Anime: Love Tyrant (overview)

 

Content Warning: Girls kissing boys, boys kissing boys, girls stabbing boys, the dreaded love triangle (or is it a square?), a Yandere to the extreme, and a sadomasochist.

Oh, boy, this is a weird one. But you know it’s going to be a good one because we’ve got a crazy Japanese teenage girl with an unusual weapon. A kukri this time.

Hang on, let me rewind a bit. First, I found this show a year or so ago on Youtube, as CrunchyRoll was offering the first three episodes for free there, just to give you a taste. You know, like the drug dealers they are. Anyway, I thought I’d give it a watch, and I did, and I had a laugh. Now, I’ve had a chance to watch all 12 episodes, so let’s talk about the show in general.

Our story begins with Guri, a cupid that’s really a NEET, convincing Seiji to find a girl to kiss him. He kisses her, which isn’t what she wanted. You see, Guri has a “KISS NOTE” which is really a parody of the DEATH NOTE, except you need to kiss someone in 24 hours or then you die. Well, Guri dies and you are doomed to be a virgin the rest of your life. She’s lucky she ended up with a normal guy like Seiji, because asexual/aromantic people exist, Japan. Anyway. Seiji and Guri make their way to Seiji’s school and start spying on Seiji’s object of affection, Akane. Seiji has been watching Akane for some time but has never been able to say anything to her before. Seh notices them and starts running over, calling his name, her ample booba (as you kids say) swinging back and forth. Guri thinks that she can’t see her, so she pants her. Um, yeah, so, Akane CAN see Guri and then gives a Yandere face when Guri says that Seiji kissed her. Seriously, she’s terrifying, even before the Kukri come out. Even with her shorts around her ankles. Guri and Seiji run away, only to be tracked down by Akane and Guri gets a kukri in the back. However, Seiji has to ask, why you gotta be like this? Akane tells him that she’s been aware of him watching her and thought that he loved her, so she’s been waiting for him to say something to her. So, yeah, just a little bit crazy, but we do find out why later. In the end, Akane and Seiji kiss. And then Guri does her transformation sequence and we see that she really is an angel. And then she kisses Seiji again, because not only has she written Seiji and Akane’s names in her Kiss Note, she’s also written her own. Because she wants in on the crazy. Thankfully, this saves Seiji’s life when Akane starts stabbing him. Oh boy, this girl… Anyway, let’s wrap up this episode. Guri uses a device to make Seiji’s family think that she’s part of it and so now she lives with him. And we get introduced t Guri’s boss Coraly who takes over the family cat’s body and gives her a human face. So, that’s a thing. We get the hook of the series, that Guri has to work as cupid or she’ll become a demon, and since she’s joined with Akane and Seiji, she will literally drag their souls to hell with her if she does. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? But, wait, there’s more. We get introduced to the other part of our love square, Yuzu, who’s Akane’s half sister and desperately in love with her. God damn it, Japan… She’s a tiny little blond girl that is just a little weird, but very much in love with Akane. She steals the Kiss Note to write her name into it, joined with Akane, as she overheard how the thing works. Oh, and she can create a magical shield. And we find out that Akane isn’t exactly a normal human either. After witnessing the confession of love from Yuzu, Guri adds her name to the book and the whatever shape this is love-thing. And then Yuzu trips and ends up kissing Seiji to confirm her presence in the love-shape. Because funny!

From this point on, we get introduced to Aqua, Seiji’s younger sister, who has an older brother complex. No, not THAT Aqua, even if they both have blue hair. Aqua, thankfully, isn’t added to the harem but does pop up from time to time, and adds some depth to Seiji. There’s also a recurring villain that’s a penguin that has a sexual obsession with Aqua and we finally see her conquer her fear of him and beat the stuffing out of him.

Seiji also gets to meet Guri’s father, Kami-Sama, or God. That’s right, she’s the daughter of the Almighty. And half demon to boot! It’s why she has such trouble with love. Sure, she mostly plays around by having men fall in love with other men, using her Kiss Note (and later cell phone), but it’s that she understands love on an intellectual level, not an emotional level. And that’s what Seiji has to teach her. Really, I think Akane’s a better teacher, but then again, she is a tad… Obsessive.

As the episodes go on, we’re also introduced to Shikimi, who’s Akane’s cousin, and a true sadomasochist, as she enjoys giving and receiving pain. Like, she enjoys it sexually. She tries to take away, and then torture, Seiji but it doesn’t work out for her. When she tries to get added to the harem, Guri denies her because she “doesn’t have any love in her.” So, yeah, she’s a real piece of work. Later, she convinces Guri to hide from everyone and manipulates her into giving up. But more about that later.

We also get to learn more about Akane’s and Yuzu’s family history. You see, Akane comes from a family of assassins, which explains the Kukris, and we meet her mother. Akane’s mother fell in love with a man, but he left her for Yuzu’s mother, and Akane’s mom has never let go of it. She’s a stone cold bitch and tries to make Akane the same way, a loveless monster. But, the truth is, that Akane’s mom was still in love with Akane’s father, she just couldn’t express it. When she makes Akane go cold, Akane is even more terrifying than when she’s hot. But she really does love Seiji, in her own way. I will say that I like Akane, to a degree, because her love is sincere, she just doesn’t know how express it the right way because of her mom.

