[Anime] Welcome to the NHK Review

Welcome to the NHK - 9/10

"Welcome to the NHK" is a tragicomedy about the life and times of a certain Sato Tatsuhiro, a 22-year-old committed NEET who almost never leaves his apartment.  While there is an overarching plot of Sato facing his problems (slowly), the series essence is more contained in its collection of sub-plots as Sato is involved in the projects and machinations of others.

One recommendation I would also give: watch NHK in English.  The dub is superb.  The VAs for the characters had their personalities down pat.  Even the profanity seemed to fit better than it usually does.

The Good: The mundane psychology. When most shows try to do psychology, they go for the grandiose. Their characters have world-encompassing views, conflicting ideologies, and intricate explanations for their actions. NHK has none of that. Instead it captures the essence of a vulgar, mediocre, normal human. That might sound strange to say, since Sato isn't "normal," but that actually doesn't matter. Everybody has their own eccentricities and anxieties, and as humans we share a similar pool of responses. NHK nailed the "perfect unreasonableness" of a human being clinging to their own faults.

But what really makes the series shine is its mixture of seriousness and frivolity. On one hand, it shows the sad leavings of a culture of success. People's lives are "measured" and their value ascertained already. As lamentable as Sato's situation is, and the show pulls no punches in that regard, there's the terrifying reality waiting out there that "winning" doesn't mean happiness either. It was a rather candid look at the spiritual malaise in modern consumer culture, the heat death of the soul. Although the future is pretty sunny by the end for all of the characters, so it doesn't dig too deep of a depressing hole.

That said, it was hilarious while not being dismissive of the real sadness. I lost it when Sato finds himself in that farmhouse listening to the pyramid scheme's lame presentation and immediately thinks, "God I wish I were back on that island." It is such a dark sentiment, but also so appropriate to the series. There were several other moments like this that I thought were absolute gold, as well as many more subtle jabs. One of my favorites was near the beginning when Misaki is explaining to Sato the "revolutionary new approach" to helping him with his low self-esteem: by mentally bringing everybody else below you to justify it. And what gives the humor the extra kick is its verisimilitude to every day life; there are more than a few scenes that I could personally identify with.

Finally on a personal note, I really liked Misaki as a character. Perhaps it's because I once had a girlfriend like her down to the abusive history. I was continually amazed at the kindness that sprung from that dark place, and really admire it. It also caused me to want to rage at Sato when he raised his fist against her, because her traumatic response was all too obvious to me. Also it sounds a bit shallow after what I just said, but I found the combination of her character design and VA extraordinarily cute.

The Bad: Nothing major. At times the animation quality noticeably drops and I thought that some of the scenes were perhaps unnecessary, but I don't think the series is overly burdened by these. It can also be quite crude at times, but that's Sato so I can't really hold that against the series.

Overall, NHK is a great watch that provides many moments for self reflection along with others where you can't because you're laughing to hard.

[Anime] Trigun Review

Trigun - 7/10

"No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through

But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be"
-Behind Blue Eyes, The Who

Trigun is a two-faced series set on a desert planet with a wild west twist. On one hand, it is an action-comedy in which the main character Vash wanders around, getting himself into trouble, fighting his way back out (usually in a humorous manner), and generally proving that a red trench coat and yellow glasses can look good on non-vampires too. But underneath this there is a surprising core of weightiness to the series. The world is a lawless and violent place and Vash is a pacifist, dedicated to avoiding conflict and never killing. 

The Good: Vash and Wolfwood, the two main characters of the series. They are an odd couple, representing fundamentally different views on how life should be lived. As already mentioned, Vash abhors violence. He acts in self defense or to spare other people hurt, but never seeks to cause lasting harm to even his enemies. This being accentuated by the problem that he has caused massive devastation on accident, since he is a Plant rather than a human, capable of generating massive amounts of energy and wiping whole cities off the map.

Wolfwood on the other hand considers the only possible course of action to be to eliminate evil before it can do harm. Dressed as a preacher, the iconic cross he carries is a heavy weapons platform, housing handguns, a minigun, and a rocket launcher. As he tellingly says, it is a cross "heavy with mercy." Looking back on his life, violence has made him free in his view. Before violence he lived in fear of the man who raised him, and always at the whims of those who were more powerful. Nowadays he eliminates evil and uses the monetary proceeds to support an orphanage where children won't have to live through what he did.

