Summer 2015 | The Chuuni Corner

March 25, 2016

Review/discussion about: Dance with Devils

Dance with Devils / Episode 1 / Ritsuka in her all-blue wedding dress

Like stepping on one’s own feet

Dance with Devils describes itself pretty well. There are devils and there is dancing. Less dancing than devils but still.

I cannot speak much about devils. (I have already talked at length about the Divine Comedy.) As for dancing, I also cannot speak much. There is one detail about dancing, however, that will always stick with me: my father’s “signature move.”

He told me that, if you cannot dance, or if you want to but want to avoid embarrassment, you simply do the “cabbage patch.” It is rather simple, really. Make fists out of your hands. Put them together – still as fists – as if you are creating one giant fist. Finally, bob your shoulders and gyrate your fists. There. You are doing the cabbage patch.

The question becomes, which is better, Devils or the cabbage patch?

My money is on my father’s advice.

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March 8, 2016

Banjo’s Top 10 Summer 2015 Anime

Rokka no Yuusha / Episode 1 / Adlet declaring his need to be one of the Braves

Who are the winners this Summer 2015?

I finally finished reviewing every anime (that I was watching) from Summer 2015!

What this five-month-long journey has taught me is that anime is timeless. It does not matter when you watch an anime. Be it while it is airing, several months after it finishes, or ten years down the line, that anime will still be itself. An anime about a boy trying to become king or an anime about a world where everything lewd is censored will not change. They will still hold the same stories, the same characters, and the same messages. And that is pretty awesome.

Today, however, we are concerned with the best of the best from Summer 2015. After reviewing twenty-nine different anime, ten have proven their worth more so than the rest, and only one has earned the title “Best Anime of Summer 2015.”

Before diving into the list, it is important to know two ideas: what counts and the reasoning behind everything.

First, I am an advocate of an anime “counting” in the season in which it completed. Meaning, whether it is fantastic or not, something like God Eater has no place here despite starting in Summer 2015. On the opposite end, an anime like Kyoukai no Rinne does have a shot since it concluded in Summer 2015 despite starting the season prior.

So, if you do not see Kyoukai no Rinne here on my list, that means I either did not see it or it was not good enough to make the list. (It is the latter!)

Second, each anime has a personalized review that demonstrates why it deserves to be here in the first place. Simply click on an anime’s name to be linked to its review to read my complete thoughts on it. For every review that I wrote for this season, follow this link to my Summer 2015 Reviews page!

With all of the introductions, formalities, and rules out of the way, it is time to get to my Top 10 Summer 2015 Anime!

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March 8, 2016

Review/discussion about: Non Non Biyori Repeat

Life incarnate

Non Non Biyori Repeat almost makes me feel bad about myself.

To Renge and the gang, a cell phone is a sign of luxury, and “dot com” is a mysterious concept. To me, I cannot live without the Internet. I cannot go a day without using a computer or checking out /r/anime or playing a video game. I do not consider smartphones and e-mail anomalies; I consider them necessities.

But Repeat does not make me feel bad for too long, for quickly afterwards it provides a superb experience with a lot of heart and a lot of soul, forcing me to realize that life’s most important parts are the ones that have been nearby all along.

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March 3, 2016

Review/discussion about: Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai

**** *** *********

Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai (Shimoneta from here on out because that title is ridiculously long) reminded me of a tale. It is a tale from my childhood, back when I was a spry young boy with strict parents.

Their strictness should not be underestimated. Growing up, I was disciplined to never swear. This has carried over into my adult life; I very rarely swear while out in public. (In private, however, all bets are off.) One day, we visited the family cottage. That day, I was there with my cousins and my brother.

Probably due to that rebellious stage of our lives, we decided that enough was enough: We were going to swear. But we were not just going to say a bunch of curse words in the living room. Instead, we decided to take our behavior to the trampoline on the side of the house. The second we got onto the trampoline, our mouths and brains started working. The jumps-to-dirty-words ratio quickly became imbalanced; the pine trees turned into scarlet oaks from all the blushing they were doing.

Our swearing escapade eventually ended. We were never caught, but that feeling of freedom has never been matched since. And considering Shimoneta, I know now that Kajou and the rest of SOX felt exactly the same.

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February 28, 2016

Review/discussion about: Jitsu wa Watashi wa

Secretly fun

Jitsu wa Watashi wa loves its secrets. Many people (myself included) like secrets. It does not matter which side, either keeping or having them. Keeping them is all about trust between the parties, because once one person reveals the secret then it is a secret no longer. (This brings into question how many have to know a secret before it is no longer a secret, but that is a conversation for another day.) And having them is all about knowing who, if anyone, to tell.

There is actually a third side: the people not in the know. I found myself on this side once. For one of my birthdays, my parents and siblings told me that we were meeting up with my grandparents for a small dinner. I thought this was perfectly normal given we have done this in the past.

But when we arrived at the restaurant, my entire family – uncles, aunts, and cousins – were waiting for me. Yes, a surprise birthday party. I was baffled that they were able to keep it a secret for so long. I will never forget that feeling when it first dawned on me what had actually happened: a weird, happy feeling of betrayal.

