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A month and a bit ago I said that while I enjoy SHAFT’s adaptation of Dance in the Vampire Bund, my feelings for it are complicated. After ragging on the background music for a bit, I launched into a 700 word rant about how the show looks, then kind of forgot where I was going. Now that we are further down the line, the issues I have with the show have begun to weigh heavier due to the passage of time, and I wish to address them more explicitly.

I actually kind of like the background music better, now. There are some really good tracks, and a handful of tracks that create a suitable atmosphere for the action on screen. There is still that one really bad track they use for action scenes. In fact, I think the staff knows it’s really bad which is why a lot of actions scenes have no background music. Which is a problem, since action scenes generally need some high tension music.

However, my main issues lie with the show’s function as an adaptation–both story wise and visually. While I am as enthusiastic about the show visually as I was the last time I wrote about it, one thing I neglected to mention was the degree to which the show is visually broken. Since Tsukuyomi -MOON PHASE- (The show allegedly had awful animation when it aired. I never saw the TV cut, but I have seen screencaps, and they’re not pretty.) SHAFT has managed to keep their shows more or less presentable for their TV airings, but still punch them up for the DVD release anyway. Due to inner conflict within one of their outsourcing houses along with one of their mainstays–Silverlink–working on Baka to Test, SHAFT has been having a tough time, despite their success with Bakemonogatari. You’d think that they’d have more than two inbetweeners at this point, but they don’t. To make matters worse, while  Bund does have a lot of talking heads, it does have a fair amount of action, and considering the most spectacular action scene that the anime has covered so far was shafted (ooooh!) due to the lack of manpower, time or money, it’s fair to say that there are some issues with this production. Never mind the fact that they couldn’t settle on a visual style for the show and kept messing with various filters episode after episode until they found something that worked.

Direction wise, it’s bit more SHAFT than Shinbo for my tastes. Through the passing years it is my understanding that Shinbo has had less and less influence on what the members of SHAFT do, guiding them in broad strokes as opposed to fine ones. This isn’t bad, as they’re taking the man’s style to heart very well, but I feel something like Vampire Bund deserves the genuine Shinbo touch. There’s not enough weird colours and odd camera angles. Episode seven–despite how broken it was–was pretty good, though. Episode eight wasn’t too bad either.

But my main issue is simply that a good part of what has aired so far has covered a part of the manga that I feel is simply not as interesting as the rest of it. I was excited with how SHAFT mixed up the first couple of episodes, so the subsequent falling back on original material was a little disappointing. I still think what they did with episodes four through seven was better, but not better enough.

Actually, that’s my main issue with the whole show–it’s pretty good, but it needs an extra punch to send it into the realm of awesome. I’m betting that most of this punch will come in the form of a complete visual facelift for the DVD release. Presumably, this visual facelift will be so awesome that any issues I have with the first half of the series will be nullified, and the whole show will just be awesome. They did it with Tsukuyomi, and look how awesome that show is! Don’t let me down, SHAFT!

When one is 10 episodes deep into Baccano! a lot of shit has already gone down, a number of mysteries are being answered, and the show’s confused narrative begins to take on a fairly solid shape. On the other hand, we’re 10 episodes into DRRR!! and not much has happened. I can see why some of the people who really liked Baccano! may not like DRRR!!. Actually, I imagine it’s similar to why I’m not too hot about Summer Wars but love Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. Baccano! was a weird mix of a lot of charming elements that came together to make a pretty neat show, albeit one that’s not too accessible because of how confusing it is for a good portion of its runtime. DRRR!! retains some of the same elements, but strips out a lot of Baccano!’s very unique elements. At the same time however, it becomes something the mainstream can appreciate a bit more easily than Baccano!.

DRRR!! is set to run for 2 cours, so it’s unfair to compare what has happened in 10 episodes of it to what happens in 10 episodes of Baccano!. That said, nothing much has really happened thus far in DRRR!!, as mentioned before, but it is nevertheless quite interesting. This is due to well done foreshadowing, an intriguing setting, and a cast of interesting characters who don’t really need much of a story to make them interesting.

