anime

Spam From Japan: Chichibu, Saitama

Saitama is probably the most unfairly maligned of all the prefectures. Not even Shimane, who advertises itself as the least interesting prefecture, gets it this bad. However, if you go north, beyond the areas that are similar to Tokyo but not as cool, you’ll start to see valleys, mountains and houses with pet goats. Chichibu is one of these places. It’s probably most famous for the Iwadatami Rocks, a collection of layered rocks that lie on the banks of the Nagatoro River, and sometimes the middle of it.

Despite all the beautiful shrines and boat rides, the main thing that the local tourist board would like you to know is that it was the setting for “Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai” (Don’t worry, even Japanese fans abbreviate it to AnoHana). There are posters for this anime series everywhere and even a promotion where you can get a special card stamped at certain locations around town.

Our original plan was to stop at Seibu Chichibu station itself and follow the river to Nagatoro, stopping at the shrines and temples along the way. We soon found out there were too many of them to stop at every single one and make it to Iwadatami in time to take one of the famous boat rides. Sure, we could see them listed on the map, but couldn’t have predicted that they’d all have something unique about them that we’d want to see. We settled for stopping at a few interesting ones, and taking the train the rest of the way. Most locations were a little off the path, with few visitors. It turns out that our route wasn’t particularly close to the river either.

Eventually, we decided to skip a section of temples and head straight for Nagatoro River. This is a fast-flowing river that doesn’t require a boat to have a motor, paddles or sails to travel along it. All that is needed are two crew members with long sticks who know the river well enough to guide the boat around the rocks. The river does the rest.

Chichibu: Crew member on the Nagatoro River

You don’t need to book in advance for the boat ride (prices and an explanation of the three different routes in Japanese). You don’t even really need to bring a change of clothes. On the standard boat ride, every time you pass a rock that has even the slightest chance of generating a splash, the crew members raise a plastic sheet tucked into the side of the boat to protect you. And to think that I had been debating whether or not to take my camera on the boat at all.

Whitewater rafting is another matter entirely, since the climax of that expedition is being dumped into the river. As we set off on our boat, a group of rafters floated by, buoyed by their lifejackets. They immediately started shouting out to us and saying ‘hello’. It’d been a long time since I was in a place where foreigners were still a novelty. Rare, sure, but never a novelty. Of course, we waved back.

The boats only travel down-stream. You have to get the bus back to Nagatoro Station, which is provided free of charge. We had a quick look around Hodosan Shrine, which has a beautiful white torii gate, then settled down for a snack.

I’d already picked out the place in question. Asami Reizou is famous for its traditional shaved ice, also know as kakigoori. People queue up outside for it, despite having two branches in Chichibu. That’s how good it is. I chose kuromitsu, and my ice arrived piled high in a lacquer cup, with a jug of kuromitsu syrup and a jug of condensed milk. I couldn’t eat it all.

Chichibu: Ayu (sweetfish) from a street vendor

Chichibu is great choice for a day trip outside Tokyo, despite feeling much further away at times. However, many people turn it into a weekend break and spend more time at places such as onsen. Frankly, I don’t necessary recommend you do everything in the order we did.

Chichibu: Ema (wooden plaques used for prayers) at a shrine.

Chichibu: A rope used to mark the home of a kodama, or tree spirit.

Spam From Japan: Every Single Summer 2011 Anime Reviewed!

Winner: Sacred Seven

I decided to watch the first episode of every single summer anime and report back on my findings. When I realised there were twenty-six in total though, I made a few rules. Mainly, that I wouldn’t have to watch the entire episode. Just long enough to decide whether to keep watching or to ditch it. I decided to watch just three series in the end, while one anime didn’t last thirty seconds. Read on to find out which ones they were.

I found out a lot about what I like. Strong pre-credits openings with meaningful action or atmosphere work for me, particularly if the next glimpse of the protagonist’s “normal life” has something equally exciting about it. Girls tripping over their own feet, forced wackiness, early exposition and stupid porn are quick turn-offs.

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni (Second Season)

Hook: Akihisa has a wacky life.

Stopping Point: 2 minutes, 30 seconds.

Wow, look at all these wacky characters! They’re so wacky they even go into super-deformed mode! Aren’t you impressed by how wacky they all are?

In short, no. No, I am not. I didn’t even make it to the opening sequence. I didn’t even watch enough to find out what it was actually about. You see, the opening sequence consisted of a brother and sister both utterly removed from reality and yet generic. Each character has an amusing quirk chosen from a master list of amusing quirks. I don’t care if it later turns out that the boy has decided to summon monsters to fight for his underperforming class (I Googled), just make him believable or worth watching.

Verdict: I’m annoyed I spent two minutes on this.

Official Site: Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu Ni (Second Season)

BLOOD-C

Hook: Saya is a shrine maiden who hunts vampires with a katana. Designs by Clamp.

Stopping Point: 3 minutes, 20 seconds.

The pre-credits and opening song are beautiful, mixing iconic Shintou imagery with katana fights and blood, using a muted palette. There’s even this short sequence where the bloodied heroine stands in front of the moon and catches the katana scabbard with the katana itself. In short, it promises a cool, tough female protagonist. On with the rest of the show.

Saya is meditating in full miko garb, when her father enters the room. She runs to him and trips over her own feet.

Oh. It’s that kind of show. Forget it.

Verdict: Why are they always clumsy? Why?

Official Site: BLOOD-C

Blade

Hook: From Marvel Comics in the US, a man with both human and vampire heritage fights vampires in Japan.

Stopping Point: Made it to the end!

This is pretty much identical to BLOOD-C, without the Shintou theme. And yet… Blade doesn’t trip over his own feet. I don’t know what he’s doing in Yokohama rather than New York, but I can live with that. It means he gets a tough Japanese woman as his sidekick, who doesn’t trip over her own feet either.

