Haikyuu! Movie 1 - Owari to Hajimari

Karasuno Coach Keishin Ukai to Nekoma:

"They are a real team, not a group of individuals."

Every individual who are efficient, genius-like, and productive can be an asset in a group of individuals, but never in a team. 

Haikyuu! Season 1 gave us the impression of what a real strong team is - and that's if the team acts as a team. The team does not need to be perfect individually, but a team that can make things perfect when each role is fulfilled /with emphasis to/ having a respectful stand for other people as well. 

Blend your skills with the rest of the team.

Pass the ball with the intention for other people to spike it for you.

Keep the ball in the air knowing someone is there to put it back up higher before it even touches the ground.

So clinche to say that we just need to trust one another, and success will follow, but on a good note, it works most of the times as long as both sides are honest about their intentions.

This is excellence. 🍀

Haikyuu Movie 1 - Owari to Hajimari

Nekoma Coach Nekomata Yasufumi remarks on Kenma:

“He’s not good with people, so he’s concerned about what others think. Hence, he’s good at observing people.”

Were there times when you though that you were not really good at people?     at socializing? 

It may be the other way around - were there times when people told you that you were not good at socializing with them?

Socializing is a skill that at least everyone must execute at least with minimum and honest effort. What makes socializing - a simple act of just getting along with others so hard to do? 

Trust issues. Judgement without basis. Biases. Destructive criticism. Personal preference.

I’ve been detaching myself from people that I used to enthusiastically worked with. I was socializing with them with smile and laughter as if I am in a family where criticism are built for improvement. Everything changed when a chat thread was revealed to me. 

I was conscious of the people around me before I met them, so my actions were “careful,” but these actions were not enough to defend me when my simple mistakes and shortcomings became points of incompetence and negligence for the work I do. I felt defenseless.

I was not really good at everything that I do in the beginning. But I am confident enough to say that I am diligent in achieving excellence. Effort is my sword to achieve anything. I ain’t no genius. I know I need to work harder. Working hard these days seems threatening to some people, and I don’t know why.

Long story short, I quit my job, and is currently typing this. Lols.

Leaving the place where I thought I belonged to gave me a different kind of liberty. 

“It’s liberating,” I said to my supervisor.

I realized that I spent too much time on work. I was able to convinced myself that part of adulting is letting go of what I love to do as a person - watching anime, reading manga and books. 

During these times spent on anime, manga and books, I was not able to hear any of these irrational comments - I was busy reading manga and watching books after all. 

Guess, I’ll just go back to  my “normal” state, and enjoy.

The time we live in, as otaku (or even as a casual fan of anime), is one where we are truly spoiled. Every three months, we get another set of forty-plus series to watch, in addition to all the long running series that give us our fix on a very consistent schedule. Because of this, we are complacent, and take this ‘Golden Age’ for granted. 

Sure, with all of those series, it’s not very often that they differ from each other too terribly much. Variety is the spice of life they say, but people don’t deal well with change, causing us to have a stagnant flow of the same-old, same-old. And when you come across a series that does exceed expectations, that is different, that resonates on a level that transcends the medium, it becomes even harder to drudge through the clichéd and familiar stories that seemingly plague every one of these three month blocks.

And that’s why when you find that series, that stand-out for that season, for that year, or even longer, it’s worth talking about. And, chances are, you may not have seen it.

I’m talking, of course, about Akatsuki no Yona.

Now, it would be presumptuous to declare Akatsuki no Yona, a masterpiece, especially when it’s still going and anime are plagued with tons of examples of series being really good, but failing at that crucial point: the ending. We still have some time before we know if Yona can conclude properly, or if it will lose all the good will it has right now will be lost, but there are several reasons to expect the end to be just as good as the journey to it. And those reasons are what we’ll discuss today.

Characters

A story can be good and interesting, but without characters that drive the story forward and that the viewer/reader actively roots for, it can ruin the whole experience. This runs throughout a majority of your cast too. So often, there are series that run on the charisma and charm of just one to two characters to keep the audience engaged, without giving every character a chance to shine or even the creator giving every character enough of a personality to let the audience decide if they want to like that character or not.

And I’m not talking about characters that you only root for. A great cast of characters will cause emotions within the audience, such as actively cheering when something amazing happens to one of them, or feeling disgusted by the actions of an antagonist, or even shedding a tear (or tears) in a moment that truly define why you like that character or a moment that breaks them.  This extends beyond our protagonists and into our antagonists as well, showing us more than just ‘I should hate this guy’ or ‘this woman just needs to be put down...’, letting us see their motivations, and finding something human in them, even if we don’t necessarily agree with their methods or reasons.

