Ano Natsu De Matteru – 12

Published by Hung on May 8, 2012 in Anime. 1 Comment

That Author guy pointed out that I didn’t blog the end of this series. I guess I am getting really bad at that. I did, however, manage to watch the whole thing, along with Amagami SS++.

Ano Natsu was interesting in that it felt like an anime that should’ve (and had) been made years ago. It’s basically a re-make of Onegai Sensei, with the same character types (but different characters). The thing that made Ano Natsu enjoyable was that it was executed damn near perfectly. The pacing, animation, humor, etc were all great. I think the one thing it lacked was a bit of originality. I guess you can’t have your nostalgia cake and eat it, too, though.

While the show became a bit self-referential (at least to its genre and history), that was more of a fan service than innovation. I’m talking about how they went all out with the alien chase at the end, and made the “fufufu” sensei into an actual MIB agent. It reminds me of how Arrested Development went insane at the end, since they were ending the series anyhow.

Another thing they did well was the ending. Up until the last moment, you don’t know whether the two main characters stayed together or not. I was kind of guessing they’d pull a Gainax ending (a la Mahoromatic), but they played it safe, just as you’d expect.

All in all, Ano Natsu De Matteru was a nice trip down nostalgia lane. 2000s anime doesn’t get much better than this!

Sakamichi no Apollon – 3: Someday My Prince Will Come

Published by Hung on May 1, 2012 in Anime and Episodic. 0 Comments Tags: .

Sakamichi no Apollon continues with a double date featuring new hotness Yurika. Unfortunately, the couples do not match up neatly, and we are faced with a love square. Ritsuko likes Sentarou, but Sentarou likes Yurika, and Kaoru likes Ritsuko. It’s not clear if Yurika likes anyone at this point.

The boys get in an argument because Sentarou is hurting Ritsuko by being flirty with the new girl. This sorta backfires on Kaoru since Ritsuko thinks he’s jealous. But in a surprising move, Kaoru confesses his like for Ritsuko, so it’s up to her to accept or reject him.

In other news, the two dudes have a jam session on “But Not For Me,” which is quite appropriate for their current situation. Kaoru confesses to Ritsuko with “Someday My Prince Will Come,” but apparently didn’t do a good enough job (next time, seal the deal with “My Funny Valentine“)!

I’m digging the quick plot progression of this series so far. Hopefully they will keep the jazz flowing and the drama going.

Sakamichi no Apollon Eps 1-2

Published by Hung on April 24, 2012 in Anime, Episodic and First Impressions. 0 Comments Tags: .

I heard this anime was about jazz, so I couldn’t really pass it up. As a music (and especially jazz) nerd, I was very interested in seeing what this show is about. Turns out it’s a period piece (probably late 50s, early 60s?). This makes sense, as most kids in Japan today are probably not going to be into jazz.

The story follows a high school kid (Nishimi) who migrates from school to school and never really develops any lasting friendships. He develops a crush on the class president (Ritsuko) and finds a friend in the class trouble-maker (Sentarou). There’s a weird love triangle going on since the two aforementioned characters are childhood friends.

Anyway, the plot is really about how Nishimi learns to make friends through music. He’s classically trained as a pianist, but this doesn’t fly with Sentarou, who has a jazz-only rule. Nishimi manages to play the opening line to Moanin’ (the Art Blakey one, not the Mingus version) super square, thus eradicating his jazz cred. Nishimi then buys the record and plays along (which is what any self respecting jazz learner would do).

Eventually he catches his break and gets invited to a jam session where he does a (probably too) good job of sitting in, having probably never heard Bag’s Groove before (though it does just follow a simple blues form anyway). You don’t really go from super square to comping like that in a day. Though he actually did a pretty bad job of comping when he threw up embellishments all over Jun-bro’s trumpet solo. Know your place, dude! But I digress…

Later on, they go to a beach and Ritsuko wears a one piece bathing suit. But who cares! Let’s hear some jazz! Oh, and Nishimi judges both of his friends for being Christians (though from the sound of it they seem to be part of a cult or something). Also, Sentarou falls in love with some broad, so maybe the love triangle will be broken soon.

Episode 2 Beach episode? Let the fanservice continue!

So far the selection of music has been good. Hopefully they continue to have music segments so I can try and show off by naming songs. Okay! I think I’ve found my anime for this season! Also, random thought: Why are the OP and ED not jazz? I can understand the desire to sell singles, but still, come on, the show is about jazz! Music picker, you had one job!

(Also, if anyone wants to start an anime/jazz fan jam band, I’m up for it if you need a trumpeter)

Ano Natsu de Matteru – 05

Published by Hung on February 11, 2012 in Anime and Episodic. 2 Comments Tags: .

So of course the all knowing Remon-senpai knows exactly how to manipulate all of the characters for maximum enjoyment on the set of the movie. She puts Ichika in the role of crash-landed alien who needs a place to stay… Meanwhile, the love polygon is in full swing as Tetsuro encourages Kanna to go for Kaito while he simultaneously wishes he was with her. And the useless girl (Mio) is still sort of just useless for the most part. All in all, an enjoyable episode.

One thing I’ve been wondering is what time period this anime is set in. I sort of assumed it was some time in the 70s or 80s since Kaito’s camera seems very old school. In this episode, Ichika mentioned that the camera seemed old and Kaito explained that it was his grandfather’s. So I think this pushes the timeframe forward a bit.

I saw a cd player in one scene, so maybe they’re in the mid 90′s. None of the characters seem to have a cell phone, and there’s rampant landline usage, so I’m guessing 90′s is a good call. Given the natsukashii nature of the series, I think it’s cool that it’s not set in the current time period.

State of the art

Amagami SS Plus – 04

Published by Hung on February 3, 2012 in Anime and Episodic. 1 Comment Tags: .

I used to be a high school student like you, then I took a sparkler to the nii-nii.

I just finished Rihoko’s arc in Amagami SS Plus and I’m pretty happy with the results. Junichi (Juiichi?) finally manned the fuck up and told Rihoko how he felt (though it was after he overheard her confession, so I guess that kind of nullifies any manliness). My main issue with the way he did it (and my main gripe about the series in general) is that he told her that he’s always loved her, and just realized it now. And he’s gonna be with her forever, blah blah blah.

Assuming the alternate universes in this world do not diverge too much, then Junichi is simultaneously in love with Rihoko and other girls! Of course, that’s possible but it kind of ruins the romance if you think about it too hard. Junichi should just make less blanket statements and be a little more realistic. He is a manwhore, after all.

Oh, and the next arc is the swimmer girl, Ai. I can’t even remember what happened in her original arc. Some kind of little brother issue? Or a dog issue? Beats me. This one will probably be boring as heck.

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