The budget is obviously very low for this one though, which you can see when the vampires burst into poor-quality flames. Or when Blade tries to walk. This is unfortunate, since the draw should be the fight scenes. There are a couple of good but short sequences, but then they throw in some backgroundless, minimally animated frames to pad it out.

Verdict: Poor quality animation lets down a potentially interesting story.

Official Site: BLADE

Dantalian no Shoka

Hook: Animation by Gainax, clothing by Baby The Stars Shine Bright / Alice and the Pirates.

Stopping Point: 6 minutes, 45 seconds.

I recently saw Thor, so the opening reminded me of the rainbow bridge sequences from the movie. After that, this anime moves into the English countryside. The music combined with scenery from my home country was rather pleasant and I didn’t even notice I’d tuned out the main character’s monologue. Huey – the main character – likes sheep, and I can relate because I went to university in Scotland.

Despite being by Gainax, the animation is pretty bad. The main characters are very simply drawn, but with blurred photographs used as backgrounds. Sometimes it works, mostly it doesn’t.

I gave up just after Huey meets Darian and she hits him. Same old, same old.

Verdict: There is nothing new here except BtSSB dress designs.

Official Site: Dantalian no Shoka

Idolm@ster

Hook: Imagine yourself interacting with real Japanese schoolgirls! Or any woman at all, really.

Stopping Point: 1 minute, 40 seconds… 4 minutes, 30 seconds (Sorry, trainwreck syndrome)

Idolmatster was originally a creepy computer game where you taught a number of teen girls how to be idols. The developers of this anime subsequently had to ask themselves, ‘Without the interactive training element, how can we still make this creepy?’ They did it by making it ‘documentary style’ to pull ‘you’ into the action. This is actually a pretty interesting idea, but you’ve still got a fundamental concept flaw; you’re making wank material about barely-teenage girls.

And yes, they trip over their own feet.

Verdict: Too many people don’t see the above as a flaw. *shiver*

Official Site: Idolm@ster

Ikoku Meiro no Croisée: The Animation

Hook: A young Japanese girl explores nineteenth century France.

Stopping Point: 5 minutes, 15 seconds.

Yune arrives in 19th century Paris. She’s beautiful and, notably, is the only bright thing in the place. She also does this crazy thing called ‘a bow’ and it’s clear she should be admired by everyone for being so awesome and unique. In other words, a Mary Sue. At least she doesn’t trip over her own feet.

However, I was impressed by the (muted) backgrounds and French pronunciation.

Verdict: I thought this would be slow, but interesting. It isn’t.

Official Site: Ikoku Meiro no Croisée: The Animation

Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi

Hook: A boy is kissed by a vampire and has to stop a completely different vampire with the help of his classmates.

Stopping Point: 5 minutes.

I liked the colours for the opening scene. Lots of pinks, purples and blues. Not a bad change of pace for a scene featuring a vampire. I had high hopes for this anime based on the artwork.

But eventually we have to get to the main story. It’s not too bad really, it’s just been done before. It’s yet another anime set in a high school and we have yet another meek and mild Japanese schoolgirl. I was looking forward to seeing the other characters (Fukuyama Jun has a role), but I’m just not interested enough.

Verdict: Nothing about the characters stand out, but the art is rather nice.

Official Site: Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel ~Kyunkyun ☆ Tokimeki Paradise~

Hook: Magical girls fight crime.

Stopping Point: 3 minutes, 30 seconds

This is clearly not my kind of anime as I’m neither a young girl nor an older man, but it’s doing everything right. Starts out with a action sequence with the girls in costume, then moves onto human interaction that is actually relevent to what we just saw. It’s no Madoka Magica, but then what is?

I’m not going to diss it for being based on a video game based on a pachinko machine because, hey, Pirates of the Caribbean.

Verdict: Competent magical girl stuff. Nothing special.

Official Site: Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel ~Kyunkyun ☆ Tokimeki Paradise~

Winner: Kamisama Dolls

Kamisama Dolls

Hook: Singing Shintou God-robots.

Stopping Point: Right to the end and onto the next episode!

We have a winner! It starts off with a battle showcasing the robots, then moves to the human drama in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, with hints there is something more to come. The backgrounds here are so detailed that you can even pinpoint the precise junction where they are standing. Unlike Dantalian no Shoka, the characters blend in well as both the colours and drawing style match.

Our protagonist is Kuga Kyouhei, who has moved to Tokyo to escape village life and something more. This means he’s not a clueless idiot (mostly) and already knows his shrine maiden sister has a robot-God called Kukuri. He’s a bit clumsy, but let’s ignore that for now. Everything else was there, so it didn’t put me off.

Kukuri first makes his appearence by rising up into the elevator from below, singing a simple song. That kind of introduction kind of reminded me of Gantz, and the setting somehow triggered flashbacks to Bokurano, so I don’t believe all is well. I certainly hope not.

Verdict: I’ll be watching this one.

Official Site: Kamisama Dolls

Kamisama no Memochou

Hook: Fujishima makes some NEET new friends.

Stopping Point: 21 minutes, 11 seconds (roughly halfway)

Fujishima’s life is dull. He moves from school to school without making friends. One day, a high school girl falls out of a love hotel and a bunch of NEET kids deal with her and mock him.

He is befriended by Shinozaki, who (re)introduces him to the kids he met before. They each have their own quirks, although it’s more varied than most anime with “wacky casts”. There’s a military otaku who looks like a kid and a pimp, amongst others.

And then there’s Alice. Weak, with a narcissistic personality disorder, she imagines that the only thing allowing natural disasters and suffering in the world is her lack of power. I stopped right there. That, along with still having no idea what a NEET actually is after twenty minutes, caused me to give up.

Verdict: Twenty minutes in and no hint of a plot.

Official Site: Kamisama no Memochou

Manyuu Hikenchou

Hook: Boobs.

Stopping Point: 40 seconds.

This is a hentai anime all about breasts. I was totally prepared for that. But that doesn’t have to mean rape.

Verdict: Boobs and rape.

