First Impressions: Izetta: The Last Witch

I watched the first episode, and I dare say it was packed with enough content that I can skip my usual 3 episode rule on a first impression.  (A rule I've been attempting to disabuse myself anyways.)

Izetta: The Last Witch is a historical fantasy in which the continent of Europe is on the brink of World War 2.  The countries and setting will seem familiar and alien at the same time； Names and places are different from what they should be, but not unrecognizable.  The grand kicker is of course given off by the title - magic and witches exist. 

The show opens with a short, but not very plot revealing, glimpse of the blonde heroine Finé, the princess of Eylstadt, witnessing the red headed witch, Izetta performing magic.  Sudden flash to the future and we're thrown into a chase scene full of political intrigue.  If you keep up with my site, you know I loathe to give any spoilers in my first impressions, so Imma gonna stop here.  That being said, this sudden switch is important as it shows a certain restraint and narrative planning that I am going to make the argument suggests the show has a lot of potential to be great. 

They could have continued with this scene and done some real en media res stuff focusing on the witch and magic, but they just give you just a glimpse.  Then the creators instead show us political intrigue immersed with the action and drama of the chase.  The world this story exists in is revealed, not through lengthy boring exposition, but rather, sprinkled within any action taking place, or as engaging political banter. 

There is one scene of interjected world building, but even that is done more as a propaganda historical piece that further moves the setting and plot along. You can compare this scene to the full short episodes of world building that RWBY does.  In respects to RWBY, while engaging, most of them aren't particular creative.  Given the genre Izetta finds itself, I suppose one could argue that making a propaganda piece wasn't that creative either; however, when combined with the flow of the rest of the show, I'll insist that it was well placed and paced.

And as usual,  I'm often taken up with characters and characterization.  Through the dramatic chase scene, and the well written politic talk, our princess, Finé, is built up to be a strong princess willing to take risks for her duty.  There is no pleading for her life, no crying or clumsiness, or any other princess tropes.  Rather she is portrayed much like anyone would prefer out of their lead females in today's social climate; however, the setting rebels against this modern tough princess archetype.  In pre world war II princess aren't meant to be tough and worthy of ruling a kingdom.  On more than one occasion, characters try to pigeon hole her into being a "beautiful girl" or merely a "tomboy" her worth determined by her birth right or uses of her body.   Finé is aware of this, politicking her choice of words and using it to her advantage as needed.  There is one occurrence where this falls apart, but she uses her station altruistically, which some will find as a different strength.  You'll see what I mean if you watch.  So far, while not completely fleshed out, I happen to like Finé for what she represents and who we can see in the first episode.

There is one scene I found unnecessary, though I'll try to rationalize it for you.  There is a shower scene shortly after the chase in which Finé talks to herself of her duty and the harsh reality of where she finds herself.  There are some nude camera shots, that I hope don't keep finding themselves into the show.  Nudity for nudities sake is not what I find to be the pinnacle of fine story telling.  If I attempt to rationalize, one could say that because the scene never went to overboard as some anime can, the writers were attempting to show Finé as vulnerable.  She is stuck in a bad situation, and in talking to herself, her nudity represents her without any of the court dresses or jewelry, without her body guards.  Its just her, struggling with what she needs to do.  I'm stretching to make this fit; We havn't seen her go through enough to really need that kind of scene, even more so, the self motivation speech was pretty standard stuff, and nothing moving.  I'm stretching to say that the nudity visually added to the narrative impact.

Lastly, and this is where visual metaphor did add to the emotion and where I hope the series continues to shine in its subtle uses of the period:  Finé finds herself being lectured by an enemy character.  She is wearing a cloak belonging to an enemy Germania soldier. The cloak doesn't fit, being way too big, and she is sitting. The antagonist is lording over her, haughty and condescending.  The oversized cloak suggests she is this little girl, captive to not only the antagonist, but to the war around her.  She is the representative of her small nation, the cloak standing in for the would be invaders.  One has to appreciate little tricks like this in a show.

Anyways, I've waxed on, but the episode was entertaining, with good characters and dialogue.  I'll continue to watch this simulcast. Its on Fridays, and if you want to join me, I'll be hanging out watching late in the discord channel we've recently set up:  https://discord.gg/Z8u2XFN

We also now have a full webpage besides this blog: www.fuseguproductions.com/late-night-otaku-1.
Its my hope to build this "brand" of sorts into a full community for people who can't engage more actively with fellow otaku.  Especially when your only way to watch our hobby of choice is late at night when no one else when dare be awake or interact. 

Thanks for reading and じゃまた

First Impressions Re: Zero

I was hesitant to watch one of the most hyped shows of the season.  Re: Zero presents us with trope, cliché and archetypes alike, while still maintaining fun dialogue and small surprises.  But I get ahead of myself.

