Shigofumi 10: Otaku Power!!!

In Japan, it is illegal for a full grown man to bring a loli walking around in public.

So much for posting every 3 episodes... Now I'm posting 3 times a day?? (Well it's to make up for me disappearing for the next 4 days...)

It's not been a good week for birds in anime...

But I couldn't resist posting about this episode of Shigofumi, it's just made of so much unexpected lulz. And it further proves that this series relies a lot on blatant use of shock factor - which really is it's strength. Like the bunch of housewives gossiping in the presence of an impressionable minor in this episode (the look on her face when they revealed the yaoi husband twist was priceless XD), Shigofumi wastes little of its storytelling with subtleties - and yet the subtleties are still there, just that the inevitably 'shocking' revelation takes precedence in the end.

Ninja cafe (de gozaru?) I'd so visit one =P

There're 2 major characters in this episode. The first one is a young Fumika. No, not, that Fumika with the talking staff, nor that Fumika who's lying in the bed waiting to get up the next episode... Urgh, this is getting confusing, can I just call them 1, 2 and The Third?

Then there's Takehiko, full grown self-proclaimed otaku who until recently was employed in a game company (as far as we know, he's not involved in making those kind of games), is still single at 32, and reeks enough of otaku to be arrested for loli-knapping while taking a relative's child out for a walk. After finding out that he's dying of cancer, he quits the company and resigns himself to whithering away at his mom's place and waiting for that epiphany on the greater meaning of his otaku life.

Yes, let's! (If Takehiko could get arrested while walking around with little Fumika out in public, just imagine what the police's reaction would be if they caught him taking her in nekomimi mode into a Ninja cafe...)

The story this episode is on the milder side, and doesn't hinge as much as the Shigofumi that comes with it (it comes in the end for closure's sake). Basically it's Takehiko hanging out with Fumika (III), doing reckless things as only someone who's dying soon thinks they're able to do. The 'underlying issue' if there was one would be how the Japanese society sees otaku or people who work in the otaku-related industry as inferior to the 'regular' office drones.

Honestly, the guy had a paying job that made him happy doing what he loved, but society being the narrow-minded housewife gossip-mongering fiend that it is seems to think that if it's not a 'regular' office job, he is therefore scum to the community? Geez... If the guy didn't have cancer and my drawing doesn't suck that bad, I'd absolutely love to be where he was at before he quit. It's absolutely a blessing to be able to do something you love for a decent living as a career, especially when it's something that's usually more hobby-related like anime and games. You may not be saving the world or making big bucks, but you're making yourself and a whole bunch of other people happy and as far from emo and suicidal as you can through your work, so be glad and screw what society thinks! Otakus 4TW!!!

Was I the only one thinking: "Sensei... Ninomiya-kun!!" ?

The way Takehiko's situation 'resolves' itself wasn't totally unexpected, and was rather blatantly cliche (What do these people need? Signs by the road telling them NOT to stand in the middle of the road??), but it's just Shigofumi's way of exercising its point as usual. And it works. No subtlety involved again as the guy realizes in his final moment of glory that he has made people happy with his work, and he does save Fumika from the killer truck so at least he gets to die a hero instead of a cancer-crippled bed patient. It fits well with the less nasty-emo turn of these past few episodes. As usual it fits well with the story, makes its point, still perfectly acceptable if not at all believable, and that's that.

How typical... Otaku scum of society when alive... 'Kind-hearted person' when dead. (Bloody hypocrites) Death really becomes some people...

A nice touch to the end during the funeral is Fumika (the postal worker) delivering Takehiko's Shigofumi to Fumika (young girl). It's not so much the content of the letter, but how Fumika 1 didn't use her usual "A Fumi from the world of the Shigo" to explain what a Shigofumi was to Fumika 3, instead relating it as a parting gift of sorts. It's a small sign that Fumika 1's been lightening up ever since the whole fiasco with her loopy dad got settled. Now, what will be in store for the Fumikas when Fumika 2 wakes up? Will I still need to refer to them by numbers then??