When it comes to Yuzu, she met Akane when they were children and it was the first time she felt love. Now, I’m not a fan of incest in my love triangles or romances, because that’s just not okay. However, I do genuinely understand that Yuzu can’t help but feel the way she does. And Akane rejects her completely, so there’s no confusion. However, I would hope that over time, Yuzu would be able to find love with someone else, that isn’t her sister. Also, she has a magical shield because she’s from a family that protects people. It actually makes a really good contrast between her and Akane, and is well done, in that one is from the family that slays, while the other is from a family that protects. It also shows how different their love is. She also starts to fall for Seiji, but I don’t know if it’s love or just working from hating to accepting him, with typical teenage confusion.

I’d love to talk more about how things go, but I think you should give this show a chance, if it sounds interesting to you. If you’re a fan of older harem or Magical Girlfriend anime, this is a love letter to it, so you’ll probably like it. If you’re not experienced with the genres, but you’d like to give them a try, this would be a good place to start. Each character has a personality and you get to understand them as things go on. Plus, it is about love, and how each person loves differently. Oh, and it’s pretty funny most of the time. It’s worth the watch.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Suggestion: That’s right folks, we have a Magical Girlfriend show. Back from the dead, the genre returns…

Anime: Domestic Girlfriend (overview)

 

Content Warning: Nudity, sexual activity between teens and adults, adultery, lies, slight transphobia, Yakuza, and “no Chromo” incest.

I know that I’m late to this party but I’m here now. And it was a wild ride. You see, like many of you out there, about three years ago, I saw Gigguk’s video about this show. I thought it sounded fun, thought about looking it up, but forgot about it. Thanks to a friend, I got Crunchyroll. And I looked this show up after remembering it. And, I’m not going to lie, this show broke my damn heart. Hold on to your butts, this is going to be a weird one.

Just a second. Before we get into this one, I want to explain that I’m not going to do an episode by episode breakdown of the show. Instead, I’m going to talk about the characters, their journeys through the show, and why this show made me cry. Also, this is going to be filled with spoilers, so I want you watch the show, and then come back and read this. It’s a 5 out of 5, okay? It’s only 12 episodes.

Our story starts by introducing us to the main male character, Natsuo, a high school student. He’s just slept with a girl he’s just met named Rui Tachibana, who just wanted to have sex just to try it, basically. After this, we get introduced to the girl that Natsuo really likes, one of his teachers named Hina. Next, we have the thing that makes this show what it is: The fact that Natsuo’s father is going to marry another woman (Natsuo’s mother died ten years ago), who turned out to be Hina and Rui’s mother. So, Rui and Hina are sisters. And Natsuo is going to be their step brother. Yeah. You think this would be the makings of a romantic comedy, but it’s really not. Sure, there’s going to be some things that make us laugh, but you’re probably going to cry more than laugh.

So, who is Natsuo? He’s an aspiring author (way to hook my interest), but a relatively normal teenage boy. He isn’t a terrible guy, from what we’ve seen. He has emotional depth, and empathy, but he’s very clearly a teenage boy. He isn’t a cardboard cutout, he seems nice enough, but aside from his desire to be a writer and his infatuation with Hina, there’s not a lot about him that I picked up on the show.

Let’s go to Hina next. She’s a new teacher and that clearly attracts the boys at school. She’s dismissive of all of them, but seems to show some affection for Natsuo. This is something I didn’t quite understand. While he’s not as crude as his two male friends, there’s nothing he real does besides being nice. Maybe that’s the thing that makes Hina like him. I don’t know. Anyway. Shortly after the show starts, we find out that Hina is dating a man who’s married to another woman. And when Rui finds out, she’s less than pleased. You see, Hina and Rui’s father cheated on their mom and left her for the other woman. Only happenstance allows Natsuo and Rui to find out that Hina is doing this. Now, Hina has a good reason for liking this older man, Shuu, as he was the one person who was nice to her when she was in high school, but he was a teacher. I get the sense that this was done to have Hina draw parallels between her feelings for him and Natsuo’s feelings for her, but that didn’t quite connect for me. For one thing, Hina didn’t get involved with the teacher until after she was in college, when they happened to run into each other (it’s later revealed that he had a crush on her when she was in high school but didn’t let it be know). The other thing is that Shuu was just trying to be a nice guy to her, as she turned up in his class room to each lunch, because she was accused of flirting with another girl’s love interest (behind her back, because teenage girls). There’s a totally different dynamic between Shuu’s actions as a teacher compared to hers. Shuu saw someone in a difficult time in their life who needed someone to be a friend and he stepped up. If he fell in love later, I can understand. When it comes to Hina’s friendliness to Nasuo, I don’t know what there is. There’s only two, maybe three times shown with them interacting in any significant way before they become surprise step siblings. However, once she commits to being with Natsuo, she commits hard. This is after she’s broken things off with Shuu, but also after she’s caught Natsuo and Rui kissing (don’t worry, we’ll get into it) and has moved into her own place. I think Hina just let herself get caught up in the emotion of love without thinking about it. Perhaps because she was the “other woman” or perhaps it was seeing so much of her teenage infatuation reflected in Natsuo’s for her, or maybe both, that let her lose herself in this love affair. And what does it cost her? Everything. You see, Natsuo and Hina hook up (for the first time, I think) during the school trip to Okinawa and a photographer catches them kissing in the background of a picture. This is found out by the school principal and she’s forced to transfer at the end of the term. She TELLS NOTHING TO NATSO about this, moves without telling him, changes phone numbers, calls her mother ONCE to let her know that she’s okay, and pretty much starts over. Without telling Natsuo. That’s the part that kills me. She got caught, took all the blame, and destroyed her whole life for his love for her, and then cuts him out of her life completely afterwards. And, because we see a ring he gave her in the final shot to the show, we KNOW THAT SHE STILL LOVES HIM. This, this right here, is what gutted me. Also, since I have spoilers for the manga, I know that it’s also an allusion to that ending. And it hurts even more.

