KT+Anime

Title? I Can’t…Think Of One…

Just sitting here listening to some Shiro Sagisu music from Nadia and I got to thinking about my blog. Go figure. Not sure how those two related in my mind, but I’m not here to analyze these things. It is what it is. Anyhow, I’ve found myself really missing writing for this blog. I constantly find my self going back and re-reading a lot of what I’ve written in the past, laughing at how bad some of it was but also seeing how I progressed my style and became somewhat content with what I had to offer. But something happened over the past year or so; what it is, I don’t know — but it’s this feeling of emptiness when it comes to my thoughts after an anime viewing. It’s true that I’ve been in a funk when it comes to watching anime in terms of my concentration over the past couple years (a phenomenon that has been happening sometime since 2006 for me), but even on my better days when my mind isn’t so distracted by…something…I still have that feeling of emptiness after a viewing. It has nothing to do with any waning interest I have in anime, as that couldn’t be further from the truth (despite the fact that my overall enjoyment of watching something can be significantly lessened thanks to this odd distraction of my mind depending on how bad it is on any given day). But nonetheless, it’s this emptiness that has resulted in my lack of writing. Even after finishing something I consider great, I still find myself at a loss of words (and not in a good way), and the only thing that I can come up with is a jumbled mess of basic ramblings that lack insight or worth. In my current state, it amazes me when I look back at my past writings that I was able to have so many thoughts just based on a viewing of one episode of something, let alone construe those thoughts into actual words. I can barely do a competent job of doing that for even a full series these days when I should have plenty on my mind to say.

I’m embarrassed that my ability has fallen this much, and such is the reason that KT+Anime has been largely dead over the past year or so. Looking at some of my favorite bloggers whose great content I read avidly, such as Bateszi or Martin, only serve as reinforcements of how much suck I’ve developed. I really wouldn’t want to subsequently release that suck onto this blog as well. Quality over quantity, right? Unfortunately, in this case, that quantity has become virtually zero.

I had initially wanted to begin using this blog as a forum to voice my opinion on full series since I had pretty much stopped watching series as they came out episode-by-episode, and I had also began watching more older series and wanted to share my opinions on those as well in hopes of revealing gems to readers or deterring them from trash. Alas, in my current state, I am just unable to do that. But who knows? Perhaps this ridiculous and inexplicable “funk” will disappear someday, somehow, and I will be able to resume writing and enjoying and immersing myself into anime to its fullest like I used to. Maybe something will “click” in my head that will allow me to do that one day. I can only hope. But until then, aside from some completely random thoughts (such as my previous post about Studio Khara), I’m not sure what I can offer on this blog.

I know this was probably a weird post, but hopefully someone could get some understanding out of it. Hell, maybe someone out there can offer their ability of hypnotism to rid my mind of this strange and utterly ridiculous problem. Eh…I can dream. This post was only meant to serve the purpose of explaining the current state of this blog and the reasons for such. I guess you can call this an official hiatus…

Khara = Joy? The Potential Glaring in Studio Khara.

I was thinking of continuing the next part of my proposed series “Groundwork of Anime.” I planned to put the spotlight on directors in that edition (which involves Hideaki Anno) and it led me to these thoughts…

When it came to the four new Evangelion movies being produced for theaters, I was very surprised that studio GAINAX would not be heading the project, but rather a brand new studio created by none other than Hideaki Anno, a founding father and former staple of GAINAX. That studio is Studio Khara, founded by Hideaki Anno and staffed with other former and older GAINAX members. Or, at least, that’s what I believe is the case. I’m still not exactly sure what this studio is all about as there isn’t much information available on them. Their website consists simply of a few bits of info here and there, so there’s not much else to go by. But regardless, the fact of the matter is that they are working on a high-budget film series for release in theaters, and since it’s an Evangelion work, it’s safe to say that this should bring them a fair amount of cash.

