OP: “Massara” by KANA-BOON
I’ve ground my gears on this for a bit, and there’s just no way that I can do anything resembling a normal post on that. It was, as they say in French cycling, hors catégorie. That’s pretty much a given with Ikuhara Kunihiko, of course – whether they’re his good or bad series, they’re always a confusing blur a lot of the time. Ikuhara is a kind of living subconscious, spewing out chain-of-consciousness imagery and dialogue that becomes the anime equivalent of a Rorschach test. But he has more talent in his little finger than most directors have in their entire body.
In the final analysis, of course, that’s what’s so frustrating about Ikuhara. Sarazamai is sort of the opposite of Carole & Tuesday and Ikuhara of Watanabe Shinichirou. C & T is a two-cour show you can be patient with, which you know will be a gradual build and reflect Watanabe’s meticulous narrative construction skills. Sarazanmai is probably too short (11 episodes), because even with twice that many or more Ikuhara never seems to complete a thought. Too many distractions and diversions crop up along the way, and leave you unfulfilled when it’s all over. In his best work – like Mawaru Penguin Drum – there’s so much good content that it’s worth it. When he misses – as he did with Yuri Kuma Arashi, an absolute disaster of a series which makes Zankyou no Terror look like Citizen Kane – you’re angry he’s so wasteful with his own genius.
The $64,000 question, then, is where Sarazanmai is going to fall on that scale. Of course I don’t know, and anyone who claims they do is either a fool or a liar (or both). You can’t make assumptions about an Ikuhara series after one episode, but I will say that was easily the most mind-blowing premiere of the season. You could never have mistaken it to be the work of anyone else, and while that’s not always a good thing with Ikuhara, it is here. It’s a mess, it’s confusing, it’s drowning in its own excess, but damn – it sure is exhilarating to watch.
Do I ever bother to try and describe the story? Three boys in middle school, all living in Asakusa. Yasaka Kazuki (Murase Ayumu) secretly dresses up as an idol named Azuma Sara (Teiko) and takes selfies. Kuji Toi (Uchiyama Kouki) breaks into cars and avoids the cops. Jinnouchi Enta (Horie Shun) loves soccer and, just maybe, Kazuki. After Kazuki accidentally catches Toi in the act in a selfie, the latter breaks a kappa statue while attacking him (not realizing it’s the same person but recognizing his cellphone strap), and unleashes the kappa prince Keppi (Suwabe Junichi). And after Toi refers to Keppi as a giant frog, all Ikuhara breaks loose.
The rest of it, well… I don’t know if that’s even worth the bother at this point. As anyone who’s soldiered through an entire Ikuhara series knows, he absolutely loves symbolism and metaphor, and very little that happens will ever be intended to be taken at face value. For the record the shirikodama thing is right out of kappa mythology, Ikuhara just found it handy. The whole “desires in a box” idea seems straightforward enough, but who knows? I mean, if you picked any three 14 year-old boys at random I think it’s a pretty safe bet they’d be desperate to keep the contents of such a box from leaking out…
What matters more than anything at this stage, I suppose, is that for me the episode flew by and my eyes were pretty much glued to the screen. Why does the idol say “dish” at the end of every sentence in English when the Japanese word for it is in the title (and in her name)? It’s Ikuhara. Zombie kappa? It’s Ikuhara. In a way the relentless creative energy blazing like a solar flare for 22 minutes reminded me a bit of the premiere of Tsuritama – another Uchiyama Kouki NoitaminA series by an A-list director with a mixed track record. And there may be something of the same unlikely male bonding and deconstruction of the teenage boy psyche that Tsuritama had in Sarazanmai, too. There were definitely moments where I thought “this is a bit like a seriously whack Tsuritama” during this episode – though to be sure, I have zero expectations that Saranzamai is going to be close to that level.
In the end, you just have to wing it and accept whatever happens. Ikuhara will never satisfy you in a traditional way – he’ll lose the plot, he’ll drown in his own fetishism, he’ll waste time on irritating subplots. It’s who he is. But I’ve had a vibe since the first previews that Sarazanmai was going to be the Jekyll Ikuhara rather than the Hyde – the one who makes you feel it was all worth it, even with all the frustrations along the way. And certainly this premiere did nothing to shake that belief – it was stunning in its bizarre, scattershot way, right down to the OP end ED. The bar with Ikuhara is lower in some ways because he gives you pure, singular vision – you know you’ll get nothing else like it anywhere on the schedule. He still manages not to clear that bar a lot of the time, but with Sarazanmai my gut says he’s going to.
ED: “Stand By Me” by The Peggies
JJ
April 12, 2019 at 11:39 pmTsuritama this is definitely not. But if it’s half as coherent as that series and maintains this level of bombast (which for me, was Yuri Kuma Arashi’s downfall – it got old fast) I’ll stick around.
animealex
April 12, 2019 at 11:53 pmWell, this looks to be a wild ride. I would like to comment on the symbolism, which seems to be quite easy to understand when you peel all the WTF-ness and grossness away, but damn, that is a lot to peel away (or to ignore). I mean, when I heard about the series I read some stuff about Kappas, but seeing that stuff (and new additions like the “rebirths”) in action was something else.
You’re not the only one to draw comparisons to Tsuritama, but my first comparison was Bakemonogatari with all the seemingly unconnected stuff happening to two of the leads, after they broke the statue. But I hope it goes more in the direction of Tsuritama. Well, whatever happens, it will be a fun series to watch (and read your thoughts on)!
Random thought: Apparently the two cops have a prequel manga.
