March 30th, 2020 
Charles Solomon 
To help fill the enforced hours at home of “sheltering in place,” here are some anime series that lend themselves to binge watching. Some are older, some recent; adventures, comedies, romances.
Typically, the adventures take the main characters on quests where they face much realer danger than American counterparts. The comedies have a take-no-prisoners silliness that rivals Rocky and Bullwinkle and The Simpsons. The romances range from farcical to touching.
The filmmakers often tackle serious social issues, from bullying and teen suicide to global warming. Economic inequality and the ways it limits the future of an increasing number of young people has become a recurring theme.
The Devil is a Part-Timer
The supernatural comedy-adventure The Devil Is a Part-Timer stands out for its no-holds-barred absurdity. In the alternate world of Enta Isla, Satan, the Lord of Demons, is hurled through an inter-dimensional portal with his general Alciel and his arch-enemy, the Heroine Emilia. The trio find themselves in modern Tokyo with neither their accustomed powers nor a yen to their name. Satan and Alciel rent a miniscule apartment in a rundown old building. Under his pseudonym of Mao, Satan gets a job at the fast-food outlet MgRonalds. Mao becomes the “perfect MgRonalds employee:” dedicated, hard-working and earnest. He’s promoted to assistant manager.
When his powers return, Mao has to face off against the evil Sariel: He prepares for the battle by taking off his MgRonalds uniform and neatly folding it. Clad in his boxers, he beats the hell (literally) out of Sariel. After making sure the other characters are safe, he repairs the damage to nearby buildings. Then he puts his uniform back on–any damage to it would have been deducted from his salary! Foes dispatched, he’s ready for his shift. Part-Timer offers much-needed laughs in a grim time.
Eden of the East
Twenty-something Akira Takizawa wakes up in front of the White House—stripped of his clothes and his memories. All he has is a pistol and a mobile phone that delivers whatever he requests. With some reluctant assistance from Saki Morimi a shy college senior on a graduation trip to America, Takizawa dodges the cops and gets them back to Japan.
He discovers he is a seleçao (“selection” in Portuguese), one of 12 agents charged with saving a decaying, apathetic Japan by the mysterious Mr. Outside. As he struggles to regain his memories, Takizawa comes across possible links to twin missile attacks on Japan and the disappearance of 20,000 NEETS (young men Not in Employment, Education or Training). With help from Saki and her friends, Takizawa rediscovers his identity, aids Japan–and disappears.
Writer-director Kenji Kamiyama recut the series as a compilation feature, which he followed with two theatrical feature, Eden of the East Movie I: The King of Eden and Eden of the East Movie II: Paradise Lost. As he did in the popular Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the TV follow up to Mamoru Oshii’s watershed film, Kamiyama shows a remarkable flair for building suspense while weaving complex storylines filled with unexpected twists. But each twist is created for a reason, and the stories resolve themselves neatly and elegantly.
Hyouka
High school student Hotaro Oreki’s motto is “If I don’t have to do something, I won’t; but if I have to, I’ll do it quickly.” His chatterbox best friend Satoshi Fukube says Oreki creates his own little black cloud over Kamiyama High. The one thing Oreki fears is that he may be ordinary, although he’s obviously anything but.
Oreki’s older sister bullies him into joining the Classic Literature Club, with Fukube in tow. The club president is pretty Eru Chitanda, who becomes obsessed with puzzling mysteries, which she begs Oreki to solve. He does, using a Sherlockian combination of observation and deduction—to the annoyance of fellow club member Mayaka Ibara.
“Hyouka” works, because the filmmakers keep the mysteries at a believable scale. There are no vampires, no aliens, no gore. A vacation at an onsen involves an old ghost story that Oreki explains simply and logically. It’s a welcome change from many Japanese (and American) tales that pit a pleasant, ordinary hero against an existential threat. Nobody wants Ash Ketchum or Arnold standing between them and Mothra.