So while I don’t fully understand the purpose of Khara other than to produce to Evangelion movies, and its future is unknown to me, it’s easy to see that they have tons of potential outside the Eva franchise. What they have at their hands is an all-star team who are currently involved with the Eva production, and I don’t see why they couldn’t continue to work with Khara. People like Anno, Sadamoto, Sagisu — not to mention others they deem worthy to work with them on newer projects. Quite frankly I was a bit disappointed when I heard that Anno’s new project would be more Evangelion. I have been wishing for something (TRULY) new from him for ages, and so the announcement of more Eva (especially in the form of re-imagination movies) left an empty spot within me. But could it be that these movies are being used as a ploy in which to earn capitol to get Khara off its feet and be truly independent from GAINAX for future projects? I don’t believe it’s too far off-track to look at things in such a manner, and I, for one, surely hope that this is the case. Khara could create a whole new phenomenon in the anime world, similar to that of the GAINAX of old, circa 1987-1999, if they would stay in the game. It definitely wouldn’t make sense, at least to me, if the only reason for the studio’s formation was to work on 4 feature films and then disperse once that obligation had been dealt with.

So all of this makes me wonder, just what are the future prospects of Studio Khara? Just what can we expect from them down the road, if anything? There is definitely glaring potential within Khara…I just hope we can see that potential realized.

Think of the possibilities!

GAINAX does Shikabane Hime.

It’s not too often that I get to talk about a new GAINAX anime coming down the pike. Unlike the BONES or KyoAnis of the anime world, GAINAX seems to release things at a much slower pace. It’s better than the dry spell they had been going through from 1999-2006, however. I can take one per year, just as long as the series is worthwhile. Last year GAINAX gave me the pleasure of watching the crazy fun Gurren Lagann which has swept the anime nation. A nice departure it was from the funk that GAINAX had been releasing beforehand, and it made me believe that the studio would be going in a new, better direction of producing “different” anime originals, and staying away from the bad adaptations.

Well, that brings us to Shikabane Hime, a manga about “an undead girl (zombie?) who hunts down 108 corpses in order to go to heaven.” Well, OK then. Not much to go by other than that very short plot synopsis and a picture of a schoolgirl sitting in a provocative position holding a large gun. I don’t know anything about the original manga but I can’t say I’m immediately grabbed by any of this. I’m almost kinda put off. I mean, the last thing we need is more schoolgirl anime with dumb gimmicks. But I’m a fair guy, and as I’ve stated elsewhere, I’m willing to try just about anything. Perhaps the thing that offsets me the most is GAINAX’s past as it relates to manga adaptations — particularly their choices when it comes to which manga to animate. In my mind, their only winner in this regard is Kare Kano, and even that ended up being a little rough around the edges (the Anno episodes were the best [hah, I’m a fanboy]). Then there comes the fact that I’ve learned that this manga is still running. I doubt this will be some long running series and will most likely cut off at 26 episodes, so either we’re gonna be left hanging or we’re gonna get a GAINAX ending. What do you prefer? Well, I actually like GAINAX endings so I’ll take that.

So as is right now, my interest in this latest GAINAX venture is relatively low. Maybe when more staff is revealed, such as the series director, my interest level will change. But seeing as how I’m just an old GAINAX fanboy who wishes to see them return to their former (and experimental) glory, I had to say something about it.

As a disclaimer, I don’t mean to be a prude and try to form an opinion on something just based on a picture and a line of text; my thoughts are based on much more than that as I’ve already explained. I’d like to think of them as “preliminary thoughts,” if you will. Thoughts may vary with time.

Eureka Seven Movie to be Announced Officially in NewType

Just read this over on Anime News Network:

The May issue (on sale on April 10) of Kadokawa Shoten’s Newtype magazine will officially anounce that an Eureka Seven movie has been greenlit for production. Director Tomoki Kyoda (RahXephon movie), character designer Kenichi Yoshida (Overman King Gainer), and special effects director Yasushi Muraki (Ah! My Goddess: The Movie, The Skull Man) will reportedly return to animate with new mechanical designs, as well as a new form of storytelling that differs how the BONES anime studio produced the RahXephon movie. Although the creators are promising a new Eureka Seven “mythos,” it will still feature the Renton and Eureka characters that starred in the original television version. Bandai Entertainment released both the original anime television series and the manga spinoff in North America. The Adult Swim television network ran the program in the United States.

So it’s finally actually OFFICIAL. Quite frankly, there was a lot of speculation and BS flowing around in the rumor mill for the past two years, but this is what we E7 fans have been waiting for; something concrete, real, and truly official. As for the announcement itself, unfortunately this doesn’t sound like a direct sequel to the end of the television series. I think that’s what fans were hoping for the most — something to give them true closure. This sounds like it might be something of an alternate retelling. I’m not sure this is exactly what was wanted, but I’ll personally take it. At least it’s not a recap movie or something completely unoriginal. It should be new material and that’s a good thing in my eyes. We’ll see how it plays out, but it will be good to see the gang again, perhaps for one last time.