Much like Baccano!, one cool aspect of DRRR!! is how it takes an otherwise normal setting and puts an abnormal spin on it. Lots of anime does this–in fact it’s almost staple of anime–but DRRR!! can pull it off with style. The designs of the characters, as well as the clothes they wear don’t stray much from the bounds of reality (that said, I imagine each charater’s closet is filled with 7 sets of the same outfit). Similarly, the show’s backgrounds don’t depict a bright and colourful Japan, but instead project something grittier made from Photoshopped photos of Ikebukuro along with a dark no-nonsense colour scheme and crowds of grey people going about their business.

When Heiwajima Shizuo throws a guy a hundred meters down the street into truck or throws a vending machine at someone, it’s given the kind of over-the-top presentation it deserves, but since the look of the show is so down to Earth, the feeling one gets when seeing that is a bit different than what one feels when Misaka fires off her Raingun and flips a car over. One is lavished with a cartoonish amount of shine and polish, while the other one is far more subdued and restrained. That’s what makes the setting of DRRR!! so interesting–the way in which it balances unreal with real.

It goes without saying that what makes this setting interesting is the wealth of eccentric characters that occupy it. At this point the most interesting players are those who are clearly operating on the wrong side the of law. Between ridiculous car chases (Kyouhei, Saburou, Erika, Walker), the flinging of public property (Shizuo), and simply unreal levels of dickery (Izaya), the things these characters do are just fun to watch. Of course the slightly less interesting side of things–the side that mostly resides in high school–has a subtle air of mystery and insanity floating about it. Not to mention hints of moe (a must, clearly), mostly manifested in the lovely Sonohara Anri.  There’s also the titular Dullahan, Celty, but strangely enough she’s the least interesting part of the equation. Her fretting over things is kind of funny, though.

All this comes together to create a strong sense of intrigue, along with small amounts of foreshadowing. Back when a lot of anime often ran for two cours (let’s say from the mid 90s to mid 00s) the first half of the show would often be composed of one-shots used to introduce the characters and get one acquainted with the setting. But when that 13th episode would come about, things usually got kicked into overdrive for a big showdown at the end. DRRR!! is doing that first half extremely well. At around episode 10 the cast is more or less fully introduced, the setting is established, and enough hints of an overarching plot are dropped to leave people wondering just what the hell is going on. I only hope that they’ll be able to deliver.

I also hope that they never actually explain why some of these people have super human strength. Kind of like Giant Robo.

(more…)

I’ve not been very vocal on the whole Handley issue on this site simply because every other blogger, podcaster and Twitter superstar has beaten the issue to death. However, upon FUNimation’s announcement regarding their editing of SHAFT’s Dance In The Vampire Bund for US release, I feel that something something has to be said. I realize that what I’m saying has been repeated ad nauseum by pedos and non-pedos alike, and considering my preoccupation with the underdeveloped female form, I understand that there will be a certain degree of bias here. But whatever.

No matter how objectionable a drawing is, in the end it’s simply that–a drawing. Whether it’s a dude fucking a dead girl in the brain, a guy getting torn apart, or a man having his way with a young child, no matter how gross one may find such things, they’re drawings, and they shouldn’t be illegal. I’m not even going to push the “artistic expression” angle. Yeah, a lot of the stuff you find in LO does have a high degree of artistic merit, but in the end a lot of the people who partake of this stuff just want to jerk off. And that’s fine, they’re just drawings.

Honestly, considering how harmless drawn imagery of a man and a young girl having sex is (it’s not uncommon for the girls in LO to give consent, strangely enough), I’m surprised that the iron fist of the law hasn’t come down on far more grotesque drawn imagery. Take the types of violent and sexual imagery I mentioned in the above paragraph–why aren’t people losing their shit over that? I’ve flipped through a bunch of comics–both American and Japanese–where some pretty awful stuff is going down. Heck, violence of that same level happens in Hollywood movies. Why isn’t that stuff banned? I mean, I find some of it offensive. I know this is an argument that’s been made countless times, but how is grotesque violence okay and relatively benign imagery of two people having sex not? Especially when they’re just drawings. I mean seriously, these guys should be arresting people for owning Waita Uziga books if they’re to throw poor Handley away for drawings of fake girls getting fucked.