Kids on the Slope
Kids on the Slope showcases the talent and versatility of Shinichiro Watanabe. In contrast to the film noir adventures of Cowboy Bebop and the cultural mash-up of Samurai Champloo, he offers a warm, believable tale of teen-age friendship and music. His peripatetic father sends honor student and classically trained pianist Kaoru Nishimi to East High on Kyushu, where he has neither friends nor academic peers. Kaoru’s discomfort tickles Sentaro Kawabuchi, whose bad boy image conceals his talent as a jazz drummer. He practices in the basement of the record store run by “Pops” Mukae and his pretty daughter Ritsuko.
Eager to impress Ritsuko, Kaoru begins jamming with Sentaro. As he learns to use and break with his training, he discovers a freedom he’s never known. Misunderstandings, fights, and foot-in-mouth moments roil the relationships, but the two heroes find something neither has ever had: A real friend. When Sentaro’s little sister is hurt in a traffic accident, Kaoru holds his friend’s head against his chest, but looks straight ahead, “so we don’t have to see each other cry.” Jazz musician Yoko Kanno, who collaborated with Watanabe on Cowboy Bebop, deftly weaves “My Favorite Things,” “Lullaby of Birdland” and other standards into the score.
Megalobox
The sci-fi sports hit Megalobox was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the hugely popular shonen (boy’s) manga Ashita no Joe. (Usually translated as “Tomorrow’s Joe,” it was adapted to both animation and live-action.) The sullen biker hero of Megalobox refers to himself as JNK.DOG and choses the name Joe when he fills out a form. As a Megaloboxer, Joe initially fights wearing “gear”–mechanical devices that augment the punching power of the arms and shoulders. His manager, Nanbu sees Joe’s potential—and a chance to pay off his debts to the mob. As they’re too broke to afford the latest hi-tech devices, Joe boxes without them as “Gearless Joe.”
Although his fame grows, Joe is an inhabitant of the grungy “Restricted Area.” He lacks the citizenship papers needed to compete in the Megalonia Tournament , which is held in the wealthy “Administrative District.” Competing with a fake ID leaves him vulnerable to threats of disqualification and blackmail. But when Joe and the reigning champion finally meet in the ring, each fighter finds what he (and countless other anime warriors) have sought: An opponent of equal power and skill. A combination underdog sports fable and a critique of growing income inequality, Megalobox has an international fan base who hope the series will continue.
Paranoia Agent
Animation lost a major talent when Satoshi Kon died in 2010 at 46. His one television series, the dark, unsettling and intriguing Paranoia Agent confirms the magnitude of his talent–and the art form’s loss. Lil’ Slugger, a baseball bat-wielding adolescent randomly attacks five people in Tokyo, each of whom is grappling with a serious problem.
But as the series progresses, Kon glides effortlessly between reality and fantasy, as he did in his more famous features. Kon continually undercuts the audience’s assumptions, calling what seemed to be the facts of the story into question. By the end of the series, the viewer can’t be sure if Lil’ Slugger really exists, if he’s the projection of a childhood trauma suffered by toy designer Tsukiko Sagi (the creator of the wildly popular pink dog Maromi), if he’s a creation of the mass media—or some combination of all three. Paranoia Agent stands out as a fascinating, disturbing, and highly original work by a talented director at the top of his game.
School Rumble
This agreeably silly comedy centers on romantic triangle, but a triangle made entirely of obtuse angles. Perky Tenma Tsukamoto nurtures a gooey crush on the terminally oblivious Oji Karasuma. Self-proclaimed juvenile delinquent Kenji Harima is smitten with Tenma. Although he gets in so many fights, he needs a calendar to keep track of them, Harima’s thuggish exterior conceals a gentle heart–and a remarkable talent as a manga artist.
The comedy, which shifts from slapstick to verbal misunderstandings and back again, flows naturally from the characters’ personalities. The filmmakers use the high school hijinks to spoof Gundam, Voltron, Inu-Yasha, Dragon Ball Z and the Matrix movies. In an extra episode that moves the cast to the Stone Age, Karasuma makes a flip book out of leaves and declares, “I think I’ll call it ‘anime.’”
