one and a half newtypes

So this last weekend I had a decision to make as to how to spend a chunk of my leisure time.

I could have sat and watched a bunch of DVDs, or I could have read some comics/manga or I could do some scanning (and watch some fansubs). In the end I decided to go down the scanning route and scanned one and a half new types.

That doesn't sound a lot, but a normal newtype has about 60 scannable pages, so we're talking the best part of a hundred scans. You can get some idea how long this took from the fact that I watched a total of 8 fansub episodes (2 episodes each of 4 series). A single anime episode runs about 25 minutes with the opening and ending animations, so we're talking about 3.5 hours there alone.

But then you have to think that I'm continuously stopping and starting when I'm scanning (I can't read subtitles if I'm putting the next page into the scanner).

Anyway, the point is I've got some of those small anime reviews I like to do:


Angel Beats!

The first episode of Angel Beats is terrible.

One thing I learned when I was starting to write was that info dumps are very bad things. An info dump is when you have loads of paragraphs that just explain stuff. They're most common in fantasy and SF because there's all sorts of things the writer feels he needs to explain to his readers about the world he's created.

Now they're not forbidden, but they are a tricky thing to master. Usually because while the stuff seems cool and interesting and clever to the writer, generally, the reader will find it boring. Especially like here when it's all a bunch of stuff you've seen before.

The standard trick for discussing info dumps is to do it in dialogue. You have your lead character or someone else who doesn't know any of this stuff ask questions, then your other characters can simply explain it.

Wow - amazing and simple solution, right?

Well no, because boring, clichés are still boring clichés when your character says them. The best solution is to utilise show don't tell - you don't have your characters talk about stuff, you have them do stuff that demonstrates the point.

The difficulty with anime of course is that it's quite expansive to anime things that show, but quite cheap to animate lip flaps. And to be fair, Angel Beats does show us stuff, but it has far too much info dumping to be enjoyable.

Or it does in the first episode. The second episode was a lot more fun - perhaps they'd decided to cram it all into the first episode and the rest of the series is more enjoyable?

My instinct is to give it the benefit of the doubt.


Working!!

Clearly exclamation points (ugh) are the vogue in anime titles at the moment - the second season of K-ON!(ugh) has also had the temerity to go for a double exclamation point. It's sort of all right there, because it's the second season, so it's sort of a gag. Here you've got wanton double exclamation point use.

What makes it worse is that the series is also a bit poor.

The problem is similar to that of Angel Beats!(ugh) - it feels like the cobbling together of a bunch of anime clichés and tropes. Witness: lolis, menial part-time jobs, cut uniforms, tsundere, fear of the opposite sex, hot chick inflicting violence on male lead; disinterested manager, cool chef... hands up if you can't name half a dozen series featuring each of those.

Although the real problem here is a lack of mojo. Where Angel Beats!(ugh) at least tries to be fun, Working!!(ugh) is dull and flaccid. It also doesn't help that it keeps repeating the same basic jokes over and over - oh look, the loli girl is short, hilarious; oh no, wait, she's denying her shortness - I LOLd (the first time). Oh no, the tsundere has punched him in the face again for no apparent reason other than his hormones - I've never seen such japery.


Arakawa Under the Bridge

Ah, SHAFT, how plain and boring many anime would be without your visual chicanery.

Yes, it's this seasons SHAFT show and it's a good one. In this case, they're back to their bonkers best, as Arakawa is a rather unhinged series.

It's good, though.


Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan

I'm pretty sure this series fits squarely into the reverse harem genre.

In case you don't know that means there's a single girl surrounded by loads of men (i.e. the opposite of a guy surrounded by lots of girls, hence the name). Here, the series is set back in feudal times, so the guys are all samurai, but there's all sorts of physical and personality types.

The only show I've watched that I really liked in this genre was Ouran High School Host Club and while I didn't like this sufficiently to keep watching, I did think it was okay. I'd say if this sort of show is your bag then this, from my perspective, seems like a good example.

The only weird thing was the pacing - weeks seem to suddenly elapse between scenes for no real reason. Considering the girl is searching for her father, who we assume is in some trouble, she doesn't seem to cause much of a fuss if two weeks drift by.