Weekly Digest: 11/15/12 – Magi, Kamisama Hajimemashita

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[Anime-Koi]_Kami-sama_Hajimemashita_-_07_[3A28D499].mkv_snapshot_21.07_[2012.11.15_20.42.38]

These are certainly two interesting series, though the one with only one cour to work with is revealing its charms with considerably more urgency than the one that figures to be a fixture for a while.

Magi – 06

Another perfectly competent and well-produced edition of Magi this week, though I confess it didn’t grab me as much as the last couple of episodes did. I see a bit more of the Kawahara breed of villain in here than I’m comfortable with – every mini-arc thus far has featured a villain of cartoonishly exaggerated evilness – slavers and racists and mustache-twirlers of the highest order. It’s certainly true that in the pre-industrial world such evil was pretty commonplace, and this is a shounen – but shounen don’t have to fall back on that kind of manipulation when it comes to villains. Frankly, anti-heroes are a lot more interesting than villains anyway.

What’s redeeming Magi so far is that while the villains are straight out of Hanna-Barbara, the heroes are substantially more interesting. Alibaba comes off as a pretty straightforward shounen action hero, but Morgiana and especially Aladdin are another matter. Aladdin had ample opportunity to showcase what makes him interesting – the fact that his nature is effectively alien – over the last two weeks, especially in episode 5. It was Morgiana’s turn to take center stage this time, and her story is neither especially original or especially riveting, but it does a good job of establishing her as another one of the good guys who’s not someone to be trifled with – an angry person (with good reason) with the power to act on her anger with extreme prejudice.

For me, then, I suppose the best I can say is the jury is still out on Magi even after the three-episode rule has looped itself. I like the leads, especially Aladdin, and I like the highly stylized Arabian Nights setting as brought off by A-1 Pictures. Plus, this is a long-running shounen that I expect to be a long-running anime, and almost without exception is takes a good while for those kinds of series to really show their stuff.

Kamisama Hajimemashita – 07

A couple of days ago I was walking to Shibuya Station when I realized that without my conscious mind being aware of it, the OP from Kamisama Hajimemashita had been playing on the station’s PA system for a couple of minutes. I looked around and couldn’t find any reason why – it was just one of those random moments that make Japan a surreal place to live if you love anime.

I can say with some confidence that no Fall show makes me laugh so often solely with facial expressions as this one does. Of course that can only take you so far and the show would wear out its welcome pretty quickly if that were all it had going for it – thankfully it’s not, by a long shot – but it’s not something to be dismissed too easily, either. Getting laughter without dialogue is an art rarely mastered these days and this show has it down. That the faces are so much fun to look at makes the characters that much more appealing as a whole – it’s just human nature to feel that way.

The latest to really make a stamp on the series is Nekota Ami (Satou Satomi). She’s been around off and on since the second episode, but it’s only in the last couple that she’s really come into her own comedically. Ami has gotten some big laughs the last couple of weeks with her utter cluelessness, ichigo panties, clumsiness and naivete – not to mention a veritable catalog of expressions – and it’s her unrequited love of Kurama (who I think probably leads in laughs per minute of screen time) that inspires most of the comedy this week. Human-youkai romance is very much the order of the day, as the second half of the episode takes a rather more serious turn when Nanami confesses her love to Tomoe.

This is a shoujo, so the overt romantic plot had to turn up sooner or later. It remains to be seen how the genie having been let out of the bottle will change the dynamic of the series, but early returns are favorable – while certainly darker than anything that came before it, I thought the scenes between Nanami and Tomoe were rather good on the whole, depicting the difference in experience and sophistication between the two of them in rather stark terms. There are reasons why this sort of romance is a dangerous one, and we’ve already seen enough of Tomoe’s back story to realize he can be a very dangerous being (though I’m sure there’s more to come).

11 comments

Karmafan

November 15, 2012 at 3:23 pm

Both these series are a couple of my favorites of new animes this season (along with Girls Und Panzar, Chuunibou, and Sakurasou). I look forward to those each week.

I don't have a problem with moustache twirling villians as long as they get theirs in the end.

btw… the Strike Witches movie is out this week and its good. Glad to see the witches back!

Doddle God

November 15, 2012 at 10:41 pm

Hey Enzo, so what's with this Japanese fascination on cats, but relatively no love on dogs??? All those million hit youtube cat videos like that box sliding cat or Christmas carol singing cats or anything except that surprised kitten thing? From Japan. Dog videos like that Pomeranian Boo or bulldog skateboard? From USA, of course!

Or what about Japan having no dog café, but ONLY cat café??? Excuse me, what about people who wants to pat small toy dogs? They don't exist in Japan? Last time I checked small toy dogs are about the same size as those cats, so not be able to have pets in small apartment apply to them dogs, too!! And I'd think as dogs are generally more needy and friendly, dog café will at least give you a better chance of getting your money worth than them uninterested sleeping cats (I mean I don't know I've never been to one, but that's what I hear).

What about this never-ending fascination of cat ear thing in Japanese anime ( yep, now you know what inspired me to bring up this rant). Or that on a few times dogs get portrayed in anime, half of them are not in a good light; cats, on the other hand, overwhelmingly positive portrayals. Yeah, yeah, I get that historically they've had this cat god = good luck thing whereas in western culture black cat=macabre and sensitive general Americans can't take when cats acting all aloof and independent. And… And… well, I don't have much else to rant about anymore, so… just finding strange this "relative" lack of love for dogs in Japan. The end~~~.

admin

November 16, 2012 at 12:00 am

Well, a few thoughts.

1. Cats are superior to dogs in all respects. Self-evident.
2. There are lots of inu in Japan, and Japanese who love them. I've seen more dress-ups of dogs here than I ever did in the States (not that this is a good thing).
3. Plenty of anime and manga about dogs.
4. Dog cafes would fundamentally be much more labor-intensive. Dogs can't be indoors all day – you'd have to pay people to walk them, clean up their business outside, etc. Plus anything larger than a toy poodle is going to need more space than a café can provide.
5. Japan, by national character, is simply more fond of cats than dogs. I don't know why – perhaps there's some deep anthropological reason – but that's just the way it is.

Anonymous

November 16, 2012 at 12:21 am

Your first point is incorrect. Dogs are generally more intelligent than cats due to higher sociability.

admin

November 16, 2012 at 12:24 am

Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn

Anonymous

November 16, 2012 at 3:04 am

Ah well. Ignorance is bliss?

Lotor IV

November 16, 2012 at 3:31 am

"1. Cats are superior to dogs in all respects. Self-evident."

There's nothing objective about that at all.

Beckett

November 16, 2012 at 7:49 am

Excellent statement of facts, Enzo. Cats are obviously superior to dogs. Anyone who says otherwise is PROBABLY a communist, just sayin'.

Anonymous

November 16, 2012 at 1:13 pm

Another one of Enzo's loyal mongrels.

Anonymous

November 16, 2012 at 1:49 pm

Hybridisation is progress and being under such firm yet kind master is bliss, oh dear anon slanderer.

Happily,

a mongrel.

P.S.:
Meow <3

KoroshiyaKi

November 16, 2012 at 7:12 am

" Plus, this is a long-running shounen that I expect to be a long-running anime, and almost without exception is takes a good while for those kinds of series to really show their stuff."

If they want this to be a long running anime they should be taking this slower considering they are blasting through the content (leaving some of the little details which add additional flavor behind).

Weekly Digest: 11/15/12 – Magi, Kamisama Hajimemashita

Guardian Enzo

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