Boku Dake ga Inai Machi and NoitaminA? I think I just plotzed.
There are certain anime announcements that just leave me with a silly grin for hours, and this is one of them. It’s not quite Otoyomegatari or Sangatsu no Lion (or a full Rurouni Kenshin reboot – hey, may as well dream big), but it’s pretty close.
I’d actually been thinking of doing a post on Sanbe Kei’s seinen manga for a while (I even considered blogging it, but I just don’t have the heart to take up another manga with irregular translations). I picked it up after having one of the covers catch my eye at Maruzen, and I’ve been hooked ever since. It’s smart, funny, ruthless, and beautifully plotted, and has an exceptionally distinctive art style.
Boku Dake ga Inai Machi is the story of a young Hokkaido man named Fujinuma Satoru, a struggling manga artist in his late 20’s who makes ends meet delivering pizzas. The series starts out interestingly enough that it could be engaging strictly as a story of ennui among Fujinuma’s generation in modern Japan, but the twist is soon revealed and things really explode – he has a supernatural ability that forces him to get involved in the tragedies of others (I advise you not to read the synopses that are way more specific – you should really read it yourself and be surprised).
As for the anime, it’s going to air on the NoitaminA block in Winter 2016. A-1 Pictures is producing, with Ito Tomohiko (Gin no Saji, Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin) directing. Kishimoto Taku is adapting, and he’s proved highly adept at doing so not just with Silver Spoon, but Usagi Drop and Haikyuu!!. The manga has only five volumes currently, but this is obviously not going to be a complete adaptation – we’re likely looking at one cour – since Sanbe-sensei has given no indication whatsoever that he’s anywhere close to the endgame.
Should you read the manga, or wait? That’s always a tough call (you’ll be reading it after the anime ends anyway), but if you do, I think you’ll agree with me that in addition to being an outstanding series (it’s already been nominated both for the Tezuka Cultural Prize and the Manga Taishou), Boku Dake ga Inai Machi is an exceptionally telegenic manga that seems perfectly suited for anime. It’s great to see NoitaminA once again producing the sort of edgy, mature material that would struggle to get an airing anywhere else – whether it marks the beginning of a renaissance or a last gasp I don’t know, but either way I’m thrilled this gem is going to become an anime.
Antony Shepherd
June 19, 2015 at 9:59 amOk, I'd not heard of this one but from your description of the story I'll be eagerly awaiting it!
These days any show where the main character(s) is/are grown-ups is something to be cherished.
Earthling Zing
June 19, 2015 at 1:37 pmHavent read the manga, but its looks like Noitamina has been returning to its roots since it switched to one series per season.
John Hunt
June 19, 2015 at 7:00 pmI'd be more interested if this wasn't by A-1 Pictures whose shows I've found intolerable since Shin Sekai Yori wrapped up in 2011 including the ones the internet claims are supposed to be good like Your Lie in April. I just seem them focusing on sappy melodrama and the angst of the characters and or finding a way to make anything that's potentially interesting about this manga boring and cliche in the scene transition. I don't think I could possibly handle another show whose sole goal is to try to get me to cry or feel bad watching it, I'd much rather a noitaminA series like Ping Pong or maybe something a little more off the beaten path though I supposed it's better than the other A-1 Pictures trash that's aired on the block since they apparently took sole ownership of it like the absolutely wretched Saekano.
IMO noitaminA never truly returns to it's roots until it can shrug off it's apparent monopolization by Aniplex and associates and their seemingly never ending quest for the next AnoHana. It's just been a steady downhill slide ever since they've tried to turn it into a commercially viable block instead of what was intended where you basically get two kinds of shows. The sappy melodramatic coming of age story that's pulling out all the stops to try to get the viewer to cry or the meta comedy otaku centric that's all over the place thematically in trying to have it's cake and eat it too. Back during the early days of noitaminA you also had other studios and creative types throwing their creations into the pool like J.C Staff, Madhouse, Toei, Bones, TMS, I.G and Brains Base. Now it's just a steady rotation of mostly A-1 Pictures who were a late arrival to the block with the abysmal Fractale and sometimes Mappa and Tatsunoko, but really mostly A-1. Bones hasn't touched the block since 2011, the others since the previous decade.
Sassafras
June 19, 2015 at 10:27 pmSeeing this announced was seriously entirely a session of silly grinning. It's really just a joy to see something you enjoy reading become an anime. Even more so when it's something like this, something I didn't honestly have expectations for ever really happening. This is sweet. This can potentially be so sweet.