{"id":10947,"date":"2011-05-05T22:31:08","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T03:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/?p=10947"},"modified":"2011-05-05T22:31:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-06T03:31:08","slug":"aquagazes-anime-weekend-the-emo-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/?p=10947","title":{"rendered":"Aquagaze’s Anime Weekend: The Emo Album"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don’t be distracted by the A-Channel<\/em> header,\u00a0Steins;Gate <\/strong>is the best comedy of the season. Ignoring the question of whether or not this is intentional, the larger-than-life antics of Okarin and his colleagues easily outshine the actual comedies of the season with scientific glee. Steins;Gate<\/em> skips through its mind-bending plot with a huge grin on its face, supported by exceptional voice acting and a cast of characters to whom overacting and overreacting<\/em> is as natural as breathing air.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that it\u2019s intrinsically a sci-fi thriller, the Takanashi-esque snark-offs between Okarin and the naturally adorable, albeit suspiciously noseless, Kurisu stole most of the spotlights this episode, while Mayushii and Daru continue pouring some of their own charm into Steins;Gate<\/em>\u2019s delicious cocktail. Even Ruka actually being a guy keeps being funny thanks to the variable presentation. Steins;Gate<\/em> does not seem to suffer from the fact that there is a discomforting number of characters that are, as of yet, completely irrelevant to the plot \u2013yes, you, Feyris Nyanyan- but this may change in the near future, for better or worse.<\/p>\n

More after the break.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the plot moves along at a pace well suited to the constant blending of character interaction and plot development. Witty conversations between characters can turn into important plot-related discussions at any moment and vice-versa, as Okarin\u2019s paranoid conspiracy theories tread closer to actually being true with every subsequent episode.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mayushii, collector of Oopa, cards and hearts.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the end, Steins;Gate<\/em> has the cutest girls of the season (despite not being a moe show), the best jokes of the season (despite not being a comedy), the best plot of the season (despite being as confusing as Fractale<\/em>\u2019s writing) and the most interesting cast of the season (despite being as ridiculous as a buddy cop movie starring Nicolas Cage and William Shatner). Still, it is not the best show of the season. Yet.<\/p>\n

It still lacks one critical aspect essential to a truly memorable experience: Steins;Gate<\/em> \u2013as of yet- fails to play to the audience\u2019s emotions. Kurisu\u2019s death in episode 1 failed to trigger anything because we barely got to know her as a character and the grave Mayushii frequents is enigmatic as anything else in the plot. However, two other shows this season manage to make playing to emotions their main attraction, bringing a wholly different but equally interesting kind of entertainment to the table: AnoHana<\/em> and Hanasaku Iroha<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Like the flower in its title, \u00a0each episode of \u00a0AnoHana<\/em> blooms open to something beautiful. The first episode started off remarkably dull and even slightly annoying, until you realize that this was all on purpose as the show drops a massive plot twist, which will determine the rest of the series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Between spending the day with Menma or at school, I'd go for the park bench as well.<\/p><\/div>\n

The second episode built upon this and quickly exposed AnoHana<\/em>\u2019s main premise: five friends who try to mend the cracks in their friendship and relive the good times they had when they were younger, each of them trying to deal with their own problems and demons from the past as well. Seeing the main character Jintan visiting a game shop and abashedly ask for a \u2018Nok\u00e9mon<\/em>\u2019 game, only to spend the rest of the afternoon reliving his childhood, playing Nok\u00e9mon<\/em> with his old friends is some of the most adorable subject matter I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

That brings us to episode 3, which gives a magic-realistic spin to the plot with each character living a different version of the same delusion. In order to get to know each other better, the five friends hold a barbecue, which perfectly highlights the drama in this show, as some of the characters clearly don\u2019t plan on hanging out with their old friends like they used to. Tsuruko and Yukiatsu especially have a lot to hide, but Anaru \u2013that nickname makes me giggle every time thanks to Sena Akagi blurting out \u2018anaru fakku\u2019 in the latest OreImo<\/em>– is by far the most interesting character, if only because as far as I know, she\u2019s the first tsundere done right since Taiga Aisaka.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>

Right click + 'Save as...' You know you want to!<\/p><\/div>\n

AnoHana<\/em> clearly aims to twist and turn some slice-of-life tropes on their heads and adds the right amount of drama to keep you coming back. If you haven\u2019t checked out this gem yet, be sure to give it a try.<\/p>\n

The other show using your emotions as its plaything is Hanasaku Iroha<\/em>. Although the latest episodes have been focusing on some more light-hearted material and therefore can\u2019t live up to the standards set by the first two episodes, the show is still worth it for a lot of reasons, especially Ohana herself.<\/p>\n

Five episodes in, Ohana has established herself as an adorable and funny, yet subtly nuanced character with a lot more soul than most other slice-of-life leads. She\u2019s cute, but not mind-meltingly saccharine. She\u2019s diligent, but stands up for herself. She\u2019s ditzy, but not hopeless. She embraces both the beloved character tropes of the genre and blows a fresh wind through them. And yes, I couldn\u2019t resist stealing her diary again. I promise! It\u2019s the last time!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Well, at least Ohana manages to get her diaries out on time. Should I just rename this thing Aquagaze\u2019s Anime Wednesday<\/em>?<\/p>\n

That wraps things up for the week! Next week, I\u2019ll try to not spend two-thirds\u00a0of my blog raving on Steins;Gate<\/em> and actually write something on The World God Only Knows<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Oh, who am I kidding?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don’t be distracted by the A-Channel header,\u00a0Steins;Gate is the best comedy of the season. Ignoring the question of whether or not this is intentional, the larger-than-life antics of Okarin and his colleagues easily outshine the actual comedies of the season … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066,31,2073,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2011-spring-season","category-anime","category-aquagazes-anime-weekend","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10947\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectharuhi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}