Animation Revelation's Animation Blog

Ah, good old Scooby Doo. Is there anyone among us who isn’t at least passingly familiar with one of the shows featuring the talking mutt and those meddling kids who made up his posse? Traveling in the aptly-named mystery-machine, solving crimes involving some sort of bogeyman, which would invariably turn out to be Old Man Caruthers (or some other seemingly benevolent older man), who had chosen to disguise himself in order to propagate some villainous scheme.

Truth be told, I was never a big fan of the majority of Hannah-Barbera’s body of work, which is not to say that I hated their cartoons, I just didn’t consider them to be essential viewing. Basically, the cartoons created by Hannah-Barbera were simply there; I’d watch them if I felt like it, but I can’t say that they engaged me or sustained my interest after the episode had ended. Scooby Doo! Where Are You? Was not the exception to the rule and I can’t say I cared enough about the franchise to seek out the spinoff shows like A Pup Named Scooby Doo or the latter-day live-action movies. As such, when I heard that there was a new Scooby Doo show, my interest was at first practically non-existent. However, I soon noticed that people on various forums I frequent was talking about the new show titled Mystery Incorporated in quite positive terms and when I learned that the show’s director was a certain Victor Cook, who had worked with Greg Weisman on The Spectacular Spider-Man; one of my favorite cartoons ever, I decided to give this new Scooby Doo a shot.

I’m glad I did, because Mystery Incorporated is a genuinely great show, featuring a really engaging on-going plot which is revealed bit by bit during the course of the show’s two seasons. The show takes place almost entirely in the town of Crystal Cove, it’s here that we meet the eponymous Mystery Inc. consisting as always of Fred Jones Jr, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Norville “Shaggy” Rogers and last, but not least, Scooby Doo. When Mystery Incorporated opens, the quintet has already been in the mystery-solving business for at least some time – catching the various ghouls and ghosts that plague Crystal Cove and exposing them as regular crooks in costume. This is not looked upon kindly by Fred’s father, the mayor of Crystal Cove, who sees any seemingly supernatural activity – no matter how dangerous, as a great way to put Crystal Cove on the map.

Soon enough, the gang stumbles upon a new mystery which will turn out to be the biggest one they have ever been faced with. Guided by the enigmatic Mr. E, Mystery Inc. must attempt to find out what happened to their predecessors, the original Mystery Inc. and how their disappearance ties into the legend of a fabled treasure said to be hidden beneath Crystal Cove.

I’ll stop there for fear of having said too much. Suffice to say that Mystery Incorporated makes excellent use of its serialized format to gradually reveal more of the mystery that is at the center of the show and although not all the episodes revolve around that storyline, there’s usually something in each episode that adds to the puzzle. The writers of the show has also done a great job with the characters, keeping their most familiar traits intact (Velma is the smart one of the group, Shaggy and Scooby are the constantly hungry cowards, etc.) while also allowing them to step out of the types they represent and become fully fleshed-out characters. The one who differs the most from his original incarnation is undoubtedly Fred, while he still serves as the group’s de-facto leader his primary characterization this time is an obsession with traps which at times had me convinced that Fred was, at the very least, borderline-autistic. This is in my opinion a huge improvement over Fred’s characterization in the original show, which could charitably be described as bland.

The supporting cast is as rule engaging, my personal favorite being Professor Pericles who emerges as the chief villain of the series. Pericles is a genuinely sinister and competent villain who almost always manages to stay one step ahead of the protagonists; unsurprisingly the episodes that involve him are among the show’s more serious installments.  Other noteworthy characters include the local lawman, Sheriff Bronson Stone, whose incompetence coupled with an inflated ego provides much of the show’s comic relief as well as local radio DJ Angel Dynamite, who serves as the kid’s closest ally.

