Spam From Japan

It’s December 31st 2009 and so it’s time to talk about the anime of the last decade. I decided to leave this until the last minute just in case an anime or two were to turn up in the last few days or something. I wasn’t catching up on doujinshi from Comiket or anything, honest.

Here are the recs of the decade from fans, in chronological order.

Yu-Gi-Oh! (1998-ongoing)

Anime based on a manga based around a trading card game with lessons learned about friendship and communication along the way. [Wiki]

“If you ask me what my favorite anime was of the decade, it’s got to be Yugioh. Not sure many people would really list it as a “best of”, as it’s not one of the most sophisticated animes ever released.

The stories were interesting, the games were fun to watch, the Egypt theme was lovely, and most of all, there was a great cast of characters, voiced by very talented people. I think the show had a lot of heart, which is why it captured me so much. I’ve certainly seen other “better” animes, but none of them drew me in quite like this one.”

–Athena8

Spiral (2002-2003)

A boy’s older brother disappears and the last words he said to him were ‘blade children’. Now he solves mysteries related to them while trying to find out who they really are. [Wiki]

“The animation was very pretty, the story was mysterious and twisty and I wound up liking all the main characters – especially super-diffident cooking show addict Ayumu Narumi, his hungover sister-in-law Madoka and the sometime villain Eyes Rutherford, who wandered around feeding stray cats in the park because that’s what Kanon used to do and he really missed him.”

–Semishade

Gilgamesh (2003-2004)

Two children are taken in by a mysterious countess. One has the power to use Dynamis and is trained to use it against Gilgamesh, a supernatural group that wants to wipe out humanity. [Wiki]

“The art is dark and stylised and the musical score fantastic, but that wasn’t the main draw of the anime for me. Every episode answered a few questions, raised more questions about the nature of the world in the anime, then screwed with your mind a bit more. Had some amazing revelations about characters’ backstory that left my jaw hanging, but were never overly forced.”

–SpamFromJapan

Fullmetal Alchemist / Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (2003-2004)

Two brothers go on a journey to restore their bodies after an attempt at using alchemy to bring their mother back from the dead goes wrong. [Wiki]

“Fullmetal Alchemist. Can there be any other? I know they’re doing the new series now, and I love that too, but the original had me hooked. I was desperate for new episodes each week and cared so damn much about the characters. And ok, it went a bit skewed at the end when they just decided to hell with the manga, they were gonna make it up, but it was still special, because the characters were there.”

–Tayles

Paranoia Agent / Mousou Dairinin (2004)

People are being attacked by a boy on inline skates whose face they can never recall. In each case, the attacks cause some improvement in the lives of the victims. [Wiki]

“Paranoia Agent is pretty awesome (yay ‘Happy Family Planning’ episode!) – Satoshi Kon is excellent at the head-messin’ stuff – but I want to have his anime babies anyway.”

–Golden Bastet

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (2004-2005)

A sci-fi retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo which famously used static textures to depict clothing. [Wiki]

“Obvious or not, Gankutsuou should be on a best-of list; it’s a pretty faithful and surprisingly decent adaptation of Something That’s Actually Good For You, done from an innovative angle (Albert de Morcerf’s viewpoint) and with usually successful animation. The clothing thing even works (after the first episode or so). Someone actually thought this out before making it. What’s not to love?”

–Golden Bastet

Noein: To Your Other Self / Noein: Mou Hitori no Kimi e (2005-2006)

A sci-fi anime which starts when a young girl named Haruka and her friend meet a man from a world that could be their future. He believes that Haruka is the ‘Dragon Torque’ and the key to stopping an otherworldly invasion. [Wiki]

“Noein. Totally amazing in everyway. Amazing look, fantastic story really well told, and very original. Also best recap episode ever.”

–ThomasVye

Shigurui (2007)

An extremely violent historical anime set in Shizuoka. The daimyo stages a tournament where participants fight with real swords. [Wiki]

“There is also Shigurui, which was just so well realised from the manga and used atmosphere so brilliantly.”

–ThomasVye

Vampire Knight (2008)

A girl is rescued from a vampire by another vampire and now lives at an academy dedicated to peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires. [Wiki]

“Apart from a rather silly heroine, this anime kept me glued to both series [Vampire Knight and Vampire Knight Guilty].”

–Auburn Imp

Kuroshitsuji (2008-ongoing)

In Victorian England, a young boy named Ciel summons a demon called Sebastian, who appears in the guise of the perfect butler. [Wiki]

“I think Kuroshitsuji speaks for itself. I loved the dark humour.”

–Auburn Imp

Happy new year everyone!

While others are getting excited at the news of more Code Geass anime, my anticipation is aimed at another, lesser-known series called Arakawa Under The Bridge.

Arakawa Under The Bridge (荒川アンダーザブリッジ) is by Nakamura Hikaru (中村光) published by Young Gangan Comics (‘Young’, in this case, means for older readers). Nakamura-sensei is also the mangaka behind Saint Oniisan, which is the story of Jesus and Buddha sharing an apartment in modern-day Japan.

I originally bought “Arakawa Under The Bridge” because a later volume had a picture of a man in a business suit with no trousers on the cover. It made me laugh long enough to be curious enough to buy it. You may find it a difficult read as it has no furigana and frequently uses long sentences and business terminology. If you’ve been studying hard for your JLPT exams and know this stuff, then you’ll also find plenty of slang. Let’s just say it was difficult.

The main character, Ichinomiya Kou (later renamed ‘Recruit’), has a saying imposed on him by his eccentric father — never owe a stranger. He’s so serious about this, he has it written on his tie. So when he meets Nino while trying to retrieve his trousers from a bridge and she saves his life, he’s willing to do whatever she says.

She tells him she’s an alien from Venus and she wants him to live with her in a community of outcasts and be her lover… which he agrees to do because of his philosophy. First, he needs to be officially welcomed by the village chief, who is a man in a kappa suit. You’ll see him in the teaser trailer for the anime.

The second volume was a bit of a letdown as it didn’t really move forward. None of the characters evolved and it was merely a string of wacky incidents, whereas the first book went way beyond that. It had a good heart and could be read as anti-corporate Japan.

Nothing ever happens in this manga that truly breaks the laws of reality. The most out-there gags take place in dreams and everything is just within the realms of possibility. It exists in a twilight zone between the two and, although it is a gag manga with laughs, the threat of living a normal life in corporate Japan runs underneath it. It celebrates the value of nonsense and working outside the rules. Well, the first volume anyway. It’ll be interesting to see which direction the anime decides to take things and how it will deal with the drop-off in character development later on.