Anyways, to people who are pursuing lives or careers involving your likes and hobbies, whether they are otaku-related or not, remember to GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT and ignore any snooty comments housewives or society has for you (unless of course, what you do involves killing or loli-knapping :P). As long as you've got something to occupy you and keep you from contributing to the world's suicide rate, isn't that meaning enough for life as it is? =P

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Shigofumi 9: Lone Island Syndrome

It's the obligatory beach episode of Shigofumi! *blinks* Is this for real?

No no no... It's really the onsen ep... Wait that can't be right either...

Sharp objects? Now that's more like it!

It's become sort of a 'tradition' for me now to blog every 3rd episode of Shigofumi, so I made sure I was paying attention in this episode. I was expecting another episode of emo school kids and grisly shock twists... So I was rather ill-prepared for what was in store for me... A fun beach episode??? Wow. Nice one there. Shame on me really for not taking note of the fact that Shigofumi had the ability to pull a fun episode once in a while (The cat one. Lol) I suppose after the 'tension' of the previous two episodes which explored Fumika's past with her eccentric (to say the least) father and exposed the truth behind her and the girl in the hospital (split personalities) it was the perfect time for a 'break' of sorts, which leads to Fumika and co to go on vacation... (It just feels funny typing that) The situation really seemed rather absurd at first, especially with Fumika's 'new-found' human friends tagging along, it suddenly feels like a typical high school romance set-up. Am I watching the right show here?

Despite the many lulz in this episode (The web of crushes akin to School Rumble, Fumika professing her 'love'... to her other self), it was actually 'serious business' as usual for our not-so-undead-after-all postal worker (I've already accepted that no one in this show seems particularly perturbed to see uniformed girls walking about with staves that talk. They probably assume it's cosplay or something. And I assume whatever organization they work for isn't very concerned about discretion after all. Do they get salaries too like in Yami no Matsuei? Oh wait, Fumika had to rob some hooligans a couple of episodes back so I'm guessing not... Okay, back to the main point). Fumika arranged the trip so that she can deliver the latest Shigofumi to a deserted island - which happens to be a gravestone for Chiaki from her late husband to be had he not crashed the car and gotten her killed years back. It's all rather sweet and touching and somewhat farfetched, but by this point I've learnt that this isn't a series where you'd want to nitpick the believability of the stories and just enjoy it for what it's worth. And be it emo schoolkids, psycho papas or fun in the sun, Shigofumi has entertained and I have enjoyed. So if all goes well, next post will be in 3 episodes. Out.

Nothing wittier to add to this one.

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Shigofumi 6: Planet School of the Beast King

"Mine is a drill screwdriver that will pierce the heavens!!!"

*redundant yet obligatory spoiler alert goes here*


This episode of Shigofumi handles the typical issue of bullying typically. And as a throwback to episode 3, it takes place in that same school once again (whose authorities are by now tired of the negative press the school is getting) and suicide is again involved. With the inclusion of some nasty bullies, this school's evidently not exactly the best place for students - compare that to the school in CLANNAD, where Tomoya and Sunohara are considered the school's biggest delinquents *sweatdrops*. I suppose then that Cromartie High School falls somewhere in between.

Yeap, it's the same 2 emo boys on the roof again.

The story this time: Bully-victim is bullied by bullies in school. Bully-victim tries to get help from apathetic classmate, but is betrayed instead by apathetic classmate to the bullies. Bully victim then dies. (we don't know the details, but given the school's past record, it's safe to assume suicide) Karma being a bitch and all, bullies then set their eyes on apathetic classmate. After suffering through what bully-victim 1 did for a while, no-longer-apathetic classmate AKA bully-victim 2 is summoned to the school's roof at night by bullies. Bully-victim 2 faces certain death when bullies force him to walk across a beam between buildings like they did to bully-victim 1. Fumika, in her usual timely fashion, steps in, incapacitates the bullies for a while to deliver bully-victim 1's Shigofumi to victim number 2, which basically said: "Not so apathetic now, eh?" Immediately after, bullies return to form to torment their victim, only was-once-apathetic-but-now-broken-bully-victim-2 snaps, he sees his only way out in a screwdriver that just happened to be laying around... (He knows he's lost it, he knows he can kill...) So he grabs it and stabs one of the bullies, which scares the rest of them away. Bad end?