Official Site: Manyuu Hikenchou [Not Safe For Work]

Mawaru Penguindrum

Hook: When their sister dies, twin brothers must search for the elusive penguindrum, with the help of invisible penguins.

Stopping Point: 3 minutes, 15 seconds.

An opening monologue about life, in which stars twirl all over the screen. There is nothing remotely enticing, but at least it’s short. It appears to be a slice of life anime about two twin brothers, their sister and stars sparkling all over the screen. I only know better because I read the Wikipedia entry.

Verdict: Shame, the hook was so promising. But the penguins should be introduced as soon as possible.

Official Site: Mawaru Penguindrum

Mayo-Chiki!

Hook: Teenager forced to crossdress realises all she really needed was a man to allow her to express her femininity.

Stopping Point: 19 seconds… then 3 minutes, 50 seconds… then 5 minutes, 5 seconds… Because I hate life and all things beautiful.

The plot is enough to make me write ’0 seconds’ and be done with it. The promise of a girl forced to crossdress and maintain that secret by acting cool and awesome (moe!!) only to have that layer peeled away by a boy and have her girliness revealed (super-moe!!!) is enough to make me vomit. It says a lot about what the writers think women really are at their root.

I’m sure that in any conversations that result from this anime, the term ‘reverse trap’ will be thrown around like using it is a badge of honour. It’s not. It’s offensive. Outside of most anime, nobody is trying to fool anyone. It’s just who we are.

Onto the anime. Man… girls hitting their brothers like that is so nineties. Almost stopped there. And, wow, Kinjirou’s friend thinks he’s gay because Kinjirou doesn’t like being touched by girls. That’s hilarious.

The final nail in the coffin was Kinjirou walking in on Subaru peeing sitting down with her frilly panties showing. If I hadn’t read a summary of this already stating that Subaru is a girl forced to crossdress, I’d probably have passed out from sheer ticked-offedness.

Verdict: You’re not necessarily a bad person if you like this kind of stuff. But you might be.

Official Site: Mayo-Chiki!

Morita-san wa Mukuchi.

Hook: A young girl doesn’t say much.

Stopping Point: All the way through. It’s only five minutes.

A girl talks at her friend about boys. Friend never responds except during internal dialogue to remind herself to listen better.

It was meaningless. But short. Hey, not too shabby!

Verdict: Extremely short slice-of-life. Nothing amazing or offensive or meaningful.

Official Site: Morita-san wa Mukuchi.

Natsume Yuujinchou San (Third Season)

Hook: A boy releases youkai’s names from his grandmother’s “Book of Friends”.

Stopping Point: All the way through.

This is a lovely anime. I thought it might be difficult to get into because it’s the third season, but it’s not a problem at all. They explained it all as they went, probably a little more than they needed.

Verdict: I probably won’t keep following it, but it seems to work well as a stand-alone episode. Generally, I want to see evidence of a plot arc before I decided to follow something though.

Official Site: Natsume Yuujinchou San (Third Season)

Nekogami Yaoyorozu

Hook: Catgirl goddesses.

Stopping Point: 3 minutes, 30 seconds.

This is just not my anime. The humour is forced, with sound effects written out onscreen and sudden ‘lightning’ backgrounds when characters get angry. The characters are moe and well-designed for maximum appeal (they’re catgirls), so I’m sure there’s plenty of fans prepared to overlook the rest.

Verdict: Someone will love this. I’m not that someone.

Official Site: Nekogami Yaoyorozu

Winner: No.6

NO.6

Hook: A bromance blooms between an elite kid and a runaway in a dystopic future. Somewhere, the Moon Tears are falling…

Stopping Point: All the way through.

Excellent example of a good start. The action sequence was followed by a scene from ‘normal life’ which superficially resembles our world, but is hinted to be otherwise. This is never stated aloud and the characters don’t have long, forced conversations about information they both know, but we get the picture.

I’m not clear about whether Shion was visualising himself floating above the city at the start or if it’s a power that he has. I think the former, but I’m still not sure. Either way, just a few minutes in, the anime has indicated that this is an anime set in a near-future dystopia and a typhoon is coming. The anime does well with that eerie feeling just before one hits.

I love that they say that Tsuki no Shizuku (Japanese for moon drops? Moon tears?) is crying without any explanation. That’s for future episodes, presumably.

Verdict: Another winner! I’ll be watching this one.

Official Site: NO.6

Nurarihyon no Mago ~Sennen Makyou~ (Season Two)

Hook: A half-human, half-youkai helps humans and makes friends

Stopping Point: 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

Surrounded by yamabuki (a type of yellow mountain rose), a man in soft-focus and traditional dress recites a famous tanka and is stabbed to death by a katana-wielding woman. The opening credits roll and they don’t have a catchy J-pop song. This sets the tone for what will be surely be a serious, dramatic anime.

…the hell!? Super-deformed characters and the laughter of children?

If you’d seen the previous series, you might have been expecting that. This might even be a pretty funny psyche-out for you. I leave at this point.

Verdict: This is clearly not for those who haven’t seen season one. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Official Site: Nurarihyon no Mago ~Sennen Makyou~ (Season Two)

Nyanpire: The Animation

Hook: Cat becomes vampire becomes vampire cat.

Stopping Point: All the way through. It’s very short.

Very cute, designed by a committee for maximum appeal. It would be great filler between anime shows on cable or at conventions, but you wouldn’t really sit down and watch it.

Verdict: Show this one to the goth cat-lover in your life.

Official Site: Nyanpire: The Animation

OGA: Onigokko Royale

Unable to watch this one. Probably for the best…

Official Site: OGA: Onigokko Royale

R-15

Hook: Schoolgirl lolimoe crap.

Stopping Point: 23 seconds.

Twenty three seconds! A new record is set! It starts with an almost empty school. In one classroom, a teacher clutches a note saying a pupil wants to meet with him. She writhes nervously and it’s clearly love confession time.

She lifts her skirt.

