Jinmon

While reminiscing and revisiting various episodes from the early seasons of Detective Conan, we were reminded of one of the show's best songs, "Jinmon." Featuring a heavy bass and some intense saxophone, it encapsulates a better era in the show's run. These were the days to be a fan of Detective Conan. The Black Organization was still interesting and had occasional run-ins with Conan and the FBI...the little brats were not yet entirely insufferable. 

Infinite Ryvius

In our quest to watch all of the classic and overall decent science fiction anime of the 1990s and early 2000s (except mecha anime, which we still largely skip), we finally gave Infinite Ryvius a second chance. As a Lord of the Flies in space story with several dark, intense moments for the young, beleaguered crew, it was occasionally painful to watch. Some of the sub-standard animation and the lack of explanation for a lot of the technobabble and science fiction mumbo jumbo also made the story a little hard to follow. In other words, the show could have been so much better. Indeed, in some ways its young crew reminds one of Martian Successor Nadesico while Aiba Kouji is somewhat similar to the famous Shinji of Evangelion. The young crew, left to its own devices without adult authority or supervision, descends into chaos, violence, and by the end, fascism. The adult authority, represented by corrupt factions on Earth, however, are revealed to be no better given the extent to which they will go retrieve the ship and put the adolescents at risk. 

Still, seeing the extreme depths to which the teenagers descend will shock and disturb any viewer. One sees this in their highly unequal ranking system for the crew, the abuse of authority, and the problematic ethical systems used by the different groups which successively rule the ship. Blue, representing sheer power and fear, seizes power in a coup. A Spock-type character and the Zwei students retake the ship and use one character as a "puppet" captain while Heigar controls from behind the scenes. When that does not work, Aiba Kouji's friend, Ikumi, later seizes power and, despite having the noblest intentions of them all, establishes the most despotic, authoritarian regime that nearly destroys the ship. And while all this is going on, the Ryvius is attacked by other Vaia ships and Fiona is establishing a cult based on her religion from Uranus. The show does not take it in this direction, but she appears to be the force behind a theocratic type of authoritarianism while Ikumi, Stein, and Blue represent different types of authoritarianism, fascism, and police states. Oh, and the ship, like Moya in Farscape, is alive or rather is powered by a living organism that assumes a human form. 

The main protagonist, Kouji, wants to please everyone, is anxious, unsure of himself and lacks the skills of his younger brother or the willfulness of the other leaders. Yet Kouji, who seems occasionally pathetic, useless and perhaps even naive, never loses his sense of basic decency. By the end of the series, Kouji is more determined and willing to shape things instead of going with the flow, although events beyond the control of the students ultimately resolve the situation. Ultimately, what could have made this show great rather than "good" would have been a little more fleshing out of the post-disaster solar system and a little more background to some of the characters. For example, what was happening on Earth with the 2 groups involved in the conspiracy was not as clear as it could have been. I also would have liked learning a little more about the science of ship navigation and the origins of the alien lifeforms in the Geduld and part of the 6 advanced ships. It also would not have hurt to see what conditions were like in the other parts of the solar system, why were some groups independent of the Solar System Alliance government, and how class and religion operated in the 23rd century. 

Fruits Basket

Although we usually don't consume shojo anime or manga, we've had a soft spot for Fruits Basket since 2018. Perhaps because Tohru Honda is an orphan, we feel a strong attachment to her character and her development over the course of the manga. The original anime series was not great, despite this amazing opening song, but that got us to eventually read the manga series. Perhaps in a few years, we shall revisit Fruits Basket by watching the recent anime adaptation that is far more faithful to the manga...

Maison Ikkoku

 

While we usually do not consume romantic comedies, a rekindled interest in anime and manga drew us back to Maison Ikkoku. We adored the soundtrack, slice of life aspects and slow pace of this 1980s show, but it was excessively long. There was no reason to extend it to 96 episodes. Nor did we need that pointless film with the different character designs (although we liked the Michael Jackson poster). As the series began to run too long and certain characters disappear for long stretches, it seemed like the story was just grasping for any plot device to prevent Godai and Kyoko from confessing their feelings. To their credit, the animation improved and some of the antics of the Maison Ikkoku tenants continued to entertain. Nonetheless, this is a very endearing tale of widow and her tenant falling in love with a colorful ensemble of characters (who can forget Mitaka or Yotsuya?). If only it could have been condensed into 52 episodes or perhaps even fewer so I would have watched it 2 or 3 years ago...

