I was looking for something on the various data discs that Root had passed along to me (many in unimaginable multiplicity), and went and rewatched some old anime, and watched some stuff that I never got around to. Here’s a brief summary:
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou – Root has been a fan of Ashinano Hitoshi’s original manga since it started in the mid nineties. I’ve never actually read any of it, but after seeing the two old and the two older OAV’s, I’ll probably track down the tankoubon at Book Off the next time I’m in Japan. The inevitable comparison is to Amano Kozue’s Aqua/Aria works, both in style and general “feel” and pacing. The only thing that bugs me about the very well-crafted setting is the mysteriously still-functioning infrastructure, like the street lamps that even function in the submerged former Yokosuka and Kamakura alongside traffic signals. I guess somewhere out there, there are still people maintaining these and keeping the powerplants running. I realize these elements are there for sentimental effect, but still… The original OAV’s are great examples of traditional cel animation. Those are definitely worth a watch. The second OAV’s are marginal in animation quality, and seem to be more of a marketing tie-in. The various characters that appear don’t get enough screen time for any kind of development, so it comes across as a series of cameos.
Momoiro Sisters – Fabio gave me this a gazillion years ago. I originally heard rumors that it was scandalous for its time. Whee. No. Maybe I’m just jaded. The controversy stemmed not from any graphic content, but from some of the frank discussions amongst the characters. I guess back in the 1980’s nobody wanted to hear that 16-year-old High School girls were thinking about sex and OL’s plucked their pubes to maintain the perfect V. If you are some rabid Momose Tamami fan, you should probably watch this (if you haven’t already), but otherwise, relegate it to its rightful place in anime history – so obscure that nobody bothered to machine-translate the Japanese Wikipedia page and slide it over into the English site.
Doujin Work – This has gotten a legit USDM release, so destroy all those fansubs! As an anime, this ends up as a dull refelction of previous otaku-related works like Genshiken, or Comic Party. The original manga looks much more compelling (if you can manage sitting through yon-koma stuff). The characters are supposed to be in college, but look extremely loli. The animation quality and general artwork quality are marginal at best. Still, if for some reason you were compelled to sit through this whole thing, go marathon Potemayo and get that dull taste out of your mouth (or melt your brain – whichever comes first). The only reason to get the USDM release would be to see the live-action components that filled the last 10-minutes of the half hour TV spot after each 14-minute episode… that and the dancing bloomers in the end credits. Wait for the cheap complete set that is inevitably released if you feel you need this in your collection.
Darker than Black – This is another property that has a recent legit USDM release. The only reason I went back to look for this was because I was rereading Chikyuu Misaki, and I remembered that Iwahara Yuuji did the original character concept art for this property. The animation character design was adapted from Iwahara’s designs by animation director Komori Takahiro, so the characters unfortunately don’t really look like they stepped out of an Iwahara manga. This is not unlike Uon Taraku’s original character concept designs versus Chiba Takahiro’s animation character designs for Kamichu! – the Kamichu! characters don’t look like they’re from the Onegai universe. I will probably give this a rent at Collector Maniacs someday.
See what happens when it is too rainy to ride MTB!
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