Shelf Life

Blue Monday

If you happen to be an aspiring animator or artist, you really ought to check out Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers). The background painting and color work in this series are practically feature film quality. Even if you're not interested in the yuri storyline, you should watch the first episode to see just how well the animation team blended a CG train into fantastic watercolor 2D backgrounds. Throughout the series, the effects artists sprinkled in a delightful through-the-trees lighting effect. This series is way too pretty for TV.

Aoi Hana's designs look a lot like Only Yesterday. What, you've never seen Omohide Poro Poro? Could it be that Disney has not freaking released an R1 of Takahata's finest work? It's a damn shame! (Here's how to get it.) Aoi Hana boasts similar watercolors and realistic character designs to the 1991 feature.

Moving on to the actual subject matter.

Last week I reviewed Sasameki Koto, a yuri series several forum-goers recommended. In response to that review, several people recommended Aoi Hana, saying Sasameki Koto is beer and Aoi Hana is wine. It was an apt comparison. I'm a fan of $20 and under wines, and I have to say that Aoi Hana is in the $35 bottle range. Sentai Filmworks should take note of the number of people in the thread who said they would buy Aoi Hana.

Fumi is a tall and awkward high school freshman and crybaby. Her best friend from elementary school, Akira (nicknamed Achan) moves back to town for high school. The two girls commute to school together, although they attend two different idealistic all-girl schools atop a pretty hill. At first, I was worried, because the whole moving-back-to-town has been done to death (Love Hina, Futakoi, Kanon), and the girls-school-on-a-hill thing is already a yuri cliche‚ (Strawberry Panic!). But hold the phone... Aoi Hana does it right! There may be some anime cliches, but they never feel worn out. And that's what good entertainment does; it makes the old Joseph Campbell Hero's Journey feel new all over again.

Fumi is pursued by the Takarazuka-pretty Yasuko, a popular upperclassman. This is a little jarring because in the opening credits, it clearly looks like Achan and Fumi are together as a couple. The handsome Yasuko, like a future Takarazuka starlet, plays Heathcliff in a school production of Wuthering Heights.

It's hard to say much without spoilers, but I will say, spoiler-free, that Fumi goes through a great character arc. She starts off a hugely passive, ultra-feminine cliche, but by the end of the series, Fumi shakes the crybaby attitude and grows some self-esteem and self-respect.

Aoi Hana gets points in my book for including very realistically awkward scenes that are true to high school life. How else can you explain a double date with your ex-girlfriend and someone's older brother? Or indeed, a date that ends in coming out to one's family followed by a break-up? (Worst Date Ever, by the way.) Only high school students could be so tactless.

Bizarrely, the last episode never answers the question that the opening credits pose. I wonder if the manga continues the storyline. [TOP]

Somewhere between Full Metal Alchemist and Baccano! (with Read or Die character designs), you'll find The Book of Bantorra. Based on a light novel series, this show has a lot of great world building, great character design, and some nice animation to boot.

I mentioned Joseph Campbell earlier; Bantorra, like Record of the Lodoss Wars, has a world creation myth. In the beginning, the gods lived in harmony. At some point, they departed, leaving behind humans to guard the sacred libraries. I was disappointed in Library Wars, so I was happy enough to watch the Armed Librarians of Bantorra. (Armed Librarians?! "You had me at hello.") The Armed Librarians must be strong enough to battle the sacred monsters in the labyrinths guarding the books, in some kind of brilliant cross between Dungeons & Dragons and Eco's The Name of the Rose.

Well, almost. Unfortunately, the "books" in this case are not paper-bound, but stone slates formed from the souls of dead humans. You "read" them by touching them. I'm sure this conceit works better in light novels; in the anime we're treated to flashbacks upon book-touching. I found this bizarrely like an old Dr. Katz joke. One of the patients asks if the receptionist, Laura, has any magazines to read in the waiting room. "I have these patient files you can read," Laura says in her deadpan way. "Here, this one is pretty good."

The Armed Librarians are at odds with The Church of Drowning in God's Grace. In this strange religion, people are classified as either True Men or lowly "Meats." Unfortunately, the Meats are being turned into suicide bombers (relevant!). True Men are apparently self-actualized, with some other philosophical considerations. It's all pretty deep, with the added bonus of reasonable cleavage on the Librarians.

Key character Hamutz Meseta is busty, carries an Indiana Jones bullwhip, and has a voice like Major Kusanagi (Romi Park is also the voice of Edward Elric). She's the Acting Director, a tough-as-nails fighter who the bad guys are all trying to assassinate. Let the record show that I'm willing to accept unrealistic D-cups on any character who kicks quite so much ass. In fact, for the love of one really good character, I'm willing to let other, lamer characters slide. I'm not particularly impressed by Nolty, a naive rookie librarian who looks like a cross between Rikku from Final Fantasy and Yoruichi Shihoin from Bleach.

Because I've only watched six episodes so far, I have a lot of questions. First, who is checking out these "books"? How long does it take to read them? Furthermore, how did I miss this last season? Why haven't I seen more Hamutz cosplayers? Has Shigeki Maeshima designed any other characters?

So far, this show kicks ass.[TOP]