The seductiveness of Kure-nai

Posted On April 20, 2008

No, this isn’t about how Kure-nai features a loli who may or may not be entirely too fuckable for her own good. Never ever would I write about things so vile.

Almost exactly a year ago Gurren Lagann was impressing me with just how over the top and epic it was in its most early of installments. Now, a year later, Kure-nai is impressing me in exactly the opposite way. This show is seductive. It’s such a smooth operator that once it’s done doing its thing some people are just left not knowing what to do. Sure, its foreplay is rather unusual, but strangely arousing… to me, anyway. However, even if its slightly freaky tastes aren’t really your thing, once you move on to the main event you’ll be in for the ride of your fucking life.

God, what a horrible extended metaphor. Especially considering I lack the appropriate experience to make such a comparison.

What I’m trying to get at is that this show is almost sensual with just how smoothly it all flows. So far only the smallest hints of what the overarching plot might be have been dropped, and I’m totally fine with that, since this show is so good at being… slice of life? That’s only a guise, though. What’s clever about the show is how it uses this relaxed slice of life vibe to drop various facts about the world, characters and plot. It’s doing that “slow” arc of 13 or so episodes that most anime have right, and I’ve only ever seen in done right in one other anime– that being Neon Genesis Evangelion… and uh, Shuffle!, I guess.

The means by which it performs these amazing feats is through mostly top-notch-animation (episode 3 was a bit stiff), thoughtful script writing and unusual production methods– at least for Japanese animation. See, according to rumours on the internets, the dialogue in Kure-nai is recorded before the animation is done. I can’t exactly confirm this fact, but that’s the word going around forums and blogs. This is the method for traditonal American animation, but it’s quite unusual for Japanese productions. It really helps. The actors can just read off their lines naturally, allowing the characters’ exchanges to sound slightly less artificial. Sure, most talented Japanese actors can do their best while still being constrained to the wills of the voice flaps, but you really can hear a difference in Kure-nai. This, along with the aforementioned brilliant script writing and fluid animation makes for a piece of Japanese cartoon that is slightly more in the realm of traditional film.

Of course, only three episodes have aired so far, and the show could very well go down hill. But this is Brain’s Base, and they have enough winners under their belt for me to trust them.