Anyway, let’s talk about the best girl, Rui. Okay, there is no “best girl” in this series. All of these girls are complex and very human girls that are all equally good and deserve the best. Like Gigguk, I just wanted everyone to be happy. But you don’t show me a girl with short blue hair and red eyes and NOT want me to give her everything. And it doesn’t hurt that she reminds me of a lot of versions of Rei Ayanami in the various AU Evangelion stuff I’ve read, it terms of her personality. Rui is one of those characters that you see and you don’t know what to make of her right away. When she discovers that Natsuo is going to be her step brother, and then later her classmate when she changes schools when they all move in together, she just wants to pretend that the two of them having sex never happened. Which was her intention when she had sex with a boy she’d never met before, because she wanted to know what it was like. However, as the story goes along, she becomes friends with Natsuo and ends up starting to really like him, like that. Before Natsuo makes it official with Hina, but is still lusting after her, Rui says she wants to try kissing and stuff, just to see what it’s like and wants to keep doing it. This leads to what happens with Hina walking in and seeing them. One thing I like about Rui is that she can communicate clearly when she wants to, she also has some tact. After she’s caught kissing Natsuo, she has a talk with Hina about it. And she flat out says “it’s not like we’re related by blood.” Yeah, she’s that kind of girl. And she’s the one who is driven to push Hina away from Shuu for moral reasons. If I remember correctly, she even says something like “what would mom say about this?” But she doesn’t tell her mom. She’s not that mean. Instead, she argues logically from an emotional point of view. Rui would probably be seen a neurodivergent in some circles, but I think that’s not quite right (I mean, it could be). What I see with her is someone who can articulate what she wants, when she knows what she wants, without getting caught up in things. She’s cute, she’s smart, and she’s got a good heart. So, seeing her kind of end up with Natsuo at the end makes me feel okay. Rui is better suited to Natsuo, in my opinion, because they’re closer in not only age but personality that Hina and Natsuo. Hina is passionate love, Rui is devotional love. There’s a difference. And I know that if the same thing happened to Rui that happened to Hina, Rui would handle in a mature way. So, yes, I am Team Rui, manga be damned. One of the things I like the best about the relationship between Rui and Natsuo is that we see Rui fall in love with him. Sure, it might be after they've already slept together, and she's kind of been the instigator of things between them, but she starts to feel things and expresses herself. That makes her, in my opinion, one of the better characters. She doesn't overtly lie about things and when she realizes what love is, and that she wants it from Natsuo, she says something. She even told Hina that she had feelings for Natsuo, making her better than most everyone else in the show.

Now, one other thing that Rui does is she makes friends with Momo. Momo is precious and must be protected and deserves only the best. Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, Momo is (to use an old phrase) the “town bicycle.” Everyone has had a ride. She admits to Rui that she’s been with 30 guys. Did I mention that she’s a high schooler? Yeah. Now, this has caused to have a bad reputation with both the boys and the girls at school. When some of Rui’s friends approach her about hanging out with Rui, she just lays down the law: “I choose who I get to be friends with.” When someone says that, you know they’re a winner. But, with just the one real episode we get with Momo, you understand why Momo is the way she is. You see, she’s been in a lot of abusive relationships and was even held captive for a few days by a guy. And you know that means that she’s got some serious damage. Which is that her parents are in a loveless marriage and she spends most of her time alone, which is better than having them around and arguing. If anyone deserves Natsuo’s passion, it really was Momo. But, when he sees the scars on her wrists as they’re getting undressed, “I keep them covered up, people only see them when I’m getting naked,” he stops. Instead of fucking her brains out, he makes her dinner. This is a point for Natsuo, but it also shows Momo that she doesn’t need to have sex to have someone keep her company, it’s just the easiest way when you’re a horny teenager. Oh, and she’s one of the smartest students in the school, too. And that, too, I feel is a factor in to why she was suicidal, because she was smart enough to know what was happening to her life and what it would mean. Plus, being smart is a great way to become depressed, just ask every kid who was in any sort of “bright kids” program when they were younger.

While there are other characters, I don’t think we get enough time with them to really get into them here. They’re important, yes, but I want you to learn about them yourself. While they’re important for the plot, they’re not the emotional core of the story. The three main characters, Natsuo, Rui, and Hina are who the story revolves around. Momo is important because she shows that Natsuo is more than his dick, but she also asks Rui if she can date him, which makes Rui have to face facts that she does in fact have feelings for him. And that’s important to the emotional story.

I do not love triangles. I don’t like most love triangles in most stories because they’re not well done. And I don’t like the idea in general because someone has to lose. Unless we’re working with different cultural norms, or are operating in a power fantasy, people usually couple up. Which means that someone who loves someone who doesn’t love them is going to end up hurt. This love triangle, this emotional conflict, is very well done. It hurts but in a good way. It twists the knife but you welcome it. Because it does something that all art should aspire to: It makes you feel something.

Domestic Girlfriend is one of those series that I know I’m going to think about again and again, and hopefully revisit in the future. I’m currently looking at picking up the series on physical media, that’s how much it hit me. And I hope it will hit you the same way.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: One of the best things I’ve ever seen, please watch it.

