Review: Hataraki Man (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 11
Vintage: 2006-10-12 to 2006-12-21
Age rating: ???
Genres: Slice of Life
Animation Production: GALLOP
Production: GALLOP, Hataraki Man Production Team, Kodansha

Source: Anime News Network

Hatarki Man is genuine slice of life show, so you won’t see anything you wouldn’t expect to happen in real life. Anime doesn’t always seem to work with stories that encapsulate “real” individuals, but this one does it well. There’s a fine line to keep between real life drama and an “animated life,” but Hataraki Man somehow happens to do it and hang on with enough style to keep you interested.

The name of the show stems from the fact that the main character, Matsukata Hiroko, is true a work-a-holic. She rushes to work even when she’s not late, she always surpasses her boss’ expectations, and will constantly blow off dates just to get her work done perfectly. Sure, you could argue she’s just doing it because she likes to, but there’s a lot more to it. Her peers are impressed the most when she actually becomes the Hataraki Man, or “Work Man.” It’s not really what you’d expect since it’s not some kind of superhuman ability. She just unleashes her innermost potential as a magazine editor and fully concentrates on her writing. For most writers, being able to switch on your “zen mode” and spew out words as they come is a gift. Matsukata has that and it really helps her succeed at her job.

The anime takes place in the offices of Weekly Jidai Magazine, a fictional magazine in Japan. It’s a magazine geared towards men with content such as fad diets, fashion, serialized novels, etc. Matsukata’s a journalist working on weekly articles about all kinds of topics of interest to the male readership. She’s not the only editor at this successful company so she doesn’t do all the work herself. There’s plenty of interesting people at the office that also pitch in to make sure the readers are able to get their fill each week with juicy articles and blowout specials.

The characters in the office range from Matsukata herself to Tanaka, the rookie editor on the lower end of the spectrum. He’s not quite anyone’s friend and he’s always expressive about doing the minimum effort required for the job. The Editorial Desk manager, Narita, is Matsukata’s direct boss and the chief director, Umemiya, is Narita’s boss. They’re kind of the older and wiser bunch that lead the team through adversity. Editor Nagisa is a nervous wreck and is part of the few women in the company along with Matsukata. There’s plenty of characters that I missed that you’ll eventually find out about on your own. Most if not all of them will make sense in terms of why they’re there and what drives them in their daily lives. They each fit their roles perfectly, exemplifying the typical hierarchical structure of an office in Japan.

There’s plenty to find and appreciate in this show, especially if you have any kind of work experience. To truly succeed you need to have a plan, or you’ll end up drifting away from what you want to do. Then there’s the sacrifices you must make in order to complete your plan. In other words, it’s not quite as simple as laying down a road map and crossing out milestones the moment you reach them. When there’s an aura of satisfaction in your work your life completely changes for the better. The offset of satisfaction when you truly enjoy what you do every day changes your perspective. Being told to balance “work,” and “life” is a fair assessment that we’ve all heard a thousand times. However, when your “work” is your “life” it becomes much more complex to try to imitate the majority of people who are working to live but not living to work. While this show is not as deep as I wish it could be, not as long as I wish it could be, and doesn’t quite end as conclusively as I’d like, it was still an eye opening experience. It reminded me time and time again of my respect for people that strive for success using as a driving force the sheer satisfaction of what they do day after day. The show reduced that feeling to the simplest degree that in my opinion made it much more realistic than I originally thought it would be.

This show made me feel as if there’s no greater achievement than finding your place in life and sticking with it because thats what you believe in. As the show conveyed, sometimes being where you want to be may force you to make choices that will ultimately affect every facet of your “personal life.” When you no longer consider artificial boundaries such as a “personal life,” it becomes much more difficult to control a typical modular lifestyle where you can switch in and out the work you do, while being able to live on your “personal life.” Your life and your work become entwined as one experience and adversely affect each other. Distinction becomes faint and others who may not think like you may end up scorning you for your way of being.

