[C] and AnoHana first episodes reviewed: Otaku Trauma

This edition of Otaku Trauma, I’ll be reviewing the first two episodes for the animes with some of the longest names of the season.  That’s right, it’s time for [C] and AnoHana!

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Boku-tachi wa Mada Shiranai
“We still don’t know the name of the flower we saw that day”

Six childhood friends were inseparable during the summer.  After a tragic accident, they split apart, unable to recover.  Some years later (I’m guessing between five and ten years), the former leader of the group, Jin-tan, begins having stress related visions of Menma begging him to grant her final wish.

Anyone who enjoys Makoto Shinkai’s works or movies, like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, will likely enjoy this show.  The first episode followed Jin-tan as he tried to cope with Menma’s  appearance and the demons (not literal) that haunt him.

He is exhibiting early signs of being a hikikomori–a shut-in, pretty much–unable to function around people or the outside world.  Meanwhile his other friends have moved on, no longer young children so carefree, and the distance between them all is as wide as it is filled with sorrow.

From the first episode I can already tell I’ll be interested.  There’s the mystery of what happened to Menma, the wish she wants Jin-tan to grant her (though I’m placing a bet that it has something to do with making sure everyone stays together or something), and what happened to the once-close group of friends.  It’s not as if they don’t know one another–Anaru appears to attend the same HS that Jin-tan does, while Yukiatsu and Tsuruko attend the HS that Jin-tan had failed to test into.  Poppo, the sixth member of the group, appeared only at the very end of the episode.

To be clear, the names I used above are their “nicknames” from childhood that Menma (“Meiko Honma”) uses for them still.  They’re basically just condensed forms of their first and last names instead of using honorifics for each other.

The animation company in charge of this, noitaminA (yes that is just “Animation” backwards) has previously been in charge of several animes I’ve seen and enjoyed, including  Paradise Kiss and the recently ended Fractale, as well as this season’s [C]: The Money and Soul of Possibility Control.  They appear to prefer the”‘slice of life” style, or animes that deal primarily with how an external force affects people.

Verdict: Watching it till it ends

[C]: The Money and Soul of Possibility Control

That’s the actual title, not a translated one, so it is hence forth known as MONEY KILLS by me.  Why? Because it sums up what I could understand of the premise in the first episode.  I watched this three times, and I’m still lost.  Kimimaro is a struggling college Economics student working two jobs in an effort to afford his own expenses without his parents’ help.

One night, after a particularly heart-wrenching moment of watching his crush walk off with her boyfriend, he’s approached by the Mad Hatter’s cousin Masakaki (of Midas Bank) to join up and reap the rewards of money…as long as he gives up his future.  What that means isn’t explained, but Kimimaro refuses!  He is a strong, principled young man and would never, ever fall into such a temptation.

Until he sees all that glorious money, talks to some of his coworkers and realizes “what’s the worst that could happen?” And then Masakaki swoops in and tells him now he has no choice, and he’s the East District’s “Entre” in the Financial District, and won’t this be fun?

This is a weird anime, but I have a feeling it’s the kind of anime that watching it week to week will leave you confused, but watching it wholesale offers a bigger picture.  Small details may be forgotten, or simply pushed aside, as you try to keep up with each new tidbit.

Verdict: I’ll keep watching until my head explodes or it makes sense, whichever happens first.

Anime News

Persona 4, the PlayStation game from Atlus, will be getting its own anime this fall.  Previously the anime, Persona: Trinity Soul, was more or less connected to the Persona 3 game (though set 10 years into the future).  Should be interesting to see if they emphasize the Social Links or not.

Mira Nikki has been picked up for an anime thanks to the “pilot” anime episode given out with the Japanese edition of volume 11 (first printing).  Can you say very very excited?