Cherry Blossoms United
This is just a list of really neat things that I’m putting together (with help from many others; you know who you are) that makes Manabi Straight’s ending such an awesome experience. It’s proudly a contender for my Best Ending Evar.
Needless to say, SPOILERS. But such good, warm, fuzzy spoilers.
- Loli’s in a Mini.
- The realization that the outfits they wore in the OP are the same as the ones in Mikan’s return, and Mikan’s outfit was the same with her outfit in her dream from episode 7. Plus that the OP actually took place in the show’s continuum!
- The most awesome and meaningful Victory Pose.
- The guitar riffing with Mikan’s feet.
- The guitar riffing + special ED + what happened to everyone afterwards
- Momoha’s publication.
- A Happy Life.
- Mucchi and Mei fussing in traffic on the way to the airport.
- The scene on board the train; not just Mikan’s tearful reprise, but how it answers the question implied in episode 1.
- Manabi’s hovercraft.
- “Sempai” talk.
- The allegory of a cherry flower in bloom (see picture below–configured like a cherry flower), how in episode 11 (which is where that picture comes from) was the blooming, and episode 12 they part (in which you see plenty of fallen blossom) like cherry blossom in season (see episode title).
- It’s still extremely cute.
- A lot of Momoha lines.
- Merorin Q!
- Completing the humanist message.
- Mei and Takako in the credit roll.
- Tagging up their alma mater.
- Resolving Mika’s dream in episode 7.
- :3
- The sweet sorrow of parting.
- The clapping.
- “Do you enjoy your happy life?”
Damn you Funimation, better get on with it!
Feel free to add your own to this list in the comments or anywhere!
Exam Hell - Examining a Perspective Bias
One common element shared by far majority of TV anime is the high school setting. Many of us who watch anime regularly may have long since gotten used to this subtle background fact of life.
Invariably a lot of the material used to make anime are aimed for the adolescent crowd, so high schools are popular settings by extension. But what is high school life like for a Japanese kid? I have no first-person experience, so I can’t say. I imagine for the lot of the non-Asian viewers, that will be the case.
Even if the Japanese education system is a bit of a hybrid between East and West, the focus on entrance exams has long twisted the Japanese education system, on practical grounds, as a means of a guide to some sort of standard of education, a setting of norm. If you did well in school you would have a shot at getting into a good college, and from that a decent job opportunity. If you’re just an egghead, then you will naturally excel in academics and if you end up in academia, all the more better. If you don’t do so well in school, there’s always hard, sweat-of-the-brow work. Or, marriage and home making.
But being an exaggerated means of escapism, anime and manga as I observed it…well, no one likes to be reminded of their day-to-day reality, especially that one big fat exam which torments their collective, uncertain future. Sure, we all can share with living under that sort of stress to some degree, but it’s another story to experience life in a society where that’s everything.
A bit of sharing: at my cram class today the professor decided to do a bit of public service and reminded us the best way to relieve anxiety is to place the impending exam in context: that there is something more important in life than one’s career, or one’s job prospect, or what will happen to us if we fail. Gain an appreciation for life right now; we are probably more fortunate than many others. At the least, not being totally strung out on stress is likely help your exam performance.
But at the same time, this stress is appreciated. It gives you a perspective.
Utopia is where Manabi Straight takes place. It’s a world without that perspective, or I should say, it actually realizes a set of fears many people in Japan should have: that when people graduate, they won’t have jobs; when people graduate, they’ll find themselves holding a depreciated piece of paper because everyone has one; when people graduate, they’ll do the same things people who are younger are doing a better job with, thanks to the future curve; when people graduate, they won’t find a more fulfilling life than before they graduate.
So what does schooling offer them? Why are we spending time milling away when we could be starting our careers today? Just because some people pay you more later on? Perhaps that is counter to the harsh reality of today, but the stress won’t end.
At the end of it all, I guess, the point is that anime is entertainment, but the healing nature of Manabi Straight comes across as the background theme behind all the commotion that we talk about. It’s a calculated effort; a show for freeters and salarymen and just those people struggling with their grinds from one period of their life to the next.
Hosanna - Manabi Straight Version
Taken from this. The below is just something that struck me like a bad AMV idea. I had to get it out of my system. (To be honest this happens on a regular basis and I have a secret stash of things like this somewhere.) [edit: catch the full song on youtube]
Seiou Gakuen Live
Did I mention I really like Manabi Straight?
What prompted me towards this entry isn’t the mysterious episode 10 sub, but my friend’s little concert in celebration of his first CD release. In America, indie musicians are not exactly rare and one thing I found out in the past few years is that an exorbitant amount of indie music are categorically pop–in the sense that what you’ll find playing on the radio is often not unlike what you’ll find in indie club venues. For my friend Dean, it’s more than that however. Well, he explains it better than I can. [/shameless plug]
But what’s interesting is that it really doesn’t take a whole lot to be “good” live. Sure, that’s not to downplay the countless hours that goes into the hard work everyone puts in, but everyone puts in a lot of hours in something like that; far majority of the serious musicians do it, first and foremost, because they love to do it, and it’s their calling in life.
When you see them perform live, rather than some constrained studio recording or even a candid YouTube video, their passion speaks much louder; their playing much more expressive; and like how a typical face-to-face conversation is 40% body language, a live performance is easily an extra 40% more enjoyable, if not more.
Much like Suzumiya Haruhi’s performance in ep 12, Manabi’s performance highlights the climax to the series. It’s like seeing Kotoko’s backup dancers splitting her costume asunder during her Winter Tour shows, except you’re a measly 10 meters from it. It’s like going uphill on a rollercoaster, and anticipating what comes next; and then enjoying what does come.
Megumi Hayashibara sang the OP/ED to Manabi Straight (resurrecting words from the legacy of Ritsuko Okazaki (we miss you!)); she also recently released a new solo album. Hearing her familiar voice now pitched in a matured arrangement is pleasant, to say the least, but the live disc that came with it had caught only a little bit of that “extra 40%.” Still, that was probably worth the price of admission alone. Feel Well and Watashi ni Happy Birthday was ;_;
What else can I throw into this post that’s remotely related to Manabi Straight? Yui Horie’s performance itself was fairly standard studio fare, so I’m not sure what to say about that in this context. However watching the video sequence is something else. Part of it is the rollercoaster effect, but you can feel some of the love and detail to attention (like the guitar pedalboard). Maybe it’s the animator’s”extra 40%”coming in?
Anyways; it’s a pity that not more of it is subbed timely. I hope people get around to watch the last two episodes, when that happens. Or check the raw like I did :)
Straight Flush
Putting Manabi Straight behind is like putting behind a very heartful conviction behind you; it’s just not healthy. Instead, I think, it’s a good way to do it is to commemorate it through rewatching :)
The thankful, yet unfortunate fansubbing effort is a good way to do it, and for every episode that I rewatch I can spend more time picking up things I missed the first time. I think one of these days I gotta start from episode 1 again just to relive the experience full well knowing the full revelation.
Hopefully the new season of shows will match the joy I get from watching this charming little thing.
But before the spring season hits and Haruhi Suzumiya on your screen turns a year old, this is a very good way to end a full run of 4 seasons; from one high school life to another. In some sense this is the “unappreciated” gem of last season, but I don’t know how many people can appreciate this kind of show. It’s going on my all-time favorites list!
