I have a draft going for the Bureaucrat isekai, but since the next episode airs tomorrow, I might as well just hold off on it until I see what happens next. So instead, I guess I’ll briefly ramble about what I’ve watched over the past year.
Forgettable power fantasies
It’s no secret that the isekai genre is immensely popular, and as a result, they also tend to get dubbed. Sadly, when I’m gaming, I don’t have the ability to appreciate a good story, i.e read subs and also explore a dungeon in a JRPG. It’s why some Netflix shows are the way that they are. The giant streaming service realizes that people tend to just listen to their shows; users are treating shows like audiobooks. You just want some noise in the background while you’re doing what you really want to do. For me, it’s gaming. For others, it might be doomscrolling. Either way, there’s a trend towards crafting stories that aren’t too complicated lest the “viewing” audience lose track of the story.
Sadly, I kinda treat these anime power fantasies the same way. They are popular, so they’re consistently dubbed. But at the same time, the stories in these show never gets too complicated.
Boy hero is overpowered, boy hero saves girl, saves another girl, saves another girl, saves another girl… and yeah. So it just goes in one ear and out the other. I don’t retain any of it. I’ve “seen” Arifureta, Seirei Gensouki, Eminence in Shadow, Reincarnation of the Strong X where X can be anything like exorcist, Reincarnated as the 27th or whatever Prince, blah blah blah. It’s all the same.
“Actually, X has a really deep plot and–“
Sure. And it doesn’t have to be an isekai either. As long as the hero is incredibly OP, it feels like the plot always plays out the same way, always the same interpersonal drama. Like I can’t really tell you how the banished former hero is any different from the banished healer or the banished a-rank hero. They always don’t appreciate him, but it turns out he was actually doing all of the dirty work nobody else was doing, and then the party can’t function without him, but nobody learns their lessons, and in fact a pathetic guy is actually super jealous and maybe he’ll try to rape one of the hero’s love interests. That last part is optional, but everything else is required. It’s totally me fr fr. I’m so underappreciated! Look, I love a good quitting story — a compelling stick it to the man story. But these ain’t it.
The slice of life romance can be forgettable too
They’re like donuts; they’re sugary sweet in the moment, but they won’t sate your appetite. You’ll definitely get hungry later. Shows like this are Hokkaido Girls, 365 Days to the Wedding, Pseudo Harem, etc. The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten initially felt kinda novel because the two characters are into each other immediately. But then it’s just that the rest of the way.
The first decent show of a genre kinda spoils the rest
I think I’ve only really enjoyed one villainess series: Tearmoon Empire. Then I tried to watch more, but like most genres, they’re just all variations of the same themes and characters. I’ll discuss this a bit later about shounens, but it’s the same idea. It’s not that I think Tearmoon Empire is the best in class. Nor do I think DBZ is the only good shounen. But once you’ve tried something, it just loses its novelty. If I had grown up with Naruto instead, I’d probably feel the same way, i.e. “Yeah, I’ve seen Naruto, I don’t really need to watch the rest.”
Sniveling boys
So often in these shows, you have the dweebish protagonist pairing up with the attractive, popular girl. Most of the time, the protagonist is a nice guy deep down, but way too socially awkward. So they spend much of the early episodes sniveling or stammering. Like the senpai in Nagatoro. Or even Okarun in Dandadan. Then it’s up to the extroverted, outgoing girl to pull the boy out of his shell kicking and screaming all the way. It feels like the girls always have to do the emotional labor — all the heavy-lifting. And it’s one thing when the guy is a little quiet or maybe he says something a bit weird or insensitive. Fine, I can work with that. But when Okarun walks past Momo without saying hi to her because he’s terminally in his own head, I can’t help but groan and slump down in my seat. I want to grab the kid by the shoulders and shake him violently. It’s your friend, man! You’ve been through live-or-die situations with them. More than once too! All you gotta do is say hi. Or wave. Or do something. Or nod like most western men do. Anything. Even if she’s actually waiting for someone else, so what? No, really, so what? You can’t say hi to someone if they’re waiting for another friend? In what fucking universe, Okarun?
“Um, it’s called character growth? They’ll learn to overcome their weaknesses and get better.”
Not when it feels like I keep seeing the same nerdy, shy boi~ over and over. it’s difficult to watch namely because it’s just such a tired character arc. I’m so bored of it. Especially when it’s the same low self-esteem, self-deprecating crap over and over. Sometimes, they come with a twist that often just makes them even worse in my eyes. Like Kyotaro in The Dangers in My Heart. Yeah, sure, maybe the relationship really blossoms later. Maybe the romance is really sweet. But I don’t wanna have to walk barefoot through a minefield of lego pieces just to get there. And that’s how I felt about our misanthropic little prick. Does he grow as a person? I’m sure he does. And the show is acclaimed and highly rated. But I just can’t do it, bro. The early episodes were such a turn-off.
