Another summer anime season is coming to an end while another fall season is around the corner, and as usual at this time of year I want to discuss my thoughts on the shows I’ve completed…
Natsuyuki Rendezvous
Natsuyuki is a very pretty and very emotional love-triangle romance story. What makes it stand out is having a supernatural premise in the form of one of the parties in the love-triangle being a ghost and his rival for love being the only one who can see and hear him. With only four reoccurring characters in the series, only three of which are main ones, lots of focus is given to their relationships with each other, which is perfectly fitting for the type of show it is and the short number of episodes. Our three main characters are strictly characterized by how they feel towards each other, which is fine for a romance story I suppose. Actually, the entire eleven episodes are about resolving the love-triangle with many tears, heartaches, and realizations to be had. I’ve heard complaints about Shimao being a rather unlikable character and I can agree with that, but at the same time his role as a pseudo-antagonist is a big part of the show’s plot. I think what he said in the last episode pretty much sums up his character – how he acts is unreasonable, but then again his very existence as a ghost defies reason to begin with.
I have to say that I enjoyed the early episodes of Natsuyuki more than the latter ones (before Shimao took over Hazuki’s body). The very early scenes of Shimao interrupting Hazuki’s attempts to put the moves on Rokka were hilarious, and at the same time, the flashbacks of Rokka and Shimao were extremely touching and heart-wrenching. The second half of the episodes involving Shimao in Hazuki’s body and Hazuki’s spirit in fairy tale land had their good moments but seemed kind of meandering overall – I feel like episodes 6 to 9 could have been compressed into fewer episodes, but it could just be me or the result of stretching only four manga volumes into eleven episodes.
I predicted way back when I watched the first episode how the series would end – Shimao would have to eventually stop interfering with Rokka’s life and let her get together with Hazuki, which he finally did. It was kind of shocking that she was almost willing to die for him and he was almost going to kill her himself, but I knew such a turn would be too dark for the series. And wow, was he really hanging out with them for 65+ years? I can’t imagine him not interfering with them all those years – that would have been fun to see, especially with their daughter around. Was the only reason he was finally able to move on was because Rokka died? I assume that’s what the final scene of him drifting higher and higher into the sky meant. I thought it would have been fitting to show him meeting up with Rokka and Hazuki in the afterlife…but oh well. It was still a pretty good ending. Overall, if you like well made romance stories that have a lot of pretty flowers, whimsical supernatural elements, and good old drama, Natsuyuki is great. I can’t say I personally loved it but I definitely think it’s an above average watch.
Hyouka
The most recent work by my favorite anime studio, KyoAni, known for their stellar animation and quality over quantity approach with anime titles. I liked Hyouka for the most part, but I can’t say it’s among my top KyoAni titles. I’ll start with the things I did like about it. First would be the obvious great animation and KyoAni once again working their magic with atmosphere-building, character expressions, and noticeable attention to background detail that other studios lack. While the first couple of episodes were a bit slow due to being our first introduction to the characters and themes, and also being kind of text heavy, I thought the pay off in episode 6 was great and a good story arc to introduce us to the series’ unique take on mystery-solving. I also liked most of the cultural festival arc as it allowed us to focus on the characters separately and see them in non-mystery centered scenarios, most of which were quite entertaining. A couple of the stand-alone episodes like 7 and 20 were fun, too.
Unfortunately I didn’t like the movie-making episodes (8-11) because I couldn’t get invested in the conflict at all. I just couldn’t care enough about the fuss the characters were making about having the movie follow exactly what Hongou-senpai wanted – a character we never even see or get to know and thus can’t really care about. I had similar feelings for the Juumonji story – I enjoyed it up until the point where it was revealed what the ultimate goal of the Juumonji incident was, and then it just felt like it was needlessly complicated and blown out of proportion for a message that could have been conveyed in a less troubling way. I also felt sorry for Mayaka both for how the girls in her manga club treated her and the fact that she couldn’t ask for anyone’s help with that, and the fact that Satoshi caused both her and Eru so much grief just because he didn’t want to risk becoming obsessed with her (kind of selfish in my opinion). I assume his phone call to her at the end of that episode was supposed to be him making up with her, but it was kind of vague.