Does no one know how to confess their interest in another human being? Good grief! If you’re immature enough to be communicating through cryptic notes to Teacher, then this is the wrong approach.

Verdict: I’m not offended, just thoroughly annoyed with how stupid this was.

Official Site: R-15

Ro-Kyu-Bu!

Hook: Moe girls play basketball.

Stopping Point: 3 minutes, 30 seconds.

The pre-credits hook was great and I actually settled in to finish this to the end. Sure, it was lolimoe, but the girls were playing basketball and doing great. There was a mini-cliffhanger too — will she make the shot in time?

I even sat through the electronic, high-pitched opening song. And then came the title card: The Elementary School Kids are Coming! Hey Hey Hey!

Wait, are they elementary school kids? It’s impossible to guess their age due to the drawing style. The anime moves on to their dressing room, providing coy shots of them slipping into French maid outfits. I’m feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

An older boy arrives and they greet him dressed as maids. He asks if they’re the basketball team and I turned off. I remembered I was still watching because I had been promised an anime about a girls’ basketball team and I didn’t get that at all. They didn’t even show the result of the opener, whether she makes the shot or not. This is because this isn’t really about basketball at all.

I looked up this show on Wikipedia and it turns out they are, indeed, elementary school kids. I cannot get this anime away from me quickly enough.

Verdict: Lolimoe crap.

Official Site: Ro-Kyu-Bu!

Sacred Seven

Hook: Maid snipers! A butler mecha pilot who is also the president of the student council! Ninja-pirate-zombie-robots!

Stopping Point: All the way through!

One of the first things that caught my attention was that it wasn’t set in Tokyo. Despite enjoying anime where the production team have clearly gone round a specific area and photographed it from every possible angle (Ikebukuro in Durarara!! or Shinjuku in Kamisama Dolls, for example), I like anime set outside of the capital too.

Luckily, the boy started manifesting his powers through a hole in his head like a unicorn, so I could pretend that I had a legitimate reason to keep watching other than a briefly-glimpsed butler.

Next up was a sniper organisation exclusively manned by French maids. Unlike Ro-kyu-bu, I didn’t turn off. First, they’re adults and it didn’t feel like fanservice (gratuitously quirky, sure, but not gratuitously gratuitous). Second, they seemed capable and didn’t trip over their own feet. Third, we weren’t just going through the motions. It was an odd detail that genuinely amused me.

Still, this is very silly stuff, so I’m going to stop– Wait, what was that?

HOLY CRAP THE BUTLER IS DRIVING A TANK MECHA THIS IS AWESOME

Hey, I’m only human.

Verdict: I’m waiting for the dinosaurs to show up. There’s gotta be dinosaurs in this, right?

Official Site: Sacred Seven

Usagi Drop

Hook: Salaryman adopts an ophan.

Stopping Point: 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

Starts off slowly, with an unusual animation style and a muted pallet, just like a low-budget Ghibli film. And then… Sorry, I just can’t.

You see, what has been seen cannot be unseen. And I know the ending to the manga.

When I see fans squeeing about how cute this anime is and how adorable that this thirty year-old single man adopts a cute six year-old orphan, I wonder if I should tell them or not. I mean, no one likes surprise spoilers, but this is probably something they need to know.

Reader, he marries her.

Verdict: I can’t watch this, knowing the ending.

Official Site: Usagi Drop

Uta no ☆ Prince-sama ♪ Maji LOVE1000%

Hook: Rich boys dancing and singing.

Stopping Point: 4 minutes, 15 seconds.

I thought I might enjoy this for the sheer campiness of the plot and characters, but it seems that Sacred Seven has already filled that niche for me. Plus, the characters are all really annoying.

If I want to watching something campy with singing, dancing and developed characters, I’ll just go to Musical Tennis no Oujisama.

Verdict: Hahahahaha… no.

Official Site: Uta no ☆ Prince-sama ♪ Maji LOVE1000%

Yuru Yuri

Hook: It’s yuri.

Stopping Point: 30 seconds, just to make it clear it’s not worse than R-15.

This is the last one and I’m done. I just can’t take any more wacky slice-of-life moe schoolgirls who wake up and look at their adorable alarm clock and rush off to school and–

Anyway, I’m done. Yes, even though they’re apparently crushing on each other rather than the male flavour of the month.

Verdict: No more.

Official Site: Yuruyuri

Spam From Japan: International Tokyo Toy Show 2011 Report

The International Tokyo Toy Show (Also known as “Tokyo Omocha Show”) is the one of the first major ‘fun’ event to be held in Big Sight since the earthquake. Okay, there were trade fairs devoted to sales incentives and a few doujinshi markets, but nothing with sponsors. They weren’t even sure if it would go ahead considering both the Tokyo International Anime Fair and its new rival, Anime Contents Expo, were cancelled. Although numbers for both attendees and booths owners seemed like it was down, I’m glad they went through with it.

I must admit, fewer things caught my eye this year. However, the people behind Doubutsu Shougi (“Animal Shogi” or “Catch The Lion!”) were there again to give demonstrations. If you like board games or puzzles, I totally recommend this one. It has a few basic shougi pieces, represented by simple illustrations of animals and a reduced playing area. The pieces have the potential moves (mimicking actual shogi moves, obviously) included in the illustrations too.

This year they had a treat for us — a full shogi set with the same basic concept! That is, the legal moves for each piece are clearly marked and all pieces are adorable animals. These are a perfect gift for anyone, even adults (especially adults!).

Amongst other toys that caught my eye was Yummy Dough. According to the flyer, they started making it when a little German girl asked “Why can’t you eat clay?” Instead of replying “Because we said so,” they made edible play dough and set up children for a lifetime of bad decision-making. It looked like a pretty good idea, but I didn’t try any of their many samples, simply for all the children already pawing through them. There’s a photo of the booth below though.