Again, I know this has been beaten to death and has already been communicated in a far more eloquent manner, but there is no victim when an issue of Comic LO drops. No one is hurt in the making of that publication. Real children are hurt in the production of real child pornography, and those criminals are the ones we should be after. The people who partake of cartoonish depictions of minors engaged in sexual acts are sometimes people who do prefer real children, and sometimes people who  just like drawings. I personally just like drawings. However, if one were to make our harmless fantasy drawings illegal, who are they protecting? If anything the dudes who like real kids will just go out and rape real kids, and guys like me will have to tread cautiously when looking at something that hasn’t harmed anyone in its making.

Anyway, enough of that. You’ve heard it all before.

As far as FUNimation’s decision on Vampire Bund goes, I can’t blame them, but they’re going to be lucky if the first volume can push 50 copies. If that. Honestly, I think they could have left that one problematic scene in and no one would have noticed. The US release of the manga got away with that scene, along with all the others where every lovely detail of Mina’s wonderful body is put front and center. Heck, the manga is probably dirtier than the anime considering just how often Mina is naked. The only real graphic depiction of Mina’s naked body in the anime is that scene. Yeah, you wouldn’t be able to show a grown man rubbing oil on a naked little girl on US TV or even release something like that on DVD. If it involved a real child. Like I said above, these are drawings. Who cares if there’s some scene in a cartoon where a kid is naked. It’s totally harmless.

Since this Vampire Bund license was likely a tie-in with their Baka to Test license, they were low on options. And we are living in a world were a man has been arrested for owning comics. But I still think it’s dumb.

Me and a few other guys have been watching this show all by ourselves. Not like we really have a choice–a show like Kirumin doesn’t captivate viewers in huge numbers here the USA, and on top of that not much of it is translated. So since most of you can’t really watch and comprehend the show, it’s probably worth it to lay down what makes each episode a good time.

Kirumin is simply solidly entertaining. Between inspired writing, cuter-than-cute character designs, and fairly solid production values, it’s pretty a well put together package. Since it’s a year long series (for kids, I think) it takes things slow. There is an underlying plot hinted at from time-to-time, but it’s not important yet. In fact, the show has only just addressed its full title–Animal Detectives Kirumin–a cour and change into itself with the three main girls and two main guys starting up a amateur detective agency.

If there’s one thing the show is not short of, it’s creativity. The way in which the girls combine their powers and solve cases is always amusing and oftentimes quite clever. The cases themselves are often focused around cute and harmless things–common themes are lost pets, missing property, the odd missing movie star and maybe an animal is acting weird every now and again.  More often than not the case will have something to do with animals, and the girls will find that they understand “the feelings of animals” better by the end of the episode. The solution to the mystery is pretty clear early on, but watching the process of the girls figuring things out and using their heightened senses is very entertaining and cute. Things tend to come an explosive conclusion, which is where a lot of the surprises are.

But more simply than that, the show is just so darn cute. Look at these girls, they’re just adorable! Kirumin has some of the best character designs I’ve seen in a while. Perhaps because it’s a kids show, the girls’ wonderfully fluent hairstyles alone are adorned with more childish flourishes such as heart-shaped locks of hair, bunny-shaped hair ornaments and good old fashion hair ribbons. Beyond that we have immensely sparkly eyes with levels of detail that give Paul “Otaking” Johnson’s five tones of shading a run for their money, incredibly cute casual outfits as well as school uniforms, and impressively round cheeks that manage to remain consistently rosy. On their faces, of course. What were you thinking?

But real cuteness isn’t just skin-deep–you have to be cute on the inside as well, and these girls have appropriately cute and childish personalities to match. Mikogami Riko (the center one, and main character) is spunky, driven and very competitive. She’s one of those girls that can take on “the boys” (as is sometimes said with a hint of sexism in across various anime.) Rimu (glasses) is obviously the more bookish type. She’s nerdy, and has a knack for photography and journalism. Their older sister, Nagisa has that classic mixture of sternness and sweetness that most onee-san have, but is also quite reserved and has a tough time dealing with men.