Akatsuki no Yona definitely excels with its characters. From the evolution of the title character/main protagonist Princess Yona, to the powerful childhood friend/love interest Son Hak, and everyone from the silent Shin-Ah and the flirtatious Jae-Ha, there is not one character of our main core that is unlikable, with even the primary antagonist, the treacherous Soo-Won, having some redeeming qualities, as well as some mystery as to if he’s actually the villain in our story or just misunderstood. Pair these characters with the ever-shifting location of the narrative, and it makes the world that Yona takes place in feel alive and fluid, without being overwhelming.

This is further helped by Yona’s background, being a sheltered princess for the majority of her life, and thrust into a world that should be everything but unfamiliar to her, only to discover the strife and corruption that runs deep in the Kingdom of Kouka, making her the perfect entry point for the viewer to learn about the history and events without needless exposition. We are learning of the world as she, and some of her companions, are, allowing us to view Kouka without the need to overwhelm us with a lot of details, leaving the dialogue as purely conversational.  Just for reference, this won’t be the only time dialogue is mentioned as a key aspect of Yona’s appeal.

Along with interesting characters, they are also fairly varied, yet similar enough that they mesh together easily and without much of a fuss, but they do pick at each other. The word ‘Nakama’ gets thrown around a lot in these types of series, and can be overwhelming when referring to one’s friends, but this is definitely the best word for them: this small eclectic group of warriors following Yona act like a family, and will fight for the sake of each other.  Another issue with series like Akatsuki no Yona is that eventually everyone devolves into a sword wielding bad-ass.

And while the collective force of Hak (halberd), Kija (fists), Shin-Ah (sword), and Jae-Ha (legs and throwing knives) is more powerful than way larger forces, they each fight with their own unique style and their own abilities, not copying each other or overlapping. Even Yona herself, who begs with Hak to learn weapons for fighting, doesn’t overlap, using a bow and arrow, only recently picking up a sword in the manga. Another nice touch is that Yona doesn’t just instantly have ability as an archer, but the series actively shows her training in the use of the bow and failing multiple times because of skill, endurance, and ultimately fear of taking another life. After the events at the end of the anime (the Awa arc), she has gotten past this and can now use the bow fairly proficiently but without being a master of it.

Going beyond our four fighters, and the support of our main heroine, we have Yun and Zeno, the former being a genius who cooks, cleans, sews, and patches up the others after their conflicts, so much so he’s recently been referred to as their mother, and the latter who joins the dragons at the end of the anime and until recently, was kind of just there, but the depth of his ability (and the effect it has had on his life) is exceedingly well-written and more than a little tear-wrenching. In fact, with his back-story being shown in from chapters 101 to 105, Zeno may have become my favorite character in a cast where deciding who I like over another is just too difficult. And that’s the say nothing of the potential romances...

Story and Lore

But don’t misunderstand; Akatsuki no Yona is not a reverse harem, or an otome. It is a story that is rather action-heavy for a shoujo, but not to its detriment. And even if it is a little action heavy, it is incredibly balanced when it comes to presentation. It knows exactly when to inject some levity into the story, especially in those moments that are getting a little too heavy, and it knows when to pull at your heart-strings. Most of the time, when that kind of emotional dissonance is created, it can create a mood whiplash, but in Yona it works so well, that you are never jarred by the change in mood.

It extends beyond injecting humor when you’re overwhelmed by depressing or tense moments, or pulling at the right emotions to make you legitimately care about the events (further helped by the dynamic and likeable cast of characters), instead giving you moments where the characters are self-aware of their circumstances. Upon learning that Kija can sense the other dragons, when they have no leads on the other three, Yona merely says ‘That’s convenient’ almost knowing that the only reason he does is to make her task easier. The same is brought again by Hak when he meets Jae-Ha and says he never wants to deal with him again, while Kija explains he’s the Rokuryuu. His response is akin to ‘I should’ve known...’

And going back to romance, it has always been my belief that any story needs a healthy balance of everything to be enjoyable, with no one thing in particular overwhelming the other. Akatsuki no Yona excels in this as well, with the action taking center-stage, but never overwhelming any particular part of the story. The romance, which is subtly there, doesn’t build up to any type of harem situation. Sure, Kija, Shin-Ah, Jae-Ha, and Zeno all care for and love Yona, but it’s less romantic and more like guardians to their beloved leader. There are hints that Yun may be in love with Yona, but the real romance and the part of the conflict is the triangle involving Yona, Hak, and Soo-Won (yes, the same guy who may or may not be our antagonist), who were childhood friends. It’s kind of obvious that Hak is the only real choice, but there are parts of Yona that can’t let go of her first love.