If you’re ever interested in a short story about hard work and dedication, complete with the turmoils of romance this is a great show to watch. You might even get to funnel some of the characters’ dedication into your own life, and allow yourself a moment of reflection. Are you a Hataraki Man?

Review: Zettai Shonen (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 2005-05-21 to 2005-11-19
Age rating: ???
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Slice of Life
Animation Production: Asia-Do
Production: Bandai Visual, GENCO, Zettai Shonen Project

Source: Anime News Network

Slice of life can be a very interesting genre when it’s presented well and wrapped around a scenario that augments the best traits of the genre. Some may agree that it’s easily described as storytelling fragments inspired by every day life that form the lives of the characters in any given story. These typical encounters allow for some reasonable balance between fiction and what could be a plausible event in the day of any typical person under certain circumstances. This ties in with Zettai Shonen which heavily bases much of its emphasis and focus on delivering an engrossing slice of life style that steps beyond the bounds in many directions. As a result it ends up portraying a striking blend of supernatural mystery and unexplainable things with the routine events of the lives of regular people.

The story in Zettai Shonen starts off with Aizawa Ayumu, a son of a divorced couple that is offered a mountain bike so that he can stay with his father who lives in a rural town called Tana. Ayumu takes the offer and expects to make use of the bike until he’s satisfied. There must be some differences that have pushed his parents apart but Ayumu doesn’t seem to be phased by it. Ayumu also isn’t entirely new to the town since he used to live there many years ago. As could almost be guessed, Ayumu somehow doesn’t remember key details of his stay in the town that soon become the gateway to a very rich mystery. This is where most of the mystery of the town and the elements within it start to revolve around the story in Zettai Shonen.

The town is not quite all that eventful except for the peculiar yet reasonable actions of its inhabitants. The kids in the town have their own agendas and reasons to skirmish around and because of the small size of the town they usually end up bumping into each other regardless of their intent. Some characters are just strange while others seem to know a lot more than they should about the weird things in the town. Included in the mix are characters from outside of the town adding a bit of complexity to the overall mindset of the individuals involved in the story.

The story carries on until there is a small build up that concludes the arc in the rural town where Ayumu stays for the summer. The second half of the story transfers the setting to the city and new characters and a new viewpoint is presented. It’s not quite entirely different from the experience of the first arc, but it does have its own mood and personalities because of the immediate change of characters and a new mystery.

The mystery that unfolds as the story goes by isn’t exactly Earth-shatteringly complex, but it is deep enough that the deeper you go in the layers of its obscurity you will begin to understand things in sync with the other characters as the story unveils. Zettai Shonen’s mystery is much less about the mystery and it’s eventual solution -or lack thereof- but the passive discovery process it entails. The unknown powers at be do not seem dangerous to any of the characters, so there really isn’t any kind of fear or urgency to retaliate at the mere existence of the creatures.

Putting it simply, the show is a mostly a flat line experience with minor buildups towards some of the darker parts of the story revealing some much needed details. I’d compare it to a very slow bass-line only song that throws in the strings only when it needs to and keeps the frequencies low as possible. This makes it a passive experience with a mood that will either interest you or push you away. The strength of the show lies in keeping that balance and plowing through the slice of life and how the things happening in the places where these characters live adversely affect the regular lives of everyone involved.

Review: Afro Samurai (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 5
Vintage: 2007-01-04 to 2007-02-01 (Canada & USA – Spike TV) 2007-05-03 (Japan)
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Genres: Adventure, Science Fiction
Production: GONZO
Music: RZA
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson as Afro and Ninja Ninja

Source: Anime News Network

This isn’t quite your average anime, so it might be a good idea to describe Afro Samurai by what it’s not. It’s not Samurai Champloo, not even close. There, I said it. If you were vaguely attracted to Afro Samurai by proxy of Samurai Champloo you can forget about associating the two because they are completely different in style, approach, and execution.

