Random Musings - The Calm Before The Storm March 31
I realize that most of my random musings entries these days aren’t really random musings, but rather news posts or quick thoughts on stuff. Regardless, I wrote this entry in one sitting off the top of my head, so consider this the first true “Random Musings” in a long time, and please forgive me if I ramble a little.
Here’s a question that’s been on my mind recently: Have CODE GEASS and Kanon set the bar too high? One of GEASS’s biggest strength is that it has fantastic writing with plot twists and turns one after another that keep you guessing on what’s going to happen. Kanon’s visuals and emotional impact meanwhile are what I consider a new standard for that type of show, or even for all anime. Between those two, Thursdays for the past half year have been pretty incredible. I’m sad really that they’ve ended, at least for now.
The reason that question has come up is because it’s starting to feel like I’m less and less easily impressed by new stuff. Take for example this upcoming season. Out of the dozens of new shows, I have only perhaps six or seven that I really want to see, but even then, I’m not really looking forward to anything in particular. In fact, I admit that I’m looking forward to a couple of those series largely because they have good musical talent lined up.
Now technically the new season has already started with the first episode of Hitohira and the advance previews of the first episodes for Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA and Seirei no Moribito. But both Hitohira and Seirei no Moribito left me feeling rather underwhelmed (you might have noticed that I didn’t blog either and I don’t intend to now). Sure, they both had good production quality: Seirei no Moribito in particular had some fantastic background visuals. Hitohira had a main character Mugi with plenty of cute qualities, and it’s always a pleasure to hear Kawasumi Ayako. The problem is that neither show presented me anything that compelled me to want to continue watching - nothing that made me say “I really want to find out what happens.”
And then there’s Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA. This was the show I was looking forward to, and perhaps my expectations were too high because I ended up being disappointed. Of course, I’ll still watch it in hopes that it gets better since it is a Sunrise series and features several of my favorite voice actresses. But therein lies the issue: I’m going to continue watching it because I know it’s Sunrise. It may still turn out to be crap, but I expect it to be good because it’s by a studio and staff that I’ve had a good track record with, so I’m giving it a second chance.
I probably wouldn’t give that chance if this were another group and might even consider dropping the show after seeing just one episode. You might say that I trust Sunrise to reach that high bar in storytelling and character development. The same applies for Lucky Star when it airs next week: even if the first episode turns out to be completely not funny, I’ll keep watching it since it’s Kyoto Animation. I hate to say it, but because I have limited time to go through a lot, the shows of other studios - with a few exceptions like BONES - have to perform well early on or else I’d need some type of motivation to stick with it (usually in the form of a trusted friend who recognizes the good points that I might not see).
Having said all that, I’m sure I won’t think about this as much once the rush of Spring 2007 season really gets started in a day or so. Hopefully there’ll be some unexpectedly good shows that are still relatively under my radar, like Suzumiya Haruhi was a year ago. And if not, in the worse of cases, there’s always the rest of CODE GEASS and CLANNAD to look forward to in the coming seasons…
Shippoyasha at 2:19 am on March 31st, 2007
I don’t know, Omni. I think it’s great to not expect anything as it will only create opportunities for some unknown show to come around and grab attention. I actually think that’s the good thing about not expecting anything really. The joy of finding great new shows without necessarily hunting for them or expecting them.
I also think your tastes in anime lean more on the gravitas of the story lines, especially the ones with some underlying mysteries and revelations to come. Though personally, I’m perfectly content with a solidly done sports show or even the occasional magical girl stuff. It’s sort of good to have varying standards I guess. It depends on the expectations.
zalem at 2:21 am on March 31st, 2007
I think Geass has spoiled me terribly. I used to watch shows like Bleach and D.Grayman, but now I find I have barely any interest in them anymore. I’m finding them boring. And with the new ones coming up there are only a handful that look really interesting, but nothing I’m really dying to see. Maybe Darker then Black and Romeo+Juliet will prove to be good…I hope so.
Raito at 2:33 am on March 31st, 2007
Code Geass definitely set the bar, plot wise, but i think there’s still hope for upcoming series. Besides, Geass showed that their are many more storylines to explore. It can influence other animes to be more risky.
There’ve been animes in the past that I believed to have been great, but they soon paled in comparison to later series. It’s still too early to tell.
Musouka at 2:48 am on March 31st, 2007
I think as we watch more and more shows, that is inevitable. The majority of movies does recycle the same thing. This is true for any movies, and not just anime.