The journey to find the dragons is the major focus of the series, but Akatsuki no Yona excels with the lore behind the world we’re in. Between the legend of the dragon gods and King Hiryuu, the different regions founding and beliefs in the dragon gods, the conflict with the other kingdoms (Kai, in particular) and the politics of the regions within Kouka, not to mention the people who support different issues with each of the previous few kings, there’s a lot to like if you’re a fan of those ‘epic fantasy’ stories. If not, the attention to detail offered for the background of this world is impressive and the influence of the mythos is not purely Japanese, an effort that very few mangaka don’t take. Mizuho Kusanagi-sensei should be praised for writing such an engaging story with a well-thought out lore.

Anyone who has read my reviews knows that sound plays a key role to me in my enjoyment of series and the anime adaptation of Yona excels here as well. The first opening, “Akatsuki no Yona”, is an instrumental song with traditional Eastern instruments, going over a view of our characters and some of the events of the first half of the anime. The first ending theme, “Yoru”, is good as well, but seems a little out of place for the series. The second opening theme, “Akatsuki no Hana”, replaces instruments with a very empowering vocal song and is easily one of my favorite openings of the past few years of anime and it does a good job of showing the evolution of Yona thus far. The second ending, “Akatsuki”, is a bit more elegant and subdued than the first, but it is way more fitting, in my opinion. 

The rest of the soundtrack is stellar, with the original opening theme being played at certain intervals with different octaves or cords. The other music, created for the background, is gorgeous and the care taken to make it fit the series as close to perfect as possible is appreciated and not wasted as it adds to the emotion and scene at hand. The voice acting is really well done as well, with Yona’s voice actress, the veteran Chiwa Saito standing out amongst the excellent male actors. The English cast has been picked, but I haven’t watched/heard any of the work yet to judge, despite some of the choices being more than a little disappointing (Christopher Sabat is Hak, which, don’t get me wrong I enjoy his work, but I don’t hear Hak being in his range. I could be wrong, and if that was the case, I’d be pleasantly wrong and he nails it, but until I know, I’m going to be uneasy with that choice...).

All of this, combined with the excellently built world, leads to a compelling and immersive story, that seem to be increasingly hard to come by in all mediums, where stories have given way to more set-piece style moments. Akatsuki no Yona has those moments too, but they are even more enjoyable and worth experiencing because of the care taken with building up the tension, which leads to...

Pacing

This seems to be one of the hardest things for any series in any medium to get right. Jump straight into the narrative and your audience is overwhelmed and feels like they missed out, but take too long to build it up and they get bored, not willing to weather the storm for a pay-out that may, or may not be worth it. Does Akatsuki no Yona have that perfect balance in pacing? I wouldn’t say that it has perfect pacing, but I also believe issues in pacing are extremely subjective.

In the span of the first quarter of Akatsuki no Yona, Yona has been exiled, reached the safe haven of Fuuga, leaves Fuuga, is confronted by the son of the Fire General, and meets the priest she is supposed to be meeting, while Soo-Won becomes the new king of Kouka. In other series, all of that could’ve been done in two episodes, three at the most. Yona takes six episodes, but it’s definitely for the better: you have actually given her a chance to adjust to the situation and make her own decisions. And while she is still at the start of the journey, we already feel she’s grown as a character.

The entirety of Akatsuki no Yona is like that: there is no rushing, there is no point where they’re going too slow. Sure, some events may drag a little more than others, but the pacing of the series is very consistent and never abrupt, to keep the viewer engaged in what they are watching. Like I said, I believe pacing issue are subjective, so to me, six episodes to set-up the rest of the series is well warranted, and properly executed, but other viewers may not appreciate a series taking that long to establish its premise.

Akatsuki no Yona doesn’t tell a new story, the series doesn’t break new ground, nor does it shock the viewer with anything gratuitous or over-the-top. But, it does tell an interesting narrative, with enjoyable and likeable characters, a deep engaging lore, and some of the best music and art of any anime series of recent vintage. And in this age, where everything is either color-by-numbers or just set-pieces, that is enough. We may not be close to the end of the series, or even promised a second season of this wonderful anime but length doesn’t determine enjoyment, at least not to me.

Will Akatsuki no Yona go down as a masterpiece? Who knows. But for now, being a stand-out series with a strong female protagonist and a wonderful cast of character is more than enough. We’ll have our answer once this interesting journey has its final chapter.

I'll go on the record right now, and out myself as one of very few people who dislikes Attack on Titan. That's not something that is much of a secret, at least to anyone that knows me, but I figured I should throw that out there as a disclaimer of sorts. This is not a post of me bashing this series, nor is it me defending any choices that happen. This is simply me explaining, in depth, exactly why I dislike this series, and suggesting other series that are similar in premise to it.