Martian Successor Nadesico

Although mecha anime are usually not my cup of tea (after childhood, I think Gundam ruined the genre for me), Martian Successor Nadesico became one of my favorites of 2020. It has the great 1990s anime aesthetic (despite the overly large eyes of some of its characters, even by anime standards) with all of the quirks of a show intended as parody and homage to the genre. Inspired by and poking fun at mecha genre, Nadesico's entertaining tale of Earth at war with the alien Jovians (are they really aliens?) pits a young crew in command of a warship in a struggle for humanity's survival. Of course, as a parody, its full of laughable scenes and humor as several of the young women on the ship are in love with Tenkawa. There's even a hilarious show-within-the show based on older mecha anime that eventually turns out to be very important for the plot. As such, it follows all the standard format of 1990s anime but without taking itself too seriously. One can enjoy it without much familiarity with mecha anime. Indeed, with the exception of this, Macross, Gundam, Gunbuster and Evangelion, I am unfamiliar with most examples of the genre. It's even more of a pity this show never received a proper conclusion...

Nadia: Secret of Blue Water

Been thinking about Nadia: Secret of Blue Water for some time now. Although only very loosely based on Jules Verne's famous novel, the series reimagines it for an engaging adventure story with even more absurd science fiction elements. Despite some rather regrettable story arcs (Lincoln Island and the short trip to Africa), most of the episodes are endearing and entertaining tales of adventure, mystery, technology, and maturation for Nadia, Jean, Grandis and friends in the late 1800s. What's not to love about a series of adventures in the late 19th century, beginning in Paris and ending in space?

Like Shinji in Hideaki Anno's better-known series, Nadia is something of an orphan with a difficult relationship with her father. She also struggles to accept her role and to find her identity, mistakenly thinking she is from Africa when her roots lie somewhere else (no spoilers). But what most appeals to me from this family-friendly TV series from the early 1990s is a cautious embrace of technology and progress. Jean, the boy genius capable of inventing airplanes and other wonders, confronts the limitations of an obsession with technology as the path forward for humanity. Jean must learn that matters of the heart and the ideas behind the technology matter just as much if not more than advanced ancient technology.

The series, to me at least, seems to embrace the idea of progress lying in personal growth and openness to difference, not technological prowess or power. Set in a time of imperialism and industrialization, Jean and Nadia's budding love and the diverse crew of the Nautilus hint at an ideal future at odds with the ugly present of the late 19th century. Even the main antagonist in the series wears a hood resembling KKK outfits and pledges to restore ancient Atlantis to subjugate the human race, calling to mind the ugly realities of the period. Moreover, unlike Neon Genesis Evangelion, there is a more optimistic conclusion to the series, too, although some would interpret the ending of Evangelion as a positive one. Overall, I prefer Nadia to Shinji as a protagonist, but Evangelion is the superior series (its brevity helps as it contains far less filler than Nadia).

Someday My Prince Will Come

My approach to jazz, like most things in life, revolves around obsessively pursuing an individual's work and then switching to another musician, writer, or scholar. My most recent Bill Evans obsession was about a year ago, but out of the blue, I was listening to a lot of his live performances in the last week or so. Somehow, this recent bout of Bill Evans obsessive listening, led me to a delightful (and short) anime series called Kids on the Slope. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, it's a beautiful tale of friendship, romance, and growing up that uses jazz music as the basis for the budding friendship between the two main characters. And the main character is modeled on Bill Evans, performing "Someday My Prince Will Come" to great effect in one of the later episodes, meaning this gem has been in my head on repeat.