Being only 5 episodes long, Afro Samurai ends very quickly but not before throwing a ton of concentrated action at you. With GONZO’s amazing talent, this anime produced for America looks and feels like a real Japanese animation like it should. The addition of Samuel L. Jackson’s voice talent gives the show some personality and helps it deliver a worthwhile experience.

There are some things that really stand out in this anime though. For example, Afro Samurai’s story is severely bare bones, so don’t expect anything to move you in any way. The comparisons to Samurai Champloo will usually neglect this very important fact.

The anime takes place in a fictional feudal Japan where an afro-headed black samurai is the strongest warrior in the world, aptly known as number one. To show his title he wears a headband with number one written on it. After his crowning headband is a gun-wielding-cowboy-esque-rugged guy known as number two, the second best warrior in the world who also wears a headband denoting his rank as number two. In the midst of all the fighting things will be clear. Those who wear the number one headband can only be challenged by number two. Those who wear the number two headband will be constantly in danger as every warrior he or she faces will want to wear the number two headband for the right to face number one.

As you can see, the story is simple and straightforward, so immersion and captivation was probably not on the director’s agenda. The whole thing is simply badass encounter after badass encounter, but in the context of what Afro Samurai is all about this formula works in its favor. In other words, the little bit of story is just enough to deliver on the premise of a black badass samurai fighting his way to the top of the mountain, so to speak.

Afro Samurai will not really make that much sense in terms of artwork, much like its story. Feudal Japan mixed with futuristic technology doesn’t quite feel right in my opinion, but this isn’t the first time GONZO has gone overboard with crazy art. On the plus side, the show animates beautifully, so there’s little reason to complain about the art when it’s in motion.

Since Afro Samurai is produced for America the voice acting is in English. I’ll be honest and say that Samuel L. Jackson as Afro is just awesome, but since Afro is mostly mute or repeats a lot of the same lines it’s almost a waste to cast Samuel L. Jackson. Samuel L. Jackson also voices the very energetic “Ninja Ninja,” the sidekick that can never be absent from a black comedy.

The soundtrack is really good for the most part. The RZA did a good job of giving the show some hip hop influence, but it’s no where near as deep as the stuff in Samurai Champloo. It doesn’t sound bad, but it doesn’t have the same communication of urgency and style that the riffs and beats in Samurai Champloo have.

To summarize, I’d say Afro Samurai is a worthy anime aimed at America with superb Japanese animation talent backing it up. It’s no Champloo, but it’s got its own stuff to strut. If the target audience has never seen anime before, this will surely open up their eyes as to what animation can provide as a form of entertainment. I’ll probably check out the Japanese release if there are any significant changes, but this is one of the few times where the dub is fine in english.

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Review: Initial D: First Stage (TV)

Running time: 25 minutes
Number of episodes: 26
Vintage: 1998-04-18 to 1998-11-28
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shounen, Slice of Life, Sports (Auto Racing)
Animation Production: Studio Gallop

Source: Anime News Network

I’ll be honest right from the outset. Initial D is praised by a lot of people for being a very good anime. That is far from the truth when you consider the major shortcomings that plague Initial D’s storyline. However, even with the terrible story Initial D is the anime that made cars and drifting cool.

The animation in Initial D is mostly cheap 3D car renders that don’t look that great, even for the time when the show first aired. The character designs are terrible, especially what are supposed to be women, which look ugly as hell. The “slice of life” in between the main attraction, the racing, is stale and forgettable. There’s some things to learn about the characters, but it’s all just fluff and not necessarily all that meaningful.

So if Initial D is so terrible why do so many people like it? Well, even though it does a lot of things very poorly it does one thing so well that you tend forgive the shortcomings of everything else while expecting to see some of the best drift racing anime can offer.

