Amagami SS Tsukasa Arc and Series End

The best thing I can say about Tsukasa’s arc is that at least it was the best one next to Sae’s. Tsukasa was a far more complex character than any other heroine in Amagami SS, which made for some entertaining drama at the first half. However, as this show has done time and again, it failed to follow through on its potential, and the arc ended all too conveniently. The final episode, a separate story dedicated to a 7th girl Risa, was a fitting end to the series that brought forward everything that was wrong with this show.

12 Days of Christmas – Day 11 – Importance of the Denouement

As this year comes to a close, I have been thinking about what shows or works top my “best of” list for 2010. Well, I didn’t think too long when it came to TV shows: The Tatami Galaxy took the title easily. It occurred to me that, in fact, The Tatami Galaxy was not only my pick for 2010, it was the first one to surpass in my eyes 2006′s The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Other shows had come close, including 2007′s Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and 2009/2010′s Bakemonogatari, but The Tatami Galaxy was the first both to match it and to surpass it.

Then it got me really thinking: what was it about these works that had made me hold them in such high regard? One thing that immediately popped out to me was that each one of them had a strong, focused denouement, one that not only provided satisfying closure to the events of the show but also provided a peek into the new beginning of the new beginning of the changed lives of the characters. That last part in particular is quite important; the denouement should not only close out the current story but also acknowledge that life goes on beyond what’s shown on screen. This holds true as well for the show that I see as being greater than any of those mentioned above, FLCL. And for (at least, a classic narrative based show) a show to join the ranks of the elites, to be considered one of the greats, it needs to have such a strong denouement.

(Please note that this post contains spoilers to the endings to Bakemonogatari, The Tatami Galaxy, Strike Witches 2, Angel Beats!, Gunbuster, and various arcs of Amagami SS)

Amagami SS Rihoko Arc – Isn’t It Sad, Ri-chan?

Like Kaoru way back a few months ago, Rihoko was someone who already shared a friendship with Junichi, though, in her case, it went way back to childhood, not just a few years. At points while watching this arc and Kaoru’s, the same thought occurred to me several times: what if Junichi doesn’t “win” this time around? What if these girls who start out as friends, end up as friends as well? I thought it would be a great idea, the ultimate FU to the viewers expecting the couple to end up together as expected.

Well, be careful what you wish for.

Amagami SS Ai Arc

Really not a whole lot to write about this one. After the wonderfully self aware and ironic Sae arc, Amagami SS returned to its normal storytelling style, with a result that was all too predictable.

Summer Season 2010 Post Mortem

The fall season of anime has already started, which means that the summer season has come to a close. Of course, most of us watch more shows than we could – or care to – write about, and here are our brief thoughts about what we watched this past season.

Amagami SS Sae Arc – Third Time’s the Charm

The third parallel story arc, featuring the shy and quiet first year Sae Nakata as the heroine, finished up last week. True to form, the story was not compelling in the slightest, the characters were typical to a fault, and everything came together far too easily. But by twisting the storytelling formula just slightly, AIC turned the entire ship around and produced what is easily the best arc of the anime yet. In fact, the success I saw in this arc leaves me with hope that AIC is fully aware of how to handle Amagami SS, and it could end up being one of the best high school romance series in recent years. Do I sound crazy? Read on.

Amagami SS Sex Hair, aka Kaoru Arc – Failure to Launch

I approached the second heroine’s arc of Amagami SS with both apprehension and excitement. If you’ve read my post on the first arc, it should be obvious why. The identity of the new heroine was actually not really on my mind, but she proved to be the one interesting bit in a story that felt almost sterile at times. Indeed, this arc was bad, but not spectacularly so like Haruka’s. And it was actually kind of good at times, which made it all the more painful to see it fall.

Amagami SS Haruka Arc – Idealistic Misogyny

Last week’s episode prompted me to post and to wonder (or perhaps to predict) if this show was going to be, as they call it, a train wreck. To be fair to the show, it’s only 1/6 of the way through, but that does mean that the first story arc is complete, and I can at least say that this story arc was an unqualified train wreck. That being said, I can’t help but grin from ear to ear as I write this. I have to give it credit. Plenty of shows have sucked and been unwatchable, but it’s rare for one to still make you want to keep watching.

Amagami SS 3 – WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST WATCH!? And why did I enjoy it so much?

I know in my Ookami-san episode 2 post I wrote that I would be posting only every 4 episodes of this series, but I’m sure if you’ve seen episode 3, you can sympathize with me for having some thoughts on it. I just… I’m finding it hard to put into words my reactions to this episode.

Finding it hard to put them into picture, too. So have this one of Haruka holding Junichi's face before crushing his hopes.

Amagami SS 1 – It’s So… Ordinary…

So I’ll be blogging Amagami SS this season. For the uninitiated, this is a high school romance series based on a dating sim for the PS2 called just Amagami. A trailer for the show is available on YouTube. This is normally the type of show I avoid, as it’s very rare that something interesting comes out of a high school harem show. What caught my attention, though, was that the show will actually not be a harem, but rather feature separate stories for all the heroines, ala Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. So instead of one crappy harem story, I see the potential for 6 decent romance stories. We’ll see how that pans out. This episode didn’t do much for me, but it’s too early to tell.