Anime Writers' Choice: Spring 2018 Anime Wrap-Up Review! Introducing 5 works including "Hina Matsuri" and "KOMIKKU GARZ"! Anime Column

A roundup of Spring 2018 anime that have finally reached their finale! The lineup includes "Hina Matsuri," a popular comedy about a yakuza and a supernatural girl; "Last Period -A Story of Endless Spirals-," based on an RPG for smartphones; "Comic Giruzu," about the dormitory life of a high school girl manga artist; "Otaku ni Koi wa Hanaku," serialized in "comic POOL"; and the cockpit-oriented sci-fi robot Space Battleship Tiramisu," an anime that focuses on the cockpit.

Hina Matsuri

Based on a gag manga about the strange cohabitation between an intellectual yakuza, Nitta Yoshifumi, and a psychic girl, Hina, who suddenly appears. Nitta may be a yakuza, but in reality he is merely a softy, and gradually develops a father-son relationship with Hina.
The story is quite serious when you think about it calmly. The story takes a harsh turn when Anzu, the girl who came to dispose of Hina, becomes homeless, and Hitomi, a junior high school student, is forced to do child labor as a bartender. Perhaps the reason that the audience can enjoy such a setting without being put off by it is that the dialogue when the viewer feels pain is unified by the off-kilter exclamation "ah-ta-da". The characters' expressions are also memorable, from the senior homeless man who gives Anzu wisdom on how to survive in the city, to the regulars at the bar who always wear neckties on their heads, who are portrayed with a touch that makes them somewhat lovable. In particular, the second episode, "This is how a supernatural power match is played! is a must-see.

Last Period -A Story of Endless Spirals

A TV anime adaptation of a smartphone RPG by mobile game company Happy Elements. Set in a world where those who have died of despair in this world come back to life as monsters called "spirals," the story follows the exploits of Hal, a rookie period player who tries to defeat the spirals and stop the negative cycle.
While there are many star-studded anime packed with metafiction and parody, the highlight of this work is its rather aggressive storyline. The story is rooted in the gacha, a familiar feature in smartphone games, and even includes an episode featuring a documentary-style depiction of high payers and a depiction reminiscent of the manipulation of gacha probabilities. In addition, the third episode, "Sono Hirai," features the characters from "Higurashi When They Cry," which was a collaboration with the original story. The depth of Happy Elements' and Ryuunishi 07's nostalgia for the original game is heartwarming.

KOMIKKU GARZ

In this popular four-panel story from "Manga Time Kirara MAX," high school manga artist Kaoruko Moeda moves into a dormitory exclusively for manga artists and spends her days with her unique friends. Although Kaoruko is called "Kaosu" by everyone, her manga is not so successful, and before she knows it, she has a pile of unproven manga at ....... Undeterred by such hardships, Kaoruko is moved by the struggles of Ms. Osu, who diligently absorbs her roommate's specialty genres, such as romantic comedy, eroticism, and fantasy.
The "Bunposha Girls' Manga House Dormitory," where the story takes place, is a two-story wooden Japanese-style house. The dormitory is full of a lived-in atmosphere, even the scratches on the floor are depicted, and even the enthusiasm of the former residents can be felt. The storyline in the latter half of the film, which includes an original story, makes us feel that the dormitory where the girls lived also plays a leading role in the story.

Love is Hard for Otaku

This is a love comedy in which the main character, Momose Narumi, who had to break up with her boyfriend because he found out she was an otaku, is reunited with her childhood friend Nito Hirotaka at his new job and begins dating him. We are tempted to talk about the fact that the "otaku" in the title is neither "otaku" nor "otaku," naming names such as Eishi Otsuka and Toshio Okada, but "Wotakoi" is a work free from such curses.
In fact, the location shown in the OP animation is not Akihabara, once known as the "moe city," but Shinjuku, where Narumi works. Her communicative skills are aptly suited to Shinjuku, a city that boasts the world's highest average daily ridership and has multiple train lines that can take her anywhere she wants to go. And Narumi is able to find a job and find love with ease, something we could not do. That's what I admire about her! I long to be there!
The editorial staff of Akiba Research Institute, which operates a website bearing the name Akihabara but actually works in the fashionable city of Ebisu, is no exception. It is clear that office love is as much a part of the company as "otaku love. This work is a mixture of hatred and longing for such "otaku.

Space Battleship Tiramisu

Subaru Ichinose, a crew member of the Space Battleship Tiramisu, is an ace pilot who bears the hopes of all mankind on his shoulders and spends his days in battle. However, he does not fit in with the group life on the ship. He has designated the cockpit of the Durandal, his exclusive aircraft, as his sanctuary, and values life there above all else as irreplaceable. ......
The cockpit is a fascinating subject for mechas, as was first mentioned in "METHODS: Notes on Directing Mamoru Oshii's PATLABOR 2," the famous book in which Mamoru Oshii revealed his directing techniques. In this film, the cockpit was shown to have new possibilities by eating kushikatsu, placing good luck charms and deodorant, and decorating for Christmas In October 2018, the second season began airing. How will the cockpit be depicted this time, set on Earth?

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)

(C) 2018 Masao Otake, published by KADOKAWA / Hina Matsuri Production Committee
(C) Happy Elements K.K/LAST PERIOD ANIMATION PROJECT
(C) Kaori Hanzawa, HOBUNSHA/KOMIKKU GARZ Production Committee
(C) Fujita, Ichijinsha / "Wotakoi" Production Committee
(C) Satoshi Miyagawa, Itokyu, Shinchosha/"Space Battleship Tiramisu" Production Committee