Initial D is all about car racing. Not only that, Initial D’s races have an effect on people, whether you’re a car buff or not. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening while the cars are being driven, but of course the animators make it all look so simple. Using heel-toe and clutch throws, changing gears at the precise moment, and steering and counter–steering in and out of corners performing the best high-speed drifts can be really very fun to watch. It’s very much about the skill of the driver and not about how flashy the ricer looks. Drifting is a lot more than showing off a car take on a corner with style, it can truly allow for a fluid high-speed motion through a corner that a grip technique would not be able to catch up with, especially on a downhill race.

In addition to all of the over-the-top drift action, Initial D has yet another layer of immersion — the soundtrack. As stupid as it sounds, cars and the super crazy EUROBEAT genre are the ingredients for making one of the most exciting racing anime you’ll ever see. Even if you’re not into the genre of music, the way the action and the songs are choreographed together alongside the sound effects of skidding tires and roaring engines really gets your heart pumping. By the end of the show you will probably want to start a EUROBEAT collection for your own driving. It’s great concentration music for racing games too.

It’s amazing how this simple mix can produce so many goosebumps and make you restless at every corner. The commentary during the races helps a lot too since it’s always over-the-top and over exaggerated but it flows well and builds anticipation for the next feat. A race that is supposed to last a few minutes may drag on for two or three episodes, but you’re not bored as long as they keep throwing new music and build the tension.

So while the characters unnaturally speak to each other to explain technical details about a race in a way that makes them seem overly condescending, when they do it in the middle of a race with the formula in place for high tension, you’ll get pulled in no matter how corny it is.

When you’re done with Initial D, you’re done with the races pretty much. You won’t remember who or what really happened, heck you may not remember any character’s name, but you sure as hell will remember drifting and EUROBEAT. Initial D’s story is forgettable, but the racing is down right a classic. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone who’s seen Initial D is suddenly a better driver too — or not.

“No one sleep in Tokyo,” “Tokyo is on fire!” “Running in the 90’s,” “Night of Fire,” are just a few of the lines you may get stuck in your head after watching this show. Even if it can be considered a very long music video, this anime delivers all kinds of exciting moments when at the top of its game.

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Review: Great Teacher Onizuka (TV)

Running time: 27 minutes
Number of episodes: 43
Vintage: 1999-06-30 to 2000-09-24
Age rating: Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shounen, Slice of Life
Production: Studio Pierrot, SPE Visual

Source: Anime News Network

Teaching can be a lot more work than just rattling on and causing a room full of 40 people to fall asleep, but only if you make it so. You don’t necessarily need to sugarcoat the description and portray it as a sacred profession, but there’s definitely many ways of interpreting it. However, when you strip away all of the fancy words, it’s still a nine to five job (or rather seven to four) with the added benefit of long paid vacations.

Great Teacher Onizuka is the very manifestation of a special kind of teacher, one that understands the passion in a different way and believes in bonds with the students exemplifying the teacher-student boundaries of respect and mutual need. It’s less about the separation between figures such as a master and his pupils, but instead the relationship between person to person in a given classroom. The classroom is a unit, the teacher is a unit, and together they are yet another unit. There’s certain unwritten rules that keep the two together but also keep them apart. Onizuka basically takes everything that’s important about “street smarts” and puts it in the classroom. The classroom flourishes thanks to his interpretation of what it is to be a teacher that goes beyond a perfect cookie-cutter role model and more like a simple-minded human being susceptible to mistakes just like any other person is.

The first episode is very good at putting you right into the action, which is strange when you consider this is supposed to be about a school teacher. The first few scenes summarize the main character, Onizuka Eikichi, in two very different acts. First one shows his abhorrent perversion for high school girls, as seen when he’s looking up a few girls’ skirts and the other is his badass strength and violent character when he kicks the shit out of two guys that tried to rob him. Then it just hits you, this very person you see doing these lewd and cruel acts is aiming to become the greatest teacher in Japan.