Series Review: Toward the Terra (TV)

Director: Osamu Yamazaki
Music: Yasuharu Takanashi
Character Design: Nobuteru Yuki
Vintage: 2007
Episode Count: 24
Studio: Minamimachi Bugyousho/Tokyo Kids

Original Creator: Keiko Takemiya

It’s a little tough to review this TV series after having reviewed the movie a little over a year ago. It seems like I’ve forgotten a good amount of the movie after so long, but after watching the TV series the happenings of the movie slowly began to come back to me, and so the TV series ended up feeling very familiar. This is all to say that the Toward the Terra TV series is a relatively faithful adaptation of the movie and manga. However, I’ve yet to read the manga, so I won’t comment much more on that. With that said, there won’t be too much new for me to write about when it comes to the TV series version of this story, so I’ll just touch briefly on a few of the TV series’ own merits and my thoughts on them.

One thing that I looked forward to when it came to the TV series was the pacing. While I greatly enjoyed the movie, I did feel it had some pacing issues which hurt it in the long run. A fast-paced beginning, slow middle and a somewhat rushed ending stilted my enjoyment just a little. I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about such issues with a TV series that had a plentiful 24 episodes to work with. I turned out to be right with my calculations, and having 24 episodes to run through this narrative greatly widened the limits of storytelling in this case. The biggest improvement was the characterization. We had so much more time to learn about the main characters and their environments that we didn’t have with the movie, so besides the “shock” scenes of massive death in the movie, it was easier to care for any individual characters that may have bit the dust in the series. That’s not to say that I cared a LOT (which I did for a select few), but it was easier to care overall. The character I think got the most development in comparison with the movie is Keith Anyon. From what I recall of the movie, his growth is quick and his character-change is just as swift, whereas in the series he has many more levels of growth added to his persona — along with those layers are reasons for such changes. Keith was easily the most interesting character in this story, and so I was happy to see that the extra time really did his character justice.

Another big change that I noticed was in the character of Tony. In the series, he was the first natural-birthed Mu child of Yui (a side character) and Karina (another side character). However, in the movie there was a major difference, as Tony was the child Karina and Jomy. In the beginning I wasn’t sure how to feel about this change. Tony turns out to be a very important character in the story, and his drive was based on the ambitions and ideals of Jomy. But in the TV series, his relations with Jomy were changed and Jomy became his proverbial “grandpa.” I wondered to myself “why then, would Tony care so much about Jomy’s ideals when the two basically have no relation other than the fact that Jomy is ‘Soldier’?” Even now, I’m a little caught up on this change, as I think Tony’s purpose was much more justified with Jomy as his actual father. I really liked the story of Tony in the movie, and feel that it would have worked much better in the series with the extra amount of time. A shame that the decision was made to change that storyline. In fact, I think a lot of the character relationships in the movie were more complex than the TV series, and would have worked extremely well had they been adapted for the series. One of the major relations goes back to Jomy and Karina. From what I recall there was much more going on between Jomy and Physis, at least in the eyes of Tony. Unfortunately this was completely left out in the series, as it added another dimension to Tony which had the viewer guessing as to whether or not he would be a “good” or “bad” character. There were touches of this uncertainty in the series when he got a bit hot-headed, but as that related to the him and the enemy and not within his own circle of people, it wasn’t quite as interesting.

Overall both versions have their 1-ups on each other, but at the end of the day I have to give the ultimate 1-up to the TV series. I thought this was a very solid work, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it even more than I did had I not seen the movie and everything was a surprise for me. But I recommend giving both versions a try to those who aren’t afraid of older anime as they are both very similar in nature but, at the same time, quite different beasts in atmosphere and narrative.

Rating: 4/5

For those of you who have seen the TV series that may be a interested in seeing what the older movie was like, here is a trailer. This movie is completely 80s, so you know I love it!

