Feature: Holiday Wishlist #2

Holiday sales are upon us, ravaging our wallets and stealing our little pennies!  Are you struggling to locate the perfect gifts for your nerdy hubby, boy/girlfriend, sibling, or friend?  Are they closet otakus or are they loud and proud about it?  In either case, they need something to fuel their time-consuming addictions!  In addition, you probably need a couple of suggestions for those people just starting in their anime fandom, right?  I'm here to provide you with a few lists of titles you should can keep an eye out for this Christmas.  Shove these complete sets in those big stockings!

Also, be sure to check out this and future Holiday Wishlist feature(s) to get an idea for what to purchase this festive season.  I'll be featuring more than anime wishlists in the coming days.  Merry Christmas and happy shopping, everybody!

Anime Holiday Wishlist #2

Released stateside by Sentai Filmworks, the production of Kids on the Slope reunited director Shinichiro Watanabe and composer Yoko Kanno, creating a sublime, jazzy series with rich characters.  Its slick mixture of coming-of-age, drama, and music make for a 12-episode show that is complex and believable.  The story takes place in 1966 when honor student Kaoru Nishimi has moved in with relatives in Kyuushuu.  His rigid demeanor and formal piano playing begins to change once he meets Sentarou Kawabuchi, a known delinquent.  As he discovers Sentarou’s skill with drums and a new side of music, Kaoru learns to open up to others and forms his first friendships.

Naturally, with Yoko Kanno being head of it, the soundtrack is one of the many highlights in this anime, setting the perfect mood for somber and blissful scenes alike.  Each track blends and plays in the foreground, enhancing what’s occurring on screen rather than distracting from it.  The animation is some of the best I’ve seen in a while.  Kaoru’s piano playing and Sentarou’s drumming are extremely fluid and detailed, the fingering and moving drumsticks being so accurately depicted that they go along with the actual song notes.

Although the series’ start can feel rough as it sets up all the potential romances and unrequited love scenarios, it blossoms into a meaningful narrative where characters are forced to face difficult, personal questions and flawed families.  Teenage angst can come on a little thick sometimes, but the deft handling of the characters’ complicated lives is what keeps the viewer hooked.  The issues they face are filled with a lot of heart and profound implications for their adulthood.  Unlikely friendships form among the diverse cast; they meet and grow as they learn more about each other, united by their love for jazz.

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What would this list be without a comedy romance?  You can’t have drama, mystery, aliens, and death all the time.  Adapted from a light novel by Yuyuko Takemiya, Toradora! is a 25-episode series that deceives its stereotypical boundaries and develops into something that shines within its genre.  Ryuuji Takasu possesses a genuine and gentle persona, but the natural scowl he was born with has isolated him from his peers, intimidating anyone who dares to approach him.  A class rearrangement places him in the same classroom with his best friend, Yuusaku Kitamura, and his secret crush, Minori Kushieda.  He has a run-in with a girl named Taiga Aisaka in the hallway one day, where she immediately proceeds to punch him in the face.  Eventually, circumstances lead to Ryuuji and Taiga, who likes Kitamura, working together to get closer to their love interests.

Although the beginning couple episodes are chocked full of cliché setups and gags typical of high school romance and tsundere shows, Toradora! takes an unexpected turn by leaving its expected formula, delving into the characters’ inner workings.  It explores their family lives and many important themes faced in the world every day.  Love is much more than a crush and can be heartbreaking, especially when you’re self-sacrificing.  Maturity doesn’t necessarily come with age; parents can sometimes leave bigger scars than anyone else.  Since it’s comedy, scenes and reactions can be a tad over the top; however, it doesn’t hesitate to get solemn when it’s needed.

What fascinated me about this anime is its use of body language.  A twitch of an eyebrow, a misplaced stare, an obvious forced smile—all contribute to making the main personalities deeper and to creating tension on screen.  One may notice something, while the other possibly missed it.  Whether it’s talking through metaphors or dripping with sarcasm, the characters perform an engaging story worth checking out.

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If you’re yearning for some sci-fi without the aliens, Steins;Gate delivers an entertaining package of conspiracies and time travel with characters that can be both comedic and grave.  The 24-episode show introduces Rintarou Okabe, a self-proclaimed “mad scientist,” who insists that an international scientific organization is trying to redesign the world for its own desires.  Along with his friend Itaru Hashida, he creates a device that is able to send messages to the past.  Massive alterations to the present begin to occur as they perform experiments—alterations that result in huge consequences and terrible outcomes.  He must find a way to restore the world to its original timeline to save the lives of his closest companions.

This show is awesomely complex in its concept of time travel, but it never leaves the viewer hanging in the unknown.  The discoveries and scientific aspects are explained through the characters’ many hypotheses and conclusions.  The amount of dialogue for some scenes can be a little heavy, which might detract from the overall experience for some.  There are a few logical loopholes, which seem commonly present in most sci-fi.  However, the thrilling story that unfolds on screen overshadows, or even blots out, the flaws of its theories.

Each of the main cast has their unique quirks and qualities, especially Rintarou who has a crazy flair and Itaru who happens not to have the usual stick-ish physique of anime characters (in other words, he’s fat).  They’re deceptively one-dimensional in appearance and behavior at the onset, but they mature through harsh, fast paced experiences.  Steins;Gate offers a wild ride with plenty of surprising twists as it ultimately gives homage to other time traveling titles.

*images from Rightstuf listing and Google images and MyAnimeList