As much as I liked Mystery Incorporated, the show is not without its flaws. The early episodes are plagued by a rather tedious love-triangle between Shaggy, Scooby and Velma, which quite frankly I could have done without. Another episode also introduces the character Jason, who is one of the most stereotypical and obnoxious nerd/geek characters I’ve seen in a recent cartoon. Thankfully, after his initial appearance the character is soon relegated to the occasional cameo, so he never has the opportunity to become Mystery Inc.’s Scrappy, thank heavens.

I guess I should’ve written a bit about the voice acting (great, but than what would you expect with such talented voice actors as Patrick Warburton, Grey DeLisle and Mark Hamill among others in the cast?) or the fact that the show provides us with an explanation for why one small town attracts so many weirdoes in masks, among other things, but that would’ve made this review even more long-winded than I fear it may already be. Suffice to say that whether you were a fan of the franchise or not, Scooby Doo: Mystery incorporated comes highly recommended for anyone who likes good, serialized animation and while I mean no disrespect to its predecessors this is quite frankly the only Scooby Doo cartoon that I’d rank among my favorite animated shows. Check it out.

Ten episodes and a shocking revelation later, I think it’s about time we do some Attack on Titan dissecting.

Anime protagonists in general come off as being constantly set at an intensity of 11, but Eren Jaeger takes the cake when it comes to such. Without having even seen a Titan before the attack on his hometown (at least to our knowledge), a young Eren is already roaming the streets telling off army officials about how they better not take such times of peace too lightly. And while such a statement is understandable enough, it can be difficult to be taken seriously about a topic on Titans when they’ve been successfully kept at bay for 100 years. People as old as Eren’s grandparents (arguably, great-grandparents, assuming an understandably short life span given food shortages) have lived inside the wall, leaving well enough alone, so who is someone like Eren to suddenly become curious as to what’s out there?

Enter Armin—a close friend of Eren’s who just so happens to have a grandfather who owns some contraband books on the world outside the wall. Suddenly knowledge as seemingly minor as the existence of a sea full of salt water leads to Eren developing something of a “there must be more than this provincial life” syndrome. He has a sense that the world has so much more to offer, but rather than villainizing his world’s rulers for keeping a cap on the spread of certain facts, he grows to direct his hatred towards the more prominent reason preventing humans from venturing outside the wall: the Titans. This hatred is slowly brought to a violent boil when Shiganshina is attacked, and Eren’s own mother is killed by a Titan during the chaos.

But there is more to Eren’s rage and overall plight than even that traumatic event.

Upon further investigation, you’ll notice that the flashback of Eren and Armin reading about the outside world has a severe lack of Mikasa. And considering that the three of them were all essentially joined at the hip during their childhood, it is safe to assume that the flashback in question took place before either Eren or Armin met her. Another factor to take note of during the flashback would be the lack of Eren defaulting to an angry face or screaming about the cold harsh truths of the world. As far as we know, the first time chronologically we have seen Eren at his default max intensity would be when he saves a young Mikasa, killing two grown men with an unrelenting fury comparable to that of well… a kid all hopped up on mysterious serums that even the manga hasn’t fully explained yet.

I mean... I don't think you can get away with calling it "just a phase"

What I’m trying to get at is that with the exception to the serums he’s apparently been injected with, Eren’s true strength doesn’t come from his book-smarts like Armin, or his brute strength like Mikasa. Rather, Eren has been built up to be the type of character that is able to get by regardless of (and probably due to) his shortcomings. His intense hatred for Titans as well as his underplayed curiosity of what lies beyond the community walls is what pushes him to do his very best, even when his very best clearly doesn’t hold a candle to the other army members.

So imagine my disappointment when all that character building is essentially tossed out the window when it’s revealed that Eren has the ability to transform himself into a Titan.

The twist itself is interesting enough and provides a sense of surrealism in a world that’s come off as decently planted in reality (or y’know… as “reality” as a world full of giants would be). But the fact that this ability has been granted to Eren—a character that up until this point has been moving forward based on his own merits (or lack of them)—seems incredibly contrary to what he’s been built up as. In terms of squad usefulness, Eren isn’t the first person to come to mind, but with his newfound abilities, he has instantly reached god-like status with outsiders either willing to roll with him or are irrationally against him. And if it weren’t for the handful of seconds-long flashbacks with Dr. Jaeger waving a hypodermic needle in front of Eren’s face, I would have called this a deus ex machina from the get-go.

