A Series So Good It Both Defines and Breaks Free from Genre

I should start out this review by saying that I am not normally a fan of the "magical girl" genre.  As a thirty-something father of two, I also certainly don't typically fall into the target demographic for this sort of show.

In spite of that, I decided to give the show a try since it had been talked about on so many Youtube videos as an excellent show.  While the series sort of gets off to a slow start, there are events that unfold within the first four episodes that make it very clear that this is not a typical "moe" show. 

The characters have depth and with perhaps one exception, none of them falls into an easy to define stereotype.  Every time you think you know where it is going, in terms of story, it throws you for another loop.  If there is any complaint about the story, it is that part of me wishes it were more than 12 episodes, if just to get a little more development of the side characters besides Madoka, Sayaka and Homura.  But that's nitpicking.

The art style is also fabulous.  Particularly when the girls enter into a witch's labyrinth, when the background is anything but typical anime.  The merging of the two art styles is done very well and if your enjoyment from anime comes from the visual aesthetics, you won't be disappointed.

Interestingly, I was vaguely aware of the big twist that occurs at the mid-point of the series.  I can say this took nothing away from the experience and if anything kept me anticipating when the reveal would occur.  When it did, the specifics of it were still surprises and I was definitely impressed with the creativity of the writing.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica really is one of those timeless classics (albeit not that old) that really does cross genres and can appeal to everyone.

Very weighty and impactful things happen to the cast of characters.  It became very apparent that this show is not for small children children.  Years ago, a friend in college recommended Revolutionary Girl Utena because it was the first "dark shojo" and that it had a universal appeal.  I ended up watching the show and it arguably gave rise to countless shows in the 2000s onward.  This show can be viewed similarly for its impact on the magical girl genre...

Overlord - The Bad Teenage Eric Cartman Fanfiction

I should start out by saying I don't think Overlord is horrible.  There have been many series I have given up either because I found them to be utter garbage or boring and going nowhere.  The fact that I watched this show through to its conclusion means it was at least watchable.

With that said, the entire time I watched this show, I could not help but get the idea out of my head that was I reading a fan fiction that some guy wrote about how awesome everything would be if his fantasy MMO character was stuck in a real world based on those same rules.


At this point I could post spoilers ahead but to be honest, if you've watched only the first episode of the series, by the time you get through the opening theme in Episode 2 it has basically told you the plot and any twists of the entire show.  There is nothing overall deep or thought provoking done by the show that you can't surmise from watching the OP a few times, including guessing all the plot twists.

The show is about a Japanese store clerk who played an MMO (with deep dive virtual reality technology very similar to SAO) that his guild has largely abandoned. The server is going down in a few hours and he decides to see it off to the very end before heading to work the next day.  A countdown clock ticks down to midnight and instead of being logged off, he finds himself trapped in his avatar's body, to a land similar to the online game, tended to by an army of NPC's come-to-life, most of whom were programmed by former guild members.

All of the NPC's in his care revere him and praise him.  We establish the idea very early that he is extremely powerful and rich with in-game currency.  And that's where the first problem with Overlord becomes exposed  Other than Ains (as he has his minions call him), none of the other primary/secondary characters have any development at all.  They are all overpowered and absurdly devoted to him.  Most of their conversations consist of either praising Ains or talking amongst each other about who is the most obsequiously devoted to him.

Beyond this, there is no real drama. We find out very quickly that Ains and his followers are light years beyond the power of anyone else in this universe and so a fair bit of his caution, while understandable, also leads to both ridiculous round about plans and no tension.  This latter point is because at no point in this entire show is there any question about whether any of the main cast will be hurt or die. In the second third, he confronts two villains from a neighboring country who are well established to be stronger than most but they are still ants to our hero.  At no point do we ever think the old man necromancer (whose name escapes me) or Clementine or a legitimate threat despite all being much stronger than any regular human in this series's universe. 

As stated earlier, not much really happens in Overlord.  Our protagonist's grand plan is this convoluted strategy of posing as a dark knight (because he feels the overwhelming need to understand the melee mechanics of this world) and get his name under this pseudonym spread across the land so that somehow then his actual real persona as the overlord lich king can be known across the land.  If none of that makes sense that's the point.