Skipping over the nonsense, you learn right away that Onizuka is finally a student-teacher filling in a temporary position at a private school. He’s assigned a problematic classroom that is full of “low lives,” that make it difficult to teach. Onizuka’s first attempt at taming the class backfired because he’s split between his duty and responsibility as a teacher and his inner rage wanting to kick some disobedient student ass. The classroom turns on him when a group of students and a seemingly innocent high school girl frame him into doing something a teacher should never do. Onizuka just loses his temper and makes their nightmares come true using his background as a gangster. As miraculously as it seems, the students that were once riled up and disobedient became docile and hardworking, contrary to what Onizuka thought would happen.

A special case develops involving the girl that was part of the original set up to force Onizuka to quit his job. Onizuka learns of what’s been bothering her at home and he uses what he knows best to solve the problem. At the end of the short period Onizuka spends at the school as a student-teacher he befriends the most problematic classroom that sees him off in tears, and the girl that he helped offers something special to Onizuka which he correctly describes as “Great!’

The real deal starts after the introductory episode, because as easy as it was for Onizuka to tame a classroom full of dimwit punks and wannabe gangsters, Onizuka faces yet another problematic classroom that has caused all kinds of traumatic experiences for every teacher that has attempted to teach there. The striking difference is that class 3-4 is full of genius scheming middle school students.

You don’t really expect a teacher that can bench-press 150Kg (330lb) to be all that great at teaching social studies, much less able to outwit a classroom full of really smart kids that can do a lot of harm. It may have worked the first time because he fought fire with fire, but now he’s faced with a silent enemy. However, in Onizuka’s crazy and roundabout way he makes them little by little into his friends. The rest of the characters get taken in by Onizuka’s pace and it’ll soon turn into less of a war against the teacher and more about “what stupid shit is Onizuka gonna do today?” As the show progresses characters will change and new characters will be added in to tally up a considerable roster of main characters. It can feel a little predictable as characters “turn over to the dark side,” but there’s always a twist involved that fluffs the experience and makes it worthwhile.

To be honest the show’s main plot isn’t that magnificent but there is a lot to appreciate. Most story bits will reset themselves after being told, making the show less gritty and much more laid back. The way the show is designed I don’t really see it as a bad thing since there’s not much to dwell on once it’s fixed. Basically this means that every episode is self-contained and what may have been the focus point of one episode doesn’t necessarily carry on in the next episode. Some of the situations that are put together are pretty good, others are much less believable, and others are just way out there, but in general the story delivers. GTO is remembered by most of its fans as a very good experience and it certainly was good for its time. I’d honestly say it has legs making it worthwhile to watch by those who missed out.

On the down side, the end of the show happens too quickly and doesn’t really reach any kind of conclusion, thus breaking the overall experience. The anime is supposed to have covered up to volume 14 of the manga, with its own added twists and variations to separate it from the source material. Although GTO is a great show to watch, the end is so lacking that anyone that is truly enamored with the characters and wants a real ending would need to continue reading the manga from volume 15 onwards. Conversely, you might consider starting over from the beginning of the manga and re-digest it all. For some this is fine, but I’m a firm believer in a solid ending for an anime and GTO unfortunately does not have one.

As always with the big successes, even with the rushed ending GTO was popular at the time it came out for many good reasons that I am still able to pick up on and enjoy. There’s very good reasons to be a GTO fan indeed. It’s not going to change your views on teachers or education as a whole, but it’s offbeat enough to carry you through a good deal of crazy school drama coupled with some laughs and smiles all the way through.

Props go to all my previous and future teachers and professors; a few of you did and still do care about more than one’s classroom performance.