Series Review: Hajime no Ippo

Director: Satoshi Nishimura
Music: Tsuneo Imahori
Character Design: Koji Sugiura
Vintage: 2000-2002
Episode Count: 76
Studio: Madhouse

Original Creator: George Morikawa

The sports genre seems to be the “black horse” of anime. It’s the genre that doesn’t exactly receive blatant hate (such as the poor shounen genre), but tends to receive the most sheer bias from viewers. Many people feel that one has to be a fan of sports to enjoy a sports anime, or at the very least enjoy the sport that a particular sports anime may portray. This couldn’t be further from the truth, but unfortunately those who hold such a bias will immediately skip any show that’s main focus or major focus is sports, and thus will fail to realize this truth. As to this truth, I suppose I could say that I’m living proof. Though I am far from a sports anime “expert,” I have seen a fair couple, of which only one was of a sport that I’ve always been a fan of, and that was Slam Dunk (basketball anime). However, to prove this point, two others that I’m a fan of; Touch (one of my all-time favorite series) and Aoki Densetsu Shoot! (though I’ve not seen all of this yet) are about two of my least favorite sports — baseball and soccer (football for all you un-Americans) respectively. I’m really not sure how they do it, but anime creators tend to do well in making these sports series as massively appealing as any other show. But sadly, many fans fail to realize this.

But enough about my thoughts on sports anime in general, let’s get to the wonderful world of Hajime no Ippo, the best “pure” sports anime I’ve ever come across, and one of the most massively appealing sports anime in my mind. It’s my belief that the reason for this lies in the fact that the show is essentially a fighting anime, being about boxing and all. Fighting anime (or action anime) seems to be the most easily accessible genre out there, and so many viewers would more than likely feel right at home with a title like this. Of course, being a sports anime, the fighting will obviously be much better constructed and “important” than that which is outside the genre. Every move calculated and every move analyzed. Every second and moment is slowed down as the narrative takes you into the mind of each contender. We’re let in to hear each and every thought as the fight wages on. If one opponent punches, the other is thinking of its speed, its direction, its power, how they plan to dodge, what they plan to do next after the dodge, or how they plan to counter. Their emotions are projected; how do they feel about their opponent? How do they feel about themselves and their own skill level? Are they scared? Are they confident? What are they fighting for? This style, in essence, teaches the viewer about the sport in question as the series goes along, thus making the experience much more enjoyable. This style also helps make the fights so much more intense than they would be if we were just looking at two people fight. The feeling of “completion” is amazing here, and when a fight finally ends, often times you feel mentally just as drained as the characters on screen. To be fair to other series out there, it can be said in truth that internal dialogue is common (look at any good shounen fighting series), but in Ippo (and most other sports series alike), it’s really turned up to incredible levels.

Like many other series or movies about sports, this story is about human growth. The main character, Ippo, started off in a way in which I did not expect. In the end this was entirely my fault due to seeing promotional images and whatnot that pertained to the series and drawing up my own image of Ippo’s personality before ever seeing the show — that image being of a badass who’s ready to fight anyone at any given time. But to my surprise Ippo turned out to be, earlier on, the type who was easily thwarted by low-life bullies, and who had no way of standing up for himself. One thing that I truly loved about his ultimate goal in starting boxing was that he didn’t “want to become stronger,” but he wanted to know what it “meant” to be strong, and how it “feels” to be strong. Tens of episodes later, when Ippo is becoming a true master of his craft and can pretty much whoop anybody that gets in his way, he stands unchanged and still desires the feeling of what it means to be strong. This feeling and meaning, I suppose, could be left up to the viewer to decide as Ippo never makes clear what it is he was looking for, but the intriguing thing about it is that it obviously isn’t physical strength. Even as Ippo continues to climb his way up through the boxing world and life in general, his search for “strength” continues. Perhaps in Ippo’s mind this strength can never be attained, as life always allows room for one to grow even more. Perhaps Ippo’s search never will, and should never end, as one should always be looking to better themselves, no matter high up in status in life they are.

Though they don’t get as much time as Ippo gets in the show, the rest of the characters are so lovable. Ippo begins to form a bond with a group of boxers from his gym. That bond is close…TOO close at times. It isn’t the cheesy “best friends forever” scenario, but it’s rather more real in nature. When I watch these guys hang out it reminds me of how I hang out with my friends. To the stupid jokes we tell, our immature behavior, to when we can become more serious and know when to support each other. When it comes to this group of characters, I can say that I wouldn’t mind an “Hajime no Ippo: Fumoffu!” type of series. There are just so many different sides to the characters, and watching them all is a blast. There isn’t a single character I can recall hating, and they’re all the type of characters that you really miss once the series is over. A tremendous cast in this one.