The reason they must be mentioned together is that their contrast is what makes the series tick. Really, Wolfwood is a better "villain" than Knives ever is. Knives is the classic evil villain, out there plotting with his power to cause death and destruction. It's easy to disregard him. It's Wolfwood, serving and doing evil so as to accomplish good, that is Vash's true foil. Beyond this, there is also just the fun interactions the two have. They make a good duo on screen together.

It is also this dynamic that creates the two high points in the series. In Vash's case it is when he is presented with an unsolvable situation. Kill Legato or his two friends die. No subtleties. No other options. Does Vash really have the right to choose his non-violence when it isn't his life to choose? It's a brutal situation, and his final defeat in killing Legato is devastating. It's one of the few times where being the last one standing in a fight means failure.

For Wolfwood, his most incredible scene is also his death. It is easily one of the best in all of anime, being so laden with meaning. He finally came around to Vash's way of thinking, refusing to finish off his mentor, and is shot in the back for it. Sitting alone in that chapel, he looks back on his life and realizes just how much suffering he has caused. Sadly, there are no second chances and he dies wondering if he can ever be forgiven.
Link to scene in question.

The Bad: The utter inconsistency in tone is what really sinks this series. Vash is a "serious-goof" and flips between both ends of his personality in the blink of an eye. The problem is that much of the humor is shoe-horned in, being primarily slapstick or similarly childish antics. It makes it hard to take Vash as a character seriously, especially when there is so much riding on him.

This issue similarly affects the villains of the series, who are straight out of a comic book. They have their silly gimmicks and special tricks, their bad lines and maniacal laughs. They just want to destroy stuff and are utterly two-dimensional in most cases. The only one I can give much credit to is Legato; the rest of the Gung-Ho Gang is made up of outlandish and flamboyant characters who exist only to provide fight material. As I mentioned above, Wolfwood is the real "villain" in the series, being ideologically so close yet so far from Vash.

Finally, the series really peaks part way through. The scenes mentioned above for Vash and Wolfwood are really their defining moments. Actually having to face down Knives at the end is anti-climactic. I didn't even care about Knives that much. He was just the monster in the shadows, but our actual exposure to him is so limited that there isn't much to him other than being the "big bad."

So as a classic Trigun has some really good and profound themes hidden in it. Just at times these are overwhelmed by a sort of reflexive childishness on the part of the writers who can't seem to decide whether they want to write Vash as Jesus or one of the Three Stooges.

AMVs:
Vash Behind Blue Eyes
An oldie but a good one, and the inspiration for the quote that begins this post.

[Anime] Psycho-Pass S1 Review

Psycho-Pass - 8/10

"This loss (of freedom) means the fading from human life of values infinitely precious to it. There only remain ironbound conditions of employment and trivial amusements for leisure."
- A.N. Whitehead

As a science fiction series, Psycho-Pass creates a compelling world that undergirds the tension of its message. It is part Blade Runner, part Minority Report, and part CSI. And as a warning for anybody looking into it: it's both intense and graphic, so beware.

At the core of the series is the quandary of the Sibyl System, a collection of biometric scanners that are able to analyze and deduce a person's personality and future potential. It has created a society in which the greatest amount of good is conferred on the greatest number of people, but at the cost of crushing inequality for those that the system deems problematic. There is no recourse, for the system is always right. Using this world as a backdrop, the story follows the enforcement bureau as they deal with the cases that crop up in this brave new world.

The Good: 

The world that Psycho-Pass creates is engaging, striking a balance between the development of the plot and characters while also exploring the implications and realities of the Sibyl System. This made it eminently watchable as a series while also giving it depth. Not many series do this well in my experience, as often when an anime seeks to be deep it simply becomes convoluted and obscure. 

Building on this, the world of the Sibyl System is a unique world that at first appears dystopian, but has positive elements that cannot be ignored.  The problem is that the Sibyl System is right.  For all of its faults, and they are numerous, the Sibyl System is consistently superior to average humans when it comes to judgement.  This is brought up clearly when the nightclub dissenter is cornered.  He screams out that the Sibyl System has ruined his music career by dismissing his talent.  He is promptly rebuffed by the Enforcers that he should thank the Sibyl System, since it kept him from wasting his time.  Later on when Akane confronts the system directly, it/they are able to analyze and predict her perfectly.  Her sense of duty to society does override her revulsion, and she remains loyal even as she comes to loath it/them.  As much as it may gall us, the Sibyl System has transcended human capacity.