Ains slaughters an entire mercenary army and briefly touches upon how taking the lives of others doesn't seem to bother him, as his personality is being taken over by his character.  That would have been a fascinating issue to grapple with, similar to Grimgar of Fantasy & Ash.  Perhaps the character could have afterwards great misgivings about what he did or a true moral crisis about weather the morality of our own society can or should be applicable in this fantasy world.  In the beginning, he asks one of his buxom female servants if he can grope her chest, ostensibly to test the mechanics of the world and while this servers as little more than fan service, this might have also been an interesting an refreshing route to go in exploring the ideas of if a relationship could exist in such conditions, especially considering her devotion was a result of a last minute programming change made before the MMO was supposed to shut down.  Or heck, they could have gone a more hentai route and even that would have been more interesting than where this show went.

I confess I enjoy the "trapped in another MMO" trope.  I was a fan of the first season of Sword Art Online - albeit the first half more than the second that featured a damsel in distress Asuna as well as Log Horizon.  If we're willing to extend that genre to being in a fantasy world, Re: Zero and Konosuba were two of my favorite shows of last year. I had heard decent things about Overlord so I thought I should give it a try.

And that's where I get to the title of my post. Throughout it, I kept thinking, as someone who played an MMO at one time (RIP City of Heroes) that I could have written something on par with this when I was in high school.  The thought of Eric Cartman, from South Park, being just a little older and in the same circumstance kept coming to me.  Realistically an animated version of Clyde Frog or Polly Prissypants would have just been as believable in this show and would have fit in telling the character how awesome he was.

I'd have to call this series a skip, at least for now.  A second season somehow got green lit, which shows what I know about anime, and so I may check it out to see if perhaps the snails pace of a story changes or if anything interesting happens (perhaps anything that is a legitimate threat to Ains), but for now this thirteen episodes if a solid "meh" for me.

Farewell Old Friend

I watched the final episode of Naruto yesterday.  After re-watching it with my wife this evening, with some regret I clicked the "Remove from queue" button.  The show has been running for nearly fifteen years and it strangely been a large of my life.

When I was a college senior, two of my roommates were into it.  At the time I think there were only two seasons and so it was not anywhere near the anime behemoth it would become later on.  It was actually not for a few more years that I even started watching the series.  I moved back to Indiana, PA to be with my eventually-wife and we lived in a rundown basement apartment in the outskirts of Homer City.  I had no job that winter so I ended up marathon watching the Japanese subtitled version on YouTube.  And just as I finished the final episode, I discovered a new series had started called Shippuuden.

My wife knew I was into anime.  I think she thought it was just these weird, nerdy Japanese cartoons I liked.  One weekend, Cartoon Network decided to have marathon of Naruto. By that time, we'd moved to Monroeville.  Amanda started watching an episode.  We ended up, I think, wasting nearly the entire weekend watching the Invasion of Konoha arc.  She quickly caught up to me and on a weekly basis if it was Thursday I was downloading the latest fansub.  We even took the series with us to Europe on our honeymoon.  It was the gateway into sharing one of my passions with my wife and I think I turned her into a mini-otaku (even if that meant she watched shows involving vampires). Midway through we stopped watching for a good year, as the spoilers got more and more absurd, but when the canon started back up, we ended up rewatching the whole series (even some filler) up to where they were.  The fillers, near the end, soured Amanda and even me on watching, but I still watched a number of the shinden side stories.  And with this final arc, surrounding the wedding, we both watch together.

Our sons are still too small to watch the show.  We went to see both Naruto: The Last and Boruto, they just knew it was mommy and daddy's cartoon.

The final episode, while not the most amazing of stories, had many poignant moments and nearly had Amanda in tears.  Naruto's request to Iruka, to serve as his father at the wedding, was pretty touching.   There were also some hilarious moment both with the best of the Orochimaru gags and Killer Bee's yes/no pillows.  And I think what I liked best is that it had Hinata...