Why I Love Detective Conan/Case Closed

I've loved Detective Conan (Case Closed in the US) since middle school. Though I am not a huge anime/manga freak like some folks are, I appreciate a good detective story and some anime, such as Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. I first discovered the poorly dubbed anime on television, but quickly learned to prefer the manga. The anime was also weakened by the attempts to take the show out of its Japanese context, even going as far as giving every character English or non-Japanese names and taking the story out of its Tokyo setting, which is actually central to the world crafted by Gosho Aoyama, the creator of the manga. Recently, I began re-watching and reading the anime and manga, but am a little turned off by how the episodes seem to go on beyond 600! As in, you know, 600 episodes of a TV show. I could never watch it in its entirety, but I plan on watching select episodes of the series with subtitles to avoid the horrible English dubbing. If only the series were shorter...and they got rid of the Junior Detective League-heavy cases where young Conan Edogawa has to collaborate with children who befriend him. Anywho, here are some of my reasons for loving this series:

1. Reading the manga is an intertextual experience. Many of the characters have named that are tributes to writers and detectives of mystery fiction, such as Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle, a cafe called Poirot, and even an American FBI agent named for the agent in The Silence of the Lambs. In addition, at the end of each book, Gosho Aoyama has little snippets on favorite detectives of his, including Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Father Brown, Hannibal, and many others. As a youth getting more and more into detective fiction, the manga helped out with numerous recommendations.

2. Though cheesy and a little unbelievable for so long (Jimmy Kudo, high school detective wiz, is turned into a child by a little substance and lives with Rachel, and they 'like' each other so the element of teen romance appears often), because Conan/Jimmy solves most cases by hitting Rachel's father over the head (or sometimes Rachel's friend Serena) with a gadget made by Dr. Agasa, then uses his bowtie voice simulator to speak in the voice of older folks so as to make his deductions believable. Also, there is at least one moment where Rachel figures out that Conan is Jimmy Kudo, her high school not-quite boyfriend, but she is somehow persuaded by Jimmy's mother that he isn't Kudo. The campiness and lack of realism in the series is probably part of the appeal, and allows the series to go on for so long. Indeed, from what I've read, the series is widely popular in Japan, and the quirkiness, humor, and cultural references are permeated with Toyko and Japanese references that can be hard to follow as a non-Japanese reader, yet still humorous. For instance, Richard, Rachel's (Ran) father, is an alcoholic slob after any cute face and his arrogance is hilarious! The comedic elements of the series really make it more bearable, and the typical high school romance theme between Rachel and Jimmy (Shinichi in the Japanese original)

3. The actual mysteries are often difficult to crack. Some of them are a little over the top or too bizarre to ever discover on your own, but the thrill of correctly identifying the murderer is an endless thrill. Indeed, the developing plot where Anita's character is introduced and we gradually learn more about the Men in Black from a Syndicate which had used the drug that turned Jimmy into a child becomes more and more engaging, although, again, drawn out way too long. I am still unsure of what exactly happens, but more characters are introduced, and the possibility of Rachel's father and mother getting together again becomes another lingering pairing with comedic effect.

4. Oh, did I mention how in the one time I saw a black person in the manga, he wasn't a caricature? In one of the cases, Kudo and Rachel are in New York City for a Broadway show with Kudo's actress mother, and, well, naturally murder occurs during the show. One of the police investigators is a black man, depicted with dark skin and glasses and none of that Mr. Popo Japanese anti-black racism stuff. Similarly, in one of the earlier cases in the series, a half-Brazilian, half-Japanese character appears and he is quite dark-skinned but lacking any of those caricature-like depictions of black people that proliferate in Japanese popular culture. I applaud such practices on the part of the manga-ka, Gosho Aoyoama, since seeing Mr. Popo-like blackface caricatures in Japanese anime and manga helped turn me away from most of it.

So, overall, I love Detective Conan because it's humorous, interesting, engaging, entertaining, is educational for non-Japanese readers (with references to Japanese culture, history, mythology, Tokyo, Osaka, etc.) and the campiness of the series gives in some charm. Though excessively long, the series achieves its main goal in entertaining readers or watchers. Perhaps I'll watch some of the movies, too, since it's been too long since that. In addition, my love for this series is the origin of my email address.