Amongst other things I photographed was 4D Cityscape Time Puzzle from Yanoman. The concept isn’t new, but now Tokyo has been added to the list of 3D cities you can make. There were also plenty of sentai and tokusatsu rangers on display at the Bandai booth. Like Takara Tomy, their booth took up about a quarter of an entire hall. This time they were promoting Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (AKA Pirate Squadron Gokaiger), which is a mash-up of a Super Sentai show and pirates. Probably my favourite photographs were of Lego’s new magic-ninja-and-dragons model line, called Ninjago.

I was very pleased by what I found in the Takara Tomy booth. I’m a big fan of ‘we made it so-so-so cute that it stopped being cute and became creepy’ — I love soulless eyes, kigurumi cosplayers and life-sized dolls with visible balljoints that they didn’t have to include but did anyway. Good work guys, and I won’t be able to sleep for some time.

Here’s a list of Japanese Toy Awards 2011 grand prize winners. There are a few changes from the previous year (See a list in English here), although Bandai are still making sentai transformation belts and Anpanman keeps educating kids. This year, Takara Tomy took more wins all round and their winning entry for the Innovation Award, Ningen Gakki, looks particularly intriguing.

List of award winners 2011. Scroll on for the photos!

Category	Name	Company	Sale Date	Price in Yen
Access For All Children “Kyouyuu” Award	Tomica Yubi-Con Series	Takara Tomy	June 2011	5,229
Educational Award	Anpanman Touch de “AIUEO” o-kyoushitsu Kids Tablet [Link to .PDF]	Agatsuma	August 2011	7,329
Boys’ Toy Award	Henshin Belt (Kamen Rider) DX OOO Driver O Medal Series	Bandai	September 2010	6,825
Girls’ Toy Award	Licca-chan 31 Icecream Shop	Takara Tomy in association with Baskin Robbins	April 2011	4,725
Character Toy Award	ONE PIECE LOGBOX	Megahouse	September 2010	630
Innovative Toy Award	Ningen Gakki	Takara Tomy	June 2011	3,360
High Target Award	nanoblock Tokyo Skytree and LED Plate	Kawada in association with Tokyo Skytree	September 2011	2625 (+1050)

I hope you enjoyed my report and photographs from the International Tokyo Toy Show 2011. If you like anime, you might enjoy my cosplay photographs from Winter Comiket 2010. If you want more photographs from other big events like this toy fair, maybe you’ll prefer my report from last year’s Tokyo Game Show. Alternatively, click on the banner to your left to see photographs from other bloggers in Japan. You can also share this on Facebook or Twitter (amongst many other sites!) if you click the button to your left below.

“Gantz 2: Perfect Answer” Movie Review

Gantz Cat

This Gantz 2 Perfect Answer review starts off with a brief synopsis and overview of my expectations for the second half of this two-parter. After that, the spoilers come pretty fast, so watch out. I’ve even included the ending for you.

In the first part (simply titled ‘Gantz’), Kurono Kei (Ninomiya Kazunari), Katou Masaru (Matsuyama Ken’ichi) and Kishimoto Kei (Natsuna) are recruited by a big black ball named Gantz to kill aliens. If they get one hundred points, received after killing sufficient numbers of aliens, they get to choose from a special prize menu. Said menu offers one of two choices — having your memory wiped and being returned safely to the real world, or bringing another person back from the dead. Katou and Kishimoto die after getting into a fight with giant alien Buddhist statues and Kurono vows to resurrect them.

Before I watched the second half, there was just one thing I wanted to know — who the man was inside Gantz. I guessed he was probably human, captured to power it. But I did have a certain amount of faith that the revelation behind the process would be worth seeing.

Overall, I thought there were some spectacular fight scenes in Gantz: Perfect Answer. The scene on the train was superb, although the climax was not as good as the one from the previous film and the plot arc wasn’t as tight. I thought it was a stronger movie than the previous one though and, having read up a little on the anime and manga, appeals to me more than the original works.

Here come the spoilers.

The writers have taken the break between films to introduce another plotline and a few original characters. Just to start with, a model named Ayukawa Eriko (Itou Ayumi) gets a tiny black Gantz ball in the mail that tells her to kill. There’s also an investigator (Yamada Takayuki as Shigeta Masamitsu) on the trail of Gantz, briefly glimpsed in the previous film. He’s so unimportant, I don’t know why they bothered.

As for the Gantz team, they are tasked with fighting aliens from Planet Black Suit. In Japanese, ‘black suit’ tends to imply a man employed by shady businesses (cabaret clubs, etc) and is possibly associated with the yakuza. Or not, as the case may be. In comparison to onion aliens from the first movie, this change seems positively sensible.

The fight scene on the train between the Gantz team and the aliens from Planet Black Suit features wuxia (“CGxia”) and gun kata. Also everyone has Gantz-themed katana because the guns take so long to charge, making for quicker and more visually appealing attacks. This was definitely my favourite scene.

By this time, my favourite character was Suzuki Yoshikazu (Taguchi Tomorowo). As he wasn’t played by a famous actor, I had written him off somewhat as an NPC, as background to the two main actors whose images are on the posters. However, when he chose to bring back Katou instead of going home, that’s when I really started cheering for him.

After the second major fight, between Kurono, Katou and a shape-shifting alien that has taken on Katou’s form, Kojima Tae (Yoshitaka Yuriko) turns up looking for Kurono. She is awful, but I don’t think any actress could have made this scene work. She runs towards Kurono as the alien slices her several times with his katana. Dying, she makes it to Kurono after shuffling along for a good minute or so. It would work as a manga sequence (and probably did!), possibly even in anime, but as a live action piece it looks ridiculous.

The final climactic battle is not much compared to the previous fight scenes. The two opposing sides stand in front of each other and open fire. As already shown in the first film, everyone is capable of returning from the dead. This is a huge barrier to good storytelling, particularly when you only have a short amount of time (unlike with manga) to show how difficult it is to get those one hundred points that make it possible.

