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miminmimikyu · 8 days

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can we actually talk about how kino Afro is as a antagonist? He's the polar opposite of Issho who was set up as a nasty fella, while also being the cancer that's killing rakugo. "muh tradition" without Issho's new wave eye. "muh respect" but without Issho's two-way respect towards Akane. "muh artform" but only a certain way without Issho's eye for the artist. "muh king of comedy" but not a master of rakugo.

You are so right anon! ( sorry for the ensuing wall of text.).

Yeeeeeess, wow he’s such an effective villain. My blood boils every time Zensho barges into a chapter. He’s so over-the-top 1000% unlikeable (while just realistic enough that I’m sure a lot of people know a less exaggerated real-life Zensho). And at the same time I find him so fascinating as he’s in Issho’s corner but, as you said, his behaviour and ideas about rakugo are completely opposite to Issho’s. That strange contradiction that they’re superficially similar (and on good terms?) but actually ideologically opposites is just… ✨fascinating✨

I went back and read volume 1 (and 2.. and.. ) and it’s interesting that his first appearance made him out to be a Issho-lite, seemingly less irrational (HA!). Or perhaps a mouthpiece for Issho's views. Even Shiguma’s description of Issho’s personality seems similar to Taizen’s description of Zensho's.

But nope, couldn't be more different. That “honesty/lack of falsehood” means different things here. Both of them may speak harsh truths, but Issho’s harsh honesty is underpinned by his philosophy and respect for the artform, which Zensho's isn't. Going by his Karaku cup critiques and Kaisei's inner thoughts there's actually a correlation between how harsh Issho's honesty is and how much he respects a rakugoka. Akane's conversation with him showed that he won’t betray his principles even in the face of his “enemy” (Shiguma)’s apprentice.

Zensho? Perhaps his rakugo itself is akin to holding up a mirror of truth to the audience, but he sure as hell told a lot of lies this arc. And all of his "honesty" seems to be going to people he doesn't treat with respect. Every core principle of the Arakawa school goes out of the window the second one of Shiguma’s apprentices is mentioned. Maybe his personal vendetta has blinded him to the fact that his behaviour towards them is completely incompatible with the Arakawa school itself. We don't really see him interact with many others but Taizen also calls him “fickle and unfair”, and combined with how badly he speaks about his own apprentices, I wouldn’t be surprised if he treats every single person below him badly.

I'm sure his rakugo brings the house down and art is everything at Arakawa. But. He favours hierarchy over talent, abuses his power and crushes new talent (especially Shiguma-related), he’s resting on his laurels (e.g. raising one shin’uchi) rather than figuring out why his students aren’t making waves, blames everyone but himself, poisons the stage for other performers and above all: He doesn’t even look at their art! His judgement precedes the performance!

It’s all "reputation" and "Issho" with him. Perhaps he's been able to get away with it because of overwhelming rakugo ability. Not for long though, going by the looks Ikken and Taizen are giving him.

Were it not for this weird “notice me Issho aniki!!!” vibe he really seems to be more suited to hang around with those conservative shin’uchi from the Rakugo Federation who were bitching about Kaisei and Akane. (who wants to bet he doesn’t like Kaisei either). But it doesn’t seem like Issho is paying attention to him at all, not even after his little atmosphere-poisoning stunt at Maikeru’s test.

God this so funny (babes Issho’s not going to respect you for that!)

Anyway, I can see the following happening during Maikeru’s test:

a) Zensho actually listens to Maikeru’s rakugo. It makes him come to some personal revelation about his own behaviour, but he digs his heels in and decides to vote against Zensho “for aniki’s sake”. Then gets chewed out by Issho. b) Zensho doesn’t actually bother to look at Maikeru’s art, causes a big stink when it is well-received by everyone else, and he is chewed out by Issho c) Fairytale ending where Zensho listens and changes his ways (no way in hell).

Whatever happens I really hope we get to see what is fuelling his really irrational behaviour before he’s bodied by the Arch Four.

#thanks for the ask!!#but in the end i think i mostly reiterated what you said already ;_;#akane banashi #zensho arakawa #i love to hate him. but i also want to see him interacting with his “equals” so badly.#ask #long post

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mymurderbooks · 4 years

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5 Anime Recommendations for Your Stay Home Time

So you’re on lockdown, more or less. You’ve watched the most popular anime recommendations: Sailor Moon, Naruto, Death Note, etc. etc. Here’s some anime I love that you might not have come across yet. Yes, you could be productive, you could (rather unproductively) worry about the future of mankind, but it’s also important to not stress out too much (it weakens your immune system!) and watch some shows.

These are some of my favourite animes. I rate them all five stars and I’ve listed them in no particular order, but I’ve chosen them for different reasons. A couple I think are better than others, notably, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju and Planetes, which are two of the best shows I’ve seen in any format. I won’t give too many spoilers, but briefly summarise the theme of the anime and my impressions, and why I recommend it.

1. Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju English title: Showa and Genroku Era Lover’s Suicide Through Rakugo Studio: Studio Deen First premiered: Winter 2016 Where to watch? You can stream this on Crunchyroll.

Rakugo is a traditional Japanese form of comedic storytelling theatre, and this anime narrates the lives of a line of rakugo performers. This is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen on TV. It’s slow but not draggy, it’s very well paced and nothing feels like filler. It tells the story of the rakugo performers with respect and sensitivity, and above all, subtlety. Everything about this show is elegant, from the artwork to the portrayal of the characters.

