#instead i realised that sugimoto the murderer from ranpo's case was voiced by murase ayumu

[houkagokappa]

We had another anime club meeting today and almost every episode we watched gave me thoughts worth sharing so here they are.

We began with episode 5 of Golden Kamuy and I’ve now come to the realisation that it’s not a comedy anime like I first thought, or an action anime like it first seemed, but a cooking anime. Even though they mostly eat meat and that’s usually a turn-off for me, the fact that it’s centered on Ainu traditions makes it A+++, very good cultural exchange.

We continued with two episodes of Kino no Tabi (2003). The first was about a country with the tradition of creating traditions. It was a fun episode, but with a fairly cruel twist at the end. Kino no Tabi is great in how you never know what kind of country they’ll visit and how it always gives you a lot to think about - so many questions about morality! I really liked the structure of this episode, it was a bit different compared to what we usually get in that we saw several short visits rather than the usual full episode exploration. Variation is always great and I really loved how all countries/encounters ended up being connected to each other.

The second Kino no Tabi episode began with Kino and Hermes lying in a bed of red flowers and I was instantly struck with stress and fear because I remembered this scene from the 2017 anime. I couldn’t remember which episode it was, only that it meant we’d be in for a BAD_TIME. Yup, turns out it was Otona no Kuni, Kino’s “origin story”. I’d forgotten most things from it, like how all the kids in Kino’s home country get lobotomised when they’re 12 years old so they can turn into adults and work with a smile on their face even though they’d otherwise hate their job and life. The episode hit me even harder now, because I’ve thought a lot about my own place in society and I have pretty strong feelings about going against what society tells me to do to pursue my own happiness. Watching Kino be able to do that was great. Or you know, it was horrible and traumatising, but at least they made it and it made me love Kino and Kino no Tabi even more. I also want to shout-out the scene where Kino takes up their new identity, if you want a cool genderqueer/agender character look no further!

Next up was Martian Successor Nadesico. Sursprisingly I’m kinda loving it? I don’t really follow along with the plot, but I also don’t think that matters at all. It’s a mecha parody anime from the 90′s and all the hijinks and jokes carry the whole show regardless of what’s actually going on. I love any anime with an anime within the anime that one or several characters are obsessed over and we get updates on. The way Akito and Gai bonded over their love for Gekiganger 3 was amazing and super fun to watch. I also can’t believe that they apparently killed off Gai (and that I completely forgot about it, since I didn’t think they were serious about it, whooops). It’s great how episode 4 showed us Akito mourn the loss of his newfound friend. It stood out nicely with everyone else seemingly not caring at all and I could relate to him wonder why he has to be alone in his sorrows. I also liked the girl he confided in, I even thought that they’d make a nice pair so I was very pleased when the episode ended with them getting together. I also loved that it happened right in front of Yurika who’s been telling everyone that Akito is her bf or something along those lines. It’s kinda annoying when anime characters do that and especially when it comes to romance it’s super satisfying for me to watch characters not get what they want (don’t psychoanalyse me please). All in all it was great to see them mix things up a little and give us something unexpected rather than having Yurika continue to claim they’re dating when they actually aren’t (even if it’s only for a little while and they end up together later). Oh and I also love all the new pilots, they’re such disasters.

Following that we watched episodes 4-5 of Spice and Wolf. The anime is well-made and Holo’s a great character. Since I like her it’s nice enough to watch her interact with Lawrence. I’m not invested in their relationship and I don’t care for their romance, apart from appreciating that they actually have some chemistry and it’s great to see Holo make some advances already. Unfortuantely I couldn’t care less for the plot, this silver coin bs is super boring and uninteresting. Hopefully it’ll be over soon and the anime will get more engaging again, although I can’t think of any merchant business that would be appealing to me. I don’t see myself falling in love with Spice and Wolf, but if I can enjoy it a bit more in the future that’ll be great.

We ended the evening with episodes 5-6 of Bungou Stray Dogs. I’d seen them before when they originally aired in 2016, but my memory was a bit hazy and rediscovering that Ranpo doesn’t actually have supernatural powers, he’s just like that was a great moment. I’m still annoyed at the “over the top” comedy with the funny faces, twitches and sounds, but I can appreciate the anime having that as a distinct style. They’re also getting less frequent and annoying as Atsushi (it’s mainly his doings) becomes more used to the Armed Detective Agency and all its idiots.

I feel like I like the anime more now than I did 4 years ago. I think I understand the characters and their quirks better and how it’s the trade-off for their powers. One has to wonder how much that has to do with the fact that we’re living in a post-Sarazanmai world where I’m more partial to the Mamo-Hosoyan pairing, which certainly helps, but isn’t everything. Apart from the reaction humor, there’s some genuinely great humor and fun character moments. I also like the superpowers and twists. Akutagawa comes across as an edgy chuuni character so I’m not intimidated by him, but I remember the first season ending with another villain character who was super intriguing, so I’m looking forward to continue the series to that point and beyond!

#my nonsense #anime #golden kamuy #kino no tabi #martian successor nadesico #spice and wolf #bungou stray dogs #i can't remember much from the villain #i tried to look her up #instead i realised that sugimoto the murderer from ranpo's case was voiced by murase ayumu #aaaaaaaaaa he sounded super familiar but i wasn't able to place him #this is great #to think he's been caught by mamo playing a disastrous authority figure before aaaaa #gotta love it