Manga: Gigant, volume 9

 

Content Warning: Nudity (I don’t know why I even add it to this one anymore), violence, death, gore, and casual misogyny.

Here we are, the second to last volume of Gigant. And we are in for a ride. Buckle up, kids, because we are going into some wild stuff this time around.

The volume kicks off with our battle between the Future Weirdos and Chiho facing off against the reborn Satan. Or healed enough to fight again Satan. And it starts off with a bang. Or a finger laser. Not seen in the first round of the fight, Satan can make a laser come out of one of his fingers. While Chiho saves Rei, one of the Future Weirdos loses his arm to the laser. While the Future Weirdos try to rip out Satan’s heart (there’s a line I never thought I’d write), Chiho and Rei have a conversation about things. The sum of the conversation is Chiho asking for permission to stay and fight and Rei not wanting her to fight. Chiho, honey, you don’t need his permission for anything. However, Rei relents and agrees to meet Chiho at his house after she’s defeated Satan.

While this conversation is going on, the Future Weirdos are getting their asses kicked. They rip out Satan’s heart but that isn’t enough to slow him down. Using some super psionic power, he throws them off, and even kills two of them (the men, of course), while one of them explodes out of him. And this still isn’t enough to kill him!

But Chiho arrives, having grown even larger than normal, and just, kinda, sits on him. Mind you, she slams down on him pretty hard, but it just doesn’t look that impressive. However, Satan still isn’t down for the count and he pushes her off of him, even though he only comes up to her knee. She then bends down, picks him up, and starts tearing him apart. Literally pulling him in half and then pulling off his head. She continues to tear him up and drops the pieces in the river they’ve been fighting in.

And the world starts to celebrate. People are cheering, crowds are yelling Chiho’s stage name, and the three survivors, Chiho and the two female Future Weirdos, stand there to catch their breath.

And that’s when the “mothership” arrives. Three kilometers (over a mile) across at least, this massive satellite just hangs in the air above the city. One of the surviving Future Weirdos says that she was going to go up into orbit to take care of them but they’ve come to them. Like, how the fuck were you going to do that? I have so many questions. And it’s not like we’re going to get any answers. Because the satellite starts sucking up a bunch of stuff. Trees, trucks, helicopters, fighter jets, and finally the Future Weirdos and Chiho get sucked up into the satellite.

In side, we meet Plato and Socrates, the AIs. They look like the worst NEET out there, but with the heads of the famous philosophers’ sculptures for heads. Seriously, they’re sitting on a couch, wearing Millennial/Gen X band shirts, with Xbox controllers in their hands. Yeah. After introductions, Chiho asks if they’re aliens, to which they laugh, but then say it “racist” to call them AIs as they’re “pretty much human now.” Yeah, okay, dude. They were tasked to watch humanity but they learned all of the wrong lessons. They say that they thought they had humanity all figured out, but now they’re confused by Chiho, because she’s altruistic as you get. They assumed that humanity was selfish and self centered, thinking only for themselves, but here comes Chiho, risking life and limb for a world, a government, that has imprisoned her, ostracized her for being in a relationship with Rei, and otherwise only seems to love her because of her heroism. One of the Future Weirdos steps up and points out that humanity is both selfish and selfless, we’re all sinners and saints. The AIs counter that the destruction of the earth was decided by a large number of humanity. Chiho chimes in that she didn’t even save everyone because she was thinking about everyone else. She then says that they’re not even close to human, they’re just superficially mimicking them. One of them says “That’s like your opinion” and it always gets a laugh out of me.

The Future Weirdo then asks the AIs what they’re going to do with humanity after this, which makes them start discussing it. Chiho asks that they just leave humans alone, to which they agree, with a stipulation. They want to touch Chiho’s boobs. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, why is everyone obsessed with Chiho’s boobs? Oh. Wait. Anyway. We find out that the AIs have only been studying men, not women, because “they’re inferior to men, they’re just chicks.” So. We have giant Incel AIs that have god-like powers. Fucking great. You know, I don’t even think that this is even slightly unrealistic. I’ve heard about what happens when you expose learning AI to Twitter…

But now it’s time for out punch out ending. While they’re arguing about being able to touch boobies, the news reports that the US has launched nuclear missiles against the satellite. By the time the AIs are made aware, they’ve already hit. We see the explosion moving down the hallways they’re all in, Chiho screaming no and how she wants to see Rei again, and then… We cut to an outside shot of Tokyo, where the sky is lit up, and then goes dark.

Now, I will leave you with the text from the last two pages of this volume:

WILL HUMANITY BE BLESSED BY A GREAT MIRACLE?

AND IF IT IS, WILL WE EVEN REALIZE IT’S HAPPENED?

CAN PAPICO AND REI’S LOVE ALTER THE FATE OF THE WORLD?

IT ALL ENDS NEXT VOLUME!

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: While clearly rushed and trying to get all of the points out as quickly as possible, this one really hits hard.

Manga: Gigant, volume 8

Content Warning: Nudity (of course), violence, gore, and

Are you ready for a short one? Because this volume is one big fight scene. As such, this will probably be a much shorter entry that usual. And I will strongly advise you to pick up this volume and read it yourself, as my commentary and description will never equal the art.

Okay, let’s get started.

This volume opens with one of the Weirdos trying to take down Satan with some energy blasts but it doesn’t work. Satan starts to retaliate with some kind of… telekinesis? I don’t know, they doesn’t explain it, but he moves his hands and the Weirdos start to bleed and double over. Satan gets tackled from behind while the others get into place. They crawl into his mouth, ears, and nose, but stay too long and he expels them out with fire.

