Anime Column] Anime Writers' Review of Spring 2016 Anime! Bak-ON! 12 Years Old. ～12 Years Old," "Chichi-cha no Mune no Tokimeki," and 5 other notable works!

Anime Writers Summarize and Review the Spring 2016 Starts. High school girls put their adolescence into motorcycles in "Bak-ON! a manga about a new witch's mysterious daily life, "Furuinguicchi," a heart-warming girls' manga serialized in "Chao" with a second season coming up in the fall, "12 Years Old. ～The five works picked up are "12-Years-Old: Chichi-Chichi-Na Mune no Tokimeki," a rural comedy about a shrine maiden and a talking bear, and "Kumamiko," a fantasy based on MMORPG's original story, "Onizan.

Bakuon!

Episode 12 "Moshi no Sekai! in which the main character, Hane Sakura, wanders into a world without motorcycles. There, the members of the motorcycle club ride bicycles and criticize Hane's "imaginary" vehicle, the motorcycle, as being unreasonable. For comfort, cars are sufficient, driving is always risky, and the engines are not eco-friendly or healthy. It seems as if the world would run better without motorcycles.

The words thrown at motorcycles somehow stick in the mind, perhaps because animation is also a form of expression that is not rational. It requires an enormous amount of labor to move the pictures, it consumes a lot of paper, it is not environmentally friendly, and it looks somewhat unhealthy for both the viewer and the creator. But what's wrong with that? We are attracted by a charm that cannot be explained by such logic. Hane, the only one left behind, shows off her motorcycle in a world without motorcycles. The cry that inspired her to ride a motorcycle has a tone worthy of being called "Bak-ON! has a tone that is worthy of being called "Bak-ON!

Furuin Guicchi

This is a fantasy about a 15-year-old high school witch, Makoto Kiba, who spends her free time at the home of her relatives in Aomori Prefecture. The opening animation depicts the characters using only their walking silhouettes, and in the first episode, "The First Wonder in Six Years," the characters' hands sink into the snow as they touch the melting snow.

In episode 11, "Whale, Flying in the Sky," there is a 30-second scene of a pancake puffing up, creating a gradual flow of time by not missing any ongoing events. The synchronization of the seasons between the play and reality is also unusual for a one-cour anime. The transition from spring to summer is a pleasant one.

Twelve years old. ～Chichi-chanai mune no tokimeki!

Speaking of kisses in late-night anime, the grand finale is usually reached after a one- or two-cour run, but "12 Years Old. The gaze of a female elementary school student is cruel. The girls' eyes are cruel, and while the good-looking boys in the class are all glamorous, the boys who are not considered potential boyfriends do not have highlights in their hair or even eyes. This is too much! But when I looked in the mirror, I saw a man with no cuticles in his hair and no spirit in his eyes. That depiction was not a deformation but a realistic expression.

The protagonist, Ayase Hanahi, who has reached the frontier of the unknown for us, a kiss, steadily moves up the ladder to a double date in episode 3, a suspected two-timing in episode 5, and an anime-original pool date in episode 8. The full-on sprinting of the characters, which even makes one feel a sense of frustration, is shown in the voice-over that repeatedly says, "Ayase Hanahi, age 12, is a 12-year-old girl. Hanahi must know that her time as a 12-year-old is too short, and that elementary school students have a time limit.

Kumamiko

Ameyado Machi, a shrine maiden who dreams of attending high school in the city but is plagued by a strong countryside complex, and Natsu, a bear who supports her but deep down wishes she would stay in the countryside forever. Considering that the original comic is still unfinished, a safe conclusion would be that they continue to live in the village for now, even though it is implied that they will be separated one day. However, the story goes beyond such a promise and forces Machi to make a choice between two options.

The choice between going out and staying in is the eternal thesis of anime fans. Episode 12, "Decision," brought to mind the 2002 anime "Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade. The story of a boy, Sasshi, who wants to stay in the town, and a girl, Almi, who tries to get out, is set in Abenobashi, a downtown area of Osaka that is about to be redeveloped, and strangely enough, there are many overlaps with "Kumamiko. Although both films conclude with smiles, we hope you will compare the two works, which leave a variety of lingering impressions.

Oni Zan

When I was still a student, I was once handed a bunch of original drawings by a senior animator at a drinking party. It was the first time for me to see live original drawings, and I looked at each line drawn with a pencil so thick that my fingers were covered with powder, trying to make the drawing stick in my mind's eye. Then, my senior said, "That's no good," and snatched up the original drawing and said, "This is how an original should be done! He began to flip through the original pictures with a light hand. I saw the world start to move in my senior's hands, and I learned that original drawings must be turned over.

The twelfth episode of "Oni-Kiri," "Kaen-Manjo," is an episode in which the giant robot Benkei plays an active role. Benkei is a machine beyond human knowledge that is powered by the original drawings made by the pilot. I could see my senpai at that time overlapping with Benkei, who performed brilliant actions by flipping through the original drawings.

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)