But anyway, while I had some problems with Hyouka, I would definitely say I enjoyed it more than didn’t. When I could get invested in the mysteries, they were very interesting, and if you look at the layer under them you see some very solid and well-developed characters in our four Classics Club members. Outside of solving daily life mysteries most people don’t even know exist, the series is also about Eru’s relentless curiosity having an effect on the otherwise very apathetic Houtarou, which is again played out very well by the KyoAni touch. I think the series could have carried itself fine or even better without some of the overly complicated or pointless mysteries, but again, that’s part of the uniqueness of the series.
Jinrui wa Suitai Shimaimashita
The first thing to note about Jinrui wa Suitai, a.k.a. Humanity Has Declined, is that it’s a weird one, for better or worse depending on your tastes. When I did my first impressions review of it after having watched the first three episodes, I was ready to drop it due to my distaste for extreme over-the-top weirdness in anime (which the talking chicken fryers were). But the manga parody arc that came after – which was probably my favorite arc – helped redeem the series for me and I decided to stick with it. The rest of the episodes in 1-3 episode story arcs were still weird but not too much – the cat girl robot, the time paradox dog and banana time-traveling (thinking of Steins;Gate too, what’s up with bananas and time-traveling going together? XD), the fairy metropolis being built and destroyed in just a couple of days, and then the final arc showing how our nameless heroine became who she was at the beginning of the show – the stories were all interesting and certainly unique, it’s just not the type of show I can love or get really into. But some other things I liked about it were the heroine’s subtly cynical and dry outlook on everything, and I have to admit that the fairies with their permanent grins but dreary personalities and outrageous powers kind of grew on me after a while. I would have liked it if the juxtaposed setting of bright and colorful villages in a post-apocalyptic world was fleshed out more, as well as more info about the fairies and how they’ve lived alongside humans, but oh well. The series seemed to know exactly what it wanted to tell and not tell. Again, I liked some of the show but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea. But if you like anime that’s all about being weird, parodying, and making light of bleak themes with cute characters, it’s one to check out.
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There’s a chance I’ll be able to post again on Friday since I have that day off, but if not, then I won’t be able to post again until next week sometime. I’m still on the training schedule for work and my regular schedule has not been finalized yet, but it should be next week when I’m out of training. By then I should be able to know what my blogging schedule can be from now on…so stay tuned =)
Hehe, pretty much the same impressions I had with those anime titles. Natsuyuki was interesting, and it was a breath of fresh air as well. An anime title not centered around high school, and tackling more adult settings and issues is not something we get every day. I agree the first half was a lot better than the second. The way he acted when he took over his body was quite selfish and self-destructive (well, not himself, but his host). It makes sense, but but it draws some apathy towards him as a character. And Rokka was never such as strong character (in my opinion) to hold things together. All the fairy land part was ok-ish but a bit pointless since it had almost no consequence later. So yeah, a bit slow, but not bad anyway.
Hyouka. The quality of the animation was incredible. It looks so good, it could easily be a movie. It was practically art. And the use of other type of animation when explaining theories, or working things out also helped give it an special touch. The characters were also good. The main character is incredibly smart, but also has his quirks. Kind of reminds me of L, Mayaka was great with her slight tsundere side, but not over the top. I did not find Chitanda to be very special, but the way she could move Oreki added something nice to the show. Satoshi kind of complemented the rest of the group, but did not do much. The part where he hurt Mayaka was really bad though, and did not really help much in his character development. His reason for it was really weak, and unreal, and does not really fit well with the characters that were drawn up. Anyway, it was fun, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Animation was still great though, and will probably rewatch it later just to enjoy the animation :)
The last show was a bit hard to get into. Had the same problem with the first episodes. Just too much weirdness. The robots did not fit much into the story either (Pion and the other guy), so it was kind of a wasted arc a bit. The assistant was not present much on the 2nd half (and he was pretty good). The time bananas and paradogs were interesting. Still, the protagonists quick wit, and sharp remarks made for an entertaining show. The fairies were actually pretty likeable (by the end of the show, when they made more sense). Not something I would show my mom, and probably won’t watch again, but it was still entertaining due to the main protagonist.
So not awesome shows, but good anyway. So not bad overall :)
Yeah, I had similar feelings about Natsuyuki. It was still an above average show but it meandered in the middle. I thought Rokka was a decent enough character though, like I mentioned in the post, she’s only defined by how she feels about Shimao and Hazuki…which is okay for this type of show but not for making a very fleshed out character.
