Anime

Review: Hitorijime My Hero (anime)

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

I started this 12-episode show while pet-sitting for my parents and just finished it last night (before leaving to pet-sit for someone else). It’s based on a Japanese yaoi manga series, but this will just be looking at the anime. Because of the lack of sexual content, I’d place this more as a “boy’s love” story or just plain ol’ romance.

Overall this was a sweet/cute story following four guys (two couples) along with their friends. It was an interesting watch, but it didn’t entice me into “just one more episode” until the last four. Part of this is because while the couples aren’t already established as we start, there is a certain sense of “finding” a relationship that was already there, which removed a lot of the emotional build-up between the characters. (Also the first episode confused me as one character’s hair color changes with a time skip and I mistook him as someone else.)

I will warn that the one couple includes a guy who is in first year HS (roughly 16, I believe) who ends up with a teacher (his friend’s older brother). I’m guessing the age gap is 10 years, which in itself is reasonable but at that age can be problematic for viewers. However, the anime does a good job of handling the age gap problems (as well as addressing student-teacher issues*) and their relationship is sweet rather than sexual, as far as we see.

I hope this show is an indication that more yaoi is moving away from the horrific tropes that make up this genre–while it does include many of the traditional motifs of earlier yaoi, it avoids making the relationships entirely physical; there’s no on-screen sex, if they are having sex at all; and while seme/uke visual tropes might be invoked, there is a stronger sense of actually having consent…which yaoi often ignores. There are a few scenes which are callbacks to the time before consent, but overall it’s much improved from…well, pretty much anything from the ’90s and early 2000s.

If you’re a fan of the genre in general, this is worth a watch as long as you don’t go in expecting the reluctant uke and the domineering(/rapey) seme. The dramas are cute, although very low-key; the final arc hit my emotional notes especially, although your mileage may very. There’s a sprinkling of humor mixed in, the dub was well done, and the art for the most part was enjoyable.

While it didn’t blow me away, I can definitely see myself watching this when I want a sweet relaxing show to play in the background.

* The show brings up the student-teacher issue and has it as a dramatic point, although I’m not sure it really resolves it satisfactorily – unless the last few scenes imply something I missed.

Taking a Breather

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

It’s been a long, long while since I had a really relaxing weekend (where I relaxed rather than slipped into a unproductive puddle). This weekend was one of those weekends. I’m still flipping out about the writing funk, but I’m using the time to do things rather than obsessive over it too much.

  1. As mentioned prior, I’m re-reading Sunshine by Robin McKinley. It’s been a while since I read for pleasure and actually found the reading to be an intense pleasure. I had begun wondering if I’d lost enjoyment of reading. This has reminded me that maybe I do still love it but I’m not picking books that really grab me.
  2. I watched a ton of anime (only 2-4 episodes of each, which is how I consume most things)
    – Yakitate!! Japan – This show is very much a precursor to the more modern Food Wars, and it suffers a little from me having already seen Food Wars and the humor being dated. It’s sub-only, and really slow, but kind of enjoyable if you just go with the flow.
    – Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing – I probably should have rewatched the first series, but this does stand alone. I generally don’t like anime with a ton of young girls, but this handles it well, has them be strong and mostly not annoying, and while slow-moving, it’s involving politics and war, so is fitting (and matches the first series in this).
    – Magical Girl Raising Project – I’m really enjoying this, although before recommending it, I’d warn that it’s dark! Viewers of Madoka Magica will probably find this a natural fit, although I’m enjoying this more, as the writing feels tighter and the characters more enjoyable/relatable to me (possible because we get more variety).
    – Spice and Wolf – I’m not particularly in love with this show, although I’m only two episodes in. It doesn’t fall into the “naked wolf girl” problem (thankfully), but it does suffer heavily from talking head syndrome (which is a neat trick in a visual medium!). I think my issue is that the guy is okay and the goddess is on the other side of okay, so I’m not really engaged in them, so their talking heads are boring and talking at me rather than inviting me to contemplate with them.
  3. It’s really expensive to have 1 niece and 2 nephews with the same birthday and then an honorary nephew born the day after (5 years later). I got a lot of shopping done. My wallet wept 😀 (And that had nothing to do with the oh this yarn is on sale, I swear).
  4. A good chunk of my weekend was spent reading the Changeling: The Dreaming core book and plotting. And then replotting. Painting stones. Rereading that one section. Wondering if I actually know how to play games at all, really.

I’ll get back to editing and writing in serious form soon enough, I hope, but this was a much-needed break from reality, where I got in touch with my roots.

