One Punch Man | Q's Anime Review & Commentary

Dry Comedy & Absurdity in It's Pornographic Action
One Punch Man (12 Episodes Single Season 6 OVA's 1 OAD) 7.9 out of 10 Stars


While almost being in the midst of One Punch Man's second season, which has been reported to be slated until 2019 & to be produced by J.C Staff (a different studio none the less) I'd really like to follow up on my Death Parade revisit and harken back to my ongoing process of reviewing Madhouse's back catalogue and the history of the animation giant. In my Death Parade review it houses a lot of detailed & important information on the studio summarizing some of their history and the legacy they've left over the past 10-20 years, and it goes without saying that I highly recommend you guys check it out. In that it offers so much contextual information that'd be important to understand the production aspects behind this series as well, which I don't want to go on repeating once again.

Shingo Natsume
[Director]

Behind all the hype and buzz over One Punch man, which I'm also also partly guilty of as well, is a very humbling story behind the scene's both from a production and author's standpoint. In that One Punch Man originally was an amateur webcomic from the pseudonym "One" which quickly blew up overnight garnering millions of hits, and not because of the skill and nuance shown in "One's" illustrations, as they're awfully crude and somewhat funny, but because of the absurdity and imagination he was able to pour into its text. It's really that keen sense of idiosyncratic and witty humour that sparked both the populace and it's culture, alongside others in the industry such as Shingo Natsume and Murata Yuusuke along with those over at JUMP now that his manga is being revised to be serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Which I imagine most saw so much creative opportunity within the insanity of One Punch man's story, later on becoming an artistic and creative endeavour showcasing the awe inspiring freelance talents and industry veterans that Shingo Natsume was able to gather under one banner. It's really an awe inspiring story of how success can be found  just about anywhere, as I find it really strengthens the sense of independent entrepreneurship and if you build the land of dreams, people will come.

As I find that One Punch Man's ridiculous story of success, is also a testament to the story of Saitama itself. Being able to craft humour and gags from contradicting expectations and poking some fun at the modern cliche's we see in about every battle manga or comic book, with a dead simple character such as Saitama who's just as unassuming as his actual physical ability is deceiving. Really contrasting the original roots of the story and it's humble beginnings, to it's confounding story of success.

Sora No Woto (Sound Of The Sky) | Q's Anime Review

A Tale Filled With Moe Comedy & Wonder, With Subliminal Moments
Sora No Woto (12 Episodes Single Seasons 2 Ova's) 7.96 out of 10 Stars

While often slandered as "Military K On!!", it's quite an oversight to assume Sora No Woto doesn't have it's own merit as it's own unique story, while some will carelessly draw parallels between how Rio & Kanata play brass instruments, along side plausibly similar character designs & the slice of life aspects each series has to call Sora No Woto a "Rip Off", that's really where the similarities end, as I find the comparison surface level and facile, paying little attention to the stark differences regarding the text. In that while K On! continued to be a text book example of a completely episodic comedy throughout it's span of 30 sum episodes, with everything plush & Kawai (Cute) - Sora No Woto on the other hand blossomed more so into a coming of age story, and at least made some attempt at a collective overarching narrative and theme, contrasting it's light hearted moments with prospect of war that threatens their peaceful way of life on the outskirts of Seize, however rosy and sentimental such a take on war that may be.

While somewhat of an average story with a glossed over and an idealized version of what war really means, what particularly strikes me are some of the more subliminal & quiet moments within the series along side occasional laughs that I find make it worth the watch. Not to mention it's a really beautifully rendered animated series for it's time.

