 | "Rants" by Akira
(2003-02-19) |
This is exactly the same joke from previous comic strip "
Onii-chan's Nightmare", just characters are different. I don't know why, but dialogs are pretty similar too. Geez... My imagination is running lower and lower. Now I have to parody my old jokes? Sigh... This is bad ;P
I'm watching 26 TV anime series per week (yes, I admit that's a lot). Out of 26 animes I watch, I really really love the series called "Hanada Shounen Shi". I think this series is one of the best anime I've watched in years. I love the story. Episodes are so well written, some stories made me cry (Yes, I am embarrassed...).
I want to recommend people to watch this series, but I'm afraid that will not happen. I'm very sure most people will stop watching after first episode. To tell you the truth, I didn't watch the second and third episodes, because I wasn't interested in this anime... But I accidentally watched fourth episode (mother, boy, and sunflowers) and loved that story. Sob... sob...
Anyway, I think there is a lot of reasons why this series will not do well outside Japan (I'm not sure if it doing well in Japan either).
- Characters designs are very unattractive. Main characters are extremely ugly (compared to current Japanese anime). Very few bishounen and bishoujo introduced in this series. That is a very minus factor. That will turn 99% of people away from this anime.
- It takes place in rural Japan around 1960-1970 (my guess). The stories are based on Japanese traditions or customs, and most people (outside Japan) will not get the idea (like why Ichiro wants color TV, why re-marriage is a big matter, family arranged marriage, values of all life (even insects, frogs), importance of promises, etc). Cultural difference is a very minus factor. For example, "Seinfeld" didn't do well in Japan. It's not because Japanese people are stone headed, but because they aren't familiar with New York (American) way of life, culture, and traditions. Cultural knowledge plays a very crucial role in moving people's emotions (laugh or cry). Again this will turn 99% of people away.
- Main character Ichiro's nose is always dripping... There are very unattractive male nudity scenes... Speaking bad harsh languages... There are too many unattractive factors to this anime. My sister doesn't want to watch this anime because of these dirty scenes. Sigh... 99% gone.
From my experience, my tastes in anime or comic are different from most people.... When I recommend my favorite anime (like "Legend of Galactic Hero") or manga ("Pineapple Army") to my friends, they usually hate them... I fear same thing will happen to this "Hanada Shounen Shi" too. But if you have a chance watching this anime, please do so... Maybe you'll be 1 in 1,000,000 who actually like this anime :)
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