Forum - View topicWhat are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Polar Bear's Cafe
Reason for watching: Partly because of Bamboo Dong's advocacy of it and also because it seemed left field enough to provide something different from the usual anime fare. Synopsis: Slice of life comedy centred around a cafe run by the eponymous Polar Bear and his two habitual customers, Panda and Penguin. Comments: Polar Bear's Cafe works well because it gets several things right: the premise - animals behaving as if they were everyday human beings - ensures it is never less than amusing while providing scope for some very funny moments; it's often much cleverer than it seems at first blush; and the three main characters are attractively drawn, well delineated characters who bounce of each other nicely. The proprietor of the cafe, Polar Bear, is ever cool, no matter how trying or bewildering or ridiculous things get. He is effortlessly and naturally a leader: everyone defers to him, even his best friend, the aptly named Grizzly Bear. I especially enjoyed his constant po-faced trolling and any excuse interruptions of his ursine mate's attempts at hibernation. Polar Bear is never the least bit annoying (other than to poor Grizzly) because there isn't an ounce of conceit about him and because he so supremely good natured. Panda is something else altogether. He is the entirely self-absorbed adolescent whose kawaii appeal allows him to get away with any amount of selfishness, arrogance and idiocy. His boundless faith in his ability to charm anybody by just being a panda is galling but entirely justified. It also gives him the latitude to sum things up brutally and disingenuously, usually at Penguin's expense. 
How Panda sees everyone around him: as servants to appease his desires, usually sleep or food. This is the zoo-keeper at Panda's part-time job. Of the three mains it's Penguin who is at the centre - often the butt - of the anime's cleverest and funniest segments. He is cynical, morose, socially inept, sees the world more clearly than anybody but doesn't have a clue. His romantic travails are some of the highlights of the series, particularly the seven different female penguins he unwittingly woos. Hey, emperor penguins all look the same to me too. Add to those three a bevy of penguin entrepreneurs trying to sell penguin super sentai cards; a groovy llama who cannot fathom why the world ignores him; a team of squirrel coffee roasters lead by a coffee guru tree kangaroo; as well as many other eccentric beasts (and not forgetting the occasional human beings who all play it very straight) and you have an anime that is constantly amusing. Really, the best thing about Polar Bear's Cafe is the weird, surreal sight of the animals doing normal human things in normal human surroundings. Somehow it makes us human beings seem both ridiculous and sweet. Never far away is a sly, intelligent humour that makes this show more adult than you may think. It reminds me of Squid Girl in the way its simple veneer covers a more sophisticated attitude. Polar Bear's Cafe is more grown up than Squid Girl in both its target audience and in the way it gently mocks human foibles. For sure, Polar Bear's cafe is lightweight fare and I found that I struggled to watch more than an episode at a time, suggesting that the mood or tone is one dimensional. Perhaps, being an episodic series, there lacked the necessary hook to keep me watching. Rating: good. Footnote: This may be just me reading too much into something, as I am wont to do, but when I saw the first OP I had a moment of recognition. One of the images is of Polar Bear and Penguin driving the pandamobile past a tram in Lisbon - of all places! This straight away brought to mind the evergreen Australian movie, Malcolm, where you also see Lisbon trams, this time in the closing credits. The kicker, though, is the soundtrack in the Australian movie - it's by the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The particular track being played over the sequence is called The Ecstasy of Dancing Fleas. I'm sure it's a deliberate shout out. 
Last edited by Errinundra on Thu Nov 09, 2017 12:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Reason for watching: It's high ranking in ANN's Bayesian estimate, Zac's reviews and favourable comments from forum members whose views I appreciate. Synopsis: Madoka Kaname is your average moe junior high school girl. She isn't particularly smart or talented and has only a limited set of emotions but she is cute, passive and has an aura about her that begs for sympathy. Everything changes in her life when she encounters the furry mascot figure Kyubey who offers to transform her into a magical girl with stupendous powers. Her task will be to fight the witches who are responsible for the despair and discord in the world. Not only that, but the price of becoming a magical girl is to be granted any wish she choses. It all seems too good to be true. Madoka meets the glamorous magical girl Mami who appears to be everything Madoka isn't, while another girl, the sullen Homura, does her utmost to stop the contract from going ahead. Madoka will learn that the life of a magical girl isn't everything it's made out to be, that not all magical girls are sugar and spice and all things nice, and that furry mascot characters can be very, very disturbing. Comments: I'll start off by mentioning the major shortcoming of PMMM before moving on to what makes this series so special. The characters are shallow: despite their attractive designs they each have a limited range of character traits. Worse, their behaviours always seem more subject to the dictates of the external narrative than any sense of internal motivation. Madoka is a passive girly girl; Homura is a morose spoiler; Sayaka the hyperactive cheery one; Mami the glamour puss and Kyouko the punk. Each nicely fits the bill as popular moe fetish objects. But that's the point, in a way. They are there to be broken. No time need be spent setting up complex characters and PMMM is, in its way, a parody (albeit a serious one) of the magical girl genre. 