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Watching: Hataraki Man (TV)

I currently have: 4
Running time: 23 minutes
Number of episodes: 11
Vintage: 2006-10-12 to 2006-12-21
Age rating: ???
Genres: Slice of Life
Animation Production: GALLOP

Source: Anime News Network

My impressions:

I finally got around to trying out Hataraki Man and so far I’m enjoying it. It doesn’t have anything overwhelmingly awesome, but there’s nothing I can really complain about. It’s basically about how different people deal with balancing work, love, and other facets of life wrapped up in anime style.

The main character is named Matsukata Hiroko, but everyone calls her Hiro. She works for a magazine company and she’s a compulsive worker, putting work ahead of everything and always giving it her full effort. This behavior garnered her the nickname Hataraki Man as it is explained in the anime. There’s more characters to fill the mix such as the assistant, the newbie, the chief, and other employees who specialize in other skills.

So far everything is slice of life with little tidbits of light comedy here and there. For me Hataraki Man is enjoyable because I’ve had the experience of working my ass off and feeling like nobody cared. It’s painful when you only have self gratification as a prize when you worked your ass off, but sometimes that is all you really need if you enjoy it. If the show keeps up the same way I’ll probably finish it.

Review: Berserk (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 25
Vintage: 1997-10-07 to 1998-03-31
Age rating: Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Romance, Shounen, Supernatural
Animation: Oriental Light and Magic
Broadcaster: NTV
Production: Oriental Light and Magic, VAP

Source: Anime News Network

Berserk has a fitting name because it has some crazy characters that just dedicate themselves to killing men in battle. The first episode starts off with a bad-ass swordsman who wields a giant sword. Things get out of control and before you know it you’ll be watching him take out enemies with superb skill. Once you get to the second episode everything changes drastically and you’ll be introduced to this man’s past life and how he got to where he was in the first episode. The show continues telling the past story up until the very end where the big twist is fleshed out.

The swordsman in question is Guts, a badass by nature with the skill and trade of killing men with his sword. His life was burdened by hardships and chaos so he was forced into becoming stronger to survive. He makes a name for himself by defeating countless enemies on the battlefield regardless of the disadvantages he may face.

One day he finds himself in a dangerous situation when a group of men try to kill him and steal the money he had just received as payment for his services as a mercenary. Little did they know they would not be able to take him on. However, the group’s leader, Griffith, defends his men and ends up wounding Guts. He finds Guts’ fighting skill to be useful so he takes him into his custody. The group that Guts encountered is known across the kingdom has the Band of the Hawk. Griffith, leader of the Hawks, impressed by Guts’ talent in combat makes him join his mercenary army after a fierce one on one battle. Guts becomes a comrade and little by little eases his way into the trust of everyone in the group.

Within the Band of the Hawks the members learn to strive together in the hardships of battle. Every victory is pieced together by everyone, but of course the participation of Guts, Caska, Griffith, and a few other high ranking members is crucial. For these men — and woman — who are destined to be low lives with not much of a future, being led by Griffith towards a much greater goal is a gratifying experience. They live and breathe battle because it is their nature, but they are content to fight for the will of their leader.

Griffith is a man that seems to glow with omnipotent power while performing his actions. He is overwhelmed by a desire to obtain it all, henceforth he wants his own kingdom. From the depths of the commoner’s world he wishes to rise up to the peak of success and he is willing to do anything and everything he can to fulfill his dream. Guts, his partner and good friend, is a large part of realizing that obsession and he is able to continue and reach higher and higher because of the support of his subordinates.

Guts has a very striking attribute which is his huge sword, a key aspect of what makes him a badass character. If you’re like me you might be reminded of Cloud’s Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII or Sanosuke’s Zanbatou from Rurouni Kenshin. His sword isn’t as thick as the Buster Sword or the Zanbatou, but it’s still very long and heavy. It ties in well with the skills and finesse of the characters which are a little on the realistic side, although stamina and endurance are grossly exaggerated. Much like other medieval stories, a one hit strike is all it takes to down your opponent. There’s nothing but the speed, strength, and angle of an attack with no exaggerated skill-sets. I’m not disappointed by this type of combat, but some of you may want a bit more names to remember for each attack.

