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Hey, Answerman! [2008-04-25]

I really need to rewatch the anime, but I still don't remember Matthew even appearing in the anime. Maybe they did explain a little bit of how it happened. Still, my issue with the epilogue is more the portrayal of Suguru and the complete shaft of almost all of the side characters.

It's been awhile since I watched that series, but I thought it was a bad turn, and something that creeps up quite a bit in anime.

[food-related analogy]

That's the issue with shows like 'Mahoromatic', there's no 'organic' consistency. Of course stories don't always have to stay on one emotional setting, but at the same time the changes/currents have to realistically be 'woven' into the setting. Shows like 'Mahoromatic' give the viewer pure comedy/light-heartedness through every fiber and build certain expectations, then almost schizophrenically change in tone and direction. If you wish to be very literal, yes, things in life certainly change emotionally, but works of fiction are crafted, and people build expectations from what story threads they are given. Some shows (like a Cowboy Bebop) mix humor with pathos consistently in it's story threads; the viewer may be sad, but their not surprised by an ending. A 'Mahoromatic', to double back on my analogy, gives the viewer strawberries, and then pours on vinegar. There two fine ingredients, but that's not how you use them.

Quote:

Honestly, I don't think saveouranime.com are going to have any impact at all.

Giving the honorless anime "fan" an excuse to remain honorless and not buy the anime titles they like. What a neat idea, Answerman.

In fact, that idea is so great that it worked well in Europe. "Essentially NO market in anime whatsoever."

I'm surprised. Really. The lack of backbone here and there...

I wasn't paying attention and nearly broke my left arm. It was painful as hell. I wonder if you'd feel the same pain after saying that.

nargun wrote:

Paludis wrote: Why does everyone hate Eva's ending so much? Sure the ending to the TV series by itself sucked badly, but we have EoE, and I think it's a great ending to the series. Maybe it's because I watched EoE before the TV end that I don't have these traumatic memories of the TV end, but now I actually quite enjoy watching both endings, for different perspectives on the show. In most cases, it's because they didn't want their precious mecha genre to be deconstructed.

Or because A: It's largely animated in crayon, B: It ignores all of the characters conflict resolutions besides Shinji's and C: It doesn't do anything to explain what is going on at ALL (don't say it was intentional, Anno ran out of money). Talking about the TV end of course, EoE is a different beast, and probably not what most people refer to when saying the shows' ending sucked.

I've bolded the point where your interpretation falters, as while Mahoromatic was primarily light-hearted comedy for much of its run, it was never purely light-hearted or comedy - and that makes all the difference. I have often described the series as having "an underlying sadness and sobering sense of inevitability" despite its normally cheery disposition, and that can particularly be seen in the "Mahoro stops functioning in xxx days" countdown at the end of each episode and in Mahoro's occasional comments about her purpose for being with Suguru. Thus the serious parts at the end of each series are just a natural outgrowth of what the series has been setting up all along rather than any "180 degree turn" or "pouring vinegar on strawberries."

I knew when I wrote my previous post the foreshadowing was going to come up, but stating this is a matter of taste and not 'right or wrong', the ending (to me) was still massively out of character with what the writer(s) had previously crafted. A viewer may have expected a bitter-sweet ending, but bitter-sweet in comparative measure to how most of the series ran. 'Mahoromatics' ending fits in a very dry, literal sense, but I think if you stuck a dozen people in a room and showed them the last few episodes and then asked them to describe what type of show got them to this point, they'd describe/expect anything but how the bulk of 'Mahoromatic' actually carried itself.

The issue of interpretation is a tough one to always see eye to eye on, or even accurately convey, but I feel folks can get hung up over explaining why something theoretically works/fits, rather then if the writer(s) blending the story effectively made it work. I understand how the pieces of 'Mahoromatic' can be used to emphasize a rather melancholy tale of belonging/humanity/sacrifice, but I don't think the series was put together with the proper 'framework' to either ready a viewer for the ending or effectively carry it off. In fact, I think 'Mahoromatic' is an egregious offender even given the usual 'series tone shift-GO!' antics of anime. Viewers may have expected some inevitable sadness, but the ending to a story that made it's mark with an underlying goodness ended with a bitter and resentful epilogue. Again, I understand the 'why' (literal explanation), but story's rise and fall on the 'how'; 'How did the story get you from point A to point B?' On this one the 'how' is with a massive, out-of-tone downer that doesn't track at all with the bulk of the series, even with a nod that the viewer could expect some bitter-sweet to the ending.

Summa summarum:

You, sir, are a troll.

Really, it sounds like your bigger issue is with tone changes in anime in general. Perhaps growing up on dramadies like M*A*S*H* is why they don't faze me at all.

abunai wrote:

Summa summarum: You, sir, are a troll.

Hey. It's not my fault that I'm a productive member of the outside world and you aren't.

Hey, I got a better idea: Send me $525 monthly for my rent and start buying me food. Then, maybe, your insults might sting a bit more.

Differing perspectives, I guess, as I don't agree in the slightest with the bold statements above. Setting the (as you put it) "'dry, literal sense" aside, the endings felt like part of natural, well-justified and well-developed progressions to me, and it's not in any way a betrayal of the earlier material, which is overtly humorous but somewhat tragic underneath rather than having an "underlying goodness." (Not sure how you can justify that statement given that one of the underlying plot devices is that spoiler[Mahoro sees being Suguru's maid partly as an act of atonement for having to kill his father and partly as a means to establish a place to call home before she (effectively) dies.])

The epilogue episode isn't purely "bitter and resentful," either. What about spoiler[the peace between Earth and SAINT which led to great developments]? What about the mentions of Minawa's status? And what about the closing scenes? (Yes, I know some people interpret that as a spoiler[dying delusion] but I don't buy that for a second.) There's enough positive content in that episode to save it.

And yes, I'm fully aware that my viewpoint on the last episode puts me in the minority. That doesn't mean I'm wrong, however.

Really, it sounds like your bigger issue is with tone changes in anime in general. Perhaps growing up on dramadies like M*A*S*H* is why they don't faze me at all.

Hey, I got a better idea: Send me $525 monthly for my rent and start buying me food. Then, maybe, your insults might sting a bit more.

I think probably the most disappointing anime ending I've ever seen was the ending of Ayashi no Ceres. I knew going in that it was going to be a mixed bag of happy/sad, and I was able to handle spoiler[Aki's death, because it had to happen]. The last four minutes totally threw me for a loop, though. I mean, having spoiler[Tooya admit that he's going to die soon and that he wants Yuhi to "take care of Aya" when he's dead] with like thirty seconds left to go? Why couldn't it just end with the happy?

*frustration*

Love the bunny picture. I love The Vision of Escaflowne, but the ending left something to be desired. We wait for 25 episodes for spoiler[Van and Hitomi to finally realize they love each other, and just as their about to kiss, the scren goes white. Oh and then Hitomi goes home.] I was so bummed. I was also bummed with the ending of the Twelve Kingdoms because it left so many unanswered questions. But thats because Fuyumi Ono hasn't released any more Twelve Kingdoms novels since 2001, and so the animators have no source materials. So I can't blame them for that.

The column seemed to go by quickly this week... Probably just me, since I found the titles that the Answerfans were writing about and only read the Fullmetal Alchemist one.

@SaveOurAnime: While a noble venture, I think it suffers from "too little, too late" and bringing nothing new to the table. Like Zac, I think it will be pretty ineffective. I guess I can give them a "good on" for trying to do something they feel strongly about but I think its a lost cause. Hopefully they'll never turn into the farce that Save Our Sailors (now showing my Internet age) became.