Forum - View topicBeing rather disjointed notes on KonoMini e.2
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CorneredAngel
 Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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It's becoming more and more obvious: if there is one thing that can be said about Hiroyuki Yamaga, it's that he does NOT believe in anime that fall neatly into just one genre. Konomini *looks* like a vaguely harem-ish romantic comedy...except it's also SF...except it's also a growing-up drama...except it's also him screwing around and putting in direct references to *at least* Lum, Onegai Teacher, Sailor Moon and Mahoromatic...just because he can; also, because he's a fanboy, because he knows the *viewers* will be fanboys...and in a way, because he is one of the first anime directors who does not want to reinvent the world, but rather, specifically wants his stories to be set in the "real" world...
And...well, whatever else can be said about this, Takeru is NOT your everyday anime character. That is, he is one of the very few anime characters out there who are very far from perfect; as was hinted at in the first epsidoe, transformation into...whatever the hell it is he transforms to...is, well, predicted. He was abandoned, and because of this, he will be selfish, and he will be destructive, whether out of vengeance or out of experience...Hikari may or may not need him, but *he* certainly needs her, wants her, and will do things, possibly very bad things, to keep her. The abandonment scenes: echoes of KareKano, and again it's obvious: Gainax treats their anime as films that merely happen to be animated, that is, the tools and tricks they turn to - for example, the way shadows and negative space are used - are strictly from the visual vocabulary of live-action cinematography. The shower scene between Hikari and Jennifer...well, leave it up to Gainax to throw in a fanboy's dream...and present it in such a way that you feel guilty *for* noticing that it's two naked women in a shower. And while we're at it, Jennifer as a character...well, Gainax doesn't even bother anymore, does it: the loud, uninhibited, hard-drinking beauty is basically now a private archetype: Misato, Haruko, Saori; even the mannerisms and the beer are the same. Except here, as with this entire series so far, there's more, there's *something* dangerous that is right there under the surface... Is it just me or does it feel like this is a series that is unspooling from the wrong end? - just the psychological revelations alone are the kind we usually only see around the midpoint of a series, if not later... Anyways, I'm usually big on cutting through to the heart of a series: it's either cheap disposable entertainment, extremely well-crafted entertainment, Art, or metaphor. Except here, well...it's honestly, I have no idea where this is going, how it'll get there, or exactly *what* it will turn out to be... And can't wait for the next episode. |
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Godaistudios
Posts: 2075 Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment) |
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Well, it's not just you. They seem to be going into the background a bit earlier than is the norm. But in all fairness, because of this, it has more focus on story than Mahoromatic had to begin with. I'm in complete agreement with you in the artistic styles used as well. It's as if Gainax is taking all the things they've learned over the years and finding ways of artistically implementing each one without overdoing it.
While the fanservice element is there, it is at least not quite as prevelant in Mahoromatic. Where as the former series had too much, which caused many fans the desire to abandon it, KonoMini seems to balance things out quite a bit better. It feels like there is an underlying tension here and as the story unfolds, I can't help but feel like some of the early psychological tones are merely a misdirection for something much bigger to completely hit you out of left field. And of course, the series leaves you just a little curious about what new little twist it's going to bring up next. I'm looking forward myself to seeing how the story develops. |
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