My Roommate Is a Cat – review

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

If you love cats, this will probably suit your viewing pleasure. The 12-episode anime is delightfully mellow, and yet surprisingly heart-wrenching at times. It follows 23-year-old introverted mystery writer Subaru and his accidental adoption of stray Haru, a tuxedo cat. As the two bond and learn to live with each other, both are forced to re-assess their lives and face new experiences, which leads to change and growth.

While I wouldn’t really consider this a show with spoilers, consider this your spoiler warning.

Since this anime follows the experiences (and hijinks) of an introvert and his cat, it’s about as action-packed as you’d expect. If that’s not your type of show, then this won’t be either. However, if you’re looking for something where you can chuckle, coo over things, and experience Subaru and Haru’s slice-of-life adventures, then this is worth checking out. (Available on Funimation’s and Crunchyroll’s sites.)

We spend roughly half to three-quarters of our time in Subaru’s perspective, as he’s forced to go out in public in order to provide for his cat (the show mostly ignores the internet being a thing and next-day delivery resolving a lot of Subaru’s problems). The rest of the time is from Haru’s perspective, in which we get to see why the cat does what she does, and how she’s experiencing what might seem harmless from the human perspective.

The show is full of super nice people being nice to each other, but it was never so saccharine sweet that it turned me off. Rather it just showed the best parts of humanity. It’s uplifting in that regard.

One of my favorite things is that the story doesn’t have any romantic plots. He has guy friends and girl friends and aside from one moment where a brother things he has foul intentions with his sister, it doesn’t even come up. Oh, there is lots of room to ship couples, but it’s not in the show itself.

My one concern going in was Subaru’s personality. He’s introverted, and they point out the very reasonable problems with this and what it takes for him to go out in public. They also present it as a natural part of his personality (he’s been like this since he was a kid), although it’s possibly his natural aversion to being around people (especially large groups) as led to a more extreme isolation. As I watched, I worried that they would “fix him” and make him no longer introverted. Of course, that would be a problem.

However, the show seems to toe the line without going too far. While Subaru in some ways does “get better,” much of it is in things that improve his life and that he does enjoy. He’s still rather shy and he’s definitely introverted, but through his cat, he’s been forced to face people – and he found it’s okay in small doses with those he likes, as long as he has his support system.

What I really love is how the show expresses his support system. His friends (and editor and neighbor) all recognize he’s an introverted isolationist, and while they might make a few teasing remarks about it, they are generally accepting. He’s introverted, and that’s okay. When he does venture out to the grocery store and becomes overwhelmed, his friend (who just happens to show up) helps him through it without begrudging him. His editor is not surprised when Subaru rejects a public signing, and doesn’t pressure him – just presents the idea and all the benefits. When Subaru later agrees, the editor is right there beside him, making sure he doesn’t overextend himself, and talking him through his panic.

Overall, I’d recommend people checking this out, especially if want to watch something to settle your nerves or that doesn’t require too much thought and won’t be emotionally taxing. Warning: his parents have just died in the first episode, and some of the show and much of the ending revolves around realizations and coming to terms with their deaths and his feelings about that.

You’ll probably like this anime if you enjoyed: Tanaka-kun Is Always Restless, Mushi-shi, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun.

Weekend Worrier

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

Saturday dawned overcast and wet, and with plans to paint all day, I sighed and got down to writing.

Word count in, I headed off at 9am to the communal riding arena, where my 4-H club had already power-washed the jumps earlier in the week and left them to dry. For today, we painted.

And in case you don’t know how much work there was….

And some of it you can’t see, tucked in the corner. Five adults, five kids (and a few stragglers), and five hours’ work and one break for pizza, but we accomplished our goal. Eventually the sun came out, not that we really got to see it.

I got home by five, utterly exhausted. I woke up on Sunday similarly exhausted, with my body pointing out it wasn’t used to certain things (kneeling on cement and lugging heavy coops). My body laughed at the idea of writing, so I spent the day slipping into depression and watching TV.

But unlike my umpteenth watch of GBBO, I watched new stuff! Two new episodes of Fruits Basket (2019) and six episodes of My Roommate is a Cat.

For the unfamiliar, Fruits Basket was originally released in 2001….before the manga had finished. The new anime is following the manga more faithfully, although the beginning is pretty much the same as previously. If you’re new the to show, it’s worth a watch, although it’s not without problems (I abhor Kagura’s opening episode at least) and parts feel a bit dated because of the source material.