Kara No Kyoukai (The Garden Of Sinners) | Q's Anime Review

A Complete Series Anthology - Mythical, Complicated, Yet Beautifully Compelling
Kara No Kyoukai (8 Films - 2 Shorts/Specials) 8.34 out of 10 Stars

Kara No Kyoukai was a incredibly breathtaking & mythical production for it's time, marking Hikaru Kondo's Ufotable breakout animation that garnered national attention with team Ufotable's dazzling post production digital effects and CGI - First alongside the rise of it's other peers such as the revamped Shaft with team Shinbo on Bakemonogatari & Naoko Yamada's K On from Kyo Ani. Lately I've talking alot about the early & mid 2000's transition period into incorporating digital colouring techniques (Otherwise known as Digipaint) & CG - And while it certainly was a rough transition, that changed everything from broadcasting standards, production flows to introducing the beginning of the Bluray and DVD format wars, it also so happens to mark the rise of yet another animation tour de force in Ufotable's heavily emphasized post production digital effects and CGI, animating the hesitant Nasu Kinoko's Kara No Kyoukai light novels originally self published online some 18 - 19 years ago. You see, in the years following Nasu Kinoko's amateur debut as a writer, his work was later on edited and refined for official release by the publisher Kodansha in 2004. In that the popularity of his works garnered interest from the animation industry to adapt his works, though he was quick to decline, citing that he just felt that Kara No Kyoukai was never meant to be filmed or animated, being that he felt, if it was animated in to a TV series, audiences attention spans would wane & it would be hard to understand, having to condense and compress way to much of the original story, into enjoyable 20 minute segments that could carry on from a weekly basis -

"Certain people have been wanting to make Kara no Kyoukai into an anime for a while now, but it isn't a story which really lends itself to being filmed, so I always turned them down." - Kinoko Nasu [Akiba Blog September 2007]

The same could be said of a standalone movie as well, though later on he was approached by Kondansha's Oota Katsushi with an offer Kinoko Nasu couldn't refuse - 

"..."I was thinking of teaming up with Aniplex and ufotable and making Kara no Kyoukai into a consecutive seven-movie release; what do you think?" It was such an off-the-wall idea that I got caught up in the enthusiasm; the offer was so awesome that turning it down seemed rude, so I agreed readily." - Oota Katsushi's offer according to Kinoko Nasu [Akiba Blog September 2007]

Kinoko Nasu
[Original Creator]

Hikaru Kondo
[President & Producer]

10 years later, after much confusion & negative press over the non linearity of Kara No Kyoukai's lack of a chronological order, we're left with a modern day classic & a touch stone to the one of few animation breakouts within the 2007-2009 that challenged the entire industry to eventually make the full transition into incorporating the related digital processes into animator work flows. Not only that, but now that the dust has settled, and we have each of the 10 films (depends on how you count) laid out before us, has it really held up to facet of time? Does our unexpected heroine Shiki & Kokuto's story of finding identity, navigating morality & reconditioning the heart still hold it's same magic as it did once before?

Today were taking a special deep dive here to find out exactly what up - 10 years later

Bokurano: Ours | Q's Anime Review & Commentary

An Interesting, Salacious & Juicy take on a Myriad of Individuals 
Bokurano:Ours (24 Episodes Single Season) 8.58 out of 10 Stars


Bokurano Truly just about has a little bit of everything, there's a dash of a darker taboo of romance, has family dynamics, a little bit of comedy along the way, as well as being heavy in drama in it's science fiction & physiologically idiosyncratic premise. Though there's also more plush and sublime moments of happiness and peace, enough to actually bring me to tears on occasion, having the depth and urgent subject matter to sway my heart into a state of emergency. In Bokurano we have a full cast of characters that initially had me intrigued from the first episode, you'll find yourself asking " who's he/she, there's something interesting going on there, I want to learn more about his/her story" etc. Especially since the character designs are so humanely depicted in the most ordinary sense of the word. From the lush green environments, the city gardens, to the giant robots, this is something that you just look at and accept, and I feel that's a very key component to have.

From the start we're introduced to a gorgeous opening theme, with great lyrics, vocals, percussion, a tickle of synth & some guitar, just a little bit of every thing. I stepped back thinking "yes I've heard this somewhere before" such as Neon Geneiss Evangellion's soundtrack, or "Cyber bird" from Yoko Kanno's work on Ghost in the shell SAC. Coincidently, if you've watched both of those series, with both of their heavily Sci fi, idiosyncratic and psychological premises, you should absolutely check out how much Bokurano has to offer..