Guardian Enzo
April 13, 2019 at 12:21 amIf I were to say I hope it goes more like Tsuritama than B************i, that would be the understatement of the decade. It would be hard to imagine two shows about which I feel more strongly in opposition.
I’m interested to see where it goes with the motivations for the boys – why exactly does Kazuki cosplay as the idol? Does Enta have feelings for him beyond friendship? I suppose that could be seen as taking the Tsuritama path, but Ikuhara can write complex characters – that’s not the problem. The problem is his lack of focus and tendency towards extreme self-indulgence.
leongsh
April 13, 2019 at 12:51 amThe visuals and antics were distracting me from the message of this first episode on the first watch. After the second watch of this episode, I figure it’s about their deepest secrets/desires being shared via the Sarazanmai act and this probably build on their need to work together whilst knowing each deepest secrets/desires, acceptance and looking past that to connect.
The visuals and antics were trying to one up each other – from the song-and-dance they performed in facing up to the box zombie, to the extraction of the shirikodama from the box zombie, to the coordinated choreographed-dance-and-surf in the nude of the Sarazanmai. Distracting but definitely a mind trip. Ikuhara is going to mind-break the animation team and us with his wild imaginations.
hgfdsahjkl
April 13, 2019 at 5:26 amif I have to pick a director for a new FlCL,it should be this guy
Guardian Enzo
April 13, 2019 at 9:45 amMatsumoto Rie, no question in my mind.
TheYepMan
April 13, 2019 at 6:58 amI… disagree. I *do* think this is gonna be another Yuri Kuma Arashi.
I do think this is Ikuhara not going all the way – everything is there (heady interpersonal drama, sexuality, architecture and cityscaping, cute super deformed critters, taking anime tropes to their extremes) but at levels you can still consider acceptable… for now. But yes, the thing with Ikuhara is that eventually the girl will turn into a car and you won’t be able to tell up from down.
But that sort of comes with the territory of following anime/manga creators with a bold style and strong artistic vision (CLAMP…) – restraint will be out of the window from the get go, and restraint is a very, very crucial part of creative work. You need to both know when to go ham and when to tread lightly, and Ikuhara does not tread lightly.
It’s sad, because I love his visual style, and would love to see more work with his visual style, but what happens when you don’t let Ikuhara loose? He’ll leave your project to make his own thing, and later remake that thing but bolder – girls turning into cars and all. Such a shame.
TheYepMan
April 13, 2019 at 7:02 amIf it’s not obvious by that post: I still can’t recover from the fucking Utena movie, after aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall this time.
no_name
April 13, 2019 at 5:57 pmReally? You’re small time.
hgfdsahjkl
April 13, 2019 at 7:51 pmthat too,I have to agree
Okuni
April 13, 2019 at 11:30 amOh, for heaven’s sake, put your hands over your eyes and peek through your fingers like the rest of us.
Rita
April 14, 2019 at 9:01 amI was drinking milk when I read this and now I’m cleaning up milk off my keyboard because I choked laughing.
That being said, 100% watching through my fingers with everyone else
Rita
April 14, 2019 at 1:16 pmMy main reaction at the end of the episode was simply, “I have so many questions”. I think I had a lot of questions at the end of Mawaru Penguindrum as well, but I get the distinct feeling I had MORE at the end of Sarazanmai.
But in the end, as you said, trying to understand an Ikuhara show after the entire series is a tall challenge, much less one episode. So it boiled down to if I had fun with it (because my normal question of “is it interesting” I ask for most anime series to determine if I keep going is kind of a moot point with any of his series) and ultimately, yeah. So onwards and upwards (or probably onwards and several loop de loops into twists and dives)
Guardian Enzo
April 14, 2019 at 2:11 pmApparently the buzz on this one is “you can sort of figure it out after Episode 4”.
FabulousMax
April 14, 2019 at 9:58 pmOr simply fail too
Ronbb
April 15, 2019 at 2:06 pmHmmm….call me slow, but I have trouble joining Ikuhara-sensei’s elite club. Not that I don’t like symbolism or metaphor, but the visuals were distracting — and at times disgusting. It’s as if I’m reminded again that I’m not smart enough, or Ikuhara-sensei has no interest in those who are not at his level. Not that I’m unaware of what we’re getting into — and an Ikuhara’s show can be a fun watch — I’m worried that I may not have the patience to play along after a long day at work. I will still stick around and see how long I survive.
Guardian Enzo
April 15, 2019 at 2:57 pmYes, it was disgusting at times, unnecessarily so. Unfortunately I think that’s all just part of the Ikuhara routine – he seems to need to push people away at the same time he’s trying to win over those he deems pure enough to understand him.
Ronbb
April 16, 2019 at 10:13 amMaybe he’s a real artist — in a good way — that he’s so focused on his craft than making a connection. Whether or not I can eventually understand, I will for sure check out your reviews, if you choose to blog…I just want to learn :).
Guardian Enzo
April 16, 2019 at 1:28 pmWell honestly, I wouldn’t toot my own horn if it’s learning you want. I’ll take a stab in the dark at Ikuhara’s relentless metaphors, but if MPD taught me anything about blogging him it’s that one can go crazy trying to keep up with Ikuhara. Truthfully I suspect he doesn’t know what half the symbolism means himself, he just rolls with it.
I can honestly say, based on the premiere, that it will be a major disappointment to me if I end up dropping Sarazanmai. Ikuhara is such a unicorn that you really want him to hold it together well enough to stay watchable, and this was a good premiere.
Ronbb
April 16, 2019 at 1:33 pmWell, this may be both a joy and a challenge to a blogger :).