April 15, 2009

Arashi? Arashi who?

Pete posts about how no one (including me) seems to be talking about Natsu no Arashi.

I almost never follow shows on first broadcast. Fact is, in the entire history of this site I've only done that twice, with Strike Witches and Macademi Wasshoi. I blog about R1 releases, mainly. (I do sometimes post about what other people have said about current Japanese releases, of course.)

I wasn't tempted by Arashi. Look what the teaser says: "In an old town coffee shop, a boy met an older high school girl. From there, everything was... An unforgettable summer began."

Yeah? And?

Or this: "The story centers on a boy named Hajime Yasaka who meets an older high school girl named Sayoko “Arashi” Arashiyama in an old town coffee shop. “Arashi” happens to have a secret that Hajime learns one fateful summer vacation."

Yeah? And?

Even if I was in the habit of following new releases, this wouldn't have reached the threshold of noticeability. Those descriptions tell me nothing.

Look. If a critical plot element is revealed in the first episode or two, then it is not a spoiler. If it's the basis for the show, the thing that makes this show unique and interesting and worth watching, then tell me about it.

How many hundred "magical girl" shows have there been, anyway? OK, so Mahoro is an android. Narue is a half-breed space alien. Nuku-Nuku is a cyborg, with the brain of a cat. Beldandy is a goddess. So's Yurie. Sae is a mahou-tsukai. Rushuna is a crack shot. Dokuro is an angel assassin. Shana is a Flame Haze. So what is Arashi, and why should I care?

Give me a clue, won't you? Well, they didn't, and no one has. Why would I give a damn about it?

UPDATE: OK, Aroduc's post makes it clear: Arashi is a time traveler. Looking at the art, and reading about it, I'm still not interested. It's got a nebbish wimp as a male lead, and that's a character type I really don't enjoy. The art style in general is rather unattractive, and the story hook... well, it doesn't hook me.

Not interested, not curious.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 12:56 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 364 words, total size 3 kb.

1 Crunchy is an official broadcaster in America, but I'm very bummed by the lack of DTO.

Art is wonderful.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at April 15, 2009 03:21 PM (/ppBw)

2 I'm with Pete, I thought the first episode was great. On the other hand, I'm a major SHAFT/Akiyuki Shinbo fanboy, so my judgement may be suspect.

Posted by: TimF at April 15, 2009 07:10 PM (ZLEBD)

3 Ok, so I decided to see what the hullabaloo was about.  I agree with Pete about the art; though I didn't think so at first. The floor in the coffee shop is just incredible; I wish I had time for screenshots.    The mail lead looks like a nebbish wimp, but that's part of the joke; he's 13 (the girl is about 16-17), and he's nearly as red-blooded and bombastic as Kamina.

It's possible the first episode is chronologically later in the series; as Hajime not only knows Arashi is a time-traveler, it appears all the women in the shop are (and everyone working there knows it).  But what earth-shattering drama do they get involved in due to this?  Assassinations, government conspiracies, aliens from outer space? (well, maybe the aliens in later episodes, per the OP, but you know Shaft...)  Nope.

A crazy plot involving explosive strawberries ("cutie-strawberry-chan"), misunderstandings, a very serious sweet tooth, and cheesecake (both types).  This isn't a romantic or angsty drama, it's farce, and brilliantly executed, at least through the first episode.  The girls apparently require contact with a guy to travel, so after fifteen minutes of set-up, the comedy degenerates into a mad chase through one morning as everyone tries to solve the mystery of the missing cheesecake, while dodging each other and their past selves.

Posted by: ubu at April 18, 2009 07:01 AM (wEWLd)

4 That's a poor comparison, methinks. Kamina breathed danger, whereas Hajime wimps out when he starts to disappear. Kamina would relish the challenge of sneaking upon himself, doubly so if there were a noble goal attached (like scoring a frontal peak at Arashi changing, or saving the world).

Also, in the story Kamina was a fatherly figure, an Obi-van Kenobi to Simon's Luke. Hajime does not have the moral authority that Kamina had.

Hajime is more like Hibiki from Vandread, and even that is probably in the future.

BTW, we know now that it was gimmik episode. And it's not a good sign.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at April 18, 2009 09:38 AM (/ppBw)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Enclose all spoilers in spoiler tags:
      [spoiler]your spoiler here[/spoiler]
Spoilers which are not properly tagged will be ruthlessly deleted on sight.
Also, I hate unsolicited suggestions and advice. (Even when you think you're being funny.)

At Chizumatic, we take pride in being incomplete, incorrect, inconsistent, and unfair. We do all of them deliberately.

How to put links in your comment

Comments are disabled. Post is locked.
9kb generated in CPU 0.0094, elapsed 0.0289 seconds.
21 queries taking 0.0115 seconds, 21 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.