I don't know why but I've been a sucker for her for years.  I remember freaking out like a little girl when she finally admitted her feelings for Naruto when trying to protect him from Pain in the manga.  When I thought she died a chapter later, I was a wreck until they revealed she was still alive a few weeks later.  When the first teaser for The Last came out, I was thrilled that they had teased a relationship.  A few weeks later, the series ended and I got the reward I was hoping for, when chapter 700 showed Himawari with those familiar "whiskers."  I've seen some other anime (most notably re:Zero) where we see the protagonist loves who they love, but in this case I think Kishimoto got it 100% right.  Before anyone else supported him, she did even from the sidelines.

I'll probably watch Boruto in a few weeks but I know it won't be the same.  Naruto was both one of my favorite shows (I know it is far from the "best" anime) and is so connected to my life for over a decade.

Thanks for the memories Kishimoto, dattebayo.

Your Lie in April - Episode 3 - Inside Spring

Those facial expression...

Kaori has dragged Kosei to a cafe and she is fascinated by what she ordered.  She observes a piano and manages to coax Kosei to play with two small girls.  We get to see for the first time Kosei's mental stigma towards the piano.

After their meal, Kaori admits she knows exactly who Kosei is and that she looks up to him as a musician. Kosei tells her he can only hear the sound of the keys  but not the notes themselves. Kaori refuses to accept his curse and decides to make him her accompaniest for the second round.

Kosei tries to refuse but as the next day demonstrates, Kaori is not one to take no for an answer.  She proceeds to enlist Tsubaki's help to force Friend A to do it. The results are fairly comical. At one point the two conspirators talk about Tsubaki's relationship with Kosei, to which she replies that she views him as a kid brother.

The day of the competition, Kosei is nowhere to be found. As the competition begins, Kaori finds him eating egg salad sandwiches on the roof of the school and begs him to play with her, bowing her head and crying while she implores him to play. Our main protagonist relents as Watari and Tsuabki show up and haul ass on their bikes to get them to the competition in time.

Kaori's facial expressions are probably some of my favorite parts of the series.  She is so animated in everything she does, which is stands in very stark contrast to the soft spoken Kosei.  The reaction to eating the pastry is particularly amusing.

In contrast to that, her singing is quite awful and it's an awkward part in the show to hear the voice actress singing in very heavily accented English. I know one can counter "That's how she'd sound singing it," but its a strange moment and to be honest I can't fanboy everything.

The background theme with violin and piano, which will make apperances in various altered forms throughout the series is such an excellent framing device that helps all the scenes build.

Observations on Second Viewing (spoilers):

We now know very clearly why Kaori was actually crying. In one her realest moments in the series, where all pretense is dropped, she is begging the boy who she fell in love with years ago to play with her and fulfill her most deeply held wish. Knowing about both her limited time remaining and her history, the scene is so much more emotionally taxing than the first viewing.

It's also amusing to note how Kaori is also quite a manipulative person when you think about it.  Her trying to talk Kosei into playing at the cafe, playing the the classical piece for a week straight over the PA system, enlisting Tsubaki to harass him through posting the score everywhere (even his phone wallpaper)... all of it is quite an intense effort to get Kosei to play, though in retrospect I think we can forgive her. Seeing Kaori holding the black cat is also interesting since the feline serves as a representation of his mother's curse and his inability to play anymore.

The scene on the bus, when Kaori pushes for the stop to the hospital, is the first clue that something is wrong with her health.  I remember my wife point asking me "Does she die?" Sigh. Did you really need to ask honey?  Do you really want to know that answer?

Your Lie in April - Episode 2 - Friend A

Classical Pieces: Violin Sonata No. 9 (Kreutzer Sonata)

One of the drawbacks of reviewing a completed series is that you love it and don't want to stop watching it.  You want to go to the next episode without stopping and if you find yourself limited on time to spend the 20-30 minutes to write a review the end result is perhaps a few days between watching.

Because classical music is such an important part of this series, I thought I'd add an extra feature to these reviews and list any classical performance pieces featured in an episode.  For the second episode, it is Beethoven's Kreutzer.