Since it’s a show about rakugo, you will see the characters performing rakugo in it, and this is done so realistically and so well that you feel you’re in the theatre with them, which is one reason I think this is a good pick for being in lockdown. I was completely unfamiliar with rakugo before this, but as I watched I became interested enough that I really really wanted to see a show. I was lucky enough that I was able to see an English-language rakugo artist, Katsura Sunshine, perform in London. He travels and does rakugo around the world, so if you get a hankering to see a rakugo performance after watching this anime, that’s something to maybe put on your post-Covid-19 list to look forward to when theatres reopen.

The classic ‘Shinigami’ rakugo performed by Kikuhiko in the anime:

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Even if you don’t like anime and don’t normally watch it, I highly recommend you watch this. It’s so good. I promise it’s better than anything on Netflix.

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2. Planetes Studio: Sunrise Premiered: Fall 2003 Where to watch? It’s streaming on Netflix Japan, but not Netflix anywhere else at the moment, but maybe it will be? The boxset is on sale on Amazon for a lot of money. Sorry, I don’t know where you can watch this at the moment, but if you find a way, I recomend you do.

Planetes is a hard sci-fi anime that follows a team who are, essentially, trash collectors in space (’Debris Section’ of a large corporation). I recommend this as one of the best space shows I’ve seen, and because I find the latest Star Trek series super disappointing. I’m gonna be real, I’m a fan of Next Generation and Captain Picard himself, but Picard (the show) sucks. If you compare it to Planetes, it’s like Picard was written by 14 year olds.

Planetes is very adult, although it may not seem so at first. Stick with the first few episodes, and you’ll find that this show really delivers. It’s dark, but not dark in the way that many Hollywood shows are ‘dark’. Hollywood seems to interpret this to mean violent death murder torture, and there’ll be at least one scene in the season of someone plunging their bare hands into the core of another person’s body, or eye poking torture, but Planetes is dark in that it’s probably one of the more plausible/realistic representations of mankind’s future in space.

In Planetes there’s no alien friends, no federation of planets, no post-money world, no intergalactic battles. There’s just us humans, being shitty, but now we’ve infected space too. Capitalism is worse. Life is harder. There’s crap floating around the universe, and this show follows the underpaid people doing the dangerous job of retrieving it. If you like sci-fi, this is some of the best sci-fi TV, ever.

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3. Shirokuma Cafe English title: Polar Bear Cafe Studio: Studio Pierrot Premiered: Spring 2012 Where to watch? Streaming on Crunchyroll

This anime revolves around a cafe run by a Polar Bear. It’s a slice of life genre anime. It’s very lighthearted, but also, to me, feels more adult than many adult-oriented shows. In Japan it falls under the category of ‘josei’ anime, ie. anime for adult women.

It’s so lovely. I guess kinda like Cheers, but in a cafe, and far lovelier. The cafe regulars are Panda and Penguin, and Llama sometimes comes in. Grizzly runs a bar (that’s also lovely! You want to go to his bar!) and there’s a human called Sasako who works there. There’s an adorable Red Panda! A bunch of squirrels who sort through coffee! Everything is lovely and cute!

What do they do? Random adorable everyday things. One of my favourite episodes, and a great one to watch in the spring, is the cherry-blossom viewing episode. Some episodes we learn about coffee from the tree squirrels. Sometimes they just sit around the coffee. At some point Panda gets a job at the zoo. They go to a baseball range, etc.

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If what you’re looking for is a cute, light-hearted, relaxing show for adults where everybody knows your name and nothing dark happens, I recommend this highly. Particularly if your hobbies are chilling out, going to cafes, drinking coffee, taking walks, flowers - you’ll love this.

There’s a real Shirokuma Cafe (anime-themed cafe) in Tokyo, in Takadanobaba. I visited last year and loved it there! If you end up watching and loving Shirokuma Cafe too, add it to your post-Covid-19 travel cafe bucket list!

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4. Sakamachi no Apollon (Apollo on the Slope) English title: Kids on the Slope Studios: Tezuka Productions, Mappa Premiered: Spring 2012 Where can I watch it? Streaming on Crunchyroll

Kids on the Slope is, essentially, a jazz anime. It celebrates jazz. The actual storyline is a coming of age story of some kids who jam together, and they experience adolescence together and grow up and all that, and there’s some romance, some adolescence angst. The art is beautiful. The story is told well. That’s all fine. But really the draw here is jazz.

Jam session:

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The unofficial theme song is Moanin’ by Art Blakey. The song features throughout the series, the organ version is particularly good (and I think it only exists in/for this anime). I chose this anime for the list because the characters’ love for jazz is infectious and sparks the fire for jazz within you. It makes you want to play jazz, or at least listen to jazz, or read about jazz, or maybe learn an instrument, and that’s something you can do at home on lockdown. Be inspired by the jazz children!

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5. Shinsekai Yori English title: From the New World Premiered: Fall 2012 Studio: A-1 Pictures Where can I watch it? Streaming on Crunchyroll

This is a show set in the future. The art is beautiful and moody, the soundtrack is excellent. It’s sci-fi/fantasy, and has a classic setting: a portion of humanity develops psychic powers. This show follows Saki and her friends into their adulthood in an authoritarian dystopia, masquerading as a utopia.

It’s not a coming of age story. This show is dark. It’s also deceptive. The world built in the anime is layered, complex, and it feels like a full, complete, rounded tale, despite being only 25 episodes. It’s ultimately really a story about inequality, power, and the cost of 'civilisation' - I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil it for you, we the viewers begin to understand the full nature of the society the children are growing up in as they do, as it unwraps slowly in each episode.

#anime #recommendations #tv and theatre #tv review

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