Anime Column] 100 Anime to Watch by Keyword! 100 Anime to Watch - Vol. 6 "Furuinguicchi" and more!

Drinking parties among anime fans tend to be a game of association. Whenever someone says, "XXX has XXX scene," someone else replies, "Speaking of XXX scene, don't forget XXX. Anime and animation are connected by invisible threads like this. Let's follow the "anime to watch" using keywords as clues.

It is hard to believe nowadays, but in the past, anime was "something lively and noisy. In order to get people to stare at the "CRT" without being distracted before dinner when parents were busy, it was necessary to fill a little over 20 minutes with a storyline that would not bore them, battles, transformations, and other showpieces.

However, as time has progressed and it has become commonplace for junior high and high school students to watch anime, these young adults are much more focused on the program than children. This has led some producers to try to create a more subtractive production, saying, "It doesn't have to be as lively and gorgeous as it is for children.　They will try to reduce the dialogue, music, camera work, and storyline to a minimum. ......

FUWAIN GUICH " is an anime adaptation of Chihiro Ishizuka's original story of the same title. Set in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture, the work depicts the daily life of Makoto Kiba, a witch who has come to the city to set up on her own, and her cousins, siblings Kei and Chinatsu.

The charm of this work lies in the leisurely time that flows through the work. The film is full of incidents and ripples that occur in the daily lives of Makoto and his siblings. Many shots are taken with the camera pulled back, creating a calm atmosphere on the screen. The simple musical accompaniment with a limited number of instruments also contributes to this atmosphere.

Take, for example, episode 4, "Fortune Teller in the Cherry Blossoms. It begins with a cherry blossom viewing festival. Makoto and his friends visit the food stalls and enter a haunted house. However, the story doesn't make fun of the fact that they get off their backs in the haunted house. Even after the guest character, Inukai, comes out, the story could have been a gag when he says that he has turned into a dog for some reason, but he keeps it to a "wry grin" and keeps the laughs to a minimum. This kind of exquisite moderation is the source of the "relaxing time.

The "relaxed time" is born from subtraction. Speaking of the very early works that attempted such an approach in animation, it is impossible not to mention the OVA " Magical Star Magical Emi: Cicadasame".

This OVA depicts a single summer day in the middle of the TV series. Although it is called "a day in the life," there are no incidents in this episode. The main character, Mai, and the other main characters are simply going about their usual day. There is almost no scene in which Mai transforms into Emi and performs a magic trick, which is absolutely essential in a TV series. In the midst of such an uneventful day, there is an evening shower, followed by a rainbow, which is the climax of the film. Mai, who was sheltering from the rain in the park, thinks about "something" when the rain stops, but what it is is not described in detail. (If you know the ending of the series, you may be able to imagine it, but it is not that clearly depicted.) ) The ability of the artist to depict "everyday time" alone left a strong impression on fans of the series at the time.

Speaking of "depicting an ordinary day," "Same Day in the Rain" from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya " is an unforgettable episode that could be called a descendant of "Cicadasame.

In the 2006 version, it was placed just before the climactic episode, leading to the movie version of "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. In the 2009 version, it is placed in the final episode. In any case, "here" is the everyday life of the narrator, Kyon and his friends (to which they should return), as shown in the quiet narration. There is also a direction that seems to follow the inside of the club room with a fixed-point camera, which leaves the impression of "a direction that is conscious of the effect of subtraction.

There was a period around the year 2000 when the number of "slow time" anime increased. After that, however, the number of such works gradually decreased. What changed the trend was "ARIA The ANIMATION" in 2005.

This work depicted the daily life of Touri, who aspires to become a full-fledged undine (gondola paddler) on the terraformed Mars Aqua, and was an anime adaptation of Kozue Amano's original story of the same title. The popularity of the series led to the production of four TV series and OVAs, and in 2015, a new work , " ARIA The AVVENIRE," was announced to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the anime.

The work depicting a "leisurely time" was born out of the maturity of TV animation.

(Text by Ryota Fujitsu)

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