When I consider everything, Berserk does a good job of delivering powerful thought-provoking revelations from the characters. The key characters are driven by personal desires while interacting with each other solely based on those desires. In addition, the battles and tactics in Berserk are fun to watch, but they are not quite as exciting as scenes in more modern anime. However, for such an old show I must applaud the overall effort.

The end of the anime is a huge twist from the rest of the show. It ties into the first episode which you won’t understand when you watch it the first time, but after watching the end you can rewatch the first episode and you’ll understand what’s going on. A little investigation revealed that Berserk was planned as a 26 episode anime, but financial trouble cut it to 25 which is too bad.

Berserk doesn’t win me over for any specific creative aspects, but it’s a good overall combination of violence, romance, and typical tough guy shounen drama. If you watch it and you’re interested in the story you’ll need to find the manga to get the rest of it because the anime cuts off right at a huge turning point. The way it ends is effective enough to stand on its own as a dark event with little to no hope, but I can’t help but feel cheated. It’s still a good adventure show though, and deserves to be watched.

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Review: Sensei no Ojikan – Doki Doki School Hours (TV)

Running time: 24 minutes
Number of episodes: 13
Vintage: 2004-04-04 to 2004-06-27
Age rating: Older Children (May contain mild bad language, bloodless violence)
Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life
Animation Production: J.C. Staff, Studio Guts, Studio Matrix

Source: Anime News Network

There’s no denying that once you start watching Sensei no Ojikan you’ll immediately be reminded of Azumanga Daioh if you’ve seen Azumanga Daioh before. At first I thought everything was just a blatant cash-in by J.C. Staff to reap more profit from Azumanga’s success. However, further investigation showed that Sensei no Ojikan’s 4 panel manga was serialized 2 years before Azumanga’s, so in reality the source material for this show is older than Azumanga’s.

Sensei no Ojikan is a comedy school anime much like the well-known Azumanga Daioh. These two anime share a lot in common beyond coming from the same studio. Some of the gags in Sensei no Ojikan felt like they were pulled straight out of Azumanga (although the truth might be the other way around). The pool jokes, the gaijin jokes, and a few other major parts of Azumanga are found in some remixed form here. I can’t be too negative about Sensei no Ojikan though, because it’s not completely Azumanga-lite. One of the more refreshing aspects that Sensei no Ojikan has over Azumanga is the more prominent role of males. I enjoyed the girl bunch in Azumanga a ton, but the inclusion of an equal amount of guys with differing personalities allows Sensei no Ojikan to create situations that were not possible in Azumanga.

Every character in Sensei no Ojikan fills a particular personality. On the girls’ side we have the main character, Mika-sensei (Suzuki Mika) who is a 27 year old woman that looks like an elementary school student. She still lives with her parents and her father spoils her like the child she looks like. There’s no doubt you’ll be reminded of Chiyo from Azumanga who’s equally as cute and short. There’s also Tominaga Miko, a stuck-up rich girl who is part of the cooking club. She likes to say things as they are without any consideration for anyone’s feelings. There’s also Kobayashi Akane who is very lazy but likes to buy expensive stuff and also worries too much about her appearance. She’s has a bit of similarities with Tomo from Azumanga, including her appearance. Then comes Nagare Shizuka, also called iincho. As class president she has a bit more brains than the rest, but has an obsession with a certain pop idol. This obsession and her “megane” look makes her resemble Yomi from Azumanga. Finally, there’s Kitagawa Rio who adores Mika-sensei too much. She doesn’t like boys at all and instead gets off cute tiny girls like Mika-sensei. I’d go as far as say she’s a twisted version of Sakaki from Azumanga. They are both tall and good looking in the eyes of their peers, but unlike Sakaki who is incredibly shy about liking cute things, Rio is the complete opposite and embraces cute things openly. There’s a few more girls but those are the main ones.