I was prepared not to care for the series much; That tends to happen when there is over hype.  I tend to be overly critical and unable to fully enjoy the work.  Further, having read others reviews, I knew a bit of the faults and of course they stood out like a sore thumb. If you're reading this, you may have already read some of the same reviews, or had friends demand that you catch the next Sword Art Online!

Re: Zero starts as another Alice in Wonderland (Archetype) of fans of more classical literature - A Conneticut Yankee in Key Arthur's Court.  Our modern NEET (trope - maybe cliché; also NEET stands for Not in Employement, Education, or Training) who plays too many games and has next to no social life, immediately falls into a fantasy world while hearing desperate pleas for help.  The first episode is an hour special separated, atleast on Crunchyroll into two half hour segments.  I'm left wondering how it originally aired.  The divide happens well as you're delivered with your first surprise, which I won't spoil.  Its another cliché though, and will leave those who havn't seen anything like it praising its creativity;  However for every other member of the sci fi fantasy fan base - you've seen it, and you've seen it done better.

Subaru, the NEET in question, is enthusiastic and tenacious, two easily likable traits and fairly archetypal for anime heroes.  I gave the series the standard three episode test, and the first small plot wave is able to wrap up in that time.  I bring this up because in that time, Subaru wasn't able to stand out as overwhelmingly special or break away from the archetype.  In three episodes he was flat.  Now I'll give the writers cred where its due - in speaking to himself, he speaks directly to the intended audience of the series.  Its not quite fourth wall breaking like you would get from daredevil, but Subaru and the character makes fun of himself and the setting at large. Subaru was/is funny.  Not overwhelming so, but enough. 

Because the plot and setting took 2 or three episodes to set up AND the gimmick of Re: Zero relies heavily in the first few episodes on those plot surprises, its also very difficult to figure what the hell the point is.  To put it another way, why do I care that Subaru has this going on with him?  Why do I care about this girl he has stumbled upon?  Flat characters and relying heavily on their surprise means there a bit of excitement, plus the bit of laughs, but you can tell that the series wants to say something... You just have no idea what. 

The series is also well animated, the fight scenes were nice to look at.  I enjoyed the character designs, though again you kind of are walking those archetypes, tropes, and cliches again.  The lead female has a bit of an Asuna throw back; I can't say she's as interesting of yet.  The other female you meet, Felt, appears to be your loli or imouto con; We'll see how that digresses.  Over all I'll give it a point for art. 

I can't say much for the music.  Nothing that is stuck in my head.  I didn't bother to listen to either theme all the way through. 

If you're new to anime, or just enjoy the more escapable variety, it'll rank highly enough for you.  They don't FAIL at anything thus far.  Everything they attempted to do they did at an adequate level. I'll keep watching for sure.  If you want something that is actually good you can skip this one and keep looking. 

Throw Back Thursday: Fruits basket

Fruits Basket has to be one of my favorite slice of life... fantasy... eh?  What genre is it?  It's been long enough since I've seen the show I'm tempted to go back to and watch it again. 

Tohru Honda, an orphaned high school student living in a tent.  Her tent happens to trespass upon the Sohma family's land, and she quickly finds herself invited to stay with them.  This strange turn of events also leads her to discovering a dark secret - the curse of the Sohma family. When tired, stressed, weak, or hugged by a member of the opposite sex, 13 different members of the family change into members of the Chinese zodiac. 

The anime was created while the manga was ongoing, so there are some differences the anime had to take license with, especially in its ending.  What the anime did a fantastic job with is keeping to the themes and feeling of the manga, albeit the anime never went quite as dark.

Each member of the zodiac is well developed and fleshed out as a character with their own baskets of problems.  The plot of the series moves from zodiac character to zodiac character, allowing Tohru, with mixed results, slowly alleviating their pains.  She doesn't always solve their problems, however her life view of enjoying life, holding on to those dear to you, and her tenacity win the day.  Tohru isn't perfect, but its the earnest effort that wins the day more than her intelligence or diplomacy.  I found a quote the summarizes well:

The entire series of Fruits Basket proves to be a true emotional roller coaster, hiding truly deep and heartfelt drama behind a candy coating of fun and humor. Deep down, it explores many aspects of emotion as the various characters search for their place in the world, gaining strength from each other.

— Allen Divers, Anime News Network

Tohru as our heroine, is perfect. She represents values that are greater than herself, that she has to strive for, growing and learning along the way.  That's what makes a real hero worth watching and remember.  Today's culture is obsessed with the anti hero. These incredibly broken people that struggle, and sometimes become better, but often leave us wanting.  This is incredibly true in romances.  And in slice of life, we are often just left without a hero pandering to just whimsical fun. It has its place, but Fruits Basket was a story that was able to hit on all notes largely due to the success of Tohru Honda as a complete well rounded character. 

 I remember watching the series thinking to myself, that when I have a daughter she has to see this anime.  That is what you will be watching if you go back and visit this series.  Its fun, entertaining, deep, and above all, can make you a better person if you takes its values into your own life. 
I