Steins; Gate
Time travel stories are singularly challenging to film because of the “grandfather paradox:” A character who visits the past could interact with someone in ways that prevented his birth. The agreeably skewed sci-fi adventure Steins;Gate neatly threads that temporal needle.
College student and self-proclaimed “mad scientist” Rintaro Okabe seeks experiences that go beyond normal life—and is dismayed when he finds them. He sets up the Future Gadget Lab in his messy apartment and recruits a group of misfits to aid in his experiments. A jerry-rigged combination of an ancient microwave, a cel phone and other electronic junk enables Okabe and his friends to send text messages back in time. The messages affect the past in ways that alter the present, but only Okabe realizes things have changed.
Although Okabe’s eccentricities can be grating at times, Steins;Gate mixes sci-fi adventures, mystery, comedy and romance into an agreeable package.
Tiger and Bunny
The sci-fi adventure-comedy Tiger and Bunny offers a classic pair of mismatched heroes, but with some twists. Men and women called “Nexts” use their superpowers to become costumed superheroes and fight crime. But they do it on a special TV channel, where they vie for points, titles, endorsements and screen time.
Kotetsu “Wild Tiger” Kaburagi is starting to feel his age. He fervently believes a true hero will rescue anyone in need. But he’s also a klutz, who accidentally damages his surroundings while pursuing criminals. In an effort to boost ratings, the network pairs Kotetsu with handsome, popular rookie Barnaby Brooks, Jr. Of course, the new partners annoy the hell out of each other. Barnaby thinks Kotetsu’s over the hill; Kotetsu gives Barnaby the irksome nickname “Bunny.” Of course, they develop a grudging respect and affection for each other.
Tiger and Bunny presents the superhero as salaryman: Kotetsu and Barnaby dutifully save the day, even though the pay and benefits aren’t all that great.
Ultimate Otaku Teacher
Nutty Jun’ichiro Kagami is a former physics prodigy who proved at 17 it was theoretically possible to construct Doraemon’s Dokodemo (“Anywhere”) Door. When he learned it would take at least a century to create the technology needed to realize his theory, Kagami withdrew from the world–until his younger sister got him a job teaching high school.
Kagami brings out the hidden potential in his problem kids by treating them with affection and respect. He uses soccer and video games to turn the school bully into a helpful classmate, and persuades an aspiring manga artist to come to school and study her friends for material. Kotaro has been cutting class because he prefers to dress as a girl: Kagami uses a multi-player on-line game to re-integrate him into the class, who welcome him, regardless of his attire. The filmmakers handle this multi-part storyline with a gentle sympathy that would be hard to find in an American animated series.
Like Great Teacher Onizuka and Assassination Classroom, Ultimate Otaku Teacher can be read as a comedy concealing a critique of the grueling Japanese educational system that leads children to suffer breakdowns and even commit suicide.
Welcome to the NHK
Welcome to the NHK focuses on the hikikomori: Young people, mostly males, who’ve barricaded isolated themselves from a world they feel holds no place for them. (The syndrome was initially identified in Japan, but has begun to appear in the US and other countries.) Twenty-something college dropout Tatsuhiro Sato has spent the four years holed up in a tiny apartment, emerging only to buy supplies. He pretends he’s a game designer who works at home.
Pretty Misaki Nakahara decides to “rehabilitate” him. Sato starts working on a game with his geeky neighbor Kaoru Yamazaki. He visits Yamazaki’s hi-tech college, but he doesn’t believe the professors who praise his talents.
The filmmakers tread a fine line, keeping Sato inhibited and agoraphobic, yet likable as they gradually energize him. His relationship with the puzzling Misaki enables him to escape from his isolation in a conclusion that feels both satisfying and believable. Like two knickknacks with chips in the same places, Sato and Misaki belong together.
- REVIEW: “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle” - July 2, 2024
- Charles Solomon’s Animation Year End Review 2023 - December 28, 2023
- INTERVIEW: Makoto Shinkai on “Suzume” - November 27, 2023
Posted in 
Tags: 
