Healing: Kimi ni Todoke, Cross Game, Kämpfer
I remember one of the jokes from Kampfer was Mamiko Noto’s healing voice. Is that the first adjective that comes to your mind when you think about what is remarkable about Mamiko Noto’s voice?
And if anything, that’s the one and primary reason why I am still watching Kimi ni Todoke. I think one thing I find totally fascinating about anime generally (as opposed to manga) is that there are people, putting on voices, in an attempt to act. And sometimes, the acting is one of the best thing about a show. It can also be the worse thing, or the most interesting thing (eg., Kampfer). It’s something that adds an entire dimension to the overall work.
The basic idea about Kimi ni Todoke is that it’s a shoujo manga adaptation transformed into an healing anime. You know, it’s an iyashikei anime. So when the protagonist is played by someone known for her healing properties or whatever, I don’t think they can go wrong. It also satisfies one of the three rules when it comes to shoujo manga adaptations that I follow:
- The protagonist’s acting cannot be irritating
- It has to have important elements of humor
- It has to have a brisk pace
Of course, I don’t really think humor is Kimi ni Todoke’s forte, although it is humorous at times. Nor is it proceeding in a brisk manner–so far each episode advances by an average of 5 major scenes or so (napkin mental math here), which is not fast but not too slow. Although the bathroom scene in the latest episode took up nearly the whole run time, it’s somewhat of an emotional climax so it is forgivable.
The curious thing to me about Kimi ni Todoke is how it gives me an urge to compare it to Cross Game. To me Cross Game has very little healing power, although it is very much like Kimi ni Todoke in what it tries to achieve. And unlike most Kimi ni Todoke (and most anime), its inductive characterization (as opposed to deductive characterization) actually proves just as effective–basically you build up the characters’ back story rather than reveal it during subsequent plot arcs. Unavoidably both sorts of characterizations happen in Cross Game, but I think a major hook for the show is how the characters’ stories wraps around the audience as you see them “grow up” and whatever.
The thing about Cross Game is that it also has a strong iyashikei component. It just doesn’t work for me. Sure, it is a lot of fun watching life-like tsundere Aoba do her 180 when she cheers for the home team and struggles with the same problems young adult women struggles with in Japan, but the Wakaba-is-dead thing is just way too heavy-handed for me. I mean, during some moments, Cross Game can be very subtle, but sometimes it’s as blunt as the broad side of a barn. And sometimes that applies to the Wakaba thing especially (there are other instances…). It’s an easy flaw to forgive, especially when it can be masterfully played (episode 29 in particular), but it also takes some wind out of its sails, preventing the Cross Game experience to go that extra mile to become something I really like.
(I think it would be a disservice to Cross Game fans if it went the way of 5cm/s. Imagine Kou turning out into a bitter, drug-abusing pro baseball washout because he can’t get over Wakaba? Now that I would like, but I get the feeling a lot of the people who like Cross Game would not be happy with how 5cm/s ended.)
At any rate, I think if we can draw some analogies, Cross Game takes its emotional drama cues from a surprising 160Km/h fastball. Death of a childhood friend and sibling is serious business, especially when Aoba’s mom is MIA and her sisterhood takes the burden of growing up on their own shoulders. And it would be silly to not admit that Cross Game is a well-told story given a heavy subject like that, just like how we have to acknowledge a pitcher who can toss an 100mph fastball. But at the same time, Kimi ni Todoke is like a circle change-up or outside slider with a deceptive delivery. It gets you out of trouble and it gets you the most outs, just like how many of us face problems about communication and dealing with self-confidence issues at some point, and not so much with growing up with dead sibling and girlfriend. Even if at the end of the day it’s just a big Pedro Martinez reference.
For the record, Cross Game also passes my three tests…maybe. For point #3, It’s moving at a brisk pace, but considering each episode now carries not only the OP/ED and preview, but also the “hey let’s have Noriko Shitaya say more than 2 lines per episode!” segments in the beginning/end, the occasional recap bits, and now the real-life segments at the end, it cuts the actual new content per episode down to like 18 minutes per episode. It’s really cutting it close. It is a forgivable thing, but I’d rather call it a hax. For point #2, as long as they remain focused on the guys and the baseball club, which is one of the weaknesses of Cross Game so far, I think I will be fine. Speaking of which, I know some people in Japan watch MLB. So why aren’t there references to American baseball in baseball manga and anime? I mean, com’on, you can totally pull a K-ON here. I think it’ll be a profitable riot.
And back to acting–Haruka Tomatsu does the majority of screaming here, and I thinks she’s always fine. In fact I think Aoba might be her most natural-sounding role that I have ever heard.
