Winter 2014: What I'm Watching (Part 2)

It’s time for the second part of my Winter 2014 initial impressions on shows I plan to follow. Included this time is one short show; I don’t normally cover them in these posts, but since said show is somewhat on the longer side and one of the better shorts to come out lately, I’m putting it in here. Beyond that, there’s a fair variety in this set, including a number of sequels. No point delaying this any further; let’s go straight to the shows.

Seriously Vulnerable

This is my second post about Silver Spoon in a week. Did I mention lately how much I love this show?

One plot that has become a major part of Silver Spoon this season revolves around Yuugo as he finds himself attached to one of the school’s piglets. Knowing, though, that said piglet will eventually end up in someone’s stomach, he gives him the name “Pork Bowl”… though that doesn’t keep him from forming an attachment to the cute little guy.

Piglets are so moe. (Art by 雛)

To the other students at the agricultural school, this is silliness. They grew up in an environment where animals are killed for food, so they are used to all this and know that forming attachments to these future food products would not be productive. For Yuugo, who is new to this whole world, though, he knows no better, and simply chooses to struggle through his newfound, conflicted feelings about eating livestock.

When he returns from summer break, he encounters yet another trial: Pork Bowl has grown up and will soon be shipped out, but due to malnourishment, he is currently “off-grade” and would not sell for much at all. Somehow, from this Yuugo comes to the conclusion that he must fatten up his little buddy, or else he will regret it, and starts going the extra mile to make sure that Pork Bowl is fed properly. Then, after successfully helping Pork Bowl towards at least reaching a “medium” grade, he talks with his classmates about his conflicted feelings over the fact that the very reason these animals are born is to later be killed and eaten.

This is not a post about the morality of eating animals, though. Rather, it is about the perspective of various staff and older students about him. Upon overhearing Yuugo talk about this, one staff member says he just needs to “change gears”, implying he either needs to get over it or get out. However, it is the words of the next person, in response to this, that will be the focus of this post:

"He could just pretend to deal with it, to get himself through school. But instead, he takes it seriously and is honest about it with the people around him."

Wasted Talents and Different Paths in Life

It is unfortunate that humans tend to value each other by their talents , capabilities, and potential, rather than on the simple fact that they are fellow human beings.

Certainly, there is an extent to which we must evaluate the actions of other people so we know whether we can trust them or not; nothing wrong with making sure a potential friend isn’t really a serial killer waiting to murder you in your sleep. But at a certain point, the evaluations we make for other people stop being for the protection of our own boundaries and start trespassing on others’ boundaries.

This kind of trespass—and the reactions to those being trespassed on—can be seen in a couple of recent episodes of this season’s anime. In Servant x Service, we have Yutaka Hasebe, a civil servant and one of the main characters, and his old friend Jouji Tanaka, who has had a very one-sided competitive relationship with him. Jouji had unsuccessfully tried to beat Yutaka at anything, and resentful of how Yutaka is better than him at everything, gives a drunken rant to Lucy about how much of a waste it is that Yutaka is only working as a mere civil servant.

And for hitting on a "plain girl" like Lucy, insulting two people for the price of one! (Art by 

ねぎた)

Meanwhile, in Silver Spoon, we have Shingo Hachiken, the older brother of the protagonist Yuugo Hachiken. Shingo is an incredibly smart and talented brother who was accepted into Tokyo University (which is the top university in Japan, requiring the highest scores on the nationwide college entrance exam for acceptance), and whom Yuugo unfortunately lives under the shadow of. However, Shingo ended up quitting the university to pursue a job as… a ramen chef (and without much success). A phone conversation later reveals that his getting into Tokyo University was entirely because his parents pressured him to get into a good school, and that as soon as he was no longer under parental control, he quit the university “to piss them off”.

Shingo, trolling over-controlling parents like a boss. (Art by BlackFoxes)

Being told that their life is a waste and being forced by others to walk a certain path in life: both are significant trespasses of personal boundaries, the first trespassing on self-worth, and the second trespassing on self-responsibility. Both are related in that when these trespasses happen, it is frequently because the person trespassed on is being valued for their talents, capabilities, and potential than for being a human.

Summer 2013: What I'm Watching (Part 2)

The second part of my Summer 2013 overview is here. Plenty of sequels are among them, so be sure to check out my Sequel Alert to see what you should watch before diving into these shows.

I must say, I am overall very pleased with this season. Sure, that might be partially because there's a lot of shows that are particularly of my taste, but even discounting all of the "same ol'" that some may complain about, there's plenty to love about this season. And if you really think this season's got nothing for you... well, Attack on Titan is still airing, right? By the way, I'm not following that one, but I do plan on marathoning the second half once all episodes have been aired.

That said, the rest of what I'm following this season is after the jump.