Friday, July 15, 2011

Gosick - winded down

{spoilers warning}

Gosick started out with great atmosphere, lively character dynamics, and promising scenarios. However, it devolved into a cliched romance.

Gosick is set in the fictive country of Sauville, which emerged victorious with the Allied nations after WWI. The anime designers put a great deal of effort into bringing the Alpine beauty and charming capitol of Saubreme to life.

The series starts strong when Kujo and the mysterious genius Victorique get themselves tangled up into mini-Battle Royale aboard the ghost ship. From there, the pair grow closer as they explore Victorique's past and take on other mysteries.

Kujo is the earnest Watson to Victorique's Holmes. Unlike Holmes, Victorique's eccentricity is not entirely by choice, but enforced by the forced isolation by her father's orders. She is also part Rapunzel, living in her high library tower, far from other people. While she is mentally capable, she lacks Holme's physical power and accuracy. Early on, Kujo helps to compensate for this weakness.

This dynamic erodes as Kujo and Victorique becomes closer, and the the next world war looms on the horizon. As an alternate history, the Second World War is spurred sooner. The original story ties in Victorique's past and her father's obsession with Sauville nationalism, but washes the characters away with under the tide of history.

Perhaps that was his intent, but it reduces Kujo to clinging to Victorique, and Victorique trying to cling to Kujo. This is the helplessness of children in the world of adults. Again, perhaps this was the author's intent. However, I enjoyed the series, because the characters were engaged and were intimately tied to the outcome of the early story arcs. There were other ways for Kujo & Victorique to stay relevant. Several times, characters would mention Cordelia Gallo's (Victorique's mother) involvement during WWI. I think that Kujo & Victorique could have played a larger role in a smaller part of the drama, if they had been able to flee underground or gone to a neutral neighboring country and taken part in the Sauville resistance regime.

Instead of being on the verge of adulthood and grow up, Victorique relies on Cordelia's legacy, while Kujo marches off to war as an infantryman. The fall in the significance of the characters after the first half and the sudden jump in events between parts 22 & 23 resulted in having the characters struggle to survive, but by the end of the series, their story could have been the story of any earnest boy and beautiful girl. Maybe that's enough for some audience, but I think that there could have been so much more with the original setup.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Pilot Responsibly: Mari^2, Miso Soup & Manvangelion 2

Impressions of Eva Reboot 2.22

{Spoiler warning}

The mood of Evangelion Reboot is markedly different from the series that first broadcast in 1995 (abbrev. Eva 95) [1]. The characters have fewer and less deep hang-ups. I actually loved the Eva 95 version of the cast despite and because of their deep flaws. I preferred the intensity of the battles against Leliel, Bardiel, and Zeruel. The music was amped up, the mystery thickened, and the protagonists moodily struggled against the angels and themselves. In the Reboot, childrens' songs make Asuka's fall to Bardiel more twisted and tragic than the spare battle music deployed in Eva 95.

Speaking of the red devil, Asuka's affinity to Shinji seems like a quick turn around from her prior footsweep. Asuka Sohryu was multi-faceted and more intense. Her berserker tendencies and grandiosity have been transferred to Mari Makinami, making Asuka a simpler and less expansive character. These steps were understandable, given the movie format. However, I still preferred many of the developments in Eva 95 over the Reboot.

For all these complaints [2], there was still a lot to appreciate in the Reboot. Hideaki Anno and company were not arbitrary in bringing on board Maaya Sakamoto [3] and limiting Asuka's role. Renaming her Shikinami actually helps to remind us that we have seen Asuka in her full glory back in Eva 95. Reboot covers new ground in many ways.

Beyond the first impressions, Reboot retunes the series into a more action packed, brighter, and more optimist adventure with a healthy dose of WAFF. To realize this new vision, Hideaki Anno & Co. employed two Mari's and miso soup.

Mari + Mari

I admit to being deeply suspicious of, in addition to being deeply appreciative of, Mari Makinami's addition to the cast. Before watching the movie, I thought that bringing on board another beauty was a transparent and successful ploy to add to the excitement of the reboot. After all, the American Rei versus Asuka conflict in Evangelion raged for well over 8 years and may still smolder to this very day in the deep, dark bowels of the internet.

After watching it, I realize that Mari Makinami plays a pivotal role in the Reboot's direction. Her primary function is to take Asuka's place in the battle against Zeruel, after Shikinami was defeated by Bardiel. The apparent reason for Asuka replacing Toji was Rei's get together. The destruction Unit 04 led to the sudden transfer of Unit 03 to America. The surprise activation test conflicted with Rei's party [4], which leads to the softer, gentler Asuka Shikinami to volunteer for test duty.