However, the final battle causes Kurono Kei to achieve ‘maximum points’ and he can now have pretty much anything he wants (is this just me or does this sound like the climax to Madoka Magica?). So everyone comes back. Everyone, even Katou’s younger brother. The only one who doesn’t return to the real world is Kurono Kei.

…because he’s now inside the ball, powering it.

You might want to read my other reviews of movies that were adapted from manga, such as Kamui Gaiden (also starring Matsuyama Ken’ichi) and Kaiji: Jinsei Gyakuten Game.

Winter Comiket is a Tokyo anime-manga-games-otaku convention dedicated to fan-made comics (doujinshi) and merchandise. It’s held at the Tokyo Big Sight on the last three days in December. Cosplay is a huge part of the event too.

However, the location for cosplaying has changed yet again. I thought the garden area was good for photography last year, but very crowded. Using the carpark(!) makes for terrible backgrounds, but it’s easier to navigate.

I think perhaps the oddest cosplayer I met was the Eiga Dorobou. If you’ve ever been to a cinema in Japan, there’s an ad beforehand featuring this prancing guy with a camcorder for a head warning you not to record or download the film. So, that guy. There were also the inevitable and unwelcome Nazi cosplayers. What is it about anime events that make these people go, “Hm, Gamers… maids… butlers… I guess I’ll get my Hitler outfit”?

More tasteful outfits included this rendition of Batsubukuro man, a character often found on NicoNico Douga.

However, I’ve always found the nicest people to be the cosplayers who are doing it for fun. I had a warm welcome from a Kuroshitsuji cosplay group consisting of Ciel, Sebastian and Trancy (from Kuroshitsuji Season Two).

Kuroshitsuji Season 2: Sebastian cosplayer.

Kuroshitsuji Season 2: Trancy cosplayer.

As I mentioned in my last Comiket report (Winter Comiket 2009), cosplaying from older series is less common in Japan. However, there are always a few classic characters whose popularity persists.

The last section of cosplayer types is probably the most popular amongst photographers. These women don’t necessarily have to have chosen a popular character to cosplay.

I had a look around at doujinshi, but nothing really caught my eye, mainly because few of my favourite series are popular right now.

Outside was this anime-themed car to advertise IS: Infinite Stratos. Photos aren’t allowed at Comiket except in the cosplay zone, so it’s a fairly common advertising strategy to leave interesting things to photograph outside the venue. Quick plot of IS, found on Wikipedia, is that special mecha are created that can only be piloted by women, until a boy is found who can pilot them too. He has to attend a mecha training academy as the only boy. Not something I’ll be watching, but nice car.

Afterwards, I decided to walk from the Big Sight to Tokyo Station. What I didn’t know was that you’ve got some amazing views on the way there, with Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Sky Tree clearly visible either side of you.

Spam From Japan: The Streets of Tokyo

On Christmas Day, having seen the Broadway musical Avenue Q at Tokyo International Forum, my partner and I walked to Asakusa to kill time before our turkey dinner reservation. Turkey is near-impossible to find in Japan, even at Christmas, so we were content with a 9:00pm seating. For a great post on Christmas in Japan and why KFC is so important, check out This Japanese Life.

Otherwise, enjoy the photos.

Photographs from the streets of Tokyo and Asakusa after the jump!

“Space Battleship Yamato” Movie Review

Space Battleship Yamato: the live-action movie

Rumour has it that Space Battleship Yamato star, Kimura Takuya offered to reduce his own salary so more could be spent on the film itself and better position it as a rival to the likes of Avatar. True or not, the movie cost around two billion yen to make – a huge amount in Japan, even though it doesn’t come close to the most expensive Hollywood films. Was it worth it?

I didn’t know much about Space Battleship Yamato going into the movie, except it was based on an anime series by Leiji Matsumoto. If pressed, I would have said it was about a battleship named Yamato in space. While the ending may be as familiar to Japanese audiences as the connection between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker is to me, I wasn’t aware of it. It was a shock.

The opening was stunning. For most of the action of the first half, they seem to have eschewed the standard CGI in favour of model shots with enhanced backgrounds featuring the kind of star formations you can find on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day. At least, I believe these to be model shots, despite the advertised “80% CGI” claim. If it’s really CGI, it’s brilliant.

There is also one incredible shot of the underground city where Kodai lives. It appears on screen for maybe ten seconds, but the detail is all there.

The basic plot is simple, but the specifics are tough to follow, possibly because the Japanese is a level above what is normally required. There’s a mixture of nautical and sci-fi terms which are fairly challenging and you just know that they would consist of a string of ten kanji if written down. I had the same problem with Ghost in the Shell: Innocence.

The earth has been scorched beyond repair by aliens, and humanity only has about a year before the radiation reaches their underground city. However, despite the destruction of all greenery, there are still cats. One day, a capsule said to be from a planet called Iscandar is dropped on Earth and is found to contain a message which states there is a way to reduce the radiation levels. The same message instructs humanity on how to equip Yamato with a hadou engine which allows them to warp through space from Earth to Iscandar.

Kodai is a former pilot and the younger brother of a space captain who was killed in combat. He re-enlists and bravely notes the ship doctor has a cat. Once aboard, Captain Okita eventually recognises Kodai’s earnestness and sense of duty and hands the ship over to him on his deathbed. Kodai faces difficult decisions as captain, but the final one is the most difficult of all and the film stays with him throughout his decision-making process.

As for the final scene… I didn’t know it and I’ll assume you don’t want to know it either. All I will say is that we’re in flu season in Japan and there was coughing throughout the film until that final moment. The music dropped away and so did the sounds of the audience members. Complete silence throughout the theatre.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this combination before in a live action movie — a hard sci-fi aesthetic, space opera action and the morality of a Japanese war film. The mix is unique and visually amazing, with a real ‘lived-in’ feel to the technology.

The cat survives, by the way.