Hajime no Ippo was an easy watch. I blasted through all 76 episodes in about a week. I don’t tend to watch too much anime at one time, but this show is like Pringles. Definitely the fastest I’ve ever watched so many episodes, no doubt about that. It doesn’t get much better than to actually root and worry about characters in a sports anime like you would with an actual sport, and that’s exactly what I found myself doing with Ippo. Ippo was an easy character to like, and as such you ALWAYS wanted to see him come out on top. It was hard not to care, and so you watch each fight on the edge of your seat, eager to see the outcome. The intensity picks up with each and every fight, only adding to your addiction. When a show has got you this bad, you know you’re in for some good times. One of the near-perfect sports series if I’ve ever seen one.

Rating: 4.5/5

Pros: Amazing cast of characters; intense boxing matches which get better exponentially; cel-animation in the early 2000s which is much better than digicel; incredible growth in its main character

Cons: Could have used more build-up to many of its fights

Series Review: Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Director: Noboru Ishiguro
Music: Shinsuke Kazeto
Character Design: Matsuri Okuda
Vintage: 1988-1997
Episode Count: 110
Studio: Kitty Films

Original Creator: Yoshiki Tanaka

It takes a while to gather your thoughts on series like this. It’s a show that’s so good in every one of its aspects that you’ll be using the same adjectives time after time to describe its greatness. Long story short, this show is amazing. 110 episodes of which production spanned nearly 10 years. One thing I’m sure most people would assume is that the story begins to fall apart at some point in the series due to the long stretch of time over which the series was produced. But, of course, I’m here to say that this couldn’t be further from the truth. This is, without a doubt, one of the tightest stories I’ve come across from beginning to end. I suppose the fact that it was an OVA (longest ever!) was highly beneficial to the production team, giving them enough time to make sure they got everything right, as opposed to a rushed TV schedule. Also is the fact that the story has just the right amount of complexity to it. It’s neither overbearing nor too simplistic. This was a surprise to me in the beginning, since this show is deeply political, and it had a lot going on in terms of factions, those affiliated with such factions, military status, history, and the like — this show has so many titles for its characters that it would make your head spin. But when I really got into it, I found that its world was pretty easy to follow, despite the information overload in almost every single episode.

At it’s bare bones, it’s just a story of three factions; autocratic, democratic, and a third which hoped to return to Earth its former glory — and the people who wave the banners of their nations ideals. There really aren’t any “good guys” or “bad guys” in this series. Not even suicidal and fanatical bunch that is the Earth Church. In the end, everyone is fighting for what they believe in. Aside from those characters who may be doing underhanded deeds for their own progression, there are no other characters who are in it for themselves. They are but artillery for their ideals and beliefs, and that’s one of the things I enjoyed most in this series. You can take whatever side you want, whether it be face of democracy, Yang Wenli, or the face of proper autocracy, Reinhard. Both are good people and it just goes to show you that you don’t always have to have an “evil enemy” to make a series like this work. Not to say that something like this hasn’t been done before. The original Mobile Suit Gundam had a somewhat similar setup as it related to the feud between Amuro and Char, but in this case I think it’s clear that the viewer was supposed to be pulling for Amuro as he was the main protagonist, and Char was the clear antagonist — whereas there really isn’t any central main character in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, nor is there any main protagonist or antagonist. And so I hold LOGH in highest regard when it comes to this story setup.

I remember saying how large the cast of characters on Infinite Ryvius was, but that’s like a joke now compared to LOGH. This series trumps any other in the way of the amount of characters it has, and the sheer amount of development each one gets. Every main character and side character has a rich amount of history to go with them, making it so easy to care about them. Some characters whom, in the beginning, I thought wouldn’t play much of an important role in the show turned out to play some of the biggest parts. It’s the advantage of being an evenly-paced 110 episodes that this kind of development is achieved. I can’t recall a single death in this anime that I did not care about, whether the character was supposed to be liked, or was antagonistic. Either way, each death was worthy of being noted in this world’s history, and changed the course of the series and its characters. As for this, I’ll just say that no one is safe in this show. It keeps you on your toes at all times, and you’ll just never know who it is that will go next.

