My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU: Episode 3

Before I cover the latest episode of Oregairu (going by Crunchyroll’s stream), I’d like to note that this show has officially been licensed by Sentai Filmworks for a home video release. It’ll probably come up sometime during spring of 2014.

Anyways, this episode gives our main characters a bit of development, while introducing two new guys to us (one of whom we’ve seen a bit last episode, but here we can see a bit more of what he’s like).

The Tennis Trap

Saika Totsuka is one of the two new guys introduced, and you’d be forgiven for thinking he was a girl at first. This tennis player’s cute boyish looks, mannerisms, and ability to magically project sparkles around himself is not only setting off all of Admiral Ackbar’s alarms, he’s making even Hachiman start to have strange feelings towards him.

Don't forget the ability to blush cutely at will.

That said, this episode was less about Saika himself and more about what the club members are doing for him, in helping him train so he can inspire the tennis team to do better. Among other things, this leads to a tennis match against Yumiko, who for right now is as haughty as ever.

This tennis match definitely has some moments of character development, as Yui shows that she’s willing to stand up even to Yumiko to defend her club; she also declares Yukino to be her friend, something Yukino does not directly reject. As for Yukino, aside from taking some time to talk down Yumiko, she also has a great moment where she almost says that Yui is her friend… though in the end, she ends up taking it back. Still, the first cracks in her shell have started to appear…

As for Hachiman, we hear more of his amusing internal monologues as he figures out that his life is going kind of like a rom-com except for the fact that it’s a boy who’s dragged him into helping a club… granted, a rather cute, girlish-looking boy, but still. He also has a fun moment where he uses his experiences in isolation to turn the tide of the match in his favor. However, for a more serious moment… consider when Yukino, tired out from a long match, says that Hachiman will win the match for them—and she never tells a lie. Whether he’s just rising under pressure or he really feels compelled in his heart to make sure Yukino is not wrong…

Hayato

Our “new” character, who appeared in the previous episode in Yumiko’s group as one that wanted to accompany her, appears here with a bit more character behind him. He seems to be a “nice guy” that tries to be the peacemaker between Yumiko and the Service Club, saying such classic nice-guy lines like “isn’t it more fun when everyone plays?”

He also spouts such wonderful nice-guy lines like this.

Of course, this being a rom-com gone wrong, Hachiman is having none of this, preferring solitude anyways, and shoots down his suggestion for everyone to get along immediately. He also gets in a jab at his popularity, saying someone as popular as he is should feel shameful for trying to take away the rights to the tennis court from someone with no popularity.

Hayato could be an interesting character going forward; he’s certainly not a bad person, but at the same time, he does stand against pretty much everything the Service Club members stand for. He seems to be all for socializing and being with people, and he definitely just goes along with Yumiko and her group (unlike Yui, who is willing to stand against them). Though that may be because he seems to have feelings for Yumiko…

In the end, even though he and Yumiko lose in the end to the Service Club, Hayato ultimately “wins” when he saves Yumiko at the end, causing what looks like the spark of romance between the two.

Though considering what kind of a person Yumiko is, I'm not sure that's really that great of a prize to win...

Yui feels sorry for Hachiman for being ignored, but he doesn’t really care; he’s satisfied enough with having helped out Saika. Besides, he's more concerned that this rom-com seems to have paired the guy with the guy and the girl with the girl, at least within the service club. But no matter, a clichéd catch-the-girls-while-dressing scene quickly reminds him that the usual clichéd rom-com events can still happen.

Overall Thoughts

This show continues to develop its main cast as it also slowly expands its expanded cast to provide more of the picture behind this rom-com gone wrong. We know that Hachiman was involved in an accident on the day of the welcoming ceremony (something that was hinted at in a flashback last episode), and that will likely play a large part in all of this. There’s also the question of whether the Service Club can really become a group of friends, and how that can impact their interactions with the people around them in the school.

There’s plenty of room for comedic moments, too, from Yui’s reaction when she finds out that she’s not a proper member of the Service Club because she never submitted an application to join, to Yoshiteru being a commentator for the tennis match and offering epic attack names to the various tennis moves going on. The dialogue remains as sharp as ever, too. All in all, still a great show from this season.

Review: From Up On Poppy Hill

You might not have heard much about the latest Studio Ghibli film, From Up on Poppy Hill. Disney has chosen not to release the movie themselves for certain reasons, so GKids has picked it up themselves and has chosen to do a limited screening at select theaters with minimal publicity. I was fortunate to have one of those theaters end up being nearby, so I caught the movie this weekend.

Poster courtesy of GKids.

This movie is directed by Goro Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki's son, whose previous work was the critically-panned Tales of Earthsea. Thankfully, this work is much better, if perhaps in part due to Hayao's work on the script, and the resulting work is a nice, low-key slice-of-life movie reminiscent of Whisper of the Heart.