That’s not to say that this new kink to the plot hasn’t grown on me. Keeping up with the manga (46 chapters as of this post), I will say that future Titan lore has been written in such a way that Eren’s transformation feels less forced and obnoxious. And of course there’s also the possibility of the anime taking things in a different, equally positive, direction as well.

Regardless of where you stand with Eren’s Titan powers, I will say that the series as a whole handles their cast of characters in such a way that meets and exceeds most anime fans’ shonen expectations. In the long run, Eren still remains the brash, overly intense shonen main character with enough unique bumps and bruises to separate himself from the ever-growing list of anime protagonists.

Before I begin, let me allow this one matter to be perfectly clear…

Yes, I am a hater. I spit on your holy territory. I dance the dance of Jazz singers on your loved ones’ graves. You may now proceed to ignore the rest of this article and post some petty, misspelled, improperly punctuated drivel in the comments if you wish under the tl;dr clause. However, for the benefit of those who agree with me about the current mess of a block that is Toonami, I shall continue…

Seven years ago, I posted my thoughts on the then-current version of the Toonami block at the forum that must not be named. At the time, the anthology had undergone two of the worst lineups in its history, balancing favorites like DBZ and Yu Yu Hakusho (which we didn’t know was on its way out the door at the time) with drivel like DICE, Wulin Warriors, Zatch Bell, IGPX, and the 4Kids version of One Piece. I was reminded of the famous Moltar speech from his final weeks as host about how Toonami had become something of a failed experiment due to what was perceived as a nosedive in quality between 2000 and 2006 and how the current direction would eventually prove fatal. I was proven correct as the plug was mercifully pulled on the Saturday night Toonami, albeit three years too late.

So we fast-forward onto 2012. April Fools Day has occurred. Instead of Johnny and Mark, we see Gohan and Cell. The response has been enormous. #BringBackToonami is burning up the twitter trends. One month later, Adult Swim Action is officially Toonami again. All is well, right? Well it was… for two months. Deadman Wonderland and Casshern Sins bring in the ratings but they’re not well loved by the all-important faithful who demand their DBZ back, and replacements Samurai 7 and Eureka Seven don’t endear them either. What to do then?

Easy, you just sell out… again. Back in 2006, it was to the toy companies (which is no longer a factor since Hasbro has its own channel and doesn’t need no Time Warner money). Today, they’ve given in to the nostalgics by adding shows that either have a direct or semi-tangential connection to the original Toonami. So now Naruto’s back…albeit uncut and a decade old…but still Naruto…and its reruns…eh. One Piece is back!…except its 200 episodes in and we’ll never catch up…and the ratings toileted a week later and haven’t recovered because of it…eh. Tenchi’s back!…except its the show everybody hates…and they could have easily reaired the OVAs…but they didn’t. Thundercats is back!…but its the remake…and its reruns. Etc. Etc. The problem is… these shows all suck to some degree, and with a lead-in like the ever awful Bleach, the first 90 minutes of Newnami has become a slog (Soul Eater gets a pass since its new to Cartoon Network and probably the best acquisition they’ve made since expanding to six hours).

Well I can’t say this is the worst block Toonami’s had in a while (the infamous March 2006 lineup holds that title in perpetuity), it’s damn near close, and the assortment probably will be when Sword Art replaces Eureka come August. We have replaced toy sales with nostalgia beer goggles, which once again put a crimp on development. Admittedly my vision of a mostly artsy/seinen Toonami From Heaven is about as unrealistic as it comes, but there are some very good shows out there that could have easily been acquired for not much fuss and not a lot of cash. Full Metal Panic, for instance, has about a years worth of content spread across three series and they’re all owned by Funi, as well as other good shows like Last Exile and Steins;Gate. But no! It’s Toonami so we need two hours of boring Shonen Jump and four hours of additional nostalgia fap because that’s what you, yes YOU, want! It’s depressing.

