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)

12 Days of Christmas – Day 10 – Lumps of Character Coal

For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I’m sure you all have had your fair share of sub par gifts. Sure, you may or may not get the new video game console or the newest version of the I-phone, but there is always one thing you can count on, and that is some lame present that you have no use for what so ever. Usually, these types of gifts come from some sort of third aunt, twice removed or cheapskates who are trying to weasel their way out of their holiday obligations, ala George Costanza. The same basic concept applies to the types of characters  found in anime.

Practically the only thing Simon did the entire series

12 Days of Christmas – Day 4 – Reflection

If you pay attention to the little author link at the top of each post, you might have noticed I haven’t been around very much lately.  I started Bakuman, and then… I just stopped.  It’s not that I stopped writing about Bakuman, I stopped watching it, and anime, altogether.  A lot of stuff has gone on in my life.  School started up again, but it in itself has never demanded my time and motivation so heavily.  I also had a job to take, which burned a lot of my energy.  On top of it, I had to juggle a relationship and other personal issues.  To say it’s been a drain on my resources would be a tremendous understatement.  We’ve gotten back to the 12 Days series of posts again, and while I came up with two ideas straight away, I had trouble coming up with the third.  Then I started thinking about the episode 11 of Angel Beats.

Angel Beats! 13 – And it all came to an end. [Major Spoilers]

The finale of Angel Beats! was, like the rest of the series, a mixed bag for me. Several questions were left unanswered but despite this, I still felt quite pleased with the ending. I also felt that, with less to cover in this episode, the pacing was better here and even though we didn’t get all that much closure with regard to the plot, I do believe we got closure with regard to characters… well, at least some of the characters.

Yes. Cry, Otonashi. It's all over.

Angel Beats! 12 – Love Love Love (and Dislike) [Minor Spoilers]

I hate to start on a sour note, but honestly, I thought that this episode of Angel Beats! was even worse than the last. What little sense the show made almost seemed to vanish, the plot took a further turn for the silly, there was a ridiculous and rushed infodump, and Yuri’s character drifted into moe archetype territory. There was forward momentum in terms of the series, but things just seemed to move as quickly as usual while a barely-connected series of events played out on screen. What’s worse is that this looks to be the conclusion of anything truly happening in the show: the next and final episode is simply titled ‘Graduation’ and the preview featured only Otonashi making a tearful speech. In any case, by now, I don’t really have much hope left for the series to tie things together cohesively. But maybe we’ll be lucky?

I don't really think that love is the emotion emanating from me...

Angel Beats! 11 – Of an Ever-Shifting Plot and Never-Shifting Characters

I thought this episode of Angel Beats! was a bit of a mess. There was the usual drama-comedy mishmash and abrupt idea shifts we’ve come to expect from the show, but we also had shadow monsters, SSS members becoming NPCs and the supporting characters being given a decision to make. I didn’t enjoy proceedings nearly as much as usual, probably because of so much going on and a lack of focus. No one character really got a chance to shine, and this was generally more of a set up for a denouement than anything else. To top it all off, the humour – something I can usually count on Angel Beats! for – fell flat for me. Suffice to say, with Durarara!!‘s episode also disappointing (see Rakuen’s awesome post!), this has not been a good start to week eleven of the 2010 spring season.

A-at least there was everyone’s favourite yaoi l-love triangle, kyaaaa~!

Angel Beats! 10 – The Life and Times of Yui-nyan♥~ [Minor Spoilers]

I actually laughed out loud a couple of times during this episode of Angel Beats!, a feat because, despite considering the series extremely funny, these were some of the few times I have actually done so. The slapstick was well-timed and amusing, and TK’s grorious Engrish was in full swing, but the real comedic star of this episode for me was Kanade. I found her job on Otonashi’s plan totally hilarious (my favourite moments of the episode include “Because of your guitar, the band is dead.” and Kanade throwing said guitar far too high up into the air). Her social ineptness is quite funny to watch and also pretty charming, and I’m really loving her as a character. Of course, though, Kanade wasn’t the focus of this instalment… Spoilers ahead!

Yui-nyan♥ demands attention! And she will German Suplex you if you don't give it to her!

Angel Beats! 09 – Lord of the Abandoned Train Tracks

I think that episode nine of Angel Beats! was the series’ strongest in a while. What humour was there was fantastic, the drama was good and a key character’s backstory got the attention it deserved. A clear direction for the rest of the show’s run was also forged, and it looks like we’re in for a fantastic last few episodes because of it.

Tenshi the AI – Round 2

Maeno posed a question in Raph’s most recent post on Angel Beats.  Why didn’t Yuri just delete Angel’s program?  Wouldn’t that have solved the problem immediately?  The short answer to this question is she simply can’t do it.  I could just leave it at that, but it doesn’t really explain anything about the underworking technology.  If you’re prepared, click past the break so I can give you a little lecture on some basic computer theory.

You are not prepared!

Angel Beats! 08 – Clones, Battles and Characterisation

As can be expected of this series, the eighth instalment of Angel Beats! was a wild ride indeed. And yet – despite the humour, action and adventure – for the majority of the episode, it looked as though we would get almost no plot progression. Until… wham! We received an absolutely killer ending (with yet another cliffhanger), which provided an excellent set-up for the remainder of the season.

Tenshi 2 shows off her sprinting prowess.