You know, when the Pedro Martinez reference came up in Kimi ni Todoke, I was surprised — not that there was a reference to American baseball in an anime, but that it’s one of the few I can recall off the top of my head, and it isn’t even in a sports anime. (I also remember Isaac and Miria dressing up like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in Baccano!) Given how popular baseball is in Japan, you’d figure more references to MLB would pop up in random places.
Good Lord that Hilling Care.
K-ON Baseball I could watch, since I know so little of MLB as it is.
I don’t see similarities between Cross Game and Kimi ni Todoke hardly at all. For me it’s all about how the drama is displayed. Kimi ni Todoke hammers the drama into you with an iron fist. If a misunderstanding can happen it will. In my mind it sacrifices the intelligence (and maybe personality) of the characters to elevate drama. It’s that same cliche feeling I get in a harem anime when the childhood friend of the protagonist walks in on him on top of the class rep or some other chick. It’s manufactured drama get to developing Kazehaya and Kuronuma already.
I feel Cross Game’s drama is much more subtle when it crops up. I can see where you might see Cross Game as having a strong iyashikei element as well, but I don’t buy it. I understand yes they were affected by Wakaba’s death but I don’t see them as having emotional issues to deal with because of it. There is lingering doubt (especially in recent episodes with the advent of the Wakaba lookalike) but for the most part I think of the characters as having gotten over the majority of he past.
One of the major differences between Kimi ni Todoke and Cross Game is we rarely get to peek into Aoba and Kou’s heads. They rarely have much internal monologue. Whereas Kimi ni Todoke is flooded with internal monologue. For me, I believe that the lack of internal monologue makes the drama feel less forced in Cross Game. I feel like Kimi ni Todoke (with the exception of the OP and ED) is mostly generic. Cross Game might be generic too but it is the first of it’s kind that I have watched so I am more inclined to loathe comparing the 2 as Kimi ni Todoke is fairly throwaway of the season for me and Cross Game has been my favorite and most anticipated for over 2 seasons now.
P.S. I watched Nogizaka 2 and then watched Kimi ni Todoke. As I was starting Kimi ni Todoke it occurred to me I might go into Mamiko Noto overload. Is this possible? Can I has too much healing?
@Shinmaru: I can speculate why but that’s probably another post. I’m just glad that there are people who I can share in this…sort of luls.
@schneider: I was going to title the post “Healing Care” or some such.
@taka:
I think you might not be ready for healing if you think Kimi ni Todoke “sacrifices the intelligence.” You realize it only feels that way because of the shoujo cliche of internal monologues explaining everything. On the other hand, Cross Game forgoes that, but in exchange the complexity of the characters in Cross Game are less in general. The bad guys, the braggarts, the good guys with a chip on their shoulders, etc…they are very two-dimensional characters, simply because they can’t afford to explain it to you. They have to focus on Kou and Aoba.
Basically, Kimi ni Todoke is more nuanced, regardless if it’s explained to you via monologues or not. I agree that being explained to does take some of the magic of the show away…
>> I don’t see them as having emotional issues to deal with because of it.
R U SRS. Dude, that is Aoba’s character IN A NUTSHELL.
Is that the first adjective that comes to your mind when you think about what is remarkable about Mamiko Noto’s voice?
The first adjective that comes to mind for me is boring.
Yes, I went there :P
There is a difference between being affected by it and it being an issue. I could see Kuronuma in therapy. I couldn’t see Aoba. I see the Cross Game characters as having far more dimensions because things are left to subtext as they tend to be in real life. They might be archetypes within the genre or within Mitsuru Aidachi’s works (ala recurring characters in CLAMP or Tezuka’s works) but I don’t see them as archetypes of a certain personality type. I find the characters far more nuanced and real than the Kimi ni Todoke characters. Perhaps that is why i can accept Aoba’s mood swings.
Also I think of Mushishi, Bartender and the god-why-am-I-still-watching-this Miracle Train as good examples of iyashikei. I didn’t see Skip Beat as healing (even though there was a fair amount of character development) and I don’t see Kimi ni Todoke as one either. Both are Shoujo with humorous elements, both are heavy handed with drama, both have a somewhat brisk pace. Episodics seem more healing to me than this. The sole focus is on the healing. The characters come one way and leave the other is short 30minute bites. I see it Kimi Ni Todoke as straight shoujo manga adaptation, maybe some healing elements but the main character needs the healing the most imo.
@NegativeZero: you’re mean :(
@taka:
How is Mushishi… healing? I mean it’s one thing to feel better after watching an enjoyable anime, but that’s not what healing mean. In fact I think Mushishi often is the opposite of healing.