For a few brief moments in her interactions with her mother, Madoka transcends her character limitations. The one character whom I have come to appreciate enormously is Homura Akemi. Like so much else in the series her initial presentation is at odds with her true role. If Madoka must ultimately resolve the dilemma at the heart of the story, it's Homura who does the hard work, who makes it all possible. She is, in a sense, the true heroine of PMMM. When it is finally revealed in episode 10 just how much she has gone through to get things to the current state of affairs, how much she has suffered, how strong is her love for Madoka, and how her actions have amplified the very crisis she has been trying to avert, the emotional impact is very powerful. By the end I had tremendous sympathy for her, whereas I had little for Madoka. It's ironic: Homura does the hard yards; Madoka gets all the glory. It's also ironic, for a show that is purportedly playing with the magical girl formula, that it can elicit such a typical moeru response. I also have to say that her magical technique is one of the niftiest I've ever seen. I have a theory that Walpurgisnacht is spoiler[Homura in witch form, appearing from the future - as, of course, Homura can do - and thus fully cognisant of Homura's strategems. If Homura is the most powerful magical girl after Madoka then witch Homura would be second only to witch Madoka.] 
Homura and Kyubey. Both are more than they appear to be. If I'm critical of the characters, particularly Madoka, then there must be something else that gets me so pumped up in the final three episodes. For sure, the revelations about Homura help, but the biggest thing is the writing. Gen Urobochi has done a magnificent job of setting up a story propelled by a sequence of harrowing events and dramatic reveals that upend the viewer's expectations and that overturn magical girl conventions. All the threads come together elegantly, satisfyingly and, despite the character shortcomings, surprisingly emotionally. Re-watching PMMM is a pleasure in itself - just seeing how taut, spare and significant every moment is. Over the course of the story the despair of the girls grows remorselessly and relentlessly. When Madoka finally makes her wish, even if it is the obvious one to make, and takes on a contract with Kyubey, the story's vision of hope amidst despair is inspirational. The last episode is spent almost entirely on demonstrating the effects of the wish in glorious, joyful, heartbreaking intensity. Wonderful stuff even if there is still fridge horror to contend with: spoiler[the magical girl despair doesn't go away; instead of turning into witches they are ministered to by the now everpresent, but invisible, Madoka then cease to exist. I had quite a chuckle when I discovered that Cleopatra and Joan of Arc were actually magical girls.] 
Madoka in excelsis. Another contributing factor to the anime's success is its visuals. Madoka's normal world has all the characteristic Shinbo/Miyamato stylisms: clean geometric designs, gorgeous architecture and a beauty that is somehow both coldly austere and ravishingly baroque. The abiding imagery of her world is that of enclosure and surveillance. Despite the precise elegance there is an undercurrent of menace. This is classical surrealism: in our "real" constrained world there are hidden portals to a different "surreal" world where another reality prevails and our emotions follow their own path. Once the characters enter the other world - the witch mazes - the former style, now seemingly ever so mundane, is transformed into a postmodern maelstrom of pastiche. It's supremely artificial but deliberately so and has two fascinating effects: it makes the witches' world completely ineffable to the girls and allows the creators to provide a running visual commentary on the events on screen and on the magical girl genre in general. It's all very clever and very ironic but, better yet, it's mesmerising to look at. Only Masaaki Yuasa can match Shinbo and Miyamato in making something so grotesque appear so fascinating. Yuasa's style is even more grotesque and more interesting but nowhere near as beguiling. 