However, on the other hand, I cannot call this a failed experiment because we’re only a year in. True, the Absolution’s going downhill at an alarming pace, but there’s hope that Jason DeMarco is basically whoring out Toonami to make it better. I don’t know if that’ll actually happen, and if it doesn’t then way to go Broonami’s, you defiled your own homeland…again, so we’ll probably find out for real when Funi dubs Attack on Titan, which can’t come up any sooner.

As today’s market of dystopic fantasies and misunderstood loners can tell you, gritty storytelling sells. Darkness has been selling since before Nietzsche could count to ten. You’d be struggling to find a story without a bad case of dead moms, totalitarian government, murder, or something about rape in modern drama. But instead of adding realism, too many attempts at proving a tale to be mature only elicit disbelief and scorn towards the work. Make something too dark, and the whole thing becomes more garish than an LSD-laced gay pride parade.

Take Guilty Crown, for example. The show had it all: Evil government, childhood friends becoming cold-blooded terrorists, civilian deaths up the wazoo, and inexplicable nods to incest. The writers were telling a grim story about how war can corrupt the most innocent of men. As a result, the series bombed. Hard. What Guilty Crown completely forgot was one simple thing: Illustrating a reason to give a damn about all the brutality. Any characters with unambiguously good intentions get killed off or forgotten while prissy little Shu Ouma and his milquetoast motives take the center stage. The creators were clearly going for a Shinji Ikari or a Kamille Bidan type of character, only to forget that those two actually had reasons and motives beyond looking cool while debris flows through the air. When Shu goes into dark moments or experiences personal angst, the reaction is akin to watching a ragdoll getting spit on. No matter how turmoil he goes through, I’m still only seeing a blank shell get trampled on. Only so much J-pop can hide the truth that Shu is a soldier without a cause. His character doesn’t define his role, but the complete opposite. And what’s his role beyond “Uh, he’s Lelouch but more of a doormat?” or whatever subject that probably went over Production IG’s heads?

In the attempt to stray from the “healing-type” writing that I know most of you readers dread, we’ve gone to a different problem with too much conflict getting in the way of actually caring about what’s going on. That’s a criticism repeated again and again for recent shows—even ones that are generally considered good—like Fate/Zero or Aku No Hana. After all, there’s a reason why a sizable amount of fans prefer the coming-of-age tale of Waver Velvet to Kiritsugu’s thorough vivisection by endless bouts of horrific circumstances. A character arc more often than not repels viewers when the character in question is doomed to fail. People want a semblance of hope that the person they’re rooting for might actually get out with kind of payoff. While the show still rates highly in my book, that element fruitfully explains why certain forms of conflict might turn off an audience. You’ll hear complaints about why every character in Game of Thrones is either an asshole or a punching bag, and how many horror movies make you want to see the entire cast die. Before I digress any further, what is the most crucial element of drama lies in how despite all that stands in the way, there should be at least one drop of hope.

Hey guys! Remember when I used to update on a more frequent basis? Well, it’s not that I don’t care (I don’t), but hey, that’s life!

Here’s an attempt to try a new series out- plagiarizing taking inspiration from Criterion’s great Three Reasons series of videos and articles, in which they pick 3 particular reasons that you need to check out their most recent releases or rereleases, we’re going to try to do the same for some of our favorite animated works. Be it a strong series or film, totally essential or stuck to the sidelines, we have our reasons for all of these, and you should listen up.

First up will be a particular Disney show from the early 00’s, the first of their animated series to have a full release come out from the Mouse House (excluding certain Marvel shows they obtained the rights to), The Weekenders. Two sets containing all 39 episodes are currently available on the Disney Movie Club, and worth joining just to pick up.