As much as I may gush over this show myself, unfortunately I don’t believe I could recommend it to everyone. I would surmise that you’d need to have a certain taste to be able to really enjoy this show as its style may be a little bit too much for some. It’s largely dialogue-based so prepare to read TONS of text at nearly every second of the show. If the characters aren’t talking then the narrator is talking. It doesn’t matter if it’s a discussion scene or a battle scene. Speaking of battles, if you’re big into action then you won’t find a huge amount here. When there are battles, they’re mostly strategy based, so you’re usually going to be looking inside the battleships listening to the Admirals’ commands, strategies and thoughts on situations than you are to see the big ships shooting at each other. Another thing is that this show is big into the political talk, so you’ll spend a good amount of time listening to conversations about rulers, ideals, military plans, etc. So if one isn’t into that sort of thing, I’m not sure how much they would be able to enjoy this show. Then again, they may be pleasantly surprised, as I must be honest in saying that I never expected to enjoy a show of this type THIS much. But overall, I think this series definitely has a niche appeal. However, to any of those who are even in the least bit interested, I would say give it a try. I think that even if it turns out not to be “your thing,” one would be hard-pressed to call this series “bad.”

Rating: 5/5

Pros: Large casted of highly-developed characters; a story that stays air-tight through 110 episodes from which production spanned 9 years; unpredicatble; nearly perfect pacing; pretty much everything

Cons: May only appeal to a niche audience

“The legend ends…and history begins.”

All Right Folks, That’s a Wrap…

Yep, that’s a wrap on this damned 3-month long hiatus. Or at the very least, I damn sure hope so. I really have no earthly clue how this last one came about. I called myself getting back into full swing with my new “Groundwork of Anime” series, and then fell off again! What a joke, KT, what a joke. And the longer I’ve been away, the harder it’s been for me to come back. But all the while I’ve been missing the site greatly. I don’t think there was a single day when I didn’t think about writing something. But the laziness had settled in after having been away so long, so it was very tough to open up the notepad and start writing again. Not to mention my anime viewing has lessened significantly over the past six months, and I’ve only been watching one 110-episode show since August — not due to any lack of interest on my part but, well, it’s kind of hard to explain, so I’ll leave it at that. But my viewing has picked up again over the past few weeks, thankfully. So I’m hoping to put an end to this debacle right here and now. I’ve lost probably 90% of my readers since the beginning of the hiatus, and I don’t want this place to be a tumbleweed-ridden ghost town, so I have to get things back on track.

I’m not sure how much newer anime I’ll be covering, but I’ll try to cover at least a couple shows each season. At the same time I’ll give complete series reviews for any show I may be watching at any given time, one of which should be posted later today!

Speaking of newer shows. I’ve been TOTALLY out of the loop. I have no idea what’s airing really, and I have no idea what’s coming up. I haven’t been paying much attention at all. I know about Kaiji and Gundam 00, which I plan to watch sometime after their seasons are complete. And then there’s the shows like Clannad, and whatever other dating-sim shows that I’m not really into. What’s good people? Anything that’s started up recently that you think I may be into? Toss me a few recommendations and I’ll check some stuff out. We’re not in another bad season, are we?

The Groundwork of Anime: The Music

There are many aspects that come together which can make an anime good. The directing, the story, the characters, the writing, the voice acting, the animation, the design — the list goes on. If just one of these characteristics is fatally flawed, it can really put a damper on a series. Individually, these particular aspects don’t appear to be of such vital importance as much as the whole, but these things are the groundwork which make anime, or any production, what it is. In this short series of articles, I will lay out a few of my favorites whom I feel do outstanding work in each individual category. Hopefully I will see a few of your opinions on each subject, as well.

Starting out, I will begin with what I feel is one of the most enjoyable individual aspects of anime, and that is the music. Those who render distinguished work in this field are those who greatly enhance the productions they provide their talents to. As an added bonus, their work is often quite enjoyable to listen to outside its intended use. What I’m not talking about is opening or ending theme music. These, I feel, are important and can make a show more memorable, but only in superficial sort of way. What I am talking about is background music composition, and my absolute favorite in this category is probably not someone you’d expect. It’s not a Yoko Kanno or a Yuki Kajiura, but someone who’s work is probably much more “traditional,” probably doesn’t stand out as much and most of you have probably heard his work, moved on and thought nothing of it. But this is far from a negative, because the work he does in his genre of music is nothing short of phenomenal. His name is Shiro Sagisu, and I’m sure most of you have at least heard of him. Yes, he did the music in the Legendary Neon Genesis Evangelion, and it was this work which obviously brought him to my attention. That was a good 6 or 7 years ago and by now I’ve seen approximately 90% of the anime he’s been involved in. While the series themselves may have a wide range of quality, one thing has remained consistent, and that’s the quality of their music. Shiro’s best work happens to be in the orchestral field. The moods he can create with just a simple arrangement of a lone piano or violin is quite amazing, and is one of the things I love most about his music. With him, it’s all about the mood. From sad, to happy, to funny, to intense, to downright creepy, Shiro can do it all in a variety of ways. He has done music in many different styles — from the hard rock sound found in Mega Zone 23, to the electric sound of Bleach (though, to be honest, I have never been too fond of his work in Bleach), to the cool Jazz sound in The Skull Man. When you watch a show with Shiro’s music present, you will always know how you should be feeling. Even with a sub par director, chances are the right feeling will find its to you. Even listening standalone, his music elicits great emotion and always has a certain atmosphere that makes it that much more enjoyable to listen to. Shiro’s music goes beyond “catchy” and “cool,” but more often than not, his music is an experience.