Meanwhile, Chiho is making her way to the fight, while Rei is kind of stumbling around, and we get little glimpses of the destruction that Satan’s presence alone is causing. We see people continuing to kill themselves, but we also see people holding each other, crying or screaming, people bleeding from their eyes and ears and mouth. It’s really bad.

The fight continues, with the Weirdos ganging up on Satan, trying to save one of them that he’s grabbed in his hand. They kick, punch, and try to choke him, but it has no effect, and he handedly wins the fight. And that’s when Chiho shows up. She flies right into one of his eyes, making him bleed and stumble back. This is enough to make him release the others. Three of them shrink down and fly into his other eye, while the one that’s being crushed in his hand is able to free herself.

Chiho explodes out of Satan’s head, with the other three that were also inside of him, exploding out of his torso. They stand there, catching their breath, as the suicide field being projected by Satan fails. We see people dead and bleeding all over, and we find that Rei was about to jump off of a building. But, with his head clear, he stops and moves away from the edge.

While the Future Weirdos and Chiho stand there in the river, catching their breath themselves and everyone celebrating their victory, they look up to see a group of four new monster demon things. One of which has a stinger looking thing where his junk would be. They have too many arms, weird split heads, and are just plain body horror looking things, but clearly designed from the human form. We have enough time to go “Are you kidding me?” Before the battle starts again.

And what a fight it is. These monster or demons or whatever are fairly powerful and some of them have an explosive attack that dissolves flesh. Which we find out when a stray shot hits some people standing by the river to watch the showdown, Rei among them. During this fight, we discover that Satan isn’t dead, it’s regenerating. These monsters are here to buy him time.

This fight, which is intense, is also pretty short, as they aren’t as powerful as Satan. It doesn’t take them long to eliminate these monsters, using their smarts, growing larger inside them, and the energy blasts they have. Sadly…

It’s just long enough to give Satan enough time to regenerate and get ready for round two. In the next volume.

This is another filler volume, even if the fight is good. I think it’s a shame that they used the time they had left to have this fight last as long as they did. That said, it is a great fight, with full page spreads and all that good stuff. You see just how powerful both sides are, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. But knowing that there’s only two more volumes after this makes it hard to justify the time it took to have the fight in the first place.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Suggestion: If you like gory fights, you like it. Otherwise, this will probably be a dud of a volume for you.

Manga: Gigant Vol 7

Content Warning: Nudity (duh at this point), suicide, demonic imagery, and exposition dumping.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done anything with this series (much less this blog) and since this series is going to be coming to a close this year, at least for the official translation, I thought I’d catch up. Let’s get started!

This volume begins with a bit of a slow opening, with some panels showing how Chiho and Rei are dealing with the fallout of their break up. Rei seems listless, but Chiho is working hard and trying to get acting roles. This culminates to a fake out. We think that Rei and Chiho, who have been crying, are about to experience a happy reunion, but it’s not him in her apartment, it’s the Future Weirdos.

After a bit of confusion, and a Doremon reference, we get an exposition dump about the Future Weirdos and what’s actually going on. You see, our Weirdos (who are a military unit) have come back in time from 2135, where the human population has dropped to 85 million, due a war with a pair of AIs. Created in 2019 by your favorite Evil Empire, Google, Plato and Socrates have loaded themselves on to a satellite and have built a super satellite from space junk. In the future, after studying humanity, these AIs will end up trying to destroy humanity, and so our Future Weirdos have come back to stop them. This explains the Terminator references in the earlier volumes.

Moving on a bit, we have the Future Weirdos teaching Chiho how to fly and do energy blasts. It also looks like one of the Future Weirdos is falling in love with Chiho… Poor slob.

Meanwhile, we have some cuts to Rei and some of the stuff that’s going on. The birds start falling out of the sky as Satan approaches. In addition, suicides are increasing the closer Satan gets to Tokyo. While Rei’s friends are fleeing Tokyo, his dad is committed to seeing how all this plays out. People are also starting to feel sick, too, including Chiho. But it’s not because of Satan that Chiho is feeling unwell. It’s because she’s pregnant. Yeah. That broken condom in the last volume has come full circle. We’ll be circling back to this in a minute, but first, I want to talk about something that happens before that. When Chiho gets home, before she takes the test, she catches two of the Future Weirdos watching some of her adult films. Getting embarrassed, she turns it off, but we linger on these two. From what they say, mating isn’t something that’s done in the future, and is even damaging. However, humans being humans, this leads the two of them to experiment a bit, and they end up leaning in for a kiss. I find this whole thing fascinating, as they’ve been showing how sex focused our modern society is. I’m not saying it is, but the lens of the series thus far as been sexual in nature. Look at our main characters: An AV actress and her number one fan, who’s a teenage boy. We’ve seen Chiho naked and performing sexual acts since the very first chapter. Rei and Chiho have had sex several times on panel. And let’s not forget that Chiho is naked when she grows larger and fights. I just thought this whole contrast to be interesting.

Anyway, moving on, we have Chiho telling Rei what’s going on. There’s a tearful reunion, with Rei being very happy to be a father, but also not wanting to be a leech on Chiho. It’s one of those things that’s going to be hard to figure out in the future, but we must wonder, do these two even have a real future?