Mami moments before her climactic battle with Charlotte the witch. Those hypodermic syringes portend bad things. Yuki Kajiura does yet another spot on musical score. As with The Garden of Sinners her contribution makes the anime better than it might otherwise be and adds significantly to its the emotional impact. Happily it doesn't need to be the prop that it is in the much inferior Garden of Sinners. In the end, though, PMMM relies on its moe archetypes to achieve its vision of the magical girl genre. Since watching PMMM I've also watched the first episodes of Sally the Witch, Princess Knight and Sailor Moon to orient myself in a genre I'm not familiar with beyond Princess Tutu. What becomes apparent is that PMMM is a new treatment of what was once a female genre but is no more. It doesn't deconstruct the genre but, rather, appropriates it for a male audience. Nevertheless, the thrill I get watching the last three episodes ensures that it becomes something altogether exceptional. Rating: At the top end of excellent. If my opinion doesn't wane over time I may reconsider it as masterpiece. In a year I thought was quite good for anime - 2011 - it is only eclipsed by Hyouge Mono and Bunny Drop and outshines other highlights from that year, such as A Letter to Momo, Penguindrum, Fate/Zero, Hanasaku Iroha and Steins;Gate while anohana just isn't in the hunt. Last edited by Errinundra on Thu Nov 09, 2017 12:31 am; edited 14 times in total |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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So did you only just watched it errinundra? Was it because you did not like the hype that the series had?
It has been an interesting addition to be on the child friendly channel ABC3. |
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Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6523 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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I suppose you could say it was the hype. I was really angry with Aniplex America's pricing so I refused to watch any of their licensed products. I guess I'm over that now - I was cutting my nose to spite my face and AA isn't even an Australian company. I still think that PMMM isn't worth Madman's going price of $150, though.
Mind you, I paid almost that much for the Kickstarter version of Time of Eve, which is even shorter (but better). But that was fun participating. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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errinundra,
I still haven't watched it because I have no problem cutting off my nose to spite my face: I utterly refuse to pay AoA's pricing, which has not budged since it was released. As a result, I was forced to skip most of your review, though I did read your conclusion so I'm glad you liked it. I'll probably see it some day, but who knows when that will be. |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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Or not enough sleep 
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4074 |
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In regards to Madoka, errinundra, I really don't agree with your conclusion or even your analysis of the main theme and selection of heroes and hero worship therein. Of course, it's just not you, most people want to take the easy way out and not consider how the phrase "at what cost?" relates to this series.
To begin: spoiler[Did you miss the part that said Homura's time travel power was what was powering up Madoka's witch form? The irony of course being that at first, Homura was only trying to save her magical girlfriend {...I'm not changing it...} from turning into a witch and being put down into becoming the strongest witch and destroying the world. Homura started as Madoka was in the final timeline but in reality, Madoka is the strong one if given the chance, if Homura isn't there to block or stifle her desire to help. In the end, Madoka became the true hero while Homura was rightfully forced to wander the Earth for eternity, a fitting punishment for someone who wanted to play God for selfish reasons. Of course, it was for someone who became a god in one selfless act but in that regard, Homura probably just caught a bit of good karma. Most likely from Madoka.] I can't say you were close, especially in the misguided hero worship. Also, your detraction seems more an argument against Kyoto Animation's adaptations of Key's visual novels than this series.
Yeah, that one. If you want to get right down to it, have you considered the notion of sin in this series? Pride, Lust, Sloth, Greed, Wrath {not magical girl qualities but as spoiler[they are being bribed into taking on the ultimately fake role in the first place, obviously they're not true magical girls}]? I'll leave it to you to match the names to what sin they represent but to say they are there to be broken spoiler[ absolves them of all guilt for selling their existence for a single wish {Kyubee always gets the rough treatment from the fan base but he's pure alien, not evil. He's not the devil, just the last defense against entropy. Whether or not his race is correct is beyond the scope of the series though}.]. I think you're focusing too much on the design of middle school girls rather than what they're trying to do versus what they actually are. The series stops being moe around ... Episode 3, wouldn't you agree? |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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RE Puella Magi Madoka Magica
I have been through it once, but have not commented here. I bought the DVD (not blu ray) singles based on the insane amount of hype and good things said. With just one viewing, I can easily say, I got my money's worth. I have held off on a rewatch because I want to watch this again, while exposing someone else to it at the same time (probably my brother). Homura's last battle is so epic. I was deeply touched, the lengths she went to, she would do all this for her? Though she must have known it was spoiler[most likely meaningless in the end]. I have not rated yet, but This one lived up to the hype. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7357 |
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Whew, I finally finished Shinsekai Yori/From the New World. I say "finally" because I tore through the first two parts pretty quickly, and then the third part came along and completely threw out what I had found so interesting about the first two parts. Without trying to get into spoilers much, the first two parts had all this delicious 1984 stuff going on where spoiler[they'd kill kids for not being good enough psychics and for other strange reasons and had this dark hidden history] and I was fascinated to see it and loved that aspect of the show. Then, the third part went with spoiler[a freakin' war between rat species]. Sure the end result added a tiny bit more to the 1984, but only a very tiny bit and I swear that could've been added better.