We then have Kanon (rendered lovingly here by Nyama) voiced by Tange Sakura (!!) who is a scheming vampire who just moved in from overseas. She’s friends Riko and Rimu during school time, but outside of class she will at times try to foil their plans from the shadows. There’s also two boy characters–Ken and Tamao–who are part of the Kirumin detective agency, and are always a main fixture in each of the cases. Ken is your typical hotblooded boy, and often butts heads with Riko, while Tamao is the nerd, who actually has Coke bottle glasses (Rimu’s glasses are just swirly.) There’s some other characters too, such as the three girls’ slightly eccentric parents, Kanon’s mom who thinks she’s a member of Cat’s Eye along with her her lazy and bubbling pretty-boy subordinates, and a mysterious man named Parse.

It’s worth noting that the tension between Ken and Riko is pretty hilarious, and is made even better by the fact that Kanon has a crush on Ken, which makes for a cute love triangle.

The show looks pretty good, especially considering its year-long runtime. While not always consistent, the characters are always rendered fully and never really look half-done. Good attention is always paid to the details. The colours are bright, full and cheery, and match the equally bright and imaginative backgrounds. There’s really nothing much in the way of noticeable animation shortcuts, but at the same time each episode doesn’t look like this. Special mention should be made of the opening, which is really great and well composed, especially considering it’s made primarily of animation loops.

So yeah, Kirumin. It’s a neat show. Much in the same way that Zettai Karen Children was the under-rated, year-long kids show that was I was pushing  a few years ago, Kirumin is the what I want people to seek out now. Of course, Zettai Karen Children was actually translated. I mean, we did our best, and I can only hope those other groups out there are giving it their all. But some of it is out there in English, so watch it!

It’s been tough for a Gundam fan lately. Unless you are particularly fond of the alternate universe offerings that have more or less defined Gundam for the past ten years, there’s been nothing much us devotees to the original series can really sink our teeth into and appreciate beyond some manga in GundamAce that I can’t read, and some neat model kits I don’t have time to build. Oh, maybe we can sink our teeth into Ring of Gundam. Or at least try.

But you know, we have nothing to worry about now. Gundam Unicorn is here. And it’s tasty.

I don’t even understand what’s going on beyond the basics so far! Big Japanese words go straight over my head. But that doesn’t matter. The punch that this first episode packs obliterates any language barrier one may have. This shit is a spectacle. I am not afraid to say that it is in fact what Gundam fans have for ages been longing for.

Let’s be honest UC fans–ever since First we’ve had to live with compromise. First Gundam is dated, but we can appreciate its raw spirit despite its sometimes poor production. Zeta Gundam is great, but it takes some time to get on its feet. Even when it comes to big-budget affairs like Char’s Counterattack or 0083, we kind of let the story side of those works slide a bit since they look so damn pretty. No one can agree on 08th MS Team. I guess 0080 is good, but I haven’t seen it in so long that I don’t even get the hamburger joke people always make. What I’m getting at is that this first episode of Unicorn can be enjoyed completely without compromise. The animation is slick, the plot is engaging, and the characters so far seem great.

Gundam Unicorn is clearly a reply to years of fan prayer. The First Gundam movies are amazing–there’s no question about that–but in the end it is a cartoon made to (initially) sell simplistic toys to children, and this simplicity is reflected in the look of the animation. However, because of First’s very realistic approach to war, it established this mindset in UC fans everywhere that the UC universe concerned itself with real, gritty war, even if it doesn’t really look like it. It’s serious stuff. It has gravity to it. Even if Char does pilot a bright pink Zaku. Excuse me, red.

As I mentioned before, previous big-budget Gundam series which have tried desperately to answer the cries of fans gave it the good ol’ college try–came out pretty great–but no one can agree on which one is good. I’m really jumping the gun here, but I have a feeling Unicorn will be universally embraced.