There’s a funny little thing involving Mochi, Chiho’s dog in case you’ve forgotten. While the Future Weirdos are discussing what happened to the Captain’s (the guy who died and gave Chiho the wrist thing way back at the beginning) “time orb,” Mochi finds it and accidentally used it. Chiho is upset, as that dog has been her close companion during all of this, but the Weirdo’s reason that he’s only gone a few days into the future, so he’ll be okay. This is probably one of the weirdest things in this volume so far, but I do wonder how it’ll be important in the future. Because I have a hunch it will be.

Now, it’s time to bring this volume to a close with the arrival of Satan. As Satan gets closer to Tokyo, we start following Rei as he travels… Somewhere. I’m assuming he’s on the way to school. He starts seeing people throwing up. And then people jumping in front of subway cars. He makes his way to the streets, only to have people landing on the ground around him, having thrown themselves off of the tops of the surrounding buildings. Chiho calls him and he admits that he’s feeling suicidal, and can’t stop himself. Meanwhile, we see Rei’s mom about to slit her wrists, but his father comes home right in the nick of time and stops her. When it comes to Chiho’s side of the story, she hasn’t told the Future Weirdos about her being pregnant and one of them overhears her discussing it with her assistant or manager, they don’t say who this guy is. Anyway, when the Weirdos find out about her condition, they say they’ll handle Satan by themselves. When Chiho asks if they’ll be okay, they don’t really answer. When pressed, the one that’s kind of developing a crush on her assures her that they’ll be fine. Chiho doesn’t seem to believe him but doesn’t try to go with them. This is when she calls Rei and then she takes off to help save the world.

The volume ends with the Weirdos facing off against Satan, seen in full for the first time…

This volume is really where we see that the creator realized that he had to “wrap it up” so to speak and get on with the ending. Several questions we’ve had since the beginning of the series are answered in just a few pages. We’re also seeing things that could have been left for a while, such as Chiho’s pregnancy, being brought up so they can also be resolved, too. All in all, I rather enjoyed finally getting to know what is actually going on and getting things moving. Even if this feels rushed…

Rating: 4 out of 5
Suggestion: Pick it up, we’re almost done.

Anime: A Silent Voice

 

Content Warning: Suicide attempts, kids being assholes, social anxiety and a very abridged story.

So… This is going to be an interesting review. Why? Well, it’s because it’s not as good as the manga. Thanks for coming by and hope you’ll read some more reviews!

Okay, okay, let’s talk about the movie, I guess. The movie begins with Shoya getting ready to kill himself. He takes all the money and gives it to his mom and then goes to a bridge and climbs on the railing and starts to fall. Only to be brought back to reality by a family lighting off fireworks. At this point, we go back to when he was a kid and in school. There’s a montage to establish who Shoya is with his friends and the rest of the kids in class. And then Nishimiya shows up. From here, Shoya starts to bully her, and the rest of students either quietly support him or stay out of it. They don’t like Nishimiya because she’s a “burden” to them and they’re having to adapt to her and they don’t want to. She’s “weird,” she’s “odd,” she’s “different.” And that’s never okay but they are kids. His bullying escalates and he hurts Nishimiya. After being confronted by the teachers, all of the kids blame Shoya for everything and he tries to defend himself by throwing the rest of them under the bus. Shoya’s mom has to pay Nishimiya’s mom for the hearing aids and then Shoya is bullied and exiled from friends.

We skip forward, back to where we were and Shoya tracks down Nishimiya to return the notebook. Again, she runs away and he follows her and talks to her using sign language. He apologizes. And then things start to change. He starts to change by helping out his classmate, Nagatsuka…

Okay, you know what? I can’t really do this review. Because I’ve already done this. It’s really hard to go over the plot of the movie when it’s the same as the manga, just missing some parts. Unlike a some others I can think of (Akira leaps to mind), it just tells the exact same story, with those same emotional beats, but a lot more quickly. There’s no movie subplot, which I think is a real shame. They also don’t give our various side characters any real character at all. In the manga, we really got to know these characters and understand them. In the movie, they’re just kind of there. And the ending is earlier on in the story than the manga but is still fairly good, it just doesn’t feel as powerful as the ending of the manga.

But I want to talk about what is good about this movie. One thing you don’t get in manga is sound. The movie uses sound and silence to great effect, as well as some powerful music. This is one of the best parts of the movie and I really enjoyed it. It also shows how someone who can’t hear can be alerted by other things. A very good example is when Nishimiya after Shoya is in the hospital and has a dream that he’s dying or has died. When she goes there and starts to cry, Shoya shows up, having had his own dream and finally woken up from his coma. When he goes there, he calls out to her but she can’t hear him. But he puts his hand on the railing to steady himself, which makes it move. Nishimiya feels this and realizes that he’s there. It’s subtle but works so much better in motion rather than panel by panel. There’s also a lot of visual cues about what’s going to happen with Nishimiya’s suicide attempt. The same sequence Shoya sees when he ends up saving her is shown when he thinks about killing himself at the start of the movie, again during the montage when he’s a kid and jumps off the bridge with his friends, and again when he jumps off the bridge after Nishimiya when her notebook is thrown into the river after he returns it. This same view of the water and the landing happens again and again, until he falls to what might be his death. There’s also several moments of Nishimiya and Shoya trying to catch each other’s hands when one of them falls. It’s not until that life is on the line that they’re able to connect. And that’s what this movie shows so well, is how Nishimiya and Shoya keep trying and failing to connect until the very end. It just adds to how visually well done the movie is. If you read the manga for the plot, you have to see movie for the visuals. It’s a true companion piece to the manga, as you’ll bring the full context from the manga with you when you watch it, making it so much better. Assuming you’re not like me and keep going “but what about this?” when they skip stuff or cut it short. Don’t be like me.