I think it's a shame, for me, that last third really brought down the overall series. It kind of makes me wish I had stopped after the second part, as I'll do my very best to not remember that the third, far more boring part exists. Not sure if I'd recommend the series overall as damn did that last third really bring the bar way down, damn near ruining the glory of the first two parts, but I'd still say those first two parts are worth watching. I mean, you have a series that is spoiler[killing children on whims], why would you abandon that for something you can find anywhere? In fact, after watching 4 episodes on normal speed, I had to watch the last episodes on between 1.5-2x speed just to stomach it. It could have been so awesome had that third part held up, but alas. On the plus side, I highly approve of using Dvorak's From the New World symphony as the going home theme. Seeing the title immediately makes me think of that symphony, I'm glad that was in there. |
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ailblentyn
 Posts: 1688 Location: body in Ohio, heart in Sydney |
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I'm about to watch the final episode of Princess Jellyfish. I've enjoyed it greatly — and something that tickled me in a small way was the fact that I actually got a reference that a few weeks ago would have gone right over my head. At one point an exasperated Kuranosuke describes Tsukimi's appearance with words along the lines of "something right out of Shigeru Mizuki". And, thanks to my dear wife who gave me a cop of Mizuki's Nonnonba the other week, I understood! (It's a great book, by the way.)
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Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
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I liked it alot too - and it left enough loose ends that it's begging for a second limited series to wrap things up. |
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zawa113
Posts: 7357 |
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My friend got Crunchyroll, so I was over at her place. Since I was the one with the remote/360 controller, I might've picked Black Jack. I need to consult the encyclopedia to figure out exactly which one I watched though. Pretty sure we watched all four episodes of Black Jack Special, which were stories I'm pretty sure were all lifted from the manga and thus was nothing new. But then we figured out there was another series there and we watched the first two eps of the 2004 series. Which I am pretty damn sure will have stuff that didn't happen in the manga because I don't recall Sharaku nor Wato having major roles in the manga ever. Speaking of those two, despite never having seen or read any of Three-Eyed One (trust me, I would), I still see those two, especially Sharaku, everywhere, thus, I mostly know them from any work except their own. Evil Sharaku is a bad guy and boss in the Omega Factor GBA game and Good Sharaku is in Buddha and he is adorable and awesome in it big time. I really need to start helping fun Anime Sols things I think. I thought the 4 episode special was alright, but mostly because I already knew those stories, but I'd love to see more of the 2004 series. I wouldn't buy those 4 specials because I have the manga, but the 2004 series? Yeah, probably if it was up on Amazon or something.
In other news, I also have most of the discs for 1993 Black Jack OVA and plan to watch that soon. |
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Gewürtztraminer
Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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Uh, you did catch where the Queer rats were spoiler[what became of the normal 'unevolved' humans] due to pyschic leakage? With the survival rate of the evolved spoiler[(2 out of 30 I think)], and the scarcity of the ability to extend life (spoiler[two people have the ability)]... evolution has hit an end for the evolved. The queer rats are the future, but until then, it is good to be the oppressor decidng 'lower' species fate right? The third act was the point. |
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zawa113
Posts: 7357 |
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^but was there any reason they couldn't have discovered that information way earlier and come up with something more interesting than spoiler[a boring Queerat war]? Considering that any other important exposition took no more than 3 episodes to get out, why did this take 9 episode then just get like three lines thrown at it? If anything, I feel like it should've been even easier to figure out that key piece of information way earlier considering spoiler[Saki worked in the damn lab related to that stuff and things being off limits never seemed to stop them before], then I feel like they could've come up with something way more interesting to do with this information had they gotten it earlier. I just think that, after finding the first two parts so interesting in their style of story telling, we went with spoiler[a war]? Also, I watch a lot of military-style series that did this sort of thing way better, so the third part was a disappointment for me in all ways. My complaint wasn't that piece of info they got at the last minute, but that they wasted so damn much time getting there and I was bored to tears the entire third act. And it's not like we'd gotten all the info on spoiler[their weirdo child killing society], they so could've gone for more of that in the third act too, making it more well rounded.
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Gewürtztraminer
Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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Ok, that makes some sense. What I disliked, especially in the first act, when the info dump was occurring during the camping trip. Was the "Oh, NO! I don't want to hear anymore, please make it stop". Over and over and over. These characters had feet. they could walk, they could stop this perceived atrocity they were being subjected to, but it went on and on.... It was completely a mismatch between a novel and animation presentations. You would think it would be pulled off correctly, but was obviously flubbed. Of course, in my opinion. From the New World certainly gave a lot to chew on. Looking forward to owning it and inflicting it on others. |
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