This still doesn't fully explain the use of Asuka over Toji. The answer lies in the other Mari: Mari Suzuhara. In Eva 95, Toji agreed to pilot Unit 03 in exchange for his sister transferring to a better hospital. In Reboot, Toji's little sister makes a full recovery. By making a full recovery, she frees Shinji to make a clean choice of whether or not to pilot Unit 01.

In Reboot 2.22, Shinji asks Asuka why she pilots an Eva. Rei tells Asuka that there is more to life than piloting an Eva. Mari Makinami tells Shinji that she is surprised that anyone would question piloting. The question was presented earlier in the story in the first scenes, when Shinji confronts his father before his first battle, after Touji socks Shinji over his sister's injuries, and when Shinji runs away from home. In all of the versions of Evangelion, this question is central to Shinji.

In Reboot, Shinji's responsibility to Mari is completely absolved by her full recovery. His is not burden's by Toji's fall as well. So when he decides to never pilot Unit 01 again, his choice is not clouded by the responsibility to the one he hurt. Recall that in Eva 95, Shinji pleads with Unit 01: "... If you don't move now, if you don't do it now, everyone's going to die! I don't want anymore of that..." The anymore refers to Toji and, perhaps, to Mari.

Also, Shinji never leaves the platform when Zeruel attacks in Eva 95. By contrast, Shinji distances himself from Misato's outreached hand and is in motion, leaving Tokyo-3, when the alarm sounds; these symbolize a cleaner break from Nerv. We do not need Misato's commentary to realize that his words are starkly assertive. And when the boy returns, it is for the singular reason of rescuing Ayanami Rei. He has taken full responsibility for his actions.

Miso Soup, the power thereof

In Eva 95, Rei remained moon distant and mysterious, especially after she goes kamikaze on the helical Armisael and has her memories wiped. One fanfiction reader once interpreted that Rei was emotionless. It is possible to have impression if one passively watches Eva 95. Indeed, Rei seldom demonstrates emotions. A deeper reading reveals that she is moved by the Ikaris.She becomes angry enough to slap Shinji for criticizing his father, later caring enough to protect him from octohedral Ramiel, and and then staring down Asuka after Unit 01 is swallowed by the shadowy Leliel. Rei demonstrates her mastery of stream of conscience during her sync test with Unit 01. She has a strong dislike of meat and the color red. Rei lives as tightly introspective life that is largely, but not completely aloof from others.

This distance is temporarily bridged in the harrowing aftermath of Shinji's and Rei's battle against the octohedral Ramiel. In Eva 95, Sohryu the Red Comet strikes and drowns out Rei's presence for the rest of the series. Reboot sharply diverges when the gang visits to the eco restoration project. Shinji puts his culinary arts to good use by cooking bentos. Rei can't eat hers, because she can't stomach meat. Shinji comes to her rescue with a cup of hot miso soup.

The miso soup is a powerful gateway drug that leads Rei to accept Shinji's next bento, which leads the impression young girl to wonder why such a simple act makes her feel warm inside. She empathizes with Shinji and Gendou. We can surmise that from her earlier conversations with Shinji, she realizes that he wants to be closer with his father and tries to bring them together with a simple meal.

These small acts of giving are a sharp break with Eva 95. The pilots are forced together by battle and interact during these battles. Doing the chores for his wayward household comes from a sense of duty and a lack of jan-ken-po skills. By contrast making bentos and giving miso soup are all of his freewill. Similarly, Rei's reciprocation is a free choice. It is not an order from Gendou or an act led by desperation like her self immolation against Amrisael in Eva 95.

In short, Shinji does not stop reaching out to Rei even after she takes his hand from the wreckage of her entry plug. He reaches out to her once again with miso soup.

This Shinji that reaches out also pulls away when Misato wants to convince him to stay in Nerv and with her. While the pacing of Reboot 2.22 did not have the same climax and denouement of part 1, the details and scenes culminate in Shinji and Rei pushing forward and growing despite the harshness of war and the barren expanses that lie between the hearts of Lilim until they are pinned by Kaoru's spear and fulfill the film's subtitle: "You cannot advance".

= = =

[1] I am loathe to call it Eva TV or the original series. The movies Death & Rebirt and End of Eva finished the series, so TV doesn't exactly fit. Sadamoto's manga came out before the TV series, as the Rei-ists like to point out. Eva '95 is non-controversial, accurate, and quick to type.

[2] As an original Misato-fan, I prefer the iron woman who continued to glare at Kagi until it was too late. The pseudo-rivalry between Misato & Asuka was also fun, but -ah- the limits of movie screen time.

[3] The idea of a berserk, be-fanged Hitomi fans my fanboy flames.

[4] Never thought that I would type those words this side of a fanfic.