The whole point to healing anime is about reaffirmation of “everything is okay” kind of message. Aria and some “slice of life” shows are iyashikei because they reaffirm an “everyday is wonderful” message. Another style of iyashikei is showing some psychological issues and a positive message to say “hey you can overcome xyz.” Bartender/miracle train is this kind of iyashikei, but so is Kimi ni Todoke. Cross Game is a more complicated pick because it mixes in some other nonsense (like lol “go to koshien”).
Now of course the actual healing effects vary on individuals. And I disagree about the therapy thing big-time. People like Aoba, in real life, are much more likely to need therapy than someone who is just introverted.
>> but I don’t see them as archetypes of a certain personality type. I find the characters far more nuanced and real than the Kimi ni Todoke characters. Perhaps that is why i can accept Aoba’s mood swings.
Maybe you’re blind. Just kidding, Cross Game doesn’t exaggerate as much as most anime when it comes to characterization, sure, but that’s true only for a couple of the characters. And even then that’s because they don’t spell it out for you. Once you start to analyze it, it’s really not that complicated.
There’s a difference to being introverted and not having a friend all the way up into High School. It’s going to leave you with strange impressions of the world. Skills will not be mastered. I don’t see Kuronuma as “just introverted” (though when trying to argue complexity of characters giving them 2 words seems to be self-defeating) It was a lot more apparent when I watched it the other day but Kuronuma is getting herself into dangerous situations thanks to her ignorance of social behaviours. Her ignorance is supposed to make her pure but I see her as broken. Not realizing facts when they stare you in the face (or have a foot on your chest) and still pleading that so-and-so aren’t like that. Argue about that later after the threat of physical violence has passed. And for god sakes let people actually finish their sentences before you jump to conclusions.
On the flipside I think about Akaishi in Cross Game. Possible inferiority complex towards Kou and a tendency to overanalyze. When he first appeared he seemed like a standard bully with a soft spot for Wakaba. The series seems to have a failure theme building up. Every time he steps up to bat he gets a hit but it gets caught. I don’t know that he’s even run to first base when he’s been on screen. He still has a soft spot for Wakaba. He appears to even be somewhat accepting of the fact that he probably didn’t stand a chance against Kou in competing for Wakaba’s love. He seems like a fairly complex individual.
I see 3-4 Cross Game characters at least as complex as Kimi Ni Todoke’s 3-4. Most series don’t have many more complex characters than that. It is early in Kimi Ni Todoke though to tell just how many main characters they will have. I think the Cross Game characters have their fair share of issues but their strong bonds (thanks to Wakaba’s death) and their tendency not to overreact allow them to deal with those problems in much healthier ways than the Kimi Ni Todoke characters.
…when I think about it maybe it’s too early to tell and too early to compare.
As for Mushishi as healing. Not every episode has a happy ending true. Each episode is a tableau of people with problems and Ginko comes along to try and solve them and better facilitate harmony between the humans and Mushi. For the most part each character tends to attract the Mushi due to some kind of psychological trauma or mistake in the past etc. While not everyone is completely healed they tend to be better off after Ginko leaves. Episodes where things don’t always end happily for those afflicted do have a tendency to end in a “right” manner. I could be missing some gaps in my remembrance of episodes but for the most part what I remember was healing.
Thinking my knowledge of what I perceive as iyashikei was limited with my relatively fewer series watched. I went to researching a little on the net. The resources really aren’t there and the closest thing I found to an academic look at healing was at this post. http://chrome.dasaku.net/?p=501
What is laid out in the post comes pretty close to what I would view a typical healing anime. The interesting thing is that Sasa says that the feelings are outwardly reflected on the viewer. That perhaps it is the viewer who goes away feeling the best. With this in mind I would say Cross Game is an iyashikei series for me. Kimi ni Todoke is not or is at best, a bad one. The show does not leave me feeling good. Quite the opposite I think about how goddamn stupid the characters and forced drama is. Mushishi is one and Miracle Train is a BAD one.
So that’s my tl;dr thoughts. I think at this point though our definitions of what we view as healing are pretty different so it might just be best to agree to disagree.
Well, we can leave some things that way, but I don’t think our definitions are that different.
First, considering I’ve seen 30 episodes of Cross Game, they’ve really developed just 3? characters with any real complexity. I think the problem (or what you say is complex) is how Cross Game omits the characterizations of some, making them seem more complex than they really are. The focus for Cross Game is more about emotional attachment rather than explaining and making these character very nuanced, anyways. I mean, Akaishi and Azuma are relatively simple characters once their backstories are revealed (not completed at this point). They have simple motives and they translate into simple actions. How they feel is hard to describe because both of them suck at expressing feelings. Imaging if Wakaba is alive and Akaishi had to actually fight Kou? That would necessarily make the story develop Akaishi in more detail. But at this point he’s still mostly just this “good bully” archetype in a situation that you don’t find bullies in. Just one example.
