Ghost Hound

Ghost Hound can be kind of a tough nut to crack at first. Most people will come away from the first episode just wondering what the hell they just watched.

I would know, that's exactly what I said. The writers definitely keep you in the dark for a little too long as to just what the main conceit of the show is and what exactly is going on.



But ultimately by the third or fourth episode when it finally gives up the ghost so to speak it becomes very approachable and enjoyable.

Without spoiling anything, it centers around three boys linked together by traumas they've experienced but never come to terms with. Taro and his sister were both kidnapped as small children. Only Taro survived the ordeal. He hardly even remembers it but he constantly has strange dreams that he tries to relate to his therapist. Makoto has been in the dark his entire life as to why his father committed suicide, and Masayuki has always felt responsible for the death of a classmate he used to bully. All of this is tied together by the supernatural angle which I won't give away, although I will say that with it they throw in a lot of terminology and theories related to therapy, memory, and neurology. So in a way like Moyashimon it's vaguely educational.



Even if you're not entirely sure what you're looking at, it's pure bliss even just to listen to the show in HD with stereo headphones or surround sound if you have it. There is some pretty remarkable sound editing that goes straight to your brain and puts you right in the thick of the show's often mesmeric imagery.



The pacing can be pretty slow. Although the characters are participating in extraordinary activities, life still goes on more or less as usual otherwise. They have goals and things they want to better achieve and understand but in a way it takes a fairly realistic approach to that angle of it.

It's a solid show, but it's not for everyone. Just don't get too frustrated that "nothing is happening" when you should just enjoy it even merely the feel of the series in your brain.

Retrospective-Now and Then, Here and There (1999-2000)

Now and Then, Here and There isn't for the faint of heart. The setup is deceptively generic.



There's a boy, a girl, and a macguffin. Said boy is transported to the girl's world (time?), his first step into something greater than himself and the simple life he led before. This world is run by a mad king and his oppressive armies who at all costs are after the girl and her macguffin pendant.
So far it sounds about as typical as any post-star wars adventure story. But very quickly it becomes clear that this isn't some escapist fantasy with a magical universe the audience wants to inhabit.

Women are somewhat rare, so any that do surface are relegated to round the clock rape from various able bodied men in the corps.
The "mad king" is beyond mad, he is a child. He doesn't take responsibility, he cowers away from threats, abuses and depends on women, and fights battle after battle for some unattainable goal, callously throwing away the lives of those who serve him.

Of course, if their ranks are always depleting then that means they are always recruiting. This is why they systematically raid and pillage nearby villages, kidnapping children and indoctrinating them into a service that they won't be able to leave until they die. And then the cycle repeats itself.
This isn't your typical anime. While the futility of war isn't exactly an alien concept, the harsh, relentless assault of these all too familiar and down to earth evils hit very close to home. It's kind of a cruel joke that the reality in many places in the real world reflects the kind of situation that the kids in this so-called faraway land suffer through.

For this alone I heavily applaud it. All too often just as in any other kind of media we never see the kind of story where characters aren't just acting out wish fulfillment fantasies. The truth is that it definitely limits viewers and profits if something has a point instead of being entertaining. As important as a film like Schindler's List is, it just isn't the sort of thing people can consume very easily.

And neither is this.

Moyashimon-Tales of Agriculture

I can never deny the allure of strange, untapped ideas that produce something as fresh and quirky as Moyashimon.

The main character is a fairly typical college student who just so happens to possess the ability to see microbes with the naked eye. To him alone they are cute little critters bursting with personality, though the science and educational aspects of this are still present and not exaggerated. Yes, it's quite possible you might actually learn something.

Don't worry, this isn't some boring edutainment science anime, most of it is played for laughs, or rather, taken so seriously that you can't help but guffaw. It's kind of hard to compare it to anything, really, besides maybe Yakitate Japan. That had sort of a similar conceit where the main character had his own obscure super power--Solar Hands, the ability to make bread ferment with your bare hands. And in the same way it's a carefully guarded ability that could change the world, no matter how silly that may sound.
It definitely sounds like a lot to swallow, I'll give you that, but in a season like this, what's the alternative? Everything is just the same old song half the time, giant robots this, school romances that.

I'll probably talk about one of those soon enough in length.

In the mean time, don't be afraid of the strange.

Hey mister, put the cartoons back on!

The typical Japanese anime blog is a simple creature. Review shows by the week, cater to a certain audience and demographic that's in line with your tastes, and post pretty pictures.

The extraordinary bloggers at least from my point of view fall somewhere between just having a sophisticated persona with a refined taste and just having a great sense of humor. Ideally, though rarely, both of these qualities are present in full force, though either one alone usually shows the mark of a great writer regardless.

If I'm funny, it's only when I do so without realizing it. So I'll cut to the chase: if there's anything I want out of this it's to be informative. I want people to think, "hey, I follow the same shows as Circumcised, he must have a pretty good idea of what's worth watching."

And that'll do.

For all the pedophiles and lolicons out there, this is the wrong blog for you. Typically I follow more serious, mature, and somewhat intellectually driven dramas like the politically charged cyber punk Ghost in the Shell or the psychological thriller Monster, so you won't find any school girls or magical girls or highschool romances or any of that drivel that plagues the medium.

As for the structure of the blog, I'm not entirely sure yet. I am sure I'll initially talk about the few shows this season worth viewing in my opinion. I may do retrospectives on some of my all time favorites, or off the cuff rants on certain phenomena or inerasable memes in anime.

Or hell, I'll update it twice and move on to bigger and better things.

Like watching cartoons.