*A Couple Favorites:
“The Enlargement of Obstruction” (The End of Evangelion)
“The Flow of Emptiness” (The End of Evangelion)
“Going Home” (Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water)
“The Ship of the Alus” (Macross II: Lovers Again)

*Notable Works:
Kimagure Orange Road
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Macross II: Lovers Again
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Kare Kano
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
The Skull Man

Another one of my favorites is probably, once again, someone who most people probably shrug off as nothing more than another music composer, and once again I find most of his music to be amazing, and his name is Kohei Tanaka. You can find his music in plenty of hot-blooded super robot shows such as Gunbuster, G Gundam, GaoGaiGar or Die Buster. You can also find his music in one of the best shounen anime ever made, One Piece. Now Kohei’s music, unlike Shiro’s, happens to be great simply because of how much fun it is to listen to. Throughout so many of his soundtracks you can find a bunch of songs that are pleasantly intense, or downright catchy. A lot of his music is loud and overbearing — perfect for the most fierce of action scenes, and that is the kind of music that he does best. Of course, there’s more to his style than just that. One word that I often use to describe his work is “charming.” This applies to the more subdued of his work. Much like you would want to fall in love with a charming, great character; his music is able to make you want to do the same with a series itself. It’s a little hard to explain in words, as with Shiro, it comes down to atmosphere. A distinct atmosphere of which Kohei Tanaka is one of the best to be able to produce.

*A Couple Favorites (I am limited at the moment thanks to the hard drive crashes):
“Gunbuster (M20)” (Gunbuster)
“Prologue (M1)” (Gunbuster)
“Tabidachi” (Gunbuster)
“Topless” (Die Buster)

*Notable Works
Gunbuster
Die Buster
GaoGaiGar
G Gundam
One Piece
Overman King Gainer

Last but not least, Toshihiko Sahashi, who is, yet again, someone who I’m sure is on a minuscule amount of “favorite composers” lists. But he is on mine. As with the others, his music doesn’t immediately scream at you “listen to me, I’m special!” but is something that I truly value as an anime fan. I fell in love with his music when I first watched Hunter x Hunter around three years ago. “Atmosphere” is the word of the day one last time, though with Toshihiko, I’m not quite sure what kind of atmosphere it is that he creates, but it’s always there in full force. Maybe it’s the frequent use of the bongo drums along with a great piano sound, or the flamboyant and strong sound of violins…whatever it is, it’s there, and I love it. Toshihiko incorporates many different sounds into his music, whether it be traditional orchestral music, smooth jazz, or a touch of rock. But none of these sounds are separate of each other. More often than not, he is incorporating them all together in the same piece, and it creates such a wonderful sound. If I had to pick one word to describe his music, I’d choose “epic,” and it is perfect for the types of series he’s usually involved in.

*A Couple Favorites:
I’m currently in the process of getting the soundtracks I lost in the crash back, so unfortunately no mp3s for now.

*Notable Works
Hunter x Hunter
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny
Full Metal Panic
Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid
The Big O
Zipang

And before I’m jumped, yes, I do quite love Yoko Kanno as well as Yuki Kajiura and think their music is amazing. At the very least, both composers’ work is more “special” and “unique” than those I’ve posted as favorites.

So while you’re here, why don’t you tell me who some of your favorite anime music composers are? I’d love to hear different people’s opinions on this matter.

Next time on The Groundwork of Anime, we take a look at one of the most important people in the production of an anime — the director.