Once we see experience something that has high standards, the rest would not feel as interesting/enjoyable as before. Dare I say, this is also somewhat true for a lot of other things in life, like games, food, cars, etc.
So maybe the solution is to avoid all the things that set these high standards. With a low expectation, it is easier to find things that give us satisfaction.
Then again, it’s already too late for us :b
Sorry if I wonder off topic, but that has been on my mind for a while…
Elegant Destruction at 3:03 am on March 31st, 2007
oh stop being so dramatic! :rofl: ^_
TTT at 3:05 am on March 31st, 2007
Only animes with superb/intelligent story-telling appeal to me right now, after been spoiled to masterpeices such as FMA, Juuni Kokki, Gankutsuou, and especially GiTS series. Throughout the past seasons, I have watched a lot of the new animes in the beginning, but then dropped many of them one-by-one coz of the disappointing storyline.
I could only sad that many animes nowadays lack the depth of storyline. Animes that I’m still watching so far are only Code Geass, Death Note, and Bakumatsu. Kanon wasn’t on my list coz romance genres aren’t my cup of tea @@
Looking forward to Darker than Black, Serei no moribito(it’s has Kamiyama Kenji after all XD), and RomeoXJuliet(Gankutsuou influence)
Elegant Destruction at 3:12 am on March 31st, 2007
ok…this site just cut off my last post… i so don’t get it. :vein:
*re insert here*
oh stop being so dramatic! :rofl:
while i mostly agree witht he above post ^ *musouka* i also think it got to do with the fact we are now maturing into our tastes, which is only natural after so much anime. I mean when i saw the new line up i could easily tell you which ones i won’t be seeing just by looking at the pic and reading the first line of summary.
After experiencing so much anime, we now know what we like, and thus are more picky about what we see.
Bones and Sunrise tends to have the same taste as me, so i always give a look over on what they produce, there is nothing wrong with that, if you find a good store you always go back, same with this.
Your tastes have just matured, you no longer dying to watch everything because you finally grown into anime. *most people who are first introduce into anime love it in compariosn to western animation, but after time mature into anime as they are now ‘use to it’*
Its simply the way of things, end of ^^
steev at 3:12 am on March 31st, 2007
I can agree, but for me it is a feeling that fades. Kind of like eating the best piece of pizza ever. After that any other kind of pizza just won’t satisfy you, but once some time has passed eventually your taste for other kinds of pizza will return. Sure, you still remember that great flavor, but you are no longer craving it.
Of course everyone is different. Some people will hold onto that great piece of pizza until they find another one just as good or even better. I feel sorry for those kind of people. They end up missing many great things in life. Even if a series isn’t as good as Code Geass it might end up being an awesome show that impacts you in another way.
jaalin at 3:24 am on March 31st, 2007
I USED TO WATCH NARUTO
pakxenon at 3:51 am on March 31st, 2007
I have the same feeling. It’s not that I don’t have the time to catch up on old anime - it’s because I can’t wait for the next episode of DN, CG, and Kanon and I won’t watch anything else until their sub release. Everything is boring now, and the new seasons do not look very interesting. For now, I think I’ll rely on popular opinion and prehypes… even if I might miss out on hidden gems, it’s not like fansubs can do every show of each season nor will there be anyone out there to talk about it to.
nightingale at 4:05 am on March 31st, 2007
i don’t really know about kanon. but i think that code geass is not as great as you are saying it is. it is not really that unpredictable. besides euphemia going on a killing spree. everything that happened until then has been pretty much done before and follow a pretty set pattern.
and if you do believe that they are setting the bar higher than that would do good for anime wouldn’t it? since then it sort of forces the companies to produce better work than a lot of the random garbage that come out way too often. sometimes animes that have an interesting summary and plot turn out to be horrible because the production team sucked. in any case code geass is definitely what i would use as a new and improved benchmark anime for future animes. it is good but not THAT good
Defade at 4:23 am on March 31st, 2007
Exactly my thoughts. I couldn’t really say for Kanon, having never watched an episode, but really, ever since Code Geass, I never went “Ohh this is so awesome!” at an anime. And only two of all the upcoming animes caught my attention. And they’re only the “Oh well dead sun couldn’t stick in the last two episodes so I have to find something to fill this endless void in me rite though nothing can compare” kind of interest. Code Geass has totally surprassed all of my expectations. Heck, at the beginning, I wouldn’t even have thought of watching it if not for CLAMP and Lelouch. But it proved me wrong. Completely wrong.