In my case, the secret was ultimately harmless. In Jitsu’s case, the secrets it holds are more important than any birthday party could hope to be.

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February 25, 2016

Review/discussion about: Classroom☆Crisis

Crisis averted

(As supplementary material for this review, please refer to my essay on conflict and resolution, Classroom☆Crisis, Conflict, and Resolution.)

Every year, my family and I go to the cottage we have up north. We ride on the pontoon, we go to the local ice cream store, and we sit around the campfire making s’mores. These separate events are fun, but what makes them so awesome is getting to spend them with my family.

I remember one night when Craig, a cousin of mine, brought a telescope with him. It was a clear night, allowing the stars to brightly shine against the dark backdrop. He had been practicing viewing objects in outer space, and, by that point, he could consistently find Saturn. So he set up the telescope, aiming the device at what looked like to me some arbitrary spot in the sky.

When I peered through the scope, I saw a tiny, beige dot. It was Saturn. I was amazed to see this celestial object thousands of miles away mere inches from my eye. From that night onward, I learned to respect outer space, more so than I had ever previously done before.

Classroom Crisis is an anime that likewise focuses on outer space, and contrary to its name, this anime is certainly not a crisis.

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February 20, 2016

Classroom☆Crisis, Conflict, and Resolution

How are conflict and resolution crafted?

Space, subterfuge, and socioeconomic struggles.

These ideas are individually intriguing (I am getting all of my alliteration out of the way early!), but what if all three were contained in a single package? What if, perhaps, they were neatly delivered as a single anime?

Classroom Crisis is such a package, one that was somehow forgotten on the doorstep of many a member of the anime community during the Summer 2015 season. The show has a slower start, but, considering the political ties of the plot, this is a dark horse of the mightiest proportions.

Classroom Crisis most certainly deserves credit for blending together its separate subjects. After all, nothingness, trickery, and money are inherently cool themes, especially when taken together. However, what the anime does best is something many people take for granted: conflict and resolution.

The following essay will investigate these concepts of conflict and resolution. What conflict and resolution are, what forms conflict and resolution take, and even what conflict and resolution demand of the narrative. Hopefully by the end of this piece, you, the reader, will not only have a better appreciation for the art of conflict and resolution but also have a better appreciation for Classroom Crisis overall.

Without further ado, let us get started!

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February 4, 2016

Review/discussion about: Venus Project: Climax

The opposite of a climax

My older sister used to be a dancer, both as a hobby and as a job. And when I was younger, we would always have to go to her recitals. A recital is basically many different dancing performances consisting of a different combination of dancers.

I hated going to them. The recital usually lasted four to five hours. They prohibited food and drink from entering the theater. I was not allowed to use electronics like my Game Boy. My sister was not even in all of the acts: out of the approximately thirty or so different acts, she was in maybe three or four of them. I realize now that I was there to support my sister as her brother, but back then, I could not have cared any less for these boring, time-consuming dances.

Venus Project: Climax is also filled with dancers and dances, although they use robots in conjunction with the idols. Even so, watching this anime was like watching one of those recitals, bringing with it the same boring and time-consuming feelings once more.

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January 25, 2016

Review/discussion about: Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei Herz!

A longer title does not make for a better anime

My favorite card game is called “Texas Hold ‘Em.” In this gambling game, the dealer deals two cards to every player. Then the flop (three community cards), the turn (one community card), and the river (one final community card) are dealt by the dealer. Betting occurs in-between each of these rounds.

The objective of the game is to make the best set of cards possible – three-of-a-kind, a straight, and so on – with the two cards you own and the community cards. The catch is that each player can only see their own cards. What this means is that the winning hand is not always the winner; a player can and often does bluff their way to victory. And so the saying goes: “you gotta’ know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em.”

I am talking about cards because I am talking about Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei Herz!, which is somehow even more ridiculous of a title than Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya 2wei!. Herz (as it will be called from here on out for sanity purposes) is about finding a final card that Illya and the gang need to acquire. Alongside the secrecy of the plot, the show sort of (read: barely) becomes a game of Texas Hold ‘Em, but this show’s poker face is easily seen through.

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January 16, 2016

Review/discussion about: Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace

Crime clearly does not pay

Crime has been around for as long as humans have roamed the Earth. While it would be awesome if everyone held hands and made peace and sang carols, an idyllic world of that kind simply does not exist. There are “bad apples” everywhere. People who, for whatever reason, resort to crime.

Ranpo Kitan: Game of Laplace centers on crime like pedophilia, torture, and murder. Grotesque crime, but crime all the same. It shows the lengths people on both sides of the law will go to and what that means for everyone in society.

I have never committed a crime and I have (thankfully; knock on wood) never been the victim of a crime. Someone did steal a USB drive of mine once, but I was not so annoyed that I wanted to call for an investigation. Thinking about it now, I wish I still had that USB from way back when. And thinking about it more, if I had a copy of Ranpo Kitan on that USB, not only would I not care about it getting stolen, I would thank the thief for stealing it.

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Category: Summer 2015