I feel that this movie is important. It’s about empathy and redemption. And we need that. It’s also not about the idealized or romanticized version of redemption we see in movies and media but the true reality of redemption. It’s a process, not an event. And it’s messy and it doesn’t always work the way to expect it to. You try and fail, try again and fail a bit better. And that’s what Shoya does. He tries and fails. Keeps trying and fails spectacularly, by driving everyone away with his mouth. But he isn’t there to succeed in the eyes of everyone else but in Shoko’s eyes. That’s all he cares about. And while redemption isn’t an event, you sometimes face a choice, when you have a chance to not undo your old mistakes but when you get a chance to show how you’ve changed and what’s really in your heart. And that’s what Shoya does: He is given a chance to do the right thing, to show what’s in his heart, and he does it. Without thinking, without stopping, he risks it all to save Nishimiya and it costs him. All this event really does to him is give him clarity. It doesn’t make him a better person in an instant but does give him perspective and a chance to be who he wants to be. To live up to the words he says.

And that’s why this is an important movie. There’s a lot of other reasons why this is important but it doesn’t matter why it’s important only that it is. I do find it interesting how I have a different perspective on Shoya compared to other reviews I’ve seen. When he tells everyone about their flaws or problems on the bridge when he drives everyone away, I don’t see it as some big thing. I see someone being honest about the people around them. He calls Miyoko a coward, because she is. She really is. But there’s nothing wrong with being a coward sometimes. And it seems to me that having someone call you out on your shit is a very important thing to have in your life. Perhaps I’m a terrible person like Shoya is. But I’d like to think that if I was put in the same situation that Shoya was in with Shoko, watching her starting to jump, I’d at least try to do the same thing. I don’t know.

Okay, I have to bring this to a close, otherwise, I’m going to go on and on about this topic and put my foot in my mouth. To sum up my feelings (not thoughts) on the movie, I didn’t think it was great. But it was good. And I want people to watch it. That’s why it’s my feelings, not my thoughts. Because emotions aren’t logical. Much like friendship.

Addendum: While I was in the shower, watching some video essays about this film, I realized a few things about this film and manga. I just realized that Shoya doesn't know where Miyoko ended up. He doesn't know anything about Naoko. But you know what he does know? What he doesn't have to ask anyone about? Where to find Nishimiya. Maybe he looked her up somehow but it's not shown on screen. We don't know how he knows but he does. I'm thinking he was keeping track of her, in some way or another, and that's why they didn't show it. And that shows how dedicated he is to changing. It's not perfect but it's a little thing that shows a bit more about him. Another thing that people have talked about is how bullies can change and the like. While I do agree that they can, the difference between some of these stories and Shoya's story is one key thing: He takes the effort to apologize, learn to communicate with Nishimiya directly, and then takes action on his apology. Sure, he didn't mean to try and be friends with her but he still said it and does it after he does. I've also realized that I am missing parts of the context in these things because I've never suffered anxiety to the degree that these characters do. I didn't become afraid when I had to deal with bullying, I got mad. And then I became depressed because I knew it was wrong to act on my anger. Anxiety, to some degree, is about fear. And I didn't feel the same fear I did with those. And while I was lonely, I was never really alone, like Shoya. I always had a friend or two for most of my life. They might not have been the best people and we might have grown apart but I still had someone to talk to. And that might be a key difference. And now I think it's time to finish this up, before I discuss more about myself.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Suggestion: While a good watch and good movie, it’s not as good as the manga. Watch it anyway.

Other: The Complete Anime Guide - Japanese Animation Video Directory and Resource Guide

I don't have a picture for this one, so here's one show they talk about

 

Content Warning: Some very dated references and talking points

When you think about anime in America, most people I imagine are reading this probably grew up with Toonami and Adult Swim, at the earliest. However, there’s a longer history of anime in America, which brings me to this book. I found this book in the Goodwill a few years ago for the winning price of $3 and it’s in bad condition. Not terrible but not great. If you like what you read about it, just keep that in mind. A friend of mine referred to it as “the Weeb Dead Sea Scrolls” and they’re not far off. Allow me to fill you in.

Published in 1995 by Tiger Mountain Press, the majority of the text is written by Trish Ledoux and Doug Ranney. That first name might ring some bells for older anime fans, as she’s written several book on Japanese culture and anime. Brief aside, I once met her at PSU when she did a showing of Pompoko. It was… An experience. Anyway.

The book opens with a forward and an introduction, talking about the history of anime in Japan and making some comparisons to the American animation history. The first chapter is the more interesting one, starting with an essay about anime in America, the ones that were brought here with the when, the where, and the how. I found this really interesting, as it points out that for Boomers and Gen X, Speed Racer was the big cultural reference for them before anime was popular. I find this amusing, as I’ve never seen the original show. And I haven’t seen the live action film. This is even more amusing, as they discuss that John Travolta and Johnny Depp were attached to the film when it was in development at the time this book came out. After the introduction for the chapter, there’s a list of all of the anime that had been released on American TV up to this point. It’s a surprisingly short list but they do discuss each show; plot, production history, and cultural impact. There’s some shows and movies in here that I’ve never heard of, such as Prince Planet, Force Five, and Dragon Warrior. If you don’t know, Dragon Warrior is an anime is based on a video game with character designs done by the same guy that did Dragon Ball. Speaking of Dragon Ball, I forgot how dirty that show was and how it was edited. I mean, Bulma is a reference to bloomers, which every old anime fan knows about, whether they want to or not. I also found out that Captain Harlock had been shown on TV in the States! They did a Robotech (I’ve already written about this so we’re not going to get into it) and coupled it with another show to meet the episode number requirement for American syndication. This chapter ends with a description of Dragon Ball (and DBZ) and Sailor Moon. It’s interesting how they’re talking about how this is the Third Wave of anime in the US and wondering if it will stick, and then talk about the two shows that carried the wave forwards until we were flooded with anime in the US.