Official Space Battleship Yamato website (Japanese)

“Star Blazers” Anime Site with Movie Updates (English)

Or, if you want to see more movie reviews by me, check out Ghibli’s Karigurashi no Arrietty, Kamui Gaiden or the entire ‘movies’ tag.

Spam From Japan: Karigurashi no Arrietty Movie Review

The Borrower Arrietty // Karigurashi no Arrietty

Last year, the theme song for Gake no Ue no Ponyo filled the streets of Tokyo. You could hear it blasting from cinema lobbies, in the convenience stores and in department stores. It was everywhere. I never saw it.

Karigurashi no Arrietty (The Borrower Arrietty) had a more toned-down approach to marketing that was much appreciated. I’ve heard the theme song blasting from giant TV screens in Shinjuku, central Tokyo and I still love it. Besides, I found out a very important detail about it.

One of the draws of Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli is their ability to find tiny slivers of rural life squeezed between the reality of the big city. If you’ve ever visited Japan via Narita Airport, you’ll know what I mean. As you head into Tokyo, a city so futuristic it was inspiring the setting for the Blade Runner movie around eighteen years ago, you can see Ghibliesque snapshots of the countryside. Rice fields, country cottages and shrines pass you by.

Arrietty opens with an establishing shot of Tokyo to ground the viewer, zooms to a car moving up the driveway of an old-fashioned house, then focuses on the garden. It’s not the full truth about Japan, but it’s part of it. The clear message is that there are thousands of totoros, susuwatari and borrowers living near you right now. That’s what makes their films so lovely.

And here’s what I found out about the setting for Arrietty — it’s in the general area I’m living right now. Today, I crossed over the Nogawa River on the way back home, almost certainly the river featured at the end of the film. I can see bats skimming the water and the fleeting shadow of a koi carp. A bullfrog croaks somewhere nearby, unseen. Once I heard that it was going to be set in my backyard, I had to see it, regardless of my feelings about Ponyo. While this could be set in any suburbs around a big city, I won’t pretend that watching it and seeing locations I kind of recognised wasn’t magical. It totally was.

The film moves fairly slowly. You could take a younger child to see it in a way you probably couldn’t with Mononoke-Hime (Princess Mononoke), although there are some scenes where Arrietty’s mother is in danger. The film is so gentle though, there’s never really any doubt she’ll be fine. Said younger child might even be a bit bored. I would say this is best suited to anime lovers with longer attention spans.

Overall, this is a lovely film with a gentle sense of humour that moves at a slower pace than most blockbusters. Despite it being Yonebayashi Hiromasa’s directorial debut, he brings out the usual Ghibli sense of wonder with it.

At the Tokyo Game Show, you go from the blue skies of Chiba prefecture into a dark hall lit only by neon advertising boards. It’s difficult to overstate the contrast.

As usual, I ended up moving towards the nearest booth with the shiniest lights. This year, however, I chose well. The booth was Konami, who were advertising trailers for Dance Evolution, Catherine, Metal Gear Solid Rising, and Love Plus +. Of these, Catherine — from Studio 4C and the team who brought us Persona — looks the most interesting. It’s apparently an adult-themed mystery starring a guy who’s losing his grip on reality. Right now, when all the games are starting to look the same, this is a welcome change.

As it happens, I had arrived just in time to get a fairly good spot for the Kojima Productions Special Stage on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. The official photographer was just in front of me and kept popping up like a meerkat every few seconds to take another picture. It got annoying, particularly when it became clear that all his photographs were the same except with different pictures on the screen behind the guests. Amongst the guests were Ohtsuka Akio, Sugita Tomokazu, Inoue Kikuko, and Kobayashi Yuu, who all provided voices for the game. Fujiwara Keiji provided a video message, dramatic cat style.

About halfway through, they told us not to take photographs. I think the reasoning was that they figured everyone knew not to take photos during a seiyuu event, so didn’t bother to make any announcements. Meanwhile, everyone noticed they made no announcement and went crazy with the cameras.

They showed a behind-the-scenes video of the voice actors recording their lines and I was struck by how different Sugita sounds. It seems as though he gets that deeper sound by tucking his chin in. Kobayashi Yuu seemed justifiably proud of her ability to voice both a heroine and an old woman.

The trailer itself is already online, but I was struck by how derivitive it seemed. There’s a bit of something from everywhere. If you showed someone a still of the character Necromancer and told them it was Mumm-Ra from the new “gritty reboot” of ThunderCats, they’d totally believe you.

Afterwards, they showed us a trailer for Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, which shares many of the same voice actors with Castlevania. We also got to hear some music clips of cover versions by MGS characters. “Snake” has recorded Showa Blues, while Sugita sings Minato no Youko Yokohama Yokosuka.

Ryuu ga Gotoku: Of The End is the fifth installment in the series known as “Yakuza” in the US. As its name suggests, the game was set in a fictional version of Tokyo’s red light district, with the player training hostesses and brawlers while playing pachinko. Of The End turns Shinjuku into a post-apocalyptic wasteland and adds zombies. While there’s definitely a market for the prostitution-gambling-zombies genre, it’s probably not the same audience who bought the title previously. Basically, stop adding zombies to everything.

I have nothing to say about Gyakuten Kenji 2. The waiting in the queue was listed as being 120 minutes. They must think I’m stupid.

I was impressed by a Taiwanese company called Zeroplus Technology. In contrast to Kenji 2, there was just a two minute wait for the 3D shoot-’em-up in their low-key booth. You wear 3D glasses and then shoot cartoonish cowboy characters. I would have liked to have seen a better game, but I was impressed with the accuracy of the gun. I had plenty of time to try both the training mode and the challenge mode, such was the the length of the queue behind me.

Finally, I tried out Marvel VS Capcom 3 because the thought of Deadpool versus Dante from Devil May Cry was too good to pass up. Plus, the wait was listed as only thirty minutes. I was on my own, so I was paired up with the guy behind me. The first thing you do is select the characters you want to play and I was all over Dante and Deadpool. But who to select as my third? I figured it should be a Capcom character since Marvel characters team up all the time, so I selected one at random based on the headshot. It turned out to be a six foot catwoman wearing few clothes. Couldn’t look the other dude in the eye after that.