But why is that? The Weekenders was decent popular during its original One Saturday Morning run, as well as later repeats on both the Disney Channel and Toon Disney, but far from one of their biggest hits. We’re only now just getting the rest of Gargoyles and TaleSpin, while DuckTales, Darkwing Duck and Kim Possible, among others, still have plenty of episodes not currently released on disc, while a strong amount of other series don’t even have one set available to their name, including a little show that has grown a teeny, tiny bit of a following in recent years. Something about some boys and a pet platypus or something.

Why should you check out this small show about some kids that kill time on the weekend? These are my three reasons as to why it’s worth another look.

#1- The Characters

If there’s one thing I can safely say about the show, it’s that the four lead characters, Tino, Lor, Carver and Tish, have nothing but shades of shades in their characters. Tino isn’t just a playfully sarcastic geek with a heart of gold, but a neurotic mess with severe abandonment issues that have popped up as far back as when his parents split up, if not even farther back; Lor’s a tomboy raised as the only girl in a large supply of athletic little boys, as we can see her evolvement into womenhood come at a nice, if subtle pace;  Carver can be incredibly narcissistic, but his obsession with shoes and popularity are brought on due to hi doubt of hiss parent’s strict upbringing, as Carver doesn’t believe he’s smart enough to do greatly in school and attempts to exceed in other ways; meanwhile, Tish is smart enough to be at the top of her game, but overachieves due to her ties as a foreigner, which almost forces her to excel beyond your average American student’s grades. Otherwise, she just wants to be a normal teenager, with mixed results.

A lot of these character traits aren’t massively original, but combined together with incredible voice acting and a wide supporting cast, you have enough to make for one of the better coming-of-age middle school series made in recent history.

#2- The Dialogue

My props go out to this great tumblr blog, which has tons of gifs, pics and other goodies in relation to the show posted.

#3- Running Gags

And the show has ’em. Plenty of  ’em. Pretty good ones, too, but the weird thing is, they’re all food related. So why don’t you down some of Tino’s mom’s kelp ravioli if couscous (the food so nice, they named it twice) isn’t your thing, and then go to Sherlock pizza and try to grab a slice and a Chug-a-Freeze, if you can find one. Good luck!

Also, I like pointy things. Seriously though, check out this show again.

Later days!

Evil...

As of a few weeks ago, my traditional household has encountered the radical views of Shezow. After watching a few episodes with a Jesus statue in my tight, Caucasian hands, I was absolutely offended. How could this cartoon promote such a disturbing lifestyle to children? Our faithful Congress has done such strident actions to keep the filth away from television, only to allow this pile of Obama-sanctioned excrement to air? There’s nothing more disgusting—or more offensive to Christian viewpoints—than discovering a children’s cartoon supporting the rights of Canadians.

The holy Bible—definitely not edited beyond original comprehension by centuries of editing—decrees that “Thou shalt not lie with Canadian kind, as with righteous American kind: it is abomination.” What worked for men and lesser women from two thousand years ago must be able to work now. As is decreed by our savior who must have said such glorious testaments, the beatification of Canadians is blasphemy and something that only a Pagan would consider doing. Through the long-upheld doctrine of Christian Science, Canadians have been proven to be of a lesser breed than the pure Anglo-Saxon-American lineage that can be seen in true-blooded patriots such as me.

The Canadian has long been rooted into crimes of pedophilia or philandering from proper Christian households. A mountie will steal your son and diddle his American flag so hard that his former pride throbs with the might of Quebec. Yet, you have such contrarians to the Godly cause such as Jenna Talackova or Rae Spoon question the ultimate work of literature by smearing their Canadian nature all over popular culture. The Bible is the most infallible work of diction in the same way An Unearthly Child is automatically the best serial. And as our Sir Doctor DJ Jesus Wilson Vincent Christ OBE KCSG knows, these cracks into our glorious status quo cannot be tolerated. Imagine seeing your son go out into the open and say, “Mother? Father? I have come out of the closet and decided to be Canadian.” Would you take that risk?

Americans Beware

I thought so.