The guys are a more original set of characters. There’s Suetake Kenta who is admittedly dumb and loves sports, Kudo Yuichi who’s openly gay and is in love with Suetake, Sei Jyoji a super feminine guy who loves himself more than anyone and also seeking a girlfriend, Wantabe Takumi, president of the manga club and a hardcore otaku, and Nakamura Gen, a student that looks like a 40 year old man whom everyone calls “Oyaji” meaning “Old man.” The homo erotic jokes between the guys are frequent because of this set up, and surprisingly are some of the more daring and funny bits of the show. Nosebleeds and everything are included. However, even with a diverse mix of both male and female characters, Sensei no Ojikan just can’t match Azumanga’s level of attraction. Even with less characters, Azumanga carries on for 26 episodes full of funny situations. Azumanga is also a much more personal experience. It has less characters, so you learn more about each one and tend to care about them more. It’s a great relationship to have with anime. Sensei no Ojikan, on the other hand, uses the same mold over and over and drags the same gags to death. There’s only so many times you can see Mika-sensei jump for sweets because she’s too short or Rio setting Mika up to cry, and the list goes on. There’s plenty of remixed content that really hurts the experience.

There’s no doubt Sensei no Ojikan suffers from high expectations when Azumanga is upheld as a staple in comedy anime. The show never quite equals Azumanga at any single point in time. However, there is some original and funny stuff to be found that it might be worth your time if you want Azumanga-style comedy. It’s less refined and its pacing is all over the place, but it ultimately delivers an acceptable level of comedy fun that can be watched at least once and enjoyed. Anyone who’s never seen Azumanga Daioh might actually have a better time than those of us who have.

Review: Kamisama Kazoku (TV)

Running time: half hour
Number of episodes: 13
Vintage: 2006-05-18
Age rating: ???
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Animation Production: Toei Animation

Source: Anime News Network

Kamisama Kazoku or God’s Girlfriend, is exactly what you make of it based on its name alone. It stars Samatarou, the son of God who is the lucky guy with whom Tenko is in love. Tenko is an angel sent from Heaven to look over and protect Samatarou in the real world.

The basic premise to this entire show is that God and his family have settled on Earth in order for Samatarou to live a normal human life. The whole idea is for Samtarau to learn how humans behave and interact so that he can have the experience he needs to become God after his father steps down. His mother is a Goddess and so are his two sisters, and they help out from time to time. Tenko lives under the same roof as Samatarou, and although they are very close, Samatarou looks at Tenko as just another sister in the house.

One day a new girl arrives at school and Samatarou falls in love for the first time. Now that he’s on Earth he is completely human so it just happened by chance. This is when Tenko realizes she isn’t going to have Samatarou all for herself and things get a little out of hand. Tenko ends up in a turmoil when Kumiko, the new girl, ends up hanging out with Samatarou and Tenko feels alienated. From here on end the story starts revolving around the slow build up of romance between these characters.

This show is definitely funny, and I’m sure you’ll laugh at least once or twice, but most of the show carries itself with the heartwarming romance that will develop between the main characters. One of the more original aspects of the show is Tenko’s jealously. She gets jealous very easily and they visualize it extremely well with steam bursting out from her head like a tea kettle with boiling water. I really liked that little touch. It helps balance the comedic nature of the jealously with a very subdued yet mature tone.

There are two very different arcs in the anime that don’t really explain how they interconnect very well, but they are individually quite well performed. This in essence makes Kamisama Kazoku have two different endings, although you might not notice it at first. The first “ending” was very touching, while the second actual ending of the show was less of a compelling experience, but it was worth watching nonetheless.

The show paces itself well, especially since it encapsulates two separate story arcs in a very entertaining fashion in only 13 episodes, so you won’t really run into a dull moment. For a very quick and entertaining romance show this is surely worth trying.