized any more than, say, Wonder Woman (who was created as a dominatrix bondage fantasy).”)) I guess what you see depends on what wavelengths your eye is sensitive to.

(Via Derailed by Darry.)

A good idiot is hard to find

My principal viewing the past few days has been the second season of Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle. I wonder: has anime produced any magnificent idiots who stand comparison with Bill Scott’s immortal trio: Bullwinkle, George and Dudley Do-Right? We’ll probably never see the equal of the first, who is one of three great comic characters of the 20th century. ((The other two are Groucho Marx and Ignatius Reilly.)) But there have been some estimable nitwits in anime, which brings me to my next list.

Outstanding idiots

1. Tamaki Suou (Ouran High School Host Club)
2. Excel Excel (Excel Saga)
3. Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent (Baccano!) (Yeah, that’s two characters, but I think of them as a single unit.)
4. Bantaro Sanbonmatsu (Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch)
5. Kankuro Nishiyama (Ramen Fighter Miki)

Notes:

• While I haven’t found a Japanese counterpart to Bill Scott, who was a writer and producer as well as a voice actor, ((Scott wrote all the “moose and squirrel” scripts, which episodes demonstrate that good writing can redeem crummy animation.)) Kotono Mitsuishi does have two major nitwits in her resumé, Excel and Usagi Tsukino.

• How many people watch Project A-ko for C-ko? How much Tomo Takino can you stand? It is not easy to create a stupid character who is nevertheless consistently entertaining, let alone sympathetic.

• Osaka is not an idiot. She just thinks very different.

• An idiot can be a ditz, but the terms are not synonyms. Yurika Misumaru and the early versions of Mihoshi Kuramitsu are ditzes of the highest order but not idiots.

More lists

Worst anime reviews

Charles Solomon sweeps places one through four with his comments on Divergence Eve, Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles, Haibane Renmei and Someday’s Dreamers at amazon.com.

I haven’t found anyone else with Solomon’s combination of arrogance and superficiality, but this review of Noir‘s first disc is lame enough for fifth place.

*****

Favorite final episodes

Presented without comment, to avoid spoilers.

1. Haibane Renmei
2. Jubei-chan: Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch
3. Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles
4. Someday’s Dreamers
5. Noir

*****

Favorite first episodes

1. Haibane Renmei
2. Cardcaptor Sakura
3. Denno Coil
4. Angelic Layer
5. Excel Saga

Update: Steven has posted his favorite last and first episodes.
Update II: Civilis posts his.

If only …

… or, “What the hell were they thinking?” List #2:

1. Azumanga Daioh: There’s Chiyo, Osaka, Sakaki and Yomi — four memorable characters. (Five, according to those who can tolerate Yukari.) There’s one of the finest soundtracks ever recorded. It could have been a classic. Unfortunately, there’s also Mr. Kimura.

2. Divergence Eve and Divergence Eve: Misaki Chronicles: An excellent science-fiction story with interesting, sympathetic characters and a haunting ending that reminds me of Lain. However, it looks like pornography.

3. Kamichu! Hideyuki Kurata is a maddeningly erratic writer. He can be inspired, and he can be dumb. Kamichu! showcases both extremes of his range. The first two episodes are very good indeed and the third is a small classic. The fourth belongs to some other, lesser show, the fifth is dull, and I’m not going to discuss the sixth. The better episodes are good enough to warrant purchasing the boxed set if you can find a good price, but I recommend watching only the first three episodes, the seventh, the ninth and perhaps the twelfth.

4. Bottle Fairy: The first eleven and a half episodes are a great deal of fun for children and their parents as the four tiny fairies try to understand humans and their culture. However, the ending goes off-key and inspires depressing interpretations. By all means, get it for your kids, but stop after the eleventh episode.

5. The World of Narue: A pleasant, lightweight science-fiction story. It would be good fare for junior high students, except that it is rife with pointless panty shots.

Making lists

I got a new toy and I wanted to play with it, so I though I’d record a podcast. Hours of babbling and editing later, it became clear that, although my face is made for radio, my voice isn’t. I think I’ll stick to the written (or typed) word for now.

*****

I haven’t watched much anime recently. Let’s see …. the Bakeneko (“Goblin Cat”) arc of Ayakashi — Samurai Horror Tales is a prelude to last year’s Mononoke and of a piece with it. I didn’t see any of the Olympic coverage; instead, I watched the first disc of the Battle Athletes OVA. It was okay, but I don’t know if I’ll watch the rest. I’m not even going to mention Strike Witches. What I most enjoyed watching was not anime at all (though some parts were animated): The Work of Michel Gondry.

Instead, I’ve been compiling little lists. Here’s the first in a series.

Five shows I would particularly like to see licensed for region one

1. Denno Coil: The best series since Haibane Renmei. It’s something like Serial Experiments Lain as retold by Hayao Miyazaki, with affinities to Haibane Renmei, and with an outstanding soundtrack. I expect that it will eventually be licensed, but it might take a while. Those holding the rights undoubtedly realize that they have something special and are probably holding out for more money than any region one company wants to invest at this time.