Marvel VS Capcom 3 is a solid retro-style beat ‘em up with little innovation in its gameplay or design. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it though. In fact, the only real improvement I would suggest is distingushing the characters more when both players choose the same one.

The coolest piece of tech I saw was Kinect for Xbox 360, which essentially let’s you play with a baby lion. It consists of a large screen and a number of motion sensors which let you play without a controller, using your entire body. The centrepiece of the demonstration was one of the booth girls playing with a lion cub on a desert island. The concept was that, as its trainer, it would mimic her moves. When she turned around, it would start learning to spin. She could also throw balls for it or wipe off condensation on the screen from lion kisses.

I can’t see myself buying an Xbox and Kinect, but I imagine I’ll buy the technology that builds on its success(?).

Overall, a great show and I’m glad I didn’t try to do everything. There’s a surfeit of similar-looking RPG titles though, many of them a recombination of swords, samurai or sorcery. If anyone thinks of a better system of gameplay, they’ll be rich. Oh. Right. Gyakuten Saiban series. Yeah…

Resident Evil and Upcoming Japanese Movies

I recently had my review of Resident Evil: Afterlife published on Blogcritics. It opened last week here in Japan, but should open tonight in theaters for many of the people reading this. For what it’s worth, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the 3D was excellent. Click on the link above to read more.

Now, here’s a rundown of upcoming Japanese movies that caught my eye recently and their release dates. Which do you want to see? Any I’ve missed that I should know about?

13 Assassins: Juusan-nin no Shikaku (25th September 2010)
十三人の刺客

13 Assassins Official Site

A remake of a 1963 film by Miike Takashi, famous for his brutal depiction of violence and the Zebraman movies. Set in the late Edo Era and based on a true story featuring samurai, it’s rated PG12 this time around.

Oniichan no Hanabi (25th September 2010)
おにいちゃんのハナビ

Oniichan no Hanabi Official Site

I’ll never watch this, but I’m sure it’ll appeal to someone reading this. I was a wreck after just fifteen minutes of 1-litre no Namida, so no thanks. Set in Niigata, a young man who has become a recluse in his own home decides to attend world-famous fireworks display with his terminally-ill little sister. Based on a true story.

REDLINE (9th October 2010)
ＲＥＤＬＩＮＥ

REDLINE Official Site

Animation featuring high-speed races across space, set in the distant future. Features voice-acting from Asano Tadanobu, Aoi Yu and SMAP’s Kimura Takuya, with direction from Koike Takeshi (Animatrix: World Record). If nothing else, go to the website and look at that hair.

Incite Mill: Nanokakan no Death Game (16th October 2010)
インシテミル7日間のデス・ゲーム

Incite Mill Official Site

Ten people accept a high-paying job… a job to murder each other!! Er, anyway, this is directed by the same guy who did Ring (Nakata Hideo), so it should be worth your time. I have no idea what the first half of the title means, by the way.

Garo: Red Requiem (30th October 2010)
牙狼　ＧＡＲＯ　ＲＥＤ　ＲＥＱＵＩＥＭ

Garo: Red Requiem Official Site

I saw a five minute preview of this 3D movie adaptation of the Garo tokusatsu TV series at the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2010 and fell in love. It looks like it’ll use 3D to great effect.

Maria-sama ga Miteru (6th November 2010)
マリア様がみてる

Maria-sama ga Miteru Official Site

It’s described as a drama depicting school life in an all-girl high school. Which is funny, because most of the people I know who watched the anime liked it for the chaste girl-on-girl non-action. Yuri fans take note.

GHOST: Mou Ichido Dakishimetai (13th November 2010)
ゴースト　もういちど抱きしめたい

Ghost Official Site

I don’t know about you, but I can’t hear The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody without thinking of pottery. I probably won’t see this, but I’m still curious about how this remake of the US movie “Ghost” will turn out. One thing that struck me when watching the trailer is that it has all the trappings of a typical Japanese love story, complete with generic J-pop ballad over the top.

Battle Royale 3D (20th November 2010)
バトル・ロワイアル

Battle Royale 3D Official Site

No new footage, just the old film revitalised with 3D. Films that have the 3D added after filming often look too dark or just not very good, like Clash of the Titans, but they seem to be taking their time with this. I plan to see it again regardless, but I don’t remember it being as violent as the trailer – the only thing on the official site – suggests. It’s quite possible I saw an edited version in Britain.

Space Battleship Yamato (1st December 2010)
SPACE BATTLESHIP ヤマト

Space Battleship Yamato Official Site

The trailers are already airing in cinemas in Japan and I can’t wait. Looks amazing.

GANTZ (2011)
ＧＡＮＴＺ

GANTZ Official Site

Another amazing trailer for a live-action movie based on anime/manga. This one is released a lot further in the future though. I just hope I don’t get bored of it before it’s out in cinemas.

Onigamiden (May 2011)
鬼神伝

Onigamiden Official Site

An anime set in the Heian Era and the ties between oni (demons, ogres, your translation of choice) and humans. The thing that interested me was the amazing perspective of the drawing on the splash page of the website. Note: The release date is taken from the official website, but other sources say it’ll be released next month.

Spam From Japan

Live from Tokyo

Spam From Japan: Chichibu, Saitama

Spam From Japan: Every Single Summer 2011 Anime Reviewed!

Spam From Japan: International Tokyo Toy Show 2011 Report

“Gantz 2: Perfect Answer” Movie Review

Spam From Japan: Winter Comiket 2010 (Cosplay Photos)

Spam From Japan: The Streets of Tokyo

“Space Battleship Yamato” Movie Review

Spam From Japan: Karigurashi no Arrietty Movie Review

Spam From Japan: Tokyo Game Show 2010

Resident Evil and Upcoming Japanese Movies

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