This first episode is a perfect mix of classic and modern. There are some traditional Gundam tropes sprinkled throughout, as well as some typically ridiculous scenes that can only really happen in a Gundam series. But they’re pulled off with high levels of class. Alongside these scenes  is a developing plot that I already find engaging, despite not fully understanding it. This too is of course handled with the same amount of class. The whole episode in general has a very serious streak, and evokes an epic tone skilfully.

As I alluded to before, the animation is more or less phenomenal. There is some dodgy 3D work at times, but for the most part this is film-caliber stuff. Characters make pronounced and full movements, the camera isn’t afraid to move around, and the world is convincingly alive and breathing. Mobile suit battles aren’t simple exchanges of beam spam. This is a show in which 30 seconds are spent on a Zaku making a suicide run at an enemy suit while the various pieces of its frame slowly come apart due to being nearly destroyed moments earlier. This is a show in which fights have actual choreography. Suits move around, dodge, and fire with intention. Nothing looks stiff. Background music that fits like a glove doesn’t really hurt things, either.

The character designs are a breath of fresh air. Yasuhiko Yoshikazu is one of my most favourite artists of all time, and seeing his designs come to life by way of anime designer Takahashi Kumiko fills me wholly with joy. Specifically the girls. Maybe I just like poofy hair or something, but these girls are hot. Well, Gundam girls always have been, but in a time when anime has more or less perfected the art of making girls look really cute, the girls in Unicorn shine bright. There’s this scene where one of the main girls, Audrey, eats a hotdog. She blushes at the end. It’s pretty moe.

Well, that ended on a perverted note! Anyway, all I’m saying is that Gundam Unicorn is what a lot of us have been waiting for. If further episodes can somehow find a way to top this one, we’ll be looking at the greatest Gundam show ever made.

Original Post

I find that amongst some anime fans, there are those that think like computers. For instance, when an adaptation of a popular manga takes one step away from the original story, fans label it a failure because the outcome doesn’t fall within their narrow set of expectations. Perhaps if they were to realize that these changes actually make the story better, they would simply break down.

That said, this comic is primarily about the initial reaction to the first and second episodes of the show which were overwhelmingly negative (for a variety of reasons, not just inaccuracy) but that seems to have cooled down now. To be honest, I’m actually still not sure how some of the added plot elements work together–such as the new girl, and Akira’s loss of memory. I think his loss of memory is addressed in episode 7, but I’ve only seen it raw thus far so I can’t be certain. There’s also some other issues with the show that I want to address, but not now. It’s good, but I think that more so than any SHAFT show in recent years–even Bakemonogatari–this show probably needs to be watched on home video.

Oh, there’s some new podcasts about Comiket. They’re kind of bad, but if anything I hope they help bring you into that moment that was Comiket 76.

Hanamaru Youchien is done in 6 weeks? Say it ain’t so!

Short of doing a full-on review (I may want to save that for when the show is over) I would like to highlight some of the things that make Hanamaru Youchien awesome.

This first one is actually kind of depressing. This show hits me where it really hurts: in Tsuchida, the main character. Now these main guys are always meant to be relatable losers, but very few of them hit as close to home as Tsuchida does. I imagine he’s designed to fit this weird subset of people that are just like me. I’ve taught children before, am nearly just out of college, and am eternally girlfriendless. Well those last two are constants across the genre, but the first one really drives it all home. While I haven’t had a young girl fall for me (which is for the better, I should imagine) I do relate to treating boys you’re teaching as your buddies when you share the same interests.

On that same vein, the show balances realism and the lack thereof in its setting quite well. The kids in Hanamaru are wonderful simply because act like real kids. They’re loud, energetic, inquisitive, and get upset for no reason. And even though it falls back on a set of established archetypes for each character, they’re all executed with lots of spirit. In fact, part of the reason why the show is so pleasant is exactly because it falls back on familiar archetypes for not just the main characters, but for everyone in class. Familiarity is comforting to most people, but at the same time things with lots of familiarity can come off as cheap and by-the-numbers. What makes Hanamaru good is how it injects that aforementioned spirit into the formula with inspired writing, voice acting and animation.