Kosei, Tsubaki and Watari enter the Towa Hall auditorium to watch Kaori perform her competition piece.  Watari falls asleep almost immediately and Tsuabki laments her boredom that everyone is playing the same piece.  Kosei explains that because it is a competition they are all expected to play the same piece; however, this competition is interesting in that the violinists all have piano accompaniments.

Kaori, who is fourth in line to play, shocks Kosei and the entire crowd by playing the piece without regard for how it was written.  The lead judge even comments that she "might as well be picking a fight with [Beethoven]. The show ramps up the volume of her performance, compared to those who came before her, and we are treated to the first of what will eventually be many great classical performance pieces.  One of the most impressive features of the show is how accurate the movements of the characters are when playing.  In adding this detail, it adds to the realism of the show, which sets it apart as the show could have just as easily been lazy with the animation.
Kosei's eyes sparkle at the first note from her bow.  Kaori gets a standing ovation from the crowd but the judges are not impressed.  Kosei's words at the bumper are simple yet poignant, "She's beautiful."

As expected Kaori does not place but is nonetheless picked as the audience's choice.  But we quickly get a good glimpse into Kaori's personality as she doesn't care at all about her rank, she only wanted to play.  Kosei praises her performance and then resigns himself as be only Friend A, a fill in to alievate Tsubaki from being in an awkward situation,

The episode ends with Tsubaki threatening Watari for neglecting Keiko and forcing him to walk the unshown girl home.  Kosei on his way home encounters Kaori, who he has been thinking about during his walk.  He persuades her not to return to the school to look for Watari and she tells him that he'll serve as an acceptable substitute to accompany her. 

Once again, the art is great.  Some of the facial expressions are very nuanced and I love the color scheme in the final scene of the show. 

Observations on Second Viewing (spoilers):

The visual of the double doors opening as Kosei enters Towa Hall was seems like possible foreshadowing of Kosei dusting himself off and beginning to play the piano again. His tapping along to his chair, trying to mimic the piano score is another sign he hasn't lost his desire to play, contrary to what he may say in the subsequent episodes.

When Kaori says "Elohim Essaim." This apparently has its origins in some spell that can summon black magic but Elohim is the Hebrew word for G-d, so I think this may be something akin to "G-d, please hear me."  Just before it, she hoes that her music will reach "them" and I wonder if she's really talking about the audience or just Kosei.

After the performance, Kaori is really seeking Kosei's approval.  His initial hesitancy to praise her has an immediate impact and in retrospect we know how much it means to her.

I don't know if this will be an ongoing trend, but Watari really serves as a strong third party observer to the series.  He says what we as the viewer are thinking and in some ways want to say to Kosei in the same situation. I love the response, "It's only natural for the girl you're crushing on to be in love with someone else," when Kosei laments Kaori would never be interested in him.

Final thoughts: is that Kaori is an impressive actress.  We know that she wanted to meet Kosei all along and her ability to manipulate him into escorting her is impressive.  Seeing the act she puts up is amusing.

And to answer your question Kosei, as to what that feeling is called... it's kismet.

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash - Episode 11 - "Between Life and Death"

Can Mary overcome her fear?

In some ways its strange to begin a review mid-series let alone with only two episodes left in the season (or perhaps series?).  But such is life when you begin and I had to begin somewhere.  To recap where we left off, the party had decided to leave their usual hunting grounds and goblin prey to explore the Cyrene Mines where Mary's previous party had ventured and were almost entirely wiped.  After making good progress on several floors the group ends up encountering a large group of kobolds in a field, lead by the massive Death Spots, the kobold responsible for killing three of Mary's previous party members.

The episode opens with Mary remembering a conversation her old party had about first venturing into the Cyrene Mines.  The actual party members are rather vanilla but it is interesting to note that Mary has a much more upbeat personality than we've seen from her since joining Haru & crew.  She is brought back to reality just in time as Death Spots approaches the party's hiding spot.  Afterwards, they decide to venture to the 5th floor and in their quest to rest up return to where the tragic events in Mary's past happened.

