Shelf Life

Quantum of Solace

Our high school boy protagonist Junichi is still smarting after being stood up on a Christmas Eve date two years ago when he falls for Haruka, a hyperactive upperclassman. Junichi gets points in my book for asking Haruka out by the end of the first episode. After so many series where the protagonist just wants to be friends with a group of girls, it's refreshing to see romance progress so quickly.

Junichi also gets high marks for not being a blank slate. He uses some creative thinking to seduce Haruka. In the next arc, he manages to provide his date with sincere emotional support while she's going through a tough time at home. I also liked that the girls weren't 100% archetypes (rather, they were 75% archetype and 25% attempts at characterization).

Amagami SS is also easy on the eyes. I'm not sure if Kisai Takayama is a brilliant character designer, or if it was Hiroaki Gohda who made all the girls look great. These are some of the best “anime eyes” I've seen in years. The girls' eyes are exceptionally expressive. It's as if you can tell these are (relatively) intelligent, mischievous girls just by looking into their eyes (Haruka and childhood friend Kaoru, anyway). The school uniforms manage to look elegant, despite their realistic designs and understated colors. With the exception of Haruka, most of the girls even have realistic hair colors and haircuts compared to other anime series.

Some of the dating scenarios and relationship moments are also very realistic, which actually made the more game-like moments feel bizarre. Early on, Junichi guides Haruka to a shack just beyond the school's property during lunchtime. I was suddenly launched out of an almost-real romance and thrust squarely into the end stage of a game. Honestly, what is this shack? It's not an equipment shed… it's not clear what it's there for at all! If such a shed existed just beyond a real school (through a hole in a fence) wouldn't it be the make-out spot for the entire school? It seems that somehow only Junichi knows the place. Then in one shot, Haruka appears off-center in what looks like framing taken directly from the game. In my mind's eye, I could almost see conversation choices popping up on the bottom of the screen.

Further ruining the moment, Junichi decides to kiss the back of Haruka's knee because “that's what a dog would do”. He also barks at her. This was a sweet story about two nice teens in love, but suddenly the dynamics switch to some freaky hentai-like thing. What gives?! The second story, starring my favorite girl Kaoru, was (mostly) free from such creepy moments.

Despite one or two more hentai-game-like moments Amagami SS is surprisingly easy watching. I was continually worried that Junichi might date his doting little sister in another arc (perhaps it's a secret unlockable extra?) but according to Theron Martin's reviews my fears aren't realized in the anime series.

I wouldn't loan this to friends who weren't already familiar with dating game tropes. The animation is surprisingly high quality, especially in the reoccurring “White Christmas” scenes in the first two arcs.[TOP]

Anyway, I saw some .hack//SIGN on Cartoon Network back in the day, and I think I got the gist of it. I never saw a conclusion to that series, and I heard an internet rumor that you'd have to play the related game to see the ending. I prefer my media-mix titles to stand alone a little more than that. In that respect, .hack//Quantum at least stands alone fairly well.

Protagonist Sakuya's high school life more or less hinges around playing “The World,” the MMORPG .hack is based around. Alarmingly, Sakuya doesn't have real plans for college or anything beyond continuing to play The World. Plus, she's the Leeroy Jenkins of her party, and her habit of picking up random objects gets her teammates in trouble. The other members of the group are Tobias, an elegant knight in the game who dresses like a slob in real life, and Mary, who wasn't a gamer, but learned how to play on Sakuya's insistence.

It is ironic, then, that Mary is the character who falls into a mysterious coma in real life. Sakuya feels super bad about it, and she and Tobias work in game and out to solve the mystery of gaming-related comas and why players are being transferred to a hospital owned by the same company that owns the game.

Maybe this would be a better plot if it weren't the plot of every iteration of .hack. The believability is lacking, I mean, doesn't this take place several years after the original series? Why is anyone still playing this dangerous game that's so easily hack-able? Why aren't there more lawsuits against the Cyberconnect Corporation?

The core story of this OVA works, and we learn the “villain's” motives and powers clearly enough. However, individual scenes just don't hold together well. Especially in the last episode… I'm not sure what the raid or the giant gun have to do with stopping the bad guy. Characters move from place to place, but I have a hard time telling why. That's poor direction and/or poor writing, even if my confusion comes from a lack of experience with the rest of the .hack franchise.

Fortunately, it's well-animated. Despite my quibbles about the CG, this OVA is miles beyond the animation quality of .hack//SIGN, which is now ten years old, and I'm sure was limited to a stingy TV budget.

I found the characters very charming, and I would've like to spend more time with them, going on raids. It's almost a shame that the OVA is so short. The only character I didn't care for was Shamrock, a sort-of-FBI-like agent investigating the same mystery. In game, she's a 10-year-old gothic Lolita, but out of game she's a voluptuous office lady. I didn't care for her hollow characterization, but I liked Stephanie Young playing her in the dub.

If a single thing stood out about this OVA, I think it was the way hot springs were seamlessly incorporated into the plot. The girls live in Aomori, and it's established early on that they sometimes chat in an outdoor bath. The story takes place in winter, and the snow is beautifully rendered. At the end, it snows on the characters in the hot spring, and it looks incredibly pleasant. Rather than being annoyed at yet another perfunctory opportunity to gaze at anime protagonists in the nude, I was filled with a sublime longing to return to Aomori (I went once, on vacation) and visit some hot springs myself.[TOP]