Unfashionably Late With Final Gurren Lagann Thoughts

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann has got to be the ultimate in the “turn your brain off and watch” style of anime. This could be regarded as a good thing, or perhaps, a bad thing depending on how one looks at it. As for this viewer, it tended to be a little bit of both. Though the good far outweighs the bad in this case. There are shows which require no brain power whatsoever and they may have nothing else to offer. Those shows are bad. Then there are shows which require no brain power, but simultaneously leave your brain with no time to rest. Make sense? No? Well I’m talking about Gurren Lagann and in the Gurren Lagann world, this makes perfect sense.

The running gag, if you will, (because I fully regard this series as a gag anime in almost every way, even in the second half where things take a more serious turn, at least as far as storyline goes), in this series is that everything must be in the most insane, the most crazy, the most epic and on the grandest scale that’s possible. A culmination of nearly every aspect of the Super Robot genre ever made, all turned up to level 500 on a dial that only goes up to level 10. And it worked — it worked for just about the entire series. And I add “just about” because, at some points in the series, the insanity did begin to wear on you. It began to feel a little TOO crazy, and thus began to feel repetitive in nature. Oddly enough this feeling arose for me at the midpoint of the series, not toward the end like one would expect. The time boost and change in direction midway through the series really helped in making the series feel fresh again. If this decision wasn’t made, I’m not sure how I’d feel about the series right now. But alas, this decision was made and my interest in the series was given a much-needed kick in the ass. Even though the craziness was more epic than ever, at least at this point there was a bit more of a reason to watch; that being a solid, though mundane, “humans are an enemy that must be destroyed because they’re going to destroy themselves and the universe anyway” plot to follow. No, this plot is nothing special, too interesting, or very engaging, but at least it was there to desaturate some of the crazy action which had began to grow a bit tiring before and give it all a good reason for being there. But let’s face it, this show was never about good storytelling in the first place, so I can very easily forgive an average plot as this was made up for thanks to the novelty of putting everything on such a large scale.

Another core feature in Gurren Lagann is the massive amount of heart that each and every character has beating within them. Like the action, this is taken to a level beyond anything I have seen. This took a cast of otherwise average characters and made them very memorable for this trait alone. When the chances of success are 0%, their heart and their resolve made the impossible possible, and that is something that could be seen throughout the entire series. This, coupled with the utterly impossible scale of every happening, made for some extraordinary scenes and moments. These are the times when Gurren Lagann shined the brightest.

Unfortunately, not everything was amazing about this series. Some of its overbearing positives oddly created a few negatives here and there. As said before, a sheer grand scale was applied to most everything in the series. This made for some interesting moments and it also led to a bit of a mess in the storytelling. As I said before, storytelling is not Gurren Lagann’s strong point, but even this was a bit of a distracter when it came to my full enjoyment of the series. Some times things were so large, so epic, so crazy, that the series began to lose cohesion. Things seemed to happen just to happen. Technobabble was used to explain this, and sometimes it wasn’t. So this led to me just sitting there looking at pretty pictures instead of understanding exactly what was happening. In a show like this, it’s okay for this to happen for the most part, but I did find it to be a bit of an annoyance later in the show. Luckily for me, this was confined mostly to the end of the story, and so I wasn’t forced to deal with it for an extended period of time. Because of this, it was easier to go with the flow and not pay too much attention to details as I often do. There was also the issue of an enormous cast, little of which get much development. I was hard-pressed to remember any of the characters’ names besides the main protagonists. Many of the side characters were pushed to the back for so long that it was hard to care about anything that happened to them. So when it did start happening, unfortunately I watched with an indifferent expression on my face. And it really is unfortunate, because had this been done right, that would have been another level at which this series could have been enjoyed at. But that wasn’t there. A shame.

In the end I really did enjoy my time watching this series. I enjoyed it about as much as I thought I would, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but reading many of the other reactions to this series, I wish I could have enjoyed it just as much as them. I’m not faulting the series for my not enjoying it on a deeper level — I enjoyed the series for what it was, and that was a damn fun show where you could shut your brain off and enjoy. As for GAINAX, with the exception of Melody of Oblivion (which was co-produced by JC Staff) this is probably their best full-length television series in nearly a decade. Kudos to them for finally stepping up and not producing something that was total tripe for the amass of fanboys to jack off to. While not to the overpowering effect of their past series, Gurren Lagann still retained a smudge of experimentalism which has made the first 15 years of GAINAX anime great. Kudos to them. If this is the direction of new generation GAINAX anime, then maybe the GAINAX fanboy in me will still have a bit life within me after all.

Series Rating: 4/5