The party encounters the undead versions of Mary's friend and are forced to fight them.  The team, although outnumbering the foes 2-1 is clearly at a disadvantage when it comes to skill, though in the end Mary is able to save everyone, both her teammates and her lost friends. A dominant theme of Grimgar is the quest to move on after loss and while most of the team has already confronted it with Manato, Mary is now able to do the same with the weight on her person.

Unfortunately, the fight with the Undead King's servants attracts the attention of Death Spots and from there the action picks up and this is where the episode shines. The artwork during the chase scene as the party tries to escape is excellent.  Although the fact Ranta is staying behind to try and save his teammates is a little cliche and predictable, it provides a good set up for what should be the finale next week.

For me, the first part of this episode was a little boring, including the fight with Mary's former teammates until she begins to dispel the curse keeping them alive.  The fact she not only casts a spell but embraces all three of them is a touching visual. 

Speaking of hugging, Yume really is the comic relief of the show and provides some needed levity between the action & desperation. Her latching onto Ranta in fear and then screaming at him to let her go cracked me up.  When she's later wondering where she could carry a possible future wolf dog pup in her costume and then looking disappointingly down her shirt was another great moment. Too often in anime, the jokes are over the top and just don't translate well to an American audience, but Grimgar has done a decent job of avoiding that.

The discussion of Mary's teammates turning to nothing but ash was my favorite part of the episode.  The observation that they all at some point will turn to ash is poignant.  It was very similar to the Jewish concept of death, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground for out if was thou taken: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return" (Genesis 3:19).  I would not be surprised if this scene was directly inspired by the Biblical verse from the first book of the Torah.  Perhaps in a better title for the series would be Grimar of Fantasy & Dust.

Your Lie in April - Episode 1 - Monotone/Colorful

Our introduction to Kaori Miyazono.

Your Lie in April begins with the story of Kosei Arima, a child piano prodigy who has abandoned his playing.  His late mother was his teacher and very abusive towards her young son in her quest to get him to achieve perfection.  Tsubaki, his childhood friend and neighbor, is a classic tomboy.  During baseball practice, she hits a home run that breaks the window of the nearby music room, where Kosei is transcribing popular music and nails him in the head.  Rounding out the trio of friends is Watari, the attractive and popular captain of the soccer team.  While one would think the three make an odd pairing at first glance, the friendship between the three is genuine.  After introducing us to three of the four main players, the major moving point in the plot is that Tsubaki asks Kosei to accompany her during her quest to set up Watari with a classmate, Kaori Miyazono.

At the meeting spot, Kosei arrives first and ends up meeting our female protagonist in what could be called not ideal circumstances for an introduction.  Kaori steals the scene in the playground, which will be a recurring thing throughout the series, and while the comedy is nothing laugh out loud, seeing her reaction to her first encounter with Kosei is amusing. As a married man, I've seen that face once or twice from my wife.

The first episode has some of the typical anime tropes in it but thankfully this will be lacking in future episodes.  Additionally, the background music does a wonderful job setting the tone. We've not gotten any of the performance pieces yet but even when no one is on stage, the music is always great.  Moreover, in spite of the massive anime eyes, which can be a turnoff for some, the artwork is top notch. The scene of Kosei standing before his mother telling her he desires to make her well again through his playing is honestly a little uncomfortable in how well drawn it is.

Observations on Second Viewing: 

Although pointed out in the final fifteen minutes of the series, the entire first scene where Kaori and Kosei meet takes on a whole different meaning.  Their eyes meeting means so much for her and I love how she casually wipes the tears from her eyes and tries to pass it off as blowing too hard into the melodica.  In a second viewing, those few seconds take on such an important meaning that just simply one can't appreciate the first time around.

I also wonder what was going on in Kaori's head when Kosei initially tried to pass on watching the recital.  Managing to maintain the the illusion of being interested in Watari, she grabs hold of Kosei's hand and forcefully drags him along. The close up of Kaori's eyes speak so much to what's going on inside her head and you can observe that mix of joy to be with him and the desperation to keep him with her.