Hige vs. Otaku

In the words of Daisy from Spaced, it’s been ups and downs, ups and downs, ups and downs. Only with fewer drug-fuelled pub sessions and more hectic post-graduation real life bitch slaps. Things are much better now, mind you. I have a job, an overdraft extension and the Internet. It just got a bit dicey there for a few weeks. But frankly who gives a toss. Let us discuss animu.

I feel my rewatching of Haibane Renmei requires a brief word. Yes, I was one of the poor simple fools that discarded it after the first four episodes (DVD volume one), but I’m willing to reassess such misdirected dismissal when enough people shit their pants about a show. Haibane Renmei seems to inspire such affection, and now I’ve seen the whole thing in succession I completely understand why . Reki is perhaps one of the best-realised characters I’ve yet to see in an anime. I’m talking Misato levels of accomplishment here. I know, there’s an obvious theme developing in my love for certain beauteous raven-haired train wrecks, but Reki is a worthy addition (I’m expecting big things from XamD’s Ishu, too, and not just a cheeky flash of her monstrous tits). I loved how understated the show was in making Reki its true protagonist, that it was really her story we were following. Rakka was our vehicle of experience but Reki was the heart and soul, the real weight and depth of the show. Not to devalue Rakka’s importance, though – her existential crisis down the well stands out as my favourite episode and one that concerns itself almost solely with her. It didn’t hurt that it reminded me of Murakami’s A Wind-up Bird Chronicle either, but the comparison is likely superficial as slight gusts of wind remind me of the author (yes, fanboyism shares many parallels with schizophrenia). The one big shame about Haibane was its second-rate animation quality. Yoshitoshi ABe’s artwork deserves nothing less than reverential respect – especially when the material is so personal – and bar the final episode Haibane’s visuals didn’t do him, or his vision, enough justice. It was adequate, but could’ve been something truly special with a bigger budget. All in all, though, my opinion of the show has been greatly improved. Still a little unsure of the Dennou Coil comparisons but on its own merits I officially concede that Haibane Renmei is Special.

In terms of new stuff XamD is the only show I’ve been following with any vigour. This being a BONES show we shan’t waste time swooning on how masterfully consistent it all is, but I will say zomgwtfawesomepie. Not since Last Exile have I been so wrapped up in an adventure sci-fi show like this, and XamD may even peg that particular benchmark by not losing its shit two-thirds in and maintain, y’know, coherent characterisation. It’s still early days of course but my faith in BONES is much less questionable than my faith in Gonzo. I will say I’m getting on a whole lot better with XamD than I did/am with Eureka Seven. Outrageous as this may be to some folk, I find Eureka Seven quite hard going and have more aborted attempts to watch it than I care to mention. Its merits are self-evident as they often are with BONES shows, but I can’t resolve myself with what a tedious shonen cock Renton is and that its aesthetic style reminds me a little too much of Mighty Morphing Power Rangers. Both XamD’s protagonist and visuals appeal to me much more. There just seems to be an underlying sense of maturity to XamD whereas Eureka Seven placated its shonen audiences explicitly. Plus I’m always fascinated by anime that touches on the issue of divorce. It seems so rare for any kind of Japanese fiction not to celebrate domesticity, the power of the family and other such suspiciously socialist things, that when something considers the process of a home falling apart it genuinely sticks out. With XamD particularly it grounds the otherwise high sci-fi conceptualising in reality and makes its already accomplished human characters all the more fascinating. Let’s just ignore the blatant, uh, homages to other shows in much of its design and say I’m having a thoroughly good time watching. A ripping good time if you’re feeling fancy.

Anyhow, that’s enough clumsy non-sequiturs for now. I’ve got a backlog the size of my arm and I want to write at least a few words on Kaiba when I finally get around to watching the last three episodes. I probably won’t episode blog anymore due to time constraints and real life mayhem, but I’ll certainly knock out something akin to this post on a regular basis to keep things ticking over.