Anime Writer's Choice: Winter 2022 Anime Summary Review! Introducing 5 works including "Heike Monogatari" and "Kuroizu-san of Kaijin Kaihatsubu"! [Anime Column

A comprehensive review of five notable anime titles from the winter 2022 anime season. We picked up five titles: "The Tale of the Heike," an anime adaptation of a classic literature that everyone knows; "Tokiko Agent -LINK CLICK-," which takes place in the world of photography; "Sono Kisei Ningyo ha Koi ni Suru," a romantic comedy based on a cosplay-themed story; "Kuroizu-san, the Kaijin Development Department," based on the COMIC Meteo serial; and "Eien no 831," an original feature-length anime celebrating WOWOW's 30th anniversary. original feature-length animation "Eternal 831," and five works were picked up.

Heike Monogatari

It goes without saying that [Biwa], an original anime character, overlaps with the viewer. In addition to the common point that he knows that the Heike will be destroyed by his right eye that sees ahead and that he cannot intervene in the future, he appears before the Heike clan at any time or place in the latter half of the story to surprise them and their friends. The story shows how Biwa, who had said, "If I can't do anything by looking, I don't want to look at anything," decides to witness and pass on the story, transforming herself from a character into a supernatural being.
When she is first seen in episode 4, she is already a corpse, She is described as a victim of the Heike clan, as she was unable to find a new bride to protect her inherited wealth. This masterpiece leaves a vivid memory of the women who became his successors.

Tokiko Agent -LINK CLICK

Toki and Hikaru, who run a photo studio, solve missions by getting inside their clients' photographs in this science fiction suspense. Toki has the ability to enter the photographer's spirit and act in the world of the photo, while Hikaru has the ability to figure out what happened after the photo was taken. Diving into the past to spy on sensitive information and search for clues to kidnappers, the film has all the charm of a detective story.
Because of the rule that "the past must not be altered," Toki must speak the lines directed by Hikaru and follow his orders, but his strong sense of justice often causes him to run amok. The relationship between the actor, who improvises a lot, and the director, who wrings his hands in response, is interesting in a way that other buddy stories are not. Originally a Chinese web-animation, the scope-size background art of Chinese cities and countryside is also a highlight of the film. It is also interesting to see the cultural differences, such as the gesture of taking out a smartphone when splitting a bill.

That dress-up doll falls in love.

In episode 11, Gojo Shinna (Gojo Wakana) unintentionally gets an erection while filming Kitagawa Marin's cosplay. She was experimenting with different camera angles when she realized that she was in a cowgirl position before she knew it. Gojo's white samue bulges suspiciously and pushes up against Kaimu's buttocks as he rides on top of her. This powerful depiction of Gojo's body lets us know that sewing was not the only gift he had been given.
In the past, erections have often been depicted in the TV animation medium, but most of the time they were only indirectly expressed. Only the reaction of the person who witnessed it was shown, it was replaced by an animal with a similar form, it was shown through a thermography camera, or the line "mokkori" was used, but the crotch was not shown. ...... Even though Gojo's erection was developed as in the original story, it must have been drawn because of its indispensable essence in the work.
Looking back, "Kisekoi" was a story in which Western tastes intruded into a Japanese world. Umimu, who prefers Western-style clothing such as maids' dresses, asks Gojo to make her a cosplay outfit, breaks into a Japanese-style room to show off her swimsuit, and even appears in her dreams to roll up her skirt. The cut to the head of a Japanese doll staring at Gojo as if to chastise him for having a lewd dream even brings to mind the contrast between the ascetic Japanese and the sensual Western. In this light, the scene where Kaimu goes shopping to dress Gojo, who has only Japanese clothes, in Western clothes is very meaningful. The angry tension that rips through his samue was probably also important in that Gojo, who had been constantly allowing intruders into his house, finally begins to advance from the inside to the outside.
The final episode, which follows, closes with Gojo wearing a jimbei and Kaimu a yukata, and going to a summer festival. What kind of story will unfold between these two, who are dressed in the same kimono for the first time?

Mr. Kuroizu of the Kaijin Development Department

This is an action comedy in which Toka Kuroizu, a researcher working for the secret evil organization Agastia, is engaged in developing monsters in order to defeat the invincible shape-shifting hero, Kenjin Blader. The film mainly depicts the evil organization side and contains many parody elements from tokusatsu TV programs, but what is noteworthy is that local heroes from all over Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, appear in the film under their real names.
Although Darulizer from Shirakawa City in Fukushima Prefecture is just an old man dressed up in costume, many unique heroes appear, such as Dharma, who, like Dharma, gets up no matter how many times he is knocked down with the spirit of falling down seven times and getting up eight times. The guest appearance of "Tentai Senshi Sun Red," which was adapted into an anime in the late 2000s, was also featured. The fact that the character designers of the anime version did the drawings also tickles the hearts of fans. The end credits of the final episode are spectacular, with the names of all the cooperating organizations lined up in a row, and it is impressive to see how many heroes were brought out for this purpose.

Eternal 831

This film is interesting for its unusual setting in which the main character is a newspaper scholar. His job is not only to make early morning deliveries, but also to collect money from subscribers who are behind on their newspaper bills. His interactions with troublesome customers, each with their own peculiarities, are as realistic as watching a news program special section. But the moment a customer throws a bundle of newspapers at me and says, "I'm not paying you because I'm returning it! The story changes when a bundle of newspapers is thrown at him. The newspaper is left floating in the air and the world stands still. The protagonist has the ability to stop the flow of time, regardless of his own will, when he reaches the peak of his anger.
However, although he possesses a power beyond human understanding, he has no intention of using it to accomplish anything. He simply spends his days in a world where time has stopped, breaking into the homes of his customers, taking their money and putting it toward the cost of his newspaper. The fact that he leaves the receipts behind makes him look like a small-time player. Compared to the many anime in which time manipulators have occupied an important position, this is a very pathetic performance. This sense of helplessness is heightened by the scene in which he pretends to stop even though he can move when he learns of the existence of another person with the same ability. Although this is a 3DCG work using motion capture, the sense of constraint that demands a play that does not move is also combined to create a suspenseful scene.
What is perhaps most surprising is that this work was produced as an animation commemorating the 30th anniversary of the opening of WOWOW. The message that Japan has been standing still for the past 30 years is not unfamiliar to us. Average salaries have remained the same, and Akiba Research Institute's anime review manuscript fees show no sign of increasing in their eighth year. It is like the world of "Eternal 831. In order to break the sense of stagnation that infests the modern world, we must first wait and hope for an increase in compensation.

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)

(C) "Tale of the Heike" Production Committee
(C) bilibili/BeDream
(C) Shinichi Fukuda/SQUARE ENIX-"Kisekoi" Production Committee
(c) Hiroaki Mizusaki, COMIC METEO/"Kuroizu-san of Kaijin Kaihatsubu" Production Committee
(c) Kenji Kamiyama, CRAFTAR, WOWOW / "Eternal 831" WOWOW