2. Oh! Edo Rocket: An unclassifiable show — sometimes utterly silly, sometimes dead serious. It straddles many genres: drama, farce, science fiction, horror, parody, action, fantasy, even musical at one point. Whimsical though it is, there is a real story under the arbitrariness. The soundtrack is of interest both to swing aficionados and to intellectual property lawyers. I’ve posted several excerpts emphasizing the series’ silly aspects on my video site: here, here and here. Because the series doesn’t fit neatly in any category, I figure that its chances of being licensed are slim.

3. Dirty Pair TV: Well, duh.

4. Animal Yokocho: A kid’s show that will please adults with a taste for absurdity. Many Japanese are fascinated by Lewis Carroll, and “Wonderland” episodes are common in anime, but usually they don’t catch the essence of Carroll’s insane but logical universe. Although Animal Yokocho never explicitly alludes to the Alice in Wonderland books, it is truer to Carroll’s spirit than anything else I’ve seen in anime. ((If you mention lolicons, I will delete your comment.)) It’s one of the very few shows that I would like to see with a good dub, but I don’t expect that it will ever be licensed.

5. Mind Game: One bizarre movie by Masaaki Yuasa, the man responsible for Kaiba and Kemonozume. A nebbish dies ignominiously, meets God and returns to earth, where he takes charge of his life. Things get strange, and they get stranger. I posted a couple of vividly contrasting excerpts on my video site illustrating just how eccentric Yuasa’a vision is. I figure the movie’s chances of being licensed fall between negligible and non-existent.

Arrrrgh, etc.

I heard yesterday that one of the great progressive rock bands, Gryphon, has reunited to record a new album and perhaps give some concerts after disbanding more than thirty years ago. I just did a little searching to verify that. While the main Gryphon fansite does announce their reunion, their MySpace page states that it’s been suspended. Grrr.

Here’s an example of the sort of music I’d been hoping to hear more of, their “Glastonbury Carol”:

[mp3]http://tancos.net/audio/GlastonburyCarol.mp3[/mp3]

*****

If you have things to do and have absolutely no time to spare, don’t click here. (My best so far is 466 528 576 pounds of fish, plus logs, boots and cell phones.) (Via Dale.)

*****

Kids, be your favorite martyr for Halloween. (Via large furry animals.)

*****

Warmth. (Via a small furry animal.)

*****

To put the Democratic convention in perspective, read Dave Barry. His coverage begins here.

Dorothy had reasons to be nervous …

This year’s Bulwer-Lytton winners have been posted. There are a few that aren’t too bad:

As she watched the small form swing backwards and forth from the crystal chandelier – hands on hips, sniffing the air and squeaking inaudibly – it suddenly became clear to Madame de Pompomme that she had done the wrong thing asking Jacques to find and bring back her long-lost sister: for, whilst her coterie would doubtless be enchanted for a short while, the novelty of Janine having been raised by bats since the age of two in caves of the North-west Congo would soon wear off in seventeenth-century France.

There are certain people in the world who emanate an aura of well being — they radiate sunshine, light up a room, bring out the best in others, and fill your half empty glass to overflowing – yes it was these very people thought Karl, as he sharpened his mirror-finished guthook knife, who were top of his list.

But most are laboriously dull, spliced together with too many semicolons and dashes.

The Lyttle Lytton results for 2008 were also disappointing, with nothing the caliber of “In 3010, the potatoes triumphed.”

If you want a laugh, I recommend watching the Stafford County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors in action. ((Please note that what is illustrated in the video is not “fuzzy math,” but stupidity.)) (Via the Maximum Leader.)

Anime makeover

Ever wondered how well Mikuru fills out the styles in her home century? Or what Mizuho would look like in clothing appropriate to his alleged gender? Or how a mahou shoujo would look as a mecha pilot, or vice versa? Here’s an opportunity to speculate, and perhaps to see your notions realized. The Future Fashion Folio for Costume Con 27 is open for submissions. Note the second of the special categories:

2. REDESIGN YOUR FAVORITE ANIME CHARACTER (sponsored by Karen Dick): You know what your favorite characters wear in that anime you love, but what do YOU think they should wear when they’re out of uniform (or when they get drafted into the military), or on that special  date, or going to that themed costume party?

If your design is selected for the folio, a costumer might make the outfit and model it in a fashion show at Costume Con. You don’t need to be a good artist or an expert costume designer; I’m neither, and one of my designs was included in last year’s folio.

If you should happen to be in the Baltimore area next May and you have any interest in costuming, the Con is worth attending. It’s devoted to all kinds of costuming, not just anime cosplay. There are pictures from Costume Con 25 here.

Is there a musicologist in the house?

Does the background music to this clip from Strike Witches sound familiar? Steven thinks that it’s 19th-century, but I don’t recognize it. My guess is that the tune was composed specifically for the show.

[mp3]http://tancos.net/audio/StrikeWitchesTune.mp3[/mp3]

(Yeah, I hadn’t intended to watch any more of Strike Witches, but Steven’s note piqued my curiosity and I had enough left in my BOST account to download one last episode. Unless I hear that there is a quantum leap in quality in the second half of the show, this is as much of Strike Witches as I’m going to waste time on.)