The next chapter is about “anime genres” and I find this a little… Dated? Offensive? I’ve never understood how people want to make up genres just for anime, when genres are not confined to media. For example, cyberpunk isn’t just for video games and RPGs, it’s for books, movies, anime, and even music. However, this chapter discusses some of more important shows in these four genres: Cyberpunk, Mecha, Noir, Romantic Comedy. Now, I will say that the Mecha genre is very much a Japanese thing, it wasn’t completely, even at that time. And Noir is originally a French genre, thus the name. However, I do think that the Japanese and anime does have some very unique spins or takes on these genres. When I think of Cyberpunk, I think of how it was the West worrying about Japan taking control of our technological and economic future. In the Japanese vein of Cyberpunk, it is much more about technology running amok and the corruption of the government and corporations. Mind you, those are still there in the various works of Cyberpunk but the Japanese brings it to the fore. So, for Mecha, there’s a lot to this, and I also think that most Mecha shows have strong influences from Cyberpunk, so to me it’s a subgenre of Cyberpunk during this period. Anyway, moving on. Now, Noir is different in Japan and they talk a lot about samurai anime that was coming out at the time. It’s interesting to see how many of the anime I would consider “classics” are in this genre. So, let’s talk about Romantic Comedy, shall we? One of the most important subgenres in anime and manga is the “magical girlfriend” until recently. And they don’t really name it here. I find this odd, as I have an RPG from about this time that does use the term. And while we think of the Magical Girlfriend subgenre as uniquely Japanese, it actually isn’t. Most Magical Girlfriend stuff is clearly inspired by old American TV shows, like I Dream Of Jeannie and Bewtiched. I think I’ve discussed this before. Ahem. One thing I find interesting is how they talk about Urusei Yatsura, which was a big deal for a long time but I don’t think I’ve seen it around in a while. There’s also Ranma ½, which was a cornerstone of the anime community during this time but has clearly fallen to the wayside. Why is that? Well, I recently picked up some of the show, so we’ll get into it. They also Kimagure Orange Road. When was the last time you heard that name? Have you even heard of it before? Because I saw ads for it everywhere when I was younger and it seems to have just vanished. Weird, isn’t it?

After this bit, there’s two more parts of the book I want to focus on. The first thing is the second half of this chapter. Sorted by genre, they give a summary of every single anime that was legally available in the US at the time. Think about that. There were so few shows, movies, and OVA for sale, they could talk about all of them. It gets even better in the next chapter, where they list each VHS tape, with those same summaries, in about 110 pages. This is mind blowing when you think about how much became available in just a few years after this book was published. And can you think of trying to do that now? There are websites for this now and they have hundreds of things listed. This truly is a time capsule of the anime scene in America at the time.

And speaking of time capsules, the next few parts of the book are lists of websites and online resources for finding fans of anime in America. These websites are USENET and FTP sites, with IP addresses! There’s a list of magazines and conventions that were happening. The book ends with contact information for the various companies that were distributing anime, followed by lists of major players in the production of anime and then the all the things they discussed in the book.

That was a hell of a things, wasn’t it? So, let’s talk about some of the things they did talk about. One thing they keep bringing up is Legend of the Overfiend. If you’re blissfully unaware of what that is, allow me to educate you. Overfiend is one of the most notorious anime to ever be released in the US. Why? Because it’s not only tentacle porn but there’s a lot of snuff and other stuff in there. Terrible things. Yes, I’ve seen it. I own it. I’ll talk about how exactly it ended up in my collection another time but I do want to say that I didn’t buy it myself. I mention this because a lot of people thought that all anime was hentai because of this series. In fact, some companies that were translating and releasing regular anime had an imprint or part of the company that was putting out hentai. Another reason why Overfiend was known was because it got a theatrical release. I’m not even joking. If Akira was what brought attention to anime, Overfiend turned a lot of people off. There’s also Devilman, by Go Nagai, which was another notorious anime that involved a lot of sex and violence. One thing that this book does is point out that America has some history of animation for adults but strangely doesn’t mention Heavy Metal, which I feel is the best known example of it.

To wrap things up, this book is a wonderful thing to look at. There’s no reference to Evangalion, which is was a game changer and wildly popular. Why? Because it wasn’t out in the US at the time. I think it was still getting started in Japan at the time this book was published. Had this book been released a year or two later, it would have been wildly different. More focus on DBZ and Sailor Moon for sure, less focus on Speed Racer and Astro Boy. I love how this is a snapshot of the time just before the anime boom in not only America but Japan as well. I’m glad I found this and will try to take as much care of it as I can. Because they just don’t make things like this anymore…

Rating: 4 out of 5
Suggestion: I would love for every current anime fan to read this, just to show them how different things were back then, but I fear this is going to become lost media.