However, always being right has had a debatable impact on the rest of the world: nobody any longer feels personal responsibility when there is an easily-accessible and objectively correct arbiter in all things.  Kougami's old professor is out of a job because nobody feels the need to be insightful on their own.  Bystanders observe a murder passively, because if the biometric sensors don't respond then it must be okay.  Life degenerates to managing one's own hue, going about in a safe and unperturbed mindset.  It is a disturbing vision of the future for the individualist.

Last, I'd like to make special mention of Akane's character. I thought she was a fantastic lead because she was simply herself.  In my experience most female leads tend to fall into one of two traps: sex or badass (or both). But Akane wasn't particularly sexy; she wore nice holo-clothes when she was out, and was in uniform while on work. Similarly, they didn't try to make her "out-macho" the males to demonstrate how great she was. Instead the series allows us to watch her develop, and as it unfolds you see a truly impressive inner strength emerge as she is faced with so many difficulties, intellectual and emotional.  In the end she retains her humanity even as the "stronger" characters have broken down under Makishima's influence.  An admirable character all around.

The Bad: 

The name dropping.  When anime attempts to quote Western philosophical or religious works it almost always manages to mangle them beyond recognition.  Pyscho-Pass has some reasonable references at times, but still succumbs to the same tendency toward intellectual garnishing.  The references serve no purpose except to make the conversation sound more sophisticated, and at times manage to do the opposite.  The most egregious offender was the cyberspace impersonator, who in his final moments cites how his attempts at creating idealized avatars to replace the people he killed were like Plato's perfect forms.  No, I'm sorry.  This has nothing to do with Plato.  Try again.

Psycho-Pass also suffers from a degree of voyeurism toward its criminal subjects.  They do unspeakable things, and while some of them are tastefully avoided others are glorified for their shock value.  This is cheap, and especially darkens the first half of the series which tends to err on the side of vulgar attention-seeking to keep the audience engaged.  

Originally I was going to list the Sibyl System actually being disembodied humans as a negative element, but as the series progressed I found this was not an issue.  They were functionally the same as an advanced, sentient algorithm and never demonstrated bias. So while I was dismayed at that initial reveal, I actually found that they worked even better than anticipated. In fact, them having to deal with Akane's revulsion near the end was actually more interesting than it would have been if it had simply been a subroutine. I also liked their point they make back when Akane feels that justice should be done, noting that they do far more good for society in their present form than any punishment would have represented. They really weren't evil anymore.

GitS:SAC Evaluation: Throughout the series I found myself comparing Psycho-Pass closely to another series, in this case Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I often hold up GitS as an example of a great sci-fi anime series, but in some respects Psycho-Pass blew it out of the water.

Despite being billed as a philosophical series, GitS:SAC is not particularly philosophical. The original movie is weightier, but the subsequent series is rooted in the practical running of Section 9. Also its "philosophy" is more distributed into a vague question about what it means to be human. Psycho-Pass very neatly zeros in on a particular issue with the Sibyl System, and because of this focus was able to pursue its social and moral implications more extensively. Psycho-Pass's story was also lucid, compared to GitS:SAC's vague and meandering plot.

That said, GitS has much more substance to its history and politics. Psycho-Pass wasn't very clear until near the end whether the Sibyl System was world-wide or restricted to Japan (at least in the translation I watched, it seemed that "world" and "country" were used interchangeably). Everything occurred "in a bottle."

When it comes to main characters, Akane is far better than Motoko. As much as I love GitS, Motoko is one of the worst offenders for a female character that earns her laurels through being simultaneously sexy and tomboyish.  She has surprisingly little substance, and is salvaged by the company she keeps with more interesting characters such as Aramaki, Batou, and Togusa.

These aren't meant to be condemnations of either series as I think they're both great in their own respects.  If you enjoyed one I would strongly recommend the other  But it says something that Psycho-Pass was able to hold its own in comparison to a series that is often regarded as a classic.