Iwa ni Hana

An update on 'Amatsuki'

I am sort of sitting on the fence about Amatsuki - a new anime that I will definitely check out though I am not pinning too much hopes on it. At any rate, the official website is launched and you can have a look at it here:
http://amatsuki.com/web/index.html

Contrary to my wishlist, the colouring seems to be uninspiring and a cruel mockery of the vibrant colours you see on the covers of the original manga. So the Gankutsuou-like visual effects that I hoped for would seem to be off. (Ah well...)

It is scheduled to air in the spring of 2008 (which probably means April 2008). The March issues of anime magazines will be out in Japan in a few days or so, and I would expect another spade of updates.

Wishlist for 2008

• Gankutsuou-like art direction in Amatsuki

Since Amatsuki is set in a computer-generated recreation of Edo Japan (albeit with some supernatural stuff), I hope they may as well make it sassy and borrow a leaf from Gankutsuou's art direction. The manga covers themselves are full of bright, vibrant colours. I hope the colours will be no less a pleasure to look at in the anime.

• A revival of interest in Tanaka Yoshiki

I think the lately announced adaptation of Yakushiji Ryouko no Kaiki Jiken will be sure to bring it off. Tanaka Yoshiki has been rather off-the-radar since the Gineiden boom in the late 80s. Efforts to animate his other works such as The Heroic Legend of Arslan and Shichi Toshi Monogatari had been abandoned halfway. A pity that is.

• At least one adaptation from an old-school shoujo classic

In 2007, we had Toward the Terra (though there is some hairsplitting debate as to whether it qualifies as shounen or shoujo). The point is, I would love to see the likes of Ikeda-sensei's The Window of Orpheus (or something grand and epic in the old-school shoujo genre) animated. The original stories are so packed and meaty that the animators would have to try very hard in failing to produce an interesting series.

(Speaking of which, whatever happened to that The Rose of Versailles movie which was announced at TAF 2007?)

• At least one series of serious historic drama

Just as convention seems to have it that summer is usually the season for supernatural thrillers, one would have thought that the fall/winter season would be the time for serious historic drama. There was none to speak of in the fall/winter of 2007/2008, which was something of a disappointment.

• A new series from Watanabe Shinichirou

Likewise, Watanabe-sensei has been rather off-the-radar since Samurai Champloo in 2004-2005. There are directors out there who churn out work every season, but Wanatabe-sensei seems to have been on a rather long vacation. I hope 2008 will be the year he makes a comeback.

• Shinbo Akiyuki coming to his senses at last
  

The man who brought us Le portrait de petit Cossette is really doing himself a disservice with works like Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei and that what's-its-name series. Zetsubou-sensei is all the more heartbreaking to behold because there is so much promise in terms of graphical creativity – the show is like... a beautiful woman who is all dressed up but has nowhere to go.

• Something groundbreaking in terms of art direction

I am a big fan of art direction. The year 2004-2005 had Gankutsuou. The year 2006 had Kemonozume. The year 2007 had Mononoke. I am just hoping that there will be at least one such effort to break new ground every year.

So what is your wishlist for 2008? I would love to hear from you all.

New anime announced: 'Amatsuki (あまつき)' to be directed by Furuhashi Kazuhiro (古橋一浩) of Le Chevalier D'Eon fame

There are good and bad news about this. The bad news is that the manga on which the anime is based is yet another alternative world fantasy:

Rikugou Tokidoki, who failed his Japanese history test, goes to a fair on the Bakumatsu Era as extra study during springbreak. There he is attacked by a mysterious Nue and is saved by a swordswoman called Kuchiha. Before he knows it, he is transported into a world called Amatsuki, which is similar to Bakumatsu Japan except that you (妖) exists.  As a result of Nue's attack, Rikugou loses the sight of one eye. There he also meets his ex-classmate Shinonome Kon who was transported into Amatsuki some time before Rikugou. The two try to find a way to return to the modern world, and Rikugou is asked by both humans and you for help, as his decision to help one side or the other would determine the fate of Amatsuki.

As you can see, the plot is quite pedestrian. I may be mistaken but this looks to be a character-driven anime as opposed to a theme-driven anime like Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi  (another anime series set in the Bakumatsu Era with otherworldy creatures called youi). And while Tenpou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi has a script of a certain philosophical bent, I have yet to hear any guarantees that Amatsuki appeals to the brain. 

The good news is that Furuhashi Kazuhiro (古橋一浩) will be directing it. He recently directed Le Chevalier D'Eon, and he was also responsible for the storyboard of Mononoke.

The voice-acting cast has not been officially announced yet, but the info on the CD drama based on the manga is available on Wikipedia. Quite a solid cast that is.

On the whole, I will be taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach to this.