Salvation! The conveniently place plot device tool for retaliation.

Obligatory screenshot of Fumika.

Hmm, that was a big turnaround from three episodes ago in (and my last somewhat emo-ey post on) Shigofumi. After watching this episode, it's no wonder the dad in episode 3 jumped to the conclusion that his 'poor' son must've been driven to suicide by bullying (as opposed to just being plain bored with nothing better to try out). The bullying in this episode was of the nasty nasty variety, especially since it involved the whole class against the victim since the rest of them basically had no choice but to follow the bullies' intentions, lest they become victims themselves. The ugly aspect of it was that many of the classmates were actually portrayed as amusing themselves while participating in the bullies activities (bullies go around with their victim's bag, asking everyone in class to dump their trash into it, which they gladly oblige to, etc).

The protagonist this time (screwdriver boy) was at first one of the sheep crowd, who just followed along thinking "Heck, at least it's not me", but his fate was basically sealed when the bullies noticed his connection with bully victim number 1. Either screwdriver boy helped the bullies or the bullied, and either way would've resulted in him becoming victim number 2 - but at least if he chose to help he'd still have a bit of dumb pride to hold on to... Not that it would've occurred to him, since from the start it was obvious he was looking out for himself, which is probably why when he finally snapped and retaliated, Fumika brought up up the survival of the fittest observation - he screwed who he had to screw did what he had to do for himself to survive, the alternative would be to perish like victim number 1. (Well, that's how I finally saw it, otherwise the reference in the post title wouldn't be valid =P)

It's been about half the series now, and Shigofumi has so far featured it's mixed bag of episodes, but what has become apparent is the way it presents its stories - very much like how Fumika does her job delivering the letters every episode, it's a very straightforward, almost blunt process, and it works.

Entertaintment value-wise, it's been solid so far, with the potential grimness undercut by its lighter moments (absent from my Shigofumi posts, but they're there, mostly thanks to Kanaka and in the cat episode Fumika herself), though now it seems the final verdict on the show will ultimately rest on Fumika's own backstory which should be unveiled over the course of the second half.

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Winter 2008 Watch List

Smack dab on the equator, seasons don't really count for much here in Malaysia. Sure we have sweltering heat, high humidity and the prolific rain all year round, but at this time of year elsewhere, low temperatures and freak weather tend to bog down the daily proceedings. The Winter season (generally at the start of they year) is thus associated as a slow time for anime, and not much hype is attached to the titles released at this time of year. Which suits me just fine since I can take this time to compose actual opinions on shows without being giddy over a huge wave of new titles that tend to surge around the Spring and Fall seasons.

Last year's Winter only saw me following 3 titles from that season (In order of awesome, just short of awesome, and meh: Hidamari Sketch, Nodame Cantabile, Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou:Tou). This year's pool sees me doubling that number (and with any luck the number will stay this way, since there's only the risk of me dropping one series and picking up one more =P). So here goes, from most enthralling so far to least noteworthy...

1) Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (So Long Mr Despair, Extreme!)

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei pits a schoolteacher who is the epitome of negativity (with a penchant for paranoia and suicide) against the world's most optimistic girl - and her class of dysfunctional (to say the least) classmates. There's the hikikomori, the stalker, the tail fetishist, the bipolar exchange student, the illegal immigrant, the yaoi fangirl, et cetera X (who knows how many more they'll be introducing). This 'Extreme' addition basically carries on from last year's hit (or miss, depending on how well you tolerate SHAFT's crack-like style) dark comedy, and as the name suggests, takes it to higher levels of insanity.