There’s no denying Hyouka’s gorgeous animation; it’s amazing how KyoAni can make a bunch of scenes where characters are just sitting in a room talking, interesting to watch, but they do with all the great visual techniques they employ. I agree about the characters – they were good and well written even if some of their characteristics were a bit hard to swallow (like Satoshi in episode 21).
I don’t think Junrui has any rewatch value for me either as I feel the same way you do about it. I liked the fairies and the protagonist and a few of the story arcs, but it just wasn’t my thing overall.
Hyouka fails at being a mystery show. But in terms of slice of life, it’s good. In the end, I actually like it which is probably one of the biggest surprises for me this year, along with Sankarea.
Watashi is one of my favorite female leads this year.
I’m surprised you ended up liking Hyouka too considering your thoughts about it during its first few episodes. Glad to hear it though XD
Hyouka was pretty dull at times, and I generally agree with the problems you had with the series. The conflicts in the movie and jumonji arcs really were overblown and it felt a bit silly at times how the charcters stressed over such small things. Nonetheless I enjoyed watching this show for the beautiful animation. The animation is what really sets this show apart from other similar ones. Honestly without it the show would have been pretty meh in my opinion.
Funny, regarding Jinrui the manga arc was one of my least least favorites (My favorites were probably the chicken arc and the civilization building episode). I really loved this charming show by the end despite it’s flaws. However, I can definitely understand why you and probably others aren’t fans of it; it’s a really different and odd show.
I agree with your general thoughts about Hyouka too, especially with KyoAni’s animation being a big part of its appeal. If another studio had produced it, it probably wouldn’t have been as enjoyable for me to watch.
I liked the civilization building arc too, but I drew the line of weirdness at walking, talking, and smoking skinless chickens XD
In the end Natsuyuki Rendezvous was the only new anime of this season that I ended up watching all the way through. I enjoyed it but, like you, I preferred the first few episodes to the last handful (although I did really like that final epilogue). Despite its many merits, I think Natsuyuki Rendezvous had some definite pacing issues during the second half, and so even though I think its a good quality anime with a lot to say, I doubt I’ll ever be giving it a re-watch.
On another note though, I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming anime season! There are several shows that I’d like to try out, and also a couple of movies. :)
It seems we have similar thoughts on Natsuyuki. The only time I think I’d rewatch it is with my mom as I feel it’s one she would like.
I’m also looking forward to next season. There’s a lot of anime I want to watch too ^_^
I think, the mysteries were one of the best things about Hyouka. While even some of the genuine crime mystery/detective series, like Gosick, or Dath Note, are having their slobby moments, where the Great Detective just happens to be a genius who can pull random guesses out of his ass that end up being correct because he is a Great Detective, Hyouka was gloriously logical and professional with Houtarou’s methodology of the “investigations”.
That they weren’t really crimes, just petty school-life themesjust added an extra flavor to them. Rather than it swinging between the mystery and the SoL genres, I would say that it was a mystery ABOUT slice-of-life events.
Kind of like how Asimov’s Caves of Steel trilogy was a detective mystery ABOUT sci-fi themes.
Hyouka’s take on mystery-solving within the slice-of-life genre is certainly unique, and I agree that it was best to stick with that rather than jump between the two genres. But I found myself enjoying the scenes and episodes not focused on the mysteries, which is probably just my own taste. Like Jen in a comment above said, because solving the mysteries weren’t significant to any plot and often involved characters we don’t even see (like the movie making episodes) it was hard for me to get invested even if they were logically put together. It felt like a case of “making a big deal about nothing.” Not all of the mysteries though, mostly just the movie making and Juumonji stories.
Hyouka and Jinrui Suitai… unless something incredible happens in fall, it will be tough picking which of those two will be #2 and which #3 on my 2012 anime list.
Glad you enjoyed those two so much, especially an oddball like Jinrui Suitai. I liked your posts about it =)
Those two are kind of like democracy – they might have obvious flaws, but there isn’t anything better out there anyway (this year).
Great review as always. I should finish Natsuyuki Rendezvous before the next season starts, but I can share my input on the other two.