Last year, Marvel fans were greeted with the worst April Fools’ Day joke of all time: the abysmal Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, which – despite involvement from writer Brian Michael Bendis – has absolutely nothing to do with the excellent comic book series of the same name. While many fans of the previous (and much better) series, Spectacular Spider-Man, were sore about Ultimate‘s mere existence, the truth is that SSM actually ended because of licensing issues between Marvel and Sony – not to pave way for a replacement. Fast forward to 2013, and the same studio behind Spidey’s most recent television outing has made its own Avengers cartoon, one intended as a tie-in to 2012’s summer blockbuster movie. The difference here is that the previous show, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, actually was cancelled to bring about this newer iteration.

As it stands, the first installment of Avengers Assemble is slightly better than any given episode of Ultimate Spider-Man, which is to say that watching Avengers Assemble is a more pleasant experience than discovering you have hemorrhoids. It’s extremely boring and obviously made to sell toys to children, but it’s also not outright offensive or insulting like USM is, so that’s a step up, I suppose. It doesn’t do a very good job of tying into the film, though; the characters look and sound almost nothing like their live action counterparts, and the writing is a couple (hundred) notches below that of Whedon’s screenplay.

The first thing you’ll notice about this show is that it looks like it was made in Flash for cheap. The character designs come across as very unnatural, like they’re paper cutouts pasted onto a screen rather than inhabitants of a cartoon world. Meanwhile, the 3D CGI stuff blends in poorly and already looks extremely dated. The whole production is a mess that barely manages to surpass the 90’s X-Men cartoon in terms of aesthetics. And I feel bad for anybody who tries to watch this show on a standard definition TV – on top of the letterboxing they’ll already experience from the show being made in widescreen, many shots randomly add humongous black bars to the top and bottom of the screen to give the action a “cinematic” feel, meaning SD fellas probably won’t even be able to see what’s happening during these moments. The pointless fake letterbox effect takes up so much of the screen that it actually becomes jarring whenever scenes decide to jump in and out of it (and almost all of them do).

With the huge pool of A-list writing talent Man Of Action supposedly employs (such as Paul Dini and Joe Kelly), you’d at least expect the story and dialogue to be somewhat interesting, but no. The script features very little in the way of wit or charm, and the plot… well, the plot tries to present M.O.D.O.K. as a credible villain. And if you don’t know who M.O.D.O.K. is, I’ll just let these screen caps from the episode fill you in:

That’s really all you need to know.

— Foggle

(Please note that I have only seen maybe three episodes of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and this is not intended as a rage post due to its cancellation. I’m just giving my first impressions of Assemble.)

I know what you're looking at, and I'm ashamed.

The short-lived animated series Immortal Grand Prix, a racing show co-produced by Cartoon Network, recently returned to screens to much fanfare. Much praise has been given to Toonami for this idea, with the consensus being this represents a return to the good old days. However, that contrasts with previous apathy for the show in favor of desire for shows like Sym-Bionic Titan or Teen Titans to return. In fact, the interest in bringing back IGPX seemed nonexistent in the months before the announcement. Nostalgia was sparked out of the return than memories of the actual show, and that asks a question: Was IGPX even good to begin with?

Aside from the CG racing sequences, the animation presents nothing notable or surprising. Sure, the design if usually on model, but points can’t be given for a basic expectation. Plots and characterization don’t go beyond the basic “sports anime” concept, with Takeshi, Amy, and Liz never going beyond their already flat archetypes. As their character interaction offer little chemistry and real flavor to the show, these scenes ends up detracting away from the supposed center of the show. While the casting is impressive for a Saturday night cartoon, which seems like the only distinction this series has from other anime. After all, Michelle Rodriguez is always welcome. But besides that, what’s there to make this series better than any other racing show? The plot moves at a pace contradictory to the show’s theme. While the series’ quality may have been must better than contemporary programs at its original airing such as Zatch Bell and D.I.C.E., does that say anything in the grand scheme of things?