Thoughts (based on 3 eps) : Preference towards the first season's OP/ED (though Kusou Runba's ~RunbaRunbaRunbaRunbaRunba~ is constantly ringing in my head), but other than that, am loving the fact that ZSZS is at least twice the level WTFBBQ of all out schizophrenic proportions the first installment had already achieved. And though SHAFT's latest gimmick (layering multiple chapters simultaneously into one scene) makes my head hurt sometimes reading the multiple subtitles (the scribbles on the blackboard still remain), the show's immensely over the top humour and characters keep the show going strong, despite its tendency to be incredibly erratic (never knowing what SHAFT is going to pull off next is actually one of the reasons I love their work so much, though it also earns them their share of haters =P).

Also kudos to a.f.k. for doing a marvelous job subbing everything SHAFT overloads both seasons of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei with =P

Left/Right: Before/After: Doumu/Asread: Minami-ke/Okawari

2) Minami-ke: Okawari

Another sequel to another of 2007's best comedies, Minami-ke, which tells the tale of 3 Minami sisters and how they both intentionally and unintentionally wreak small-time havoc on one another and the rest of the otherwise innocent bystanders in their lives. Okawari ( = seconds in Japanese) sees a production studio change (and mixes up the casts hair colour for some reason) but otherwise keeps everything else about the show intact to give us a second helping of tough sisterly love, mind manipulation, and gender-bending hijinx.

Thoughts (3 eps): Despite coming from the infamous Cabbage Love production, Minami-ke from last year is definitely a comedy of high calibre, consistent with its epic humour and clever use of recurring jokes. General fears that the production change to asread have been mostly allayed and fans of the original can rest assured that Okawari still packs the good punches. Sure the different hair colours take a little getting used to, but its all worth it just to hear "bakayarou!", follow the legacy Haruka-banchou, and see those Bible Black faces (which make up for the strange blacked out faces of the background cast) once more :D

As for the new neighbour that just moved in, I'm giddy anticipating how and which sister is going to mess him up for life, *snickers*.

3) Shigofumi

Fumika (voiced surprisingly grimly by Ueda Kana) is a postgirl for the dead who is tasked to deliver letters from the deceased (termed Shigofumi) to the living with the help of her snarky talking staff and trusty gun (which doesn't talk btw). The show is episodic in nature, giving us somewhat unorthodox views on death every episode, though there are signs of a recurring overarching plot element regarding Fumika's past and the agency she works for.

Thoughts (3 eps): Wow. Am awed - I can hardly recognize Ueda Kana as Fumika AT ALL here, Fumika's low serious tone is a far cry from the usual Kansai-ben or 'girly' voice Ueda Kana employs, which is impressive. Besides that, Shigofumi probably has the first episode to remember of all 6 shows here, with its 'shocker' ending (in retrospect, all the signs were there, but I guess J.C. Staff's involvement dulled my senses. =P Plus the ALI PROJECT OP wasn't featured in the 1st ep) that sets the pace for the episodes to come. From what I've seen so far, it can be expected that every episode will feature a different story, with at least one death, some sort of intriguing development peppered with visual clues to the surprise finish in the end. Yes, I agree it's very Jigouku Shoujo meets Kino's Journey (though both these series I've only watched an episode or two of) in setup. I'd say it's only fair I watch something dark serious to balance off the dark zany of ZSZS, so Shigofumi is a prime pick this season.

4) true tears

One guy + 3 girls + other miscellaneous side characters. Standard formula for your standard harem romance, but keeping in mind that this genre can be further split to "serious romance" to "trashy harem", true tears obviously belongs to the former, thankfully.