Attack on Titan starts on a bunch of high notes, I'll be the first to admit that I was hooked in one episode. It was on my manga reading list for the longest time and when the anime premiered last year, to say I was excited would be describing my feelings towards jumping into the titan-hunting series lightly. From the moment you get that epic operatic chorus from "Guren no Yumiya" to the scene where Eren's mother gets eaten, it is one of the most enjoyable, cinematic, and intense starts to any anime series, in my memory. And this is going back 15 years.

That's precisely why I enjoyed the first four episodes so much, and why the fall from the peak was so painful, and made me sad, not only at that the series could take such a big drop, but that it's entire premise is changed in such short and unsatisfying fashion! Again, and I can't reiterate this enough, I will say here that I don't think Attack on Titan is a bad series, in fact, far from it. I do think it is a very disappointing series.

(For anyone not familiar enough with this series, or who hasn't gotten that far with it yet, we are now officially entering spoiler territory. I don't apologize for spoiling this next point, and don't get mad if you read further, you have been warned!)

The point where Attack on Titan becomes disappointing is a bit hard to pin down. It could be the set-up of Eren using the "Three-Dimensional Movement Gear" that is in bad condition and managing to succeed even against the odds on that. It could be the amount of times the words elite and prodigy are thrown around about two of our original three main characters. But, for the sake of ease, I'm calling the point that Eren becomes a Titan the start of the disappointing spiral.

But, that alone isn't enough to make this series disappointing. No, even if we count Eren becoming a Titan disappointing, and both immersion and willing-suspension-of-disbelief breaking, it's not enough to ruin the potential of the series. The point of rapid decline, is the exact moment that everyone else has the ability to turn into a Titan.

The moment even one of them (Eren) becomes a Titan, the entire premise of the series changes, and not for the better. No, the series' entire premise jumps from survival thriller, to an action-oriented dark fantasy story, which while not bad, deters the sense of urgency and intensity that early parts of the series featured. But the fact that pretty much every single member of their group becomes a Titan, makes this less compelling and more cliche. It also removed any and all Willing Suspension of Disbelief.

To be fair, I haven't gotten much beyond the female Titan part of the series, but I know enough that about 90% of Eren's unit have the 'unique ability' to turn into Titans. The only notable exceptions, that I'm aware of, are Mikasa and Armin, but even that is debatable at this point.

The real problem I have with Attack on Titan, is that a survival thriller series really wasn't that much of a stretch to continue with. From the moment we're shown the hopelessness and despair of the Titan's onslaught, to the moment Eren gets eaten and then turns into a Titan, the series is depressing, yet optimistic. It shows that even though humans have been forced behind a wall (though I am curious as to how said wall was built with the amount of Titans, both outside and in it...) they still feel comfortable enough about their lives to continue living it day-to-day, without too many fears.

In fact, several times, it shows the villagers only recognizing the existence of Titans, the moment the Survey Corps members return home, celebrated as heroes, then the day-to-day life of those that live in peace and solitude go back to normal.

Ultimately, the series isn't bad, but the genre dissonance, leading us to believe it's one then treading down the path of another is rather disappointing, and ruins a series that has tons of potential.

Similar Series:

I'm not going to just leave it at that though, as I think it's fair to give some other series that I think give the survival thriller aspect either partially, or just executes on certain twists better. There are a few related to this, but the focus will be on one in particular.

Don't let the picture above fool you, Cage of Eden, is a series that is built solidly on the survival thriller aspect, and never strays from it. It is currently only available in manga, but it has completed it's serialization (21 volumes in all). The story is simple, the characters, a group of middle school students are on their way home from a school trip when their plane crashes on an uncharted island. That alone would be enough, but this island is inhabited by extinct prehistoric creatures and plants, that all want to hunt for fresh meat. It follows the story of the students fighting for their survival on this island, and it is brutal, to say the least.

A little bit of a warning here, as Cage of Eden, does have it's flaws. For one, it falls into the 'everyman' type protagonist trope, though Akira is a compelling character. Even with that pitfall, it avoids it quite adequately with more than one leader-type character, doing stuff similar to Akira. No, the major flaw in this series, is one akin to another survival series: the fanservice.

The story, events and characters are all great, but it's like the author felt that he needed fanservice to draw in readers, which is sad considering just how good the series is at times. If you can get past the over-abundance of nudity and upskirt shots, and want a brutal, intense, and interesting series, Cage of Eden is definitely one of the best in the survival genre.