A lot of this spirit is carried in the show’s main heroines, though. Anzu is characterized by her never-ending enthusiasm and energy. Koume is shy, timid, and unsure of herself. Hiiragi is more laid back, and enjoys drawing upon her vast knowledge to help both Anzu and Koume when they need it, and also uses these situations an excuse to wear cute outfits. What really helps bring Anzu to life is how much spunk there is each cut of animation featuring her. Every time she shoots out her arms, wiggles  her legs, runs around, or climbs up something, there’s an extra bit of spark in it. The vocal talents of Shindou Kei complements Anzu’s physical energy with an unrestrained performance rich in soul. Koume’s movements also go well her timid nature. She runs slower than the others, and often fidgets. While  MAKO doesn’t sound 100% convincing all the time (I think the issue lies in forcing her voice higher than it already is) she communicates Koume’s uneasiness quite well. Everything Hiiragi does is calculated, from her actions to her speech. Her movements have distinct purpose, while Takagaki Ayahi reinforces Hii’s cool, calm and collected demeanor. But the cute part is when she tries to keep it all together while being embarrassed.

Beyond the convincing portrayal of the main characters, the show is generally very technically proficient. Apparently Gainax has all of their best talent on this show, and while I’m too lazy confirm that, the show speaks loud enough for itself. Across the six episodes of Hanamaru that have aired thus far, I am finding it difficult to recall a single bit of awkward animation. Everything is smooth, clean, and full. One thing that struck me particularly in episode six was the water animation in the pool. My memory is a little fuzzy, but near as I can remember the water in the pool was always moving. And it wasn’t some cheap CG-effect either–it was completely animated by hand at all times. Attention to little details like that prove that Gainax is really giving it their all. Nevermind the fact that each episode has its own fully animated ending sequence. This show certainly moves better than the rather sloppily animated Shikabane Hime, that’s for sure.

I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of the enthusiasm I have for this show, but I’m coming up on 700 words so I’ll cut things off here. Bottom line is: Watch Hanamaru Youchien! You’ll be glad you did!

Damn, this world we live in sure is crazy! The other day a hole in time-space opened in my apartment and some random DVD popped out!

To my complete surprise, the DVD happened to be the Limited Edition version of Ichigo Mashimaro volume 2. What a shock! Limited Edition! I’m so lucky!! Thank you, hole in time-space!

Let’s take a good look at this relic from the past.

Next time that hole opens I’m going to jump into it and jet to the Geneon offices to assure them that, yes, supplies did last. They lasted.

They lasted aright.

My feelings towards SHAFT’s adaptation of Dance In The Vampire Bund are–much like a man’s feelings for Char Aznable–rather complex. If you were to ask me whether I like it or not, I’d have to say that I’m rather happy with it. However, there are a number of things about the show that scare and confuse me, and I’d like to address those things first.

SHAFT shows (post-Shinbo era) typically have really good soundtracks. If you were to reach into a pile of SHAFT soundtracks, chances are you’d have a fairly pleasant listening experience. Sadly, this isn’t the case with Vampire Bund. The music is composed by Dobashi Akio, who was both keyboardist and composer for the 1980s J-pop band REBECCA. (Incidentally, Vampire Bund’s opening is a cover of one of their greatest hits, Friends.) While Dobashi may have a knack for composing antiquated pop songs, he doesn’t seem to have much in the way of talent when it comes to composing engrossing background music. Thankfully, the music occupies the realm of passable-to-decent, but there are times when it just comes off as far too cheesy and lame. A scene I’m thinking of in particular is when Mina messes some baddies up in a warehouse, after being lathered in her special gel. The music accompanying that scene just falls flat, and doesn’t do anything to enhance the action on screen. It’s painfully mechanical. Perhaps SHAFT was going for the 80s action movie aesthetic, but I’m not really feeling it. Thankfully, the music doesn’t bother me too much, but I wish it was something I could get excited about, like the Tsukuyomi soundtrack.