Thoughts (4 eps): Despite being a relatively small time production , P. A. Works blows the competition this season away in terms of production quality in true tears. This series is hands down the best thing to watch aesthetically this season (unless you're a Kyoto Animation worshipper very much caught up in Clannad), which is good as true tears doesn't initially grab your attention with its story as quickly as the other series in the lineup. However I believe this is one series that'll reward the viewer as the story and characters develop, and it already shows in the first couple of episodes. Though at first I was only interested in the kooky chicken loving Noe, the rest of the cast is slowly but surely coming to life and adding the necessary conflict to the story. *thumbs up*

(The only down to true tears for me is that I always end up cracking up in laughter whenever they show the scene in the OP of the two guys gaping 'in awe' of the girls - all it needs is drool dripping from the corners of their mouths LOL)

5) Spice and Wolf

Travelling merchant meets Wolf goddess who tags along for a journey through post-medieval Europe-like world(?). Cue nakedness and economics lessons (in that order).

Thoughts (4 eps): I will definitely commend Koshimizu Ami's performance as Horo, the wolf goddess, who is both wise as she claims and a foxy tease of a character (As for Fukuyama Jun's Lawrence the merchant, I'm thinking he must be pretty excited to reprise his role as Lelouch in Code Geass later this year - so am I =P). As for the story so far, it's decent enough, but I'm not exactly as 'sold' on it just yet. Coupled with some inconsistent and relatively weak animation, I'm getting the vibe of 'decent but not exactly memorable' from Spice and Wolf. We'll see if the show proves me wrong by the end.

(But if there's one thing I love about this show, it's is the Engrish folksy ED :P)

6) ~They Are My Noble Masters~

(or KimiAru - shortened from an unnecessarily long Japanese title) Butler comedy of the lowest denominator (fanservice and fetishes being the main focus).

Thoughts (3 eps): Serious viewers will definitely have to give this series a pass. Incredibly low calorie humour which has its LOL moments stemming from the flashy fetishes, but overall screams inferior all round. I know I've definitely seen better, but heck I'm not expecting anything big of this show, and it's either this or Rosario + Vampire + (Yes, yes, we know) Pantyshot...

(I can't believe I'm not watching Hayate no Gotoku anymore but I am this...)

Obviously the show to drop here is KimiAru, and if that does end up happening (subs seem to have stalled lately), I'm thinking of substituting it with Zenryoku Usagi =P I definitely feel a Animal Yokocho-like vibe from it, though I'll have to try it without english subs for now...

Finally there are the shows I'm still following through from Fall 2007: Bamboo Blade, Clannad, Kimikiss ~ pure rouge. But I think I'll leave those for another post for now.

(P.S. This season's "Dropped after one episode" list: Persona-trinity soul-, Rosario+Vampire, H2O, Hatenkou Yuugi)

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Shigofumi 3

Personal random otaku fantasy: To don a Japanese school uniform and have a lunch of bread and juice on the rooftop of a Japanese school building. (And not be arrested by the authorities)

*spoilers for Shigofumi ep 3, so for those who plan to watch it, you’ve been warned. For those who DON’T plan on watching or just aren’t into anime at all? Better yet, feel free to read on* *Anything else you need to know about Shigofumi: here*

3 schoolboys gather on the school’s rooftop one day, and one of them (the protagonist of the episode whose name eludes me and at the moment is not the point of interest) decides to pop the question: “Have you ever thought of dying?” Specifically he referenced jumping in front of an incoming train at the station. After some quick replies – both say “No,” rather easily, though in one case, the boy they call ‘Sen-chan’, the answer seems to be not too final… – the subject is dropped, and our protagonist is left with his ponderings to himself.

Later the day, the protagonist finds out that Sen-chan had just jumped off the roof of an apartment building. This being Shigofumi after all, poor Sen-chan did not survive.

And then there were 2.

Speculation is rife over the reason of Sen-chan suicide. Bullying in school, abuse at home, all the usual suspects raised by the local media (a media with nothing else to report on it seems, with all the fuss they kick up over the incident) but none seem to fit the bill here. It doesn’t help that the boy didn’t leave a suicide note – thank God there’s always the Shigofumi!