Within the anime subculture, the show’s title seems as obscure as the Super Mario OVA. Search through any “Top 00s Anime” or “Shows To Get Nostalgic Over” lists, and I assure you that IGPX will seldom be on those charts. Hell, when was the last time you even heard of someone not into Toonami speak of the show? Yet, the show’s return brought cheers equivalent to the new Pope being announced. Exactly what is going on to incur this spur? When shows like Samurai 7 or even Soul Eater were announced, they only received a fraction of this anticipation. So what gives?

Perhaps this signals how the revival of Toonami has turned its fans rabid with anticipation over any kind of news. And what’s better than a return of Toonami’s first original animated series? Even if the series wasn’t actually good to begin with, getting a show from the previous era back on-air simulates the feeling of finally having the Toonami we knew and loved. But then that raises a further question: Do we want good shows or do we just want Toonami back?

Maybe I’m exaggerating and looking at a genuinely good show through biased eyes. There’s the possibility that the years have given IGPX a new generation to please. But looking onto the show with a personal view, I look with confusion as to what exactly makes this a victory in the eyes of action-animation fans. In a few years’ time, we’ll probably see Wulin Warriors come back and be viewed as a classic that deserved another chance. Hey, if Citizen Kane was mocked during its initial release, then surely a couple shows have gotten the same treatment?

Right?

Earlier this year, Kyoto Animation released a teaser for a potential new project. It featured a bunch of shirtless dudes swimming, complete with the crazy camera angles and energetic animation KyoAni is known for. This 30 second video started a fandom all on its own, spawning third party projects such as the wonderful Swimming Anime Dating Sim, the beta of which I actually did a reading of earlier this month. Today, the release of a PV has confirmed the swimming anime (now officially called Free!) as their newest TV series, along with a statement announcing that it will begin airing in July. This was the internet’s response.

Wow, that’s a lot of links.

No shirt, no shoes, FANservice!

Basically, people are mad about the production of Free! because… because. I mean, this is really just a gender-swapped version of K-On!, one of Kyoto Animation’s past works, and it certainly looks more watchable than last season’s sleep-inducing Tamako Market — perhaps the most banal anime of the past few years — so I’m not too sure where, exactly, the complaints are coming from. Now, in terms of actual content, it’s probably not going to be anything too special. But neither was the aforementioned K-On!, or its predecessor Lucky Star; people watched those shows for the cute characters, not whatever sort of plot or action they may have had.

What I’m getting from this is that it’s cool to have utter pap like Queen’s Blade and Ikki Tousen, because that lets dudes ogle women, but the same type of thing mustn’t be allowed to happen in reverse, oh no! I can practically feel my delicate male body being objectified from across the internet tubes! This is clearly setting a dangerous precedent; soon we might start having actual female characters in anime who amount to more than just bland archetypes (haha, yeah, right)! Rarely have I seen a woman who wasn’t completely insane complain about a female fanservice show, so I’m very disappointed with the general response to this anime and how bad it makes male fans look. Is there truly anything wrong with sexy men appearing in a cartoon?

Outside of a few blatant yaoi series (and that awful Prince-sama shit), there aren’t really many anime which give the viewers a chance to check out some hunky guys. It’s true that fanservice almost never adds to a show’s quality, and it can be creepy at times (see: Higurashi Kira), but it’s okay for it to exist, and it should go both ways. If for some reason you’re angry about Free!, you clearly aren’t part of its demographic, so you should probably just ignore it. I can understand being upset that KyoAni is doing this new project instead of continuing Full Metal Panic! or Haruhi, but I think it’s time we all accept that TSR and Disappearance are never getting sequels.

I don’t think Free! is going to be a particularly great series, not at all. It really does seem like it’s just going to be male K-On! after all, and I hated K-On!. But that doesn’t mean it has no right to exist, and if it helps to eliminate the double standard when it comes to fanservice and slice of life shows, then I’m truly glad to see it happen. Kyoto Animation is taking a risk for once, a risk that probably shouldn’t even be a risk, but I sincerely hope it pays off for them, and has some sort of impact on the medium in general.

— Foggle

Hmm...

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This post isn't click bait at all. Nope. Nuh uh.