Other questionable stylistic quirks can be seen in the show’s visuals. I’m typically a fan of whatever visual madness SHAFT does, and I can see what they’re trying to do by intentionally making the video look shoddy by way of a noise filter and a green glow that looks like it belongs on a badly dubbed VHS. I don’t think it looks bad per-se, but it certainly doesn’t encode well. However, by episode 4 it seems that they’ve hit a nice balance. It’ll probably look neat in Blu.

Aside from those qualms, I think SHAFT has done well to re-work the series to their strengths. Yuki’s narration (delivered by Saito Chiwa, who didn’t do enough talking in Bakemonogatari, obviously) helps to frame the show nicely, adding something of a personal touch to the story. An account of someone who’s actually “there”, if you will.

Alongside Yuki’s narration, the way in which SHAFT opens the show is far more inspired than the rather dry manner in which the manga opens. My kung-fu isn’t strong enough to claim that an otherwise “serious” anime opening with a satire of variety shows is unprecedented, but it’s not anything I’ve ever seen before, and it’s just plain funny. Similarly, the following episode has a lot more fun in introducing the characters. Mina’s not-very-good attempt at spying on Akira through the bushes, along with her dance atop the building while introducing herself to Akira play up Mina’s more childish side, a part of her that’s not really touched upon until volumes 2 or 3 of the manga. The only newly introduced aspect of the story that doesn’t really seem to add much is Akira’s amnesia, but perhaps they’ll touch upon that later on. There’s also a new character!

The show has some things going for it visually as well, putting aside the deliberate degradation of the video. After shows like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Hidamari Sketch and Bakemonogatari, seeing SHAFT do some real backgrounds for a change is kind of nice. While a lot of the locales are anime standards, the shots inside Mina’s residence evoke the castle interiors in the opening episodes of Tsukuyomi. Except this time they’re lit up. I also like the odd use of photos for quick shots, even if I realize it’s really cheap. It’s neat.

Much like Bakemonogatari, Vampire Bund is “shot” pretty well. None of the compositions really hearken back to Shinbo’s Cossette or Soultaker days, but they make good use of the 16:9 aspect ratio, typically adhearing to the rule of thirds. To put it simply, the show tends to look cinematic. This keen eye for framing along with SHAFT’s newest habit of mimicking live-action camera work (Usually done by zooming in/tilting up on a charcater, but animating each and every frame instead of just zooming/panning up on a still image.) make for fairly interesting episode compositions.

The character designs evoke the manga art pretty well, but they have a touch more solidarity. In recent years SHAFT has kept the designs in their shows fairly close to their source material, but Vampire Bund sees a return to the aesthetic applied in Tsukuyomi, Pani Poni and Negima!?. What defines this style, I think, is a lot of roundness to the characters, while at the same time maintaining solidarity (ie, not becoming KyoAni-like blobs). A lot of detail is lavished upon hair, eyes, fabric folds, and there is a near fetishistic attention to the formation of hands and joints. It’s kind of strange how Tsukuyomi, Pani Poni, Negima!? and now Vampire Bund all share a lot of these traits, considering the fact that they don’t share a character designer as far as I know. I’m guessing it’s just a SHAFT thing. Perhaps Shinbo demands detailed hair and knee-caps.

Going back to important things–like the plot, I guess–to wrap this up, along with bringing Mina’s playful side to the forefront earlier on, the show is wasting no time establishing the main fixtures in the story. As early as episode two, the camera catches a glimpse of some villains, who the manga doesn’t even introduce until they actually do things. SHAFT is mostly likely taking the most important aspects of the manga, mixing it with their own stuff, and putting together a story that can be told nicely in the one-cour runtime (Of course, they’ll leave things hanging for a season 2…). It’s certainly more interesting than retelling the manga straight up because, you know, I already read that.

Scary and confusing things aside, I am more or less happy with how SHAFT’s version of Vampire Bund is turning out. I just hope when the action really hits hard, they’ll be able to deliver. We still haven’t seen many of the scenes from the PV, yet…

…the PV which seems to have disappeared completely from the internet…

Sunred was forsaken by the fansubbing community for a while after it hit, which is why I am thankful towards ANBU for being heroic enough to make this comedic gem available for English speakers. But along with praising their work, I do have a few bones to pick. Because that’s just how I roll.