Sen-chan’s dad is so distraught over the unexplained death of his son, that he decides to take Sen-chan’s classroom hostage! (The actual scene looks rather forced since it’s not revealed what kind of weapon the man used for this coercion – perhaps this was what was altered by the production in view of yet another ‘recent event in Japan’?) He starts questioning around the terrified class for a reason for the suicide, but elucidates nothing, even from his son’s ‘close friend’, the protagonist.

Just as things start to get a little too melodramatic, comes the intervention of our real main character Fumika, who barges into the situation to deliver Sen-chan’s final words from the afterlife to our protagonist. And before Sen-chan’s dad is able to do something really damaging to the protagonist guy while trying to snatch the letter from him, the police enter to subdue him, so he has to settle for protagonist reading the letter aloud to him.

So what really drove poor Sen-chan over the edge, literally? His last letter seemed to be written almost whimsically, and tells not the sob tale of an abused child or bully victim, but of a youth so disenthused by life that while 'hanging out' at the railings on the rooftop, he ponders what it might be like to actually take the jump (like discussed with the protagonist at the start of the story)... And well, as they say, curiosity killed the cat.

He compares it to choosing yakisoba bread for lunch - a choice out of the usual one might make on a whim. Not that he was actually contemplating death at the time - just the thought of 'not living'.

Sen-chan's dad cannot believe that that his own son would say such things. However, our protagonist of the week not only does believe it, he feels he can finally understand Sen-chan as the friend that he was supposed to be (something which left the boy confused for most part of the episode).

Personal Thoughts: Okay, this episode required a bit more suspension of belief. Mainly on the media's over-sensationalization of Sen-chan's death (in the episode, we see waves and waves of news reports as well as a clip of a 'talk show' where some adults try to discuss the psychology of the case, *snort*), and more importantly Fumika's all-important entrance into the classroom where she not only holds the hostage-taking dad at gunpoint to deliver the letter to boy protagonist, but does so in full view of the already terrified classmates who wont be forgetting the day all too soon. Strange enough that the Shigofumi concept was accepted with next to no explanation by protagonist boy, but bigger point is, as the deliverer of letters from the dead, wouldn't the job description require a little more discretion?

(But it's only 3 episodes in, so they'll probably explain later how Fumika's staff whose name I've yet to remember can also erase the memories of irrelevant civilians, or some convenient explanation to that effect. Well, maybe.)

But I'm not here to nitpick on those details. In fact I've left out most of the more imporant details in the episode (important in the grand scheme of the series but not to this post in particular) since I was really only interested in discussing the following point.

Oddly enough, the one thing that I won't consider too farfetched in this episode was Sen-chan's reason for his jump, as vague as he was in explaining it (or my own fuzzy recollection may be to blame). Here we have a seemingly average high school student who isn't necessarily depressed or tormented by his life, yet he chooses out of it for what he chalks up to be a casual whim.

And well, it's obvious that though he has family and 'friends' (term used loosely), he doesn't view them to be substantial enough ties to what can be surmised as a mundane life.

I don't know if it's just me, but there are times when I realize that yes, I have people in life whose connections I have I truly appreciate, and these are what really 'tie' me to this life of mine... But scary thing is, remove all that, and what is there left?

I'm sure most people will still have their own personal motives in life, things they want to accomplish for themselves, things that will keep them going. But what of those who are still searching (or in my case, hoping something falls out of the sky and onto my lap =P), who are currently drifting at a stage where possibilities still abound, but perhaps confusion - or in this case, apathy - stalls the way to any real progress. What if you really feel that your life at present, was stagnant?

Then, perhaps like Sen-chan, you please yourself by choosing yakisoba bread for lunch?

A scary thought? And I'm supposedly a cynical abhor-er of melodrama.

Fortunately anyways, life nowadays is full of distractions to discourage the regular mind from being overly philosophical. In my case, though I may still be in the limbo-like stage described above, I know I still have my self-escapist fantasies in the realm of anime - and yes, real life connections to keep me going gaga, *phew*. Now I'll just have to promise myself that posts like these don't crop up too often :P

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