We are halfway through this season’s series, and you’ve seen Akane Hayato’s top two picks for the season. Were there any surprises for you? Sleeper hits? Ones that took you all sly and sneaky behind you?
Here are three gems that caught me unawares and got me hook, line, and sinker. These appear plain at first glance, but all turn out to be a much more than they advertised. A no frills, no spoiler introduction to Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Barakamon, and Bakumatsu Rock and why they deserve more love.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun)
What it looks like:
A straight-up shojo romance starting with your typical high school wallflower nursing a crush on the resident strong, silent, broody type, and it all starts with a confession…
What it REALLY is:
…the confession goes awry. Nozaki mistakes Sakura as a fan of his manga, and hands her an autograph as Yumeno-sensei, the mangaka (author) of fluffy romance Koi Shiyo (Let’s Have a Romance). He later realises she has excellent art skills and ends up roping her in as an inking assistant as part of his manga-making assembly line.
Along the way we realise that Nozaki is pretty much clueless about high school romances despite being the successful mangaka that he is. Through Sakura’s eyes we get introduced to his motley crew of assistants, which include ‘Mikorin’ Mikoshiba, the resident pretty boy (embelishments/sparkles), drama club president Hori-senpai (backgrounds) and basketballer “Waka” Wakamatsu (screentones).
The best part? Realising that the female protagonist of the manga is based on Mikorin. The other half the fun is seeing how Nozaki overcomes writer’s block by using his friends as ‘models’, or inspirations for plot devices and characters in his manga (gender be damned).
Catch it if..
You like light-hearted slice-of-life comedy. The series is mainly carried on the backs of the colourful characters as they get thrown into relatively normal situations but somehow manage to interpret and react in refreshing ways. There’s simple laugh-out-loud humour, while the romance is simply non-existent as it seems that there’s a running in-joke that all the boys appear to be pretty oblivious and the girls rather inept at realising or expressing their feelings (nice reversal there!).
Barakamon
What it looks like:
Snooty young calligrapher gets banished to the countryside to repent his sin of punching out the elderly gentleman who criticised his work as being overly conformist. A classic take on the city mouse in countryside story…
What it REALLY is:
… which is only just the tip of the iceberg. His new quarters already houses a semi-permanent squatter, Naru, the seven-year-old who has been using the premises as her own playhouse. A little bundle of energy, she barges her way into every aspect of his life, as she simply refuses to give up occupancy. They end up becoming unlikely companions, with Naru involving Handa, or Sensei (as all the neighbourhood kids call him) in every single activity, with Sensei tolerating and eventually relishing her company as he works.
Of course, as in all small towns and villages, su casa es mi casa (your home is my home), and everyone (especially the neighbourhood kids) invite themselves in a making themselves comfortable on the premises with complete disregard for Handa-sensei. Breezy and unassuming, the relaxing pace of Barakamon takes you on a journey of human friendship and warmth as you get to know the village inhabitants through Sensei’s eyes.
Catch it if…
You are looking for a light, easy series with lots of heart, this is one for you. The villagers are quirky but homely as you watch Sensei succumb to their earthly charms. In their unobtrusive way, us viewers (and Sensei) are encouraged to let go of our little neuroticisms and literally, LIVE. Definitely a sleeper hit for this season!
Plus! Barakamon deserves special mention for casting actual elementary children for the kids in the show – Naru, Hina and Kenta. Although already established child actors, they still had difficulty with the kanji in the script. The main cast (mostly Daisuke Ono) helped out by recording demo tapes for the children to learn their lines for the recording sessions.
【らじかもん】TVアニメ「ばらかもん」WEBラジオ「らじかもん」アニメイトTV内のページでは収録時の三人の写真を公開中です！仲の良さが伝わってきますね。 http://t.co/5SZfd688vu #brkmn_anime pic.twitter.com/fD8xwtUJW7
— TVアニメ「ばらかもん」公式アカウント (@brkmn_anime) July 17, 2014
Bakumatsu Rock (Samurai Jam)
What it looks like:
A mis-mash rock musical re-telling of the legendary Shinsengumi and the rebels’ struggle against the cultural bleaching by the Shogunate, set in the Bakumatsu period. Only government-sanctioned Heaven’s Songs are allowed to be performed. Our rocker heroes resist their brainwashing by spreading their music through secret lives, changing the world through rock music.
What it REALLY is:
Originally posed as loud, brassy fun and basically a shameless excuse to make your seiyuus sing rock music unabashedly throughout the series a la Uta no Prince-sama but with rock; Bakumatsu Rock turns out to be a tongue-in-cheek parody of the idol phenomenon. The Shinsengumi are modelled after idol factories, with trainees drilled with military precision in dancing and singing (in addition to battle skills), churning out bland autotuned pop tunes fronted by their ikemen troop captains.
Our rock heroes rebel against the stranglehold the Shinsengumi have on musical expression, by organising their own guerilla lives. Imagine an onsen live! Silly fool Ryouma bumbles his way through problems with his passion for rock and freedom of expression, as he gives addictive monikers to everyone around him. “Cindy” Shinsaku Takasugi’s the resident tsundere bassist, while gentle nerd “Sensei” Kogorou Katsura rounds up the main trio.
Catch it if:
You like shows with unabashed singing and rock tunes. But be prepared to suspend belief for 20 minuntes each episode – there’s electric guitars, amplifiers, Katsura’s odd Shinsengumi radar detectors, and light sticks being toted by concert-goers, but then transport remains primarily horse-drawn carriages and wagons, while law-enforcers still tote swords on patrols. I should also mention that when passions get past a threshold, activating their Peace Souls, their clothes disintegrate from their bodies – so girls, get your eyeful of ripped hot bods.
If you liked Uta no Prince-sama, you really should not be missing this, as Kishou Taniyama, Tatsuhisa Suzuki and Shoutarou Morikubou ace the rock genre as the core trio, while Toshiyuki Morikawa and Kenshou Ono form the lead duo of Hijikata and Okita from the Shinsengumi. All five seiyuus have their own singing careers (mostly rock no less), and the tunes certainly don’t disappoint – divetodistraction has a wonderful gif set comparing the characters to their seiyuus.
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Barakamon and Samurai Jam-Bakumatsu Rock are available on Crunchyroll.
Which anime from this summer took you by surprise? Which ones left a lasting impression? Share with us if you have anymore to add to this list!
The post [ANIME] SUMMER 2014 ANIME: THREE UNEXPECTED GEMS – DEMENTEDINSANE appeared first on AFA Channel!.