If you’re familiar with the original but haven’t picked up the new stuff, then I’d recommend holding off until you can watch chunks at a time. Much of the beginning feels repetitious since it’s the same material with only a few new bits sprinkled in (or at least more obvious).

My Roommate is a Cat is an excellent anime if you want to watch something cute and sweet and low-key. Say if you’ve slipped into a depressive funk and can’t bear the idea of emotions. (CW: story opens with parental death, later episodes have flashback cat deaths.)

The story focuses on an extreme introvert author who is being forced to interact with the real world. While his aversion to people is being “fixed” to an extent, it’s also done in such a way that I found positive – as in, being an introvert is fine and part of who he is, but he took it too far and needs to find balance in his life.

It also touches upon found/chosen family, facing things that are difficult, and learning to do things for those you love. The episodes spend half the time in the human’s POV and half the time in the cat’s POV.

I still have two episodes left, but I’d recommend it as a nice slice-of-life story with an overall positive feel to it.

A Surprise Day Off

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

After a delightful day spent with my family yesterday, my plans to join my mother on a trip to visit my grandmother were thwarted by a very grumpy stomach. (And since it woke me in the middle of the night for over an hour, that led to a very grumpy Alex as well.) I would have been okay if I was just slee-deprived this morning, but the grumbles continue, and so I have an unexpected free day (with only a small helping of guilt!).

So I’ll be spending it writing for Nano (hoping to make a big dent in it), sipping tea, and knitting. ….Like pretty much every other day, I guess 🙂

I’ll also be using it to catch up on some of my anime viewing, so I figured I’d share the shows that I’m watching this season! (I watch all shows on CrunchyRoll.com, which is free (with advertisements and a week delay, or only $6 a month for simulcast.)

Yuri!!! on Ice – You MIGHT have heard of this one. It’s taking the internet by storm as a canon gay pairing. It could be easily said to be “cute guys ice skating” but it’s about so much more. It’s about love, self-confidence, familial and friend support, and overcoming obstacles, whether they are your competitors or yourself. The ice skating sequences are carefully and well-done, it mixes just enough humor with seriousness, and it has the internet on the edge of their seats to see where this is going!

Nanbaka – This is a ridiculous comedy show about a special prison where the most troublesome inmates (like those that constantly escape from other prisons) are sent. It’s bright, colorful, and goofy (though it does seem to have a vague plot it’s heading for). The character designs are delightfully ridiculous in appearance, behavior, and weird ‘powers’. This is a popcorn show, through and through, but never really presents itself as anything different. Familiarity with Japanese humor/anime probably helps, not because there are cultural references, but just to help understand what the joke is that they’re making as they reference back to other shows, etc.

Trickster – Mysterious boy who can’t be harmed (for mysterious reasons) and just wants to die, and his new friend who won’t leave him alone and promises to find a way to kill him. Oh, and they’re part of a detective agency. I can’t really recommend this one, but I also can’t seem to stop watching it….

All Out! – If you like closeups of bulging muscles, firm butts, and (did I mention) bulging muscles, you’ll enjoy the visuals here. This show is about a HS Japanes rugby team in a small school and it follows the first years who join this year. The tone of the show is “guys being dudes” (they are rugby players, after all) and it sometimes leaves me wondering why I’m still watching, but I am still watching. The characters can be grating, but they also exhibit character growth that keeps me wondering what’s going to happen next week.

Kiss Him, Not Me – All about a chubby fujoshi (term for a woman who loves yaoi/slash/m-m pairings) who suddenly becomes slim (and thus attractive to all the boys), the premise is weak, but the show is spectacular. Having a basic understanding of fujoshi culture helps a lot, but if you’ve got that, this show is hilarious and sweet at the same time. Now that she’s pretty, the boys want her, but she just wants to see them all hook up with each other. Bonus: She also has a female love interest/option who is a fellow fujoshi.

Touken Ranbu – The basis of this show is that famous historical (Japanese) swords have been turned into humans in order to fight this group of monsters that keeps appearing throughout history to try to disrupt historical events (for reasons unknown). But the amount of time spent with the human!swords fighting the monsters is limited. Most of the time it’s just a slice of life anime about a variety of cute boys all living. In this compound together and the mischief they get up to (sometimes because they don’t understand human things, sometimes just because). The visuals are great here, but if you don’t like pointless slice of life, you probably won’t enjoy it.

That’s it. Hope you maybe found something that caught your eye! I realize anime isn’t for everyone, but as this list shows, the variety of options is really extensive. There’s something for everyone (and it’s definitely not kids’ cartoons!).