But let’s start with the good. The translation they’ve stuck onto this show nearly perfect. While not 100% accurate, it captures the feel of the dialogue wonderfully. This is important, since Sunred derives a lot of its humour from just how conversational the script is, so a translation that reads exactly like normal English does wonders in helping the humour cross that often-difficult-to-breach linguistic boundary. It really is a shame that professional DVD translations don’t often reach this level of quality.

However, I think their translation localizes too much. Another thing that makes Sunred funny is how deep it plunges its heroes and villains into the stereotypically mundane Japanese lifestyle. As such, making the characters pay for things in dollars, as well as citing American brands as opposed to Japanese ones robs the show of its cultural flavour. Sunred thrives on references to local and nationally known things. This is a show that has three songs devoted to the city in which it takes place in, Mizonokuchi. I appreciate that they’re trying to communicate this same level of familiarity to American viewers by switching in American references, but it’s pushing things too far. They also make the characters swear too much. This is what I meant by “nearly perfect.”

Also, if they’re really shooting for professional quality on these things, why are they still doing ugly hardsubbed karaoke? Even the most newbie of new groups have gone to 100% soft subs.

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Tentai Senshi Sunred is, without a doubt, one of my most favourite comedy titles to hit in recent years. Along with all the other elements that come together to make each episode as funny as the last, there are two key things that make the humour really work–the voice acting, and the characters’ body language.

Sunred’s humour primarily relies on absurdity. It is a show about heroes and villains living typical mundane Japanese lives, after all. So rather than opting to have the characters deliver their lines in the typical polished anime voice acting style, they instead deliver with a noticeable level of naturalness. The voice acting isn’t rough or unpolished. Far from it. In fact, the acting is very good. However, the voices coming from the monsters and heroes in Sunred aren’t what you’d expect from heroes and villains, or the typical anime character. They’re the kind of voices you’ll hear if you speak to normal Japanese people.

It’s fair to say that the average Japanese girl does not sound the moe heroines that make up the bulk of female anime characters these days. By that same token, the average Japanese male does not sound like a brooding pretty-boy hero. Rather than mastering voices that are difficult to come by in the real world, the actors in Sunred instead deliver polished and professional performances that sound like, well, your buddies. However, in Sunred each character’s speech quirk is intentional. Things like mumbling are deliberate, and regional dialects are very much written in the script. Sunred’s punk-like cadence and Vamp’s near homosexual tone are especially well done. This perfection in delivering the imperfections of normal human speech is part of what drives home just how absurd the entire show is.

In addition to voice acting, the characters also have their own body language to match. While not the most well animated show, Sunred makes sure their characters express themselves both vocally and physically. In fact, the limited animation probably helps. Characters quickly changing between a few bold poses with no inbetweening does a good job of drawing one’s attention to the body language.

Much like the voice acting, the characters’ body language is also very natural. Convincing awkward mutters are matched with just as convincing fidgeting, and arguments between characters aren’t the typical talking-head shouting match. A great example of how well the body language works in Sunred can actually be found in the latest (not yet translated) episode–Sunred is confronted by another hero in a restaurant, and this hero asks Sunred for an awkward bit of advice. As the sketch begins, Sunred is looking around awkwardly, taking very annoyed puffs from his cigarette. This short cut of him just looking around, clearly looking as if he doesn’t want to be there, sets up the sketch perfectly.

Of course, what makes this all hilarious is that these are a bunch of freaks acting like normal guys. Especially a character like Khamenman, who sounds like some old guy, but still acts like a 20-something loser. The way in which these various factors contradict each other is key to how the show operates. And even though the show communicates quite realistic emotions through body language and voice acting, it doesn’t shy away from sweat drops or other examples of anime visual short-hand, which again contrasts nicely with all the stuff I’ve outlined above.

The are some other reasons why I find Sunred to be one of the best comedies out there, but this more or less covers why I think the show works as well as it does.