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Events continue to barrel along at a breakneck pace, but my suspicion is now that “that” has happened, things are going to slow down quite a bit – and we’re going to find out just how good a series Area no Kishi is. Or isn’t.
There are a lot of different ways an event like the death of a major character can be played, and in general I thought Suguru’s passing was handled pretty well. Considering the magnitude of the event – not just one of the premier figures of the first two episodes but a child at that has died under horrible circumstances – I think the understated tone Hirofumi-sensei and Shin-Ei chose was the right one. The emotions of the family were shown, but not lingered on. Most of what happened was off-screen, and we – like the characters – reacted to the news of it rather than the sight of it. Indeed, we never even saw Suguru after the accident – only what he left behind, physically and emotionally.
Probably the most interesting moments during the hospital sequences were those which featured the clinical psychiatrist Mine Ayaka (Ohara Sayaka). She’s the one who eventually tells Kakeru what we already know – that Suguru has died in the accident. Naturally he takes this hard, but I’ll have to check with my clinical psychologist Dad to find out whether slapping a juvenile patient who’s just had heart surgery is normal procedure. I suspect we haven’t seen the last of her though Kakeru has physically recovered (more on that in a minute). The other compelling element of the first part was the way it was cut through with flashbacks from the time before Seven moved away, where Kakeru was actually converting the passes from young Suguru (Kumai Motoko, young Goro from Major) and playing a two-forward formation with Nana. It was Kakeru who gave Seven her nickname – as indeed I suspect he’s given her new one, “Grey”.
Of course, it’s what happens now that Suguru is gone that really matters, both in terms of the characters and whether or not this series is going to work as an anime. It turns out that Kakeru’s heart was pierced by one of the steel rods from the truck that hit the boys, and it’s only because Suguru suffered a fatal brain injury in the accident that Kakeru received his heart, and lived. Kakeru doesn’t know this yet, and Mine-sensei is advising his parents (Tahara Aruno and Sakuma Rei) to keep the information from him. Problem is that Nana does know, having overheard their conversation, and Kakeru – having followed through on his plan to quit the soccer club – is displaying some odd behavior. That’s a very Adachi-like conceit, and we’ll see if Kibayashi-sensei is a good enough writer (and this is a good enough adaptation) to pull it off.
On that, I would say early returns are inconclusive, though trending positive. As I said, I think the events were handled rather well for the most part, and if the central conceit is somewhat oversentimental, there’s a fair amount of genuine cleverness to it and it could really work. But there were moments in the episode that didn’t work so well, including a scene near the end (which I’m led to believe was anime-original) where Kakeru uses his now apparently super-senses to detect an impending accident involving a little girl and her dog, and kicks a soccer ball in a gravity-defying arc to warn off the driver of an oncoming car. This felt genuinely odd and fairly preposterous, as did the follow-up shots of Kakeru with a distinctly “Suguru-like” angry-determined face and profile. I think the notion of seeing what the younger brother does with the older brother’s heart is an interesting one, but it needs to be played with – forgive me – Adachi-like subtlety, not the in-your-face bluntness of the episode’s conclusion. As I said, inconclusive – though I enjoyed most of the episode and I still think this has a good chance to be an emotionally powerful series.
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belatkuro
January 21, 2012 at 6:47 amSomething felt a bit off with this episode. I didn't quite feel the emotion that I'm suppose to feel here. The switching to the flashback to the present time didn't quite work for me.
I liked that part when the doctor said that who was the one who responded when Seven entered the room. And I kinda liked that last part even though it felt exaggerated.
Overall it was good but I kinda expected better from this episode. Hopefully the next episode has a lot more impact with Suguru's diary and all that.
Still one of my favorite shows this season 🙂
admin
January 21, 2012 at 7:14 amHeh, sounds as if we had exactly opposite favorite and least favorite parts of the ep…
I like this – just trying hard not to compare it to Adachi too much. That's just too high a standard to hold anyone to.
belatkuro
January 21, 2012 at 8:58 amAt least we still liked the episode 🙂
And I still dont know if me not having read or watched any Adachi works is a good or bad thing while going into this show. It saves me from the comparisons to them but at the same time I'm missing out on some great works.
I still like how this show goes and that's what's important I guess.
abandonedfactory
January 21, 2012 at 5:06 pmWell, I don't know if finding out the final scene was anime original is a good or bad thing. It can be good because that means the material is not all going to be like that, but it is also bad because it shows lack of sensitivity to the material by those adapting it for television.
ELX
January 22, 2012 at 1:44 amI'm on the fence, I really wasn't sure how I'd like Area no Kishi, watched it … and then instantly became emotionally invested in Suguru's drive and his bond with his brother – though the dude could use some help in the proper communication arena lol. Despite him being my favourite, I saw the death flags waving early so I was fairly ready for this … but when the time came it felt shallow for me. As though the incredible weight of losing a sibling, a friend and a child was just glossed over.
All of those physical comparisons to Suguru, that gravity defying spidey senses kick at the end :rollseyes: and even the hospital psychiatrist's completely implausible and insensitive behavior, didn't sit well. Inserting mediocre comedy – though I'm not sure they were even trying to be funny – into straight drama is actually a pet peeve of mine in anime. The combination of comedy/drama is amazing when done by exceptionally talented writers (Steins;Gate!) But it doesn't look like that's the case here. This is probably a drop for me, but I'm definitely going to watch next week, just because I need some closure on poor Suguru!
totoum
January 22, 2012 at 4:58 pmThe last anime original scene seemed a bit adachi-esque to me just not as well done.
I mean Adachi can have a scene where a robery is stopped with the throw of a baseball.
The difference is that I think in an Adachi story the girl would have been saved another way just as Kakeru was getting ready to kick the ball.
I even wonder if Adachi wouldn't have kept the audience in the dark about the heart transplent and only give hints progressively before revealing it much later.
The female lead doesn't do much for me either,despite how much I want to like her.
Maybe I'm being too hard on this show
Stöt
January 22, 2012 at 11:14 pmWell. I was going to write something here, but then I realised ELX wrote everything I wanted to say. . The ambiguous next episode title "last pass" has a third meaning here, If I don't recieve it well – I'll drop it forever.
Also, did the quality of the art drop this episode?