Humanity has Declined was, as everyone can agree, weird. I can admit that there were some hit-and-miss episodes, but what made me like this show was our witty Unnamed Heroine aka Miss Sweats AKA Watashi. There’s also the biggest mystery that drove my interest the most in that show: the fairies. These super advance, always grinning, sugar driven, easily depressed, multiplying, mysterious characters tickled my curious bone and my funny bone of course. I’m sure I’m not the only one with a million questions about these fairies. Of course, being based of a light novel and manga, we’re not gonna get the whole story behind them. This makes me want to learn more about this world and characters. You could almost say; “I’m curious!!!” (Getting into the next subject)
I found Hyouka amazing, not as whole but, for it’s good points. I agree that the art was very well done. I agree on several points from other comments as far as episodes and genres. I think a couples arcs/episodes didn’t do as well as the rest, but I think some of the better ones managed to make up for it (the Kanya Festival arc had to be my favorite). Now what really made the show was the characters. Oreki was a new take on detectives to me (who else can solve a mystery with one sentence without leaving the room? Episode 19). However, the biggest point I want to push was his character growth. In the beginning he was energy conserving and wanted a ‘grey-colored’ high school life, but by the end, I believe he achieved his ‘rose-colored’ high school life. Chitanda was a wonderful ‘chemistry’ character (I say this because the second she gets mixed in something, she explodes!) and because of this ‘chemical reaction’, poor Oreki gets caught up in it. Her extreme curiosity was not her only good point. Chitanda was very emotional and passionate about anything she set her mind to, mysteries and the high school drama. What happened at the end of the last episode also pulled my heart strings and made me like the pair even more.
I mistook Mayaka for being a casual ~dere character up until the Kanya Festival. She took me by surprise and instantly became my favorite character. Mayaka turned out to be a very passionate character, not just for her hobby, but her dream. It’s hard to be passionate about a dream when they feel so far away, but she defended her love and hopes for that dream. However, she still played her ~dere part just as well and we don’t mind that. Finally, the most controversial character: Satoshi. I don’t know what to say that’s already been said by most. At first he seemed to be the complimentary sidekick to Oreki, with little to no character development. About halfway through the Kanya Festival arc, we get the sense that he’s jealous of Oreki and wants to beat him at his own game. This time could’ve marked the point he decided to change his ‘obsessive’ behavior, which we didn’t know about till the Valentine’s Day episode. I was just as angry with Satoshi for hurting both Chitanda and Mayaka’s feelings, but I can understand why he chose to keep his distance from Mayaka. Hard to say it’s a good reason, but I think that’s the best conclusion we can draw. If Satoshi’s character had been more developed, it might have been more understandable.
I could probably type several more pages about these characters, but I think I posted enough as it is. Keep up the good work!
I was intrigued by the fairies too and wished we could have learned more about them. Maybe there’ll be another season…
I could certainly see Houtarou’s growth throughout the series. Though setting him up with an opposing personality – the “curious about everything” Chitanda – it was obvious that she would eventually rub off on him. But regardless of predicting his character growth, I liked seeing it anyway =) I also changed my opinions of Mayaka and Satoshi in later episodes. Like I said in the post, Mayaka kind of makes me sad because we know she’s pining for Satoshi even though he’s decided not to get seriously involved with her (or so it seems). But yeah, I wasn’t sure about the characters at first but they ended up being more interesting than I’d originally thought.
You forgot to mention the pheonemal soundtracks for Hyouka. I’m a fan of classical music myself and I think some classical pieces they put onto the anime really adds a nice touch to the magic that is Hyouka. For the rest of the part, I agree with all of your points. Eru and Houtarou are like fire and water when paired up with each other, but when the most opposite of elements are paired together, they always complement each other as well, so in a way, they both make a good combo xD
I’m a fan of “over-the-top-weirdness” myself though of cause, the execution had to be good, and I find Jinrui’s execution decent. The first few episodes aren’t really interesting, that’s for sure but likewise, it’s the manga episode that struck me. The banana/time travel episode is funny as heck and my favorite episode had to be the “stranded on island” episode.
Sadly, I didn’t watch Natsuyuki Rendezvous D:
Yeah, the music in Hyouka was good and complimented the lovely KyoAni animation techniques quite well =) I enjoyed the scenes with Houtarou and Eru too.