Difficult to root for
Which segues nicely into Chainsaw Man. Feels like everyone on the internet loves it. And sure, the animation is great, the devils concept is intriguing, etc. But dude, Denji is so unlikable. So gross. So pathetic. I got to the episode where he gropes Power and I just couldn’t continue. Am I missing out?
…eh. I think I’ll live.
Fighting bores me
Unfortunately, it does. The older I get, the less I care about the combat scenes. I can’t sink my teeth into any shounen because of this. All the discussions about powers and abilities. All the long, drawn out battles with inner monologues from the combatants. It just doesn’t do a thing for me. I’m not trying to say I’m Mr. Sophisticated who only watches high brow anime, because that’s not remotely true. I gobble down substance-less feelgood romances every now and then. The problem is something I mentioned up above: I think growing up on DBZ simply means I’ve gotten it out of my system. Again, not that DBZ is the best or anything. But I don’t crave it anymore. And yes, I enjoy Dandadan, but mostly for the character dynamics outside of the battle scenes. Sure, I do like the creative storyboarding and trippy animation that Science Saru employs from time to time. But these scenes are by far the least interesting for me compared to the banter and (usually) strong character dynamics. So as a result, I only waded a few episodes deep into Demon Slayer. I haven’t even tried Jujutsu Kaisen. I got about 100 episodes into My Hero Academia at the height of its popularity years ago, but I haven’t watched any of it since. And honestly, the combat stuff kinda ruined Frieren for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Frieren is a bad anime or anything. In fact, I quite enjoyed the first half. I loved all the stuff about her revisiting old friends, old locales, meeting kids who are now grown adults, etc. Essentially, I loved everything about reflecting on her past experiences with Himmel and the rest of the party, and coming to grips with the mortality of the all-too-human characters around her. This includes both the dead (Himmel), the old and will die soon (Heiter), and the young (Fern). Even the little girl who is practically her daughter will become a shriveled, old woman who will leave Frieren behind, her physical state remaining forever in statsis. But that’s not true of her mind at all, and that’s the beauty of growing old: recontextualizing our memories. Age and experience has a funny way of making us look back and see things in a new light — gleaning meaning from a past once long discarded. That part of Frieren was brilliant.
Then we got to the arc with the exam, and they gotta compete with other mages thus introducing a slew of characters I have no connection with. Then they get put inside a dungeon where they have to fight magical clones of themselves or whatever. It was all this talk about how magic powers work, how to defeat the enemies by exploiting weaknesses, so on and so forth. And I got so bored. I couldn’t finish it. I stopped just a few episodes short of the ending. I still think Frieren is worth watching for the early episodes, and I got what I needed from them. It’s okay to leave things unfinished. You don’t have to clean your plate, gorge down every meal, so on and so forth. Of course, I’ll still keep an eye on the sequel. If the next season returns to the more contemplative tone of the first season’s early episodes, I’ll definitely watch it. I just don’t care about Frieren’s power levels.
So close and yet so far
In the past year, I think the anime series that I enjoyed the most from start to finish is definitely Insomniacs After School. It’s a sweet, slice of life romance between two kids who (as the title states) suffer from insomnia. But somehow, they find kinship and thus comfort in each other’s presence. Mix in a bit of photography and astronomy, and I was hooked. But it wasn’t a perfect story by any means. The characters are still cut from the same cloth as a lot of anime protagonists: Ganta being the nerdy, somewhat antisocial kid (hard to be friendly when you’re running low on sleep) who needs Isaki’s help to open up to others. The biggest problem, however, is that I couldn’t help but feel as though the story peaked midway through the season. It’s a big deal in anime whenever characters touch. It’s why the “hand-holding is lewd” meme is even a thing. But the solution to their insomnia is actually intimacy.
It’s the courage to overcome social and cultural norms in order to rely and confide in one another. To stop putting up barriers. To lean on each other and unburden ourselves. To stop hiding your fears and trauma. To allow yourself to be vulnerable even if it’s means being in someone else’s embrace. And that’s exactly what happens during the school trip when the two kids sneak off, Isaki listening to the beat of Ganta’s heart, and they eventually fall asleep in each other’s arms. But as I said, it pretty much peaked there. Sure, there’s the confession down the line. And the rest of the story is decent. But it never pushes the envelope any further. And I’m not saying the kids need to escalate to anything risque. It’s not about that. But the romance started off so unique and fresh only to pull its punches in the end.
