HellKorn's Anime

so moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe i'm an ironic masochist moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe moe

Fuck that.

I question the self-awareness of people who unabashedly enjoy this show.

Otaku who clamor for the ill-defined concept of moe are doing pretty well these days -- not that they've shed their social stigma, or anything like that. No, part of that fandom is kept alive largely because of two reasons: 1) Their unshakable will to focus their income on doujinshi, anime DVDs, games and related paraphernalia instead of cars, booze and women. 2) The fact that, like all successful business, The Powers That Be are acutely aware of their audience's spending habits and will milk them until their utters fall off. Lucky Star is arguably the pinnacle of such ventures in the modern age of Japanese animation, so unabashedly moé that the hardened cynics among us might imagine the creators walking about their studio with a subtle, placate smile on their lips as DVD sales for their latest release are announced.

However, this is not to say that those who do not fall within the spectrum of otaku cannot and should not enjoy such a series; indeed, entertainment is in the eye of the beholder. Yet, while there have been astonishing bursts of creativity in Japanese animation over the past decade, it's somewhat distressing to know that such a murky, socially-inept phenomenon has taken such a stranglehold that it can be condensed to its most rudimentary form and eaten up faster than a fat boy alone in the kitchen with a cake.

Like Giant Robo, except padded out and less insane. I appreciate Imagawa's efforts to avoid the conventional filler by packing in all of the essential characters and the story's mythos in the first battle, but this also creates a lack of dynamics by drawing out the situation as much as possible. Also doesn't help that it doesn't have the budget to support Imagawa's vision as Giant Robo did.

Sometimes it evokes the better episodes of Samurai Champloo where things just go completely bonkers, and episode seven has one of the most satisfyingly mature depicts of romance that one can come across in anime. Yet it falls victim to one of its strengths that the aforementioned show does not have: juggling a more visibly on-going narrative. The writing becomes hit-or-miss because of this, occasionally becoming downright trite and dull, such as in episode nine. Set against a satisfyingly researched setting, the stories don't offer much that has been done before, or even try to distinguish themselves with respect to the old clichès like Cowboy Bebop does.

Shame, because Sayo Yamamoto is a talented director; she just needs a more creative and consistent script backing her.

This is just like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex if you think that series is has a cast of anime clichés with no sense of human nuances, along with stilted animation and bad accents. Oh, yeah, and superpowers with "drawbacks" that are only red herrings for overly contrived suspense.

I'm fine with melodrama done right, but this is beyond cartoonish. Everyone's one-dimensional, defined as recipients of pain or supporters of it. The Evil Ones are all unattractive in some form. JOYOUS MUSIC plays when the characters attempt to look out for each other. EMOTIONAL MOMENTS are made sure to be captured in freeze frames. The score translates between okay and maudlin as all fuck.

Tragedy porn, in other words.

Well, Shangri-La has some nice backgrounds, at least.

But, damn, you can really tell this is the director's debut. Lot of very awkward editing and compositionally dull scenes. Even the action scenes are hit-or-miss.

Doesn't help when the story isn't any better. Two lolis with pandering, loud voices (no, Hojo is not 18, and no amount of "b-but the youth of Asian women" is going to say otherwise)? Check. Stereotyped transvestite? Check. Outrageous hair style and colors (seriously, what the hell is with that commander?)? Check. The Evil Character introduced by Evil Music as she does Evil Things with Evil Make-Up on a generic Evil Expression that the director cuts to because we must know that she's an Evil Leader? Check. Exposition about a ludicrous concept poorly shoe-horned in? Check. Another one of countless, failed attempts for an anime to attempt to balance playfulness and a Serious Plot with Serious Themes? Check.

And then we get the soldiers running away from the stereotyped transvestite instead of shooting him, because, well, you cannot have competent soldiers actually killing a main character. And I'm not even starting on the fucking boomerang.

Not that Gonzo has made anything that I've given a damn about in over a half-decade, but I sort of deluded myself that they would succeed here with Shangri-La. I just give up.

While still falling into tired genre conventions too much for my taste, it's far, far more entertaining than a cynic might think.