Second, I’m glad you tried to defend Mushishi, because I was gonna contradict myself by explaining how it could be “healing.” (By the way there’s a better explanation as to why it is.) However I think that is more of an objective case than your complaint about Kimi ni Todoke. I mean, what heals you vary. I don’t think I would feel either way by Train Man (not anime) or Miracle Train or Aria, even. But in Kimi ni Todoke, the common mode of people who like the show is that they’re rooting for Sawako, not against it and thinking she’s some idiot and emotional klutz. Which is not what you’re doing. In other words, I could be watching Aria because it’s “healing” or whatever, or I could be watching Aria because I like the lulz, it’s cute, and I like the voice actors. The latter people would not give a damn about the healing powers.
As to the comparison, you may be right that they are hard to compare. Which is why I said it was weird that I felt to compare the two. However I think we can compare both shows in that mode. Both shows do have (the same type of!) iyashikei aspects to them.
Thanks for the link to Heterochromia. I don’t think it’s a good enough of a definition, because clearly I’m expanding on it here. For starters, I think iyashikei has nothing to do with the so-called “slice of life” presentation.
I still disagree with you but I don’t know exactly how to state it. I think Cross Game omits the characterization of minor characters in the same respect that I don’t know as much about motivations of Masami or Ike as I do about Nodame or Chiaki. Minor characters are minor for a reason. As for being more about emotional attachment I would argue that is precisely what makes the characters complex. In their emotional attachments they are able to find meaning and motivation for their struggles in life. Trying to avoid getting philosophical here but what are we without our emotional attachments? Isn’t that (completely backstabbing my own argument) what makes Kuronuma complex (I just don’t buy it)?
In addition; for me, the presentation of the story is not divorced in any manner from the characterizations presented. Since we are given so little about the backstories of the characters they seem complex. I would go so far to say is that any analysis of the characters is subject to interpretation as we know so little. I am more inclined to believe a character is more complex for what they don’t say as opposed to what they do. Consider FLCL’s Mamimi Samejima, her characterization is left almost entirely to subtext and I find her as one of the more complex characters of he show because of it. Another character we might consider would be Hei from Darker Than Black. We are given very little of his backstory until near end and even that is incomplete. Maybe they will seem less complex once their backstories are revealed but at the moment I see them as far closer to reality than most anime characters.
Out of morbid curiosity what is the better reason that Mushishi is a healing anime? I do believe iyashikei has strong ties to slice of life genre. I know there has been a bit of debate about that in recent history but I still firmly believe slice of life is a genre but that no series is JUST slice of life and has many sub genres attached; one of them being iyashikei. What I like about the definition presented on Heterochromia is that iyashikei is designed to make the watcher feel good. I can subscribe to that. I’m rooting for Sawako and Kazehaya not Sawako and friendship. So in that respect I can see how Kimi ni Todoke might have iyashikei components but; as you say for Cross Game, “it just doesn’t work for me”.
I don’t think Azuma and Akaishi are merely minor characters. Technically they are lead supporting characters. I mean, Akiashi’s in Wakaba’s dream, and Azuma probably has as many line as anyone other than Kou and Aoba now, which is saying a lot since he’s very aloof… Definitely not like Masami from Nodame.
>> I’m rooting for Sawako and Kazehaya
Well, that’s more like wish fulfillment/shipping impulses, which isn’t really what iyashikei is about even if emotionally it can be similar. I mean, it’s like what I was saying before.
>> Out of morbid curiosity what is the better reason that Mushishi is a healing anime?
What’s morbid about it? Mushishi is a healing anime because it makes the best of a “shikatanai” situation. Contrary to most Japanese ghost story archetypes, a lot of what happens in Mushishi is not anyone’s fault per se. When seemingly-random tragedy strikes, a natural thing people do is to look for answers why. Mushishi preys on this mentality.
>> I am more inclined to believe a character is more complex for what they don’t say as opposed to what they do.
Which is fine, but only if you realize it’s your perception and not necessarily the actual characterization.
As to presentation, I think you’re confusing it with substance. Because you could have the same character, presented two different ways, and the audience will think that one way the character is shallow, and deep and nuanced by the other way. Who is right? Possibly neither is. I don’t think anyone would disagree presentation is related to characterization, however perception of what’s really there is a relative thing. That’s all I am saying here–it’s shading your perception of who the characters in Cross Game really are. I mean, after all, what is different between different presentations of the same thing is the way we perceive the thing.
And yeah, I agree that iyashikei is meant to make the viewer feel good. That is something I take for granted. I hope it goes without saying, however.