The movie takes place in 1963 and features high school girl Umi Matsuzaki, who helps manage a boarding house. One day, she meets the school literature club/newspaper writer Shun Kazama, performing a daring stunt to draw attention to the school clubhouse that is about to be torn down. Sparks fly between the two as Umi decides to join the cause of protecting the clubhouse (mainly by helping to clean it up and make it look nice).

As far as the clubhouse renovation storyline goes, it's nothing particularly unique, but it's still very nice to watch, especially as you see practically the entire student body go about trying to clean up the clubhouse. Really, the whole thing is like this, though; nothing particularly stand-out plot-wise, but still a nice experience watching.

If you're already a fan of slice-of-life anime, such as Studio Ghibli's previous slice-of-life work Whisper of the Heart, this is a familiar experience, but if you're more used to more action or dramatic works in anime and movies, this movie could come off as boring. The key, though, is that this is a movie not to be watched and evaluated, but to be experienced; you watch this movie as though you were right there in 1963 Yokohama and living life alongside Umi. The show features a lot of scenes where she does a lot of everyday tasks, which is a defining characteristic of slice-of-life, and helps with the immersion experience.

The other thing that helps with this experience is the visuals, retaining a very Studio Ghibli feel as the harbor town is portrayed very lovingly and as a place one might not be too against living in.

And sometimes it makes you want to live there.

The effect of this is that, when the more dramatic and emotional elements come up, you really get to feel them. And this is why this movie works so well; it captures feelings and emotions not by displaying them, but by immersing you in them. It is one of the ways the slice-of-life genre is so effective as a whole, and this movie is a great example of how it works.

For those who are already fans of the genre, this movie is pretty much required viewing. However, even for those unfamiliar with the genre, it might be worth checking out, to see if slice-of-life is to your taste.

If you're wondering if this movie will be showing at a theater near you, you can check the official Facebook page of the movie. Note that theater listings are updated every week, so if your area isn't listed, check back later. It's also worth noting that when I watched the movie, it was with the original Japanese track with subtitles; GKids is doing a dub for the movie, but I do not know if that dub is playing in theaters or not, and if so, which theaters.

That said, there is one thing that comes up that may be of concern to Christian viewers or particularly those who want to show it to children. It does concern something of a plot spoiler, so if you want to read about it, check it out after the jump (and the spoiler-protecting picture).

Reverse Importation and How It Affects the NA Anime Industry

During my post about the Puella Magi Madoka Magica movies' import release, I talked a bit about reverse importation, the practice of Japanese anime fans' importing US releases of anime in order to save on the cost of buying anime Blu-rays, which are oftentimes ridiculously expensive. As an example, the average 12-episode anime will require you to buy 6 individual volumes that have an MSRP of US $80 each!) Needless to say, it's much cheaper to wait for the US's $70 release of that same show in its entirety, ask your overseas friend to buy it and ship it to you, then just pay him the cost plus shipping and in the end pay probably about a sixth of what you'd normally pay.

It should be noted that this problem even goes back to the days of DVD, where anime DVDs in Japan were also rather expensive and it would be much cheaper to buy a Region 1 compatible DVD player and import US releases. But with Blu-rays making the US and Japan share a region, it's just that much easier to reverse-import for any penny-pinching Japanese anime fan. Unfortunately for the producers of the anime, this means much less revenue for them, which is a Bad Thing, and of course, in their minds, they need to do whatever they can to make sure as many people buy their own domestic releases as possible, which makes sense.

That said, without any solid sales numbers, it's hard to say just how much of an impact reverse importation has on the Japanese industry. It's possible the problem isn't that bad and the companies are just being paranoid. One good indicator that it is something to be concerned over, though, is that if you search for various anime on the Japanese Amazon site, oftentimes the US release will be near the top as one of the more popular items.

In the end, though, the Japanese are concerned about it, and as such, it affects how anime gets released here in North America. In this post, I will go over the various ways which reverse importation affects these releases.

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU: Episode 2

Episode 2 features two fairly separate stories in its two halves. The first half features Yui facing her group of friends, who all seem to be sort of a “popular” group; Hachiman describes them as a group of carnivorous animals in which an alpha takes charge and the rest must endure stress from being subordinates.

Like a pack of wolves that prey on sandwiches.

In this case, the alpha is Yumiko, a blond beauty and definitely the center of attention among a larger group of both guys and girls, amongst whom Yui finds herself in. Yumiko is not exactly a pleasant person to be around; she has a very bossy attitude that isn’t afraid of tearing people like Yui down, though in a much more malicious way than Yukino does. For reasons best described as “he’d feel bad about it otherwise”, Hachiman attempts to stand up for her… and gets shot down instantly.

