Anime Column] Midterm Review of Winter 2017 Anime by Anime Writers

The second half of the winter anime season, which is said to be the hardest on the production floor due to the New Year and Chinese New Year holidays, is finally underway. In this issue, we will review five of the most talked-about works in the second half!

Kemono Friends," in which animals take human form, "Idol Jihen," in which an idol councilor restores Nippon, "AKIBA'S TRIP -THE ANIMATION-," which depicts every corner of Akiba, and the second season of the popular light novel original "Bless This Wonderful World! 2," and "Cho Shonen Tanteidan NEO," a short anime adaptation of a popular novel by Edogawa Rampo.

Kemono Friends

This work features cute but somewhat disturbing animals with beautiful girl characters. The giant comprehensive zoo, Japari Park, where the story takes place, is practically in ruins and seems to depict a world after the collapse of civilization. The ending sequence shows a series of abandoned amusement parks, with occasional inserts of black frames that stir the viewer's anxiety, and a cut to a serval cat being run over by a bus for no apparent reason leaves a strong impact. The fact that the social game service was closed before the start of the anime broadcast is also enough to arouse the viewer's imagination.
The first episode begins with a scene in which the main character wanders into Japari Park and is attacked by Serval. The Serval's charming voice is frightening as it comes at him at breakneck speed, calling it a hunting game. The letter "M" marked on her forelock is reminiscent of Fritz Lang's psycho-thriller films and can no longer be considered a sign for Murderer. It is enough to make the protagonist repeatedly exclaim, "Please don't eat me!" It is not surprising that the film was so traumatic that it caused the protagonist to repeatedly exclaim, "Don't eat me! The misunderstanding was once cleared up by denying it by saying, "I won't eat it! The misunderstanding is partly cleared up when the protagonist denies it, but when Serval names the protagonist "Kaban," a new anxiety arises. But when Serval named the protagonist "Kaban," a new worry came to mind: Serval's beautiful fur might be too suitable for a "Kaban. What will happen to the relationship between the two, who are now traveling together on good terms? This is a film that stimulates the instincts of anime fans who find Thanatos in everything.

Idol Incident

This is a media mix project in which idols who have become members of the Diet in order to change Japan's stagnant economy struggle to bring smiles back to the faces of the people. While many anime have featured the exterior of the National Diet building, this work is notable for its detailed depiction of the interior. The questions that naturally arise, such as what exactly is an idol member of the Diet, what is the age of suffrage, and how can singing and dancing solve social problems, are rendered impotent in the face of the persuasive power of the opening animation, in which beautiful girls dance in the Diet building. Before you know it, you will find yourself shouting "YEAH YEAH" in time with the lyrics.
While the story has a comedic touch, it also tackles the issues of stadium construction and preschools, and the package includes a special bonus package with a playing card, a nod to the President of the United States, and other social aspects. The main character, Natsuki Hoshina, who reaches out to minorities without being beholden to the powers that be, conveys the solid sense of ethics required of public officials. In the sixth episode, statues of Itagaki Taisuke, Okuma Shigenobu, and Ito Hirobumi come to life and give a thumbs-up to the idle legislators! It is only natural that the three heroes of the Meiji and Taisho eras would entrust their future to these women! Ai no Koukou" is written and composed by TSUNKU♂. The repetition of the lyrics "go round and round and round" in the chorus may be an appeal to anime fans that they can complete the revolution if they make a pilgrimage to the holy land of the Diet.

AKIBA'S TRIP -THE ANIMATION-.

A TV animation adaptation of the action adventure game series "AKIBA'S TRIP. The title of the work is "Deep 'Akiba' work never seen before! More than 50 companies have been named as cooperating stores. The streets of Akihabara have been faithfully recreated, and the viewers can enjoy a somewhat familiar scenery. The wide range of culture covered in each episode includes idols, amateur radio, audio, survival games, home-built PCs, trading card games, figurines, black bites, professional wrestling, and much more.
The fifth episode includes a surprise in the form of a game screen from the "Street Fighter" video game series, and the ED theme is sung by a different artist each time, ensuring that the viewer is never bored until the end of the episode. Akiba is a city of diversity.

Bless This Wonderful World!

2 is a sequel to a fantasy novel published in Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. The anime's unnecessarily long title often has nothing to do with the content of the main story, but this work is rare in that it expresses a "wonderful world. For the protagonists, who show no signs of leaving even after the new series, the "world" is Axel, a town for novice adventurers, and what is "wonderful" about it is the ordinary people who live there.
In the first episode, the protagonist is put on trial in public, and the residents of the town are called as witnesses. And even a character who was a mere mob in the first season reappears and exposes his wrongdoings without a second thought. However, it is the voices of the residents who object to the unjust verdict that save the protagonist from the death penalty. Before long, the protagonist's name is sprechced and the judge is forced to suspend the disposition. It is a famous scene in which the protagonist, who protected the town at the end of the first season, is now protected by everyone.

Super Boys Detective Boys NEO

An animated TV series based on Edogawa Rampo's "Shonen Tanteidan" series of novels. Fifty years after Rampo's death, the series entered the public domain, and a series of rearranged video works have appeared, but this short comedy is unique among them. Set in the future city of Tokyo in the year 2117, the battle between the monster Twenty Faces and Kogoro Akechi has been going on for seven generations, and the seventh generation Kobayashi boy joins forces with Detective Akechi to keep the peace in the city.
The attacks launched by the Twenty Faces are all weird, such as creating an android of Akechi and hijacking an anime production company to launch meta-attacks. The pop character designs and the rapid-fire action make the time fly by in no time. The transformation of Kobayashi's boys into the dark illustrations of the original work also evokes nostalgia.

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)

(C) Kemono Friends Project/KFPA
(C) MAGES. (C) Idol Jihen Production Committee
(C) 2017 ACQUIRE Corp./AKIBA'S TRIP Production Committee
(C) 2017 Natsume Ake, Kurone Mishima/KADOKAWA/Konosuba 2 Production Committee
(c) 2016Poplar/DLE