Kanki at 4:26 am on March 31st, 2007
“I think Geass has spoiled me terribly. I used to watch shows like Bleach and D.Grayman, but now I find I have barely any interest in them anymore. I’m finding them boring”
Totally agree with you there Zalem. I just can’t watch them anymore without comparing to Geass =(
Both Lelouch and C.C. set the bar high for my favorite all time characters, Lelouch for male and C.C. for female, and my expectations of the types of characters that anime nowadays should be having. I don’t know whether or not I’ll find someone as interesting and complex as Lelouch or as mysterious and awesome as C.C.
DrmChsr0 at 5:14 am on March 31st, 2007
Meh, I tend to have my “AWESOME SENSE” fire off at certain titles.
Maybe Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA will turn out to be Overman King Gainer AWESOME.
Also, we gotta strap jaalin down to a chair and make him marathon Naruto.
mangamaxx at 5:33 am on March 31st, 2007
It’s a great thing to set the bar higher!!! It means we’ve come this far, sure it makes it harder to meet standards and pass them, but having such a high goal will make other works at a higher level than it would’ve been otherwise. It’s a good thing to have a high bar, it’s how everything has evolved so far.
BluWacky at 5:58 am on March 31st, 2007
I do know what you mean, but I’ve had completely the opposite reaction this season. 2006 wasn’t a great year for anime and me; true, I was very busy with far more important things, but I didn’t really see anything that started last year that totally grabbed me. Sure, there were some good shows (whilst I don’t share your fondness for Geass and Kanon, they were/are very well made; Kanon just wasn’t my cup of tea, and Geass is a bit silly sometimes), but nothing really leapt out at me that much.
Part of the problem may be blogging stuff, really. I remember a few months ago you were thinking of putting RandomC on hold, but then didn’t end up doing so in the end (which is great for us!); perhaps you really do need a break to refresh? I don’t know whether or not you feel this way, but occasionally I find that watching shows can be a bit of a chore; not because they’re bad, but sometimes it feels like a chore to keep up just so you don’t fall behind on the blogging. I always get caught up in the race to blog the new shows as quickly as possible at the start of every season; this is symptomatic of me being hideously competitive I guess, but it’s almost inevitable that after posting about 50 new entries in the space of a couple of weeks I get burnt out, for instance. Maybe a season where things don’t really excite you and you just take it easy is exactly what you need?
Jay at 6:19 am on March 31st, 2007
Geass is the best anime i have ever seen in my entire life. /end
Lithium17 at 7:09 am on March 31st, 2007
Code Geass - best anime? writing? script?…..not by my standards.
Try Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent, Gankutsuou, GITS : SAC 2, RahXephon, Death Note.
Kanon for emotional impact?…I dunno, I don’t watch Kanon. My benchmark would be Saikano. Makoto Shinkai’s Byousoku 5 cm was awesome as well and is something I can relate to as I had a similar experience a long time ago, although mine was less dramatic and the scenery around me wasn’t as beautiful.
I guess I’m of a different age group from most of you who visit and run this site.
I still enjoy Geass (currently at episode 17) as well as Bleach (shounen guilty pleasure).
P.S : One of the best shows I’ve seen this past year has got to be Kemonozume. Many regular anime fans probably ignored it becoz of it’s art direction and vulgarity, but it inspired me nonetheless. (I’m a photographer/digital painter and some of my current exhibited works were inspred by Kemonozume). Worst ever has got to be Paradise Kisses… Shaaallooow!
Cheers, Omni.
mini at 7:21 am on March 31st, 2007
Mmmmm, gonna agree with nightingale; Code Geass is good, but it’s not like, the pinnacle of all great things anime. Some of it makes me go “what D:”, not in a good way. (eg, how could Suzaku, who had no experience with the mechas prior, pilot Lancelot so well just by reading the manual? And Lelouch, who didn’t read one at all? And why do the opening sequences suck so bad when the animation for the series itself is awesome?) Those two really stick out because with the ease of learning how to pilot comes the cheapening of everyone’s piloting skills (if you can even label it as such.) And the opening is the first thing someone’s going to see on a series, so it shouldn’t be that…bad.
kelzen at 7:39 am on March 31st, 2007
Code Geass is definitely one of the best animes I’ve watched so far. It may not have super spectacular writing, plot, direction as some other ‘deeper’ animes but one thing’s for sure is that Code Geass is entertaining to watch and it does that really good. For that is enough for me to place it high on my top animes list