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU: Episode 1

It’s time to start going over the episodes of My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, starting with the first episode. In this episode, we meet up with each of the three main characters, and learn a bit about each one. So, for this episode about the opening episode, why not look at each of the three main characters in turn as they’re shown in this episode…

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Ep. 3: Thanksgiving

One of the other shows this season that has become one of my favorites is Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (Japanese: Suisei no Gargantia). It’s well-known for being the newest Gen Urobochi series, though it’s not as grim or depressing as his past works. It’s still definitely got an edge to it, and it still does explore the nature of humanity extremely well.

For some quick background, Ledo is a mecha soldier belonging to a faraway space colony, whom, due to various circumstances, has ended up on Earth, which has been flooded over, so everyone lives on boats. Among a crew that is mostly fearful of the foreigner and his highly advanced artificially-intelligent mecha Chamber (who serves as a translator), Ledo’s interaction with these people is mainly through one girl, Amy.

White-Haired Pretty Boy is Ledo, with Chamber on the left, Amy on the right, and to her right, Bellows.

Ledo had just vanquished a pirate squad in order to protect Amy’s friend, Bellows, and now has to face the consequences of perhaps needlessly taking so many human lives, as a larger pirate crew is out for blood. But amongst all this trouble, Bellows does go ahead and say “thank you” to Ledo for saving her. Ledo’s reaction is one of puzzlement, strangely enough. Towards the end of the episode, after Ledo saves the entire crew from the larger pirate crew, everyone says “thank you” to him, and there, he finally learns that what they’re saying is an expression of gratitude, and he gets a chance to say those words himself, as his first words in the language of his new home.

One thing this show has been great about is taking things that we take for granted in our world and society and showing just how valuable they are. After all, to most people, “thank you” is just something we’ve been taught while young to say after someone does something for us as proper etiquette. In fact, for many people, this has become a largely automatic action, one where one’s feelings might not really be behind the words. This show, though, turns this bit of etiquette on its head: what if someone has grown up never hearing a single “thank you”, such that the entire concept of expressing gratitude is foreign to him?

What we can see from Ledo is that all his human interactions seem to be based on negotiations. All of his actions, including deciding to support the Gargantia crew against the pirates, are based on being able to attain that which is beneficial to him by offering something beneficial to the other side if necessary. There was no need for gratitude, since in his experience it was just every man for himself and gratitude provides no direct benefit for anyone (of course some people will talk about indirect benefits, but Ledo’s people sure didn’t).

In this way, when Ledo first learns how to express gratitude, it seems like such a huge moment. It's as if this is the start of something important for Ledo... say, discovering human relationship for the first time.

After this episode, I realized just how meaningful something as simple as saying "thank you" really is. It really is a selfless action, one with no direct benefit to the one who says it, but simply says, "I really appreciate what you did for me, and I want to let you know that so you know that what you did was worthwhile." It is a simple action of love, yet it is the spark that can start friendships or even lead to marriage, and even when it's between two strangers or people with no plans to develop a deeper relationship, it's a statement that reminds us all that we humans are all by and large looking out for each other, and that we are not alone in this world. Quite a lot for two simple words, eh?

There's even more to this for Christians, though. Thanksgiving is such an important part of the Christian life, that one of the types of sacrifices initially instituted in the Old Testament was a sacrifice of thanksgiving. And, of course, "give thanks to the Lord" is such an integral part of Christianity that it's even slipped out and become part of everyday language to say "thank God", even if the person who says it isn't even a Christian! Why is it so important to express gratitude towards God for all the good things He's done for us? I think the simple answer is: otherwise, we fall into legalism, or thinking that it is by doing good things that we are saved or that we are loved by God.

If our motivation for following God's ways is to try to earn salvation or God's love, we are missing the point of Jesus's sacrifice, in which we loved us so much while we were still sinners that he was willing to die for us so we can be saved. But for those who realize just how big this sacrifice that he made for us was, following God's ways is just the result of naturally wanting to thank God for what He did. Or more specifically, thanking God becomes the platform on which we develop a relationship with Him, and it is under this relationship that we naturally want to help God accomplish His will on Earth.

That said, it's all too easy for us to slip back into the world's ways of "do things to earn God's love", which is why God wants us to give thanks to Him: by thinking of the good things He's done for us, we realize that He already loves us so much already that we can do nothing to earn any more of that love, and from that, our gratitude re-tunes our hearts towards relationship.

Whereas before Ledo went along with the crew of Gargantia simply because he felt that to be most beneficial to him, in the upcoming episodes we can see how finally starting to have relationships with the people of Gargantia changes how Ledo does things. In the meantime, this show has made me realize just how important "Thank you" is. It's not just a couple of polite words; it is quite possibly the words on which society was built on.

More Highlights from the Spring 2013 Season: 4/19/13 Edition

In addition to Yuyushiki and Oregairu, this season has had a number of highly enjoyable shows, as well as shows that show promise. Here I will go over all the shows that have caught my interest, and my thoughts on what has transpired in them so far. Shows will be presented in alphabetical order.