Hot-Blooded is the best! Anime review: Inazuma Eleven

Posted on June 26, 2012 by James Ashman

One hundred and twenty-seven episodes down. A show aimed at Jr. High boys, 13-15.

And one of the best pieces of entertainment I’ve seen in a while, though I’ll have to explain why.

Inazuma Eleven is a Shounen (young boys genre), hot-blooded, tournament/progressive, super-powers, soccer-based anime. It’s based off a role-playing game, which is apparent when you watch it.

First off, this isn’t your average soccer. Japan loves making sports anime, and there are plenty of soccer-themed ones. Hungry Heart: Wild Striker is one of my older favorites. But they add twists, like super-powers, aliens, people who want to control the world through sports, etc., to make it more than just a simple soccer show. Yes, Inazuma Eleven has those “aliens” and super-powers and evil people that really need to get what’s coming to them.

The genres this falls under are some of my favorites. Hot-blooded, kiai (spirit, as in put some spirit into it), never-give-up, various words for all the same basic feel. Endou is the central character to Inazuma, a boy who loves taking on strong teams, never, ever gives up, and is a goalkeeper. The show centers around him as his team plays various soccer matches, progress through the world, and meet new friends, teammates, rivals, and villains. That’s about all I summarize for the plot of the show. It’s actually a pretty basic plot and progression.

And for that, it shines. It’s very, very simple. Get stronger, play in matches, overcome difficulties, and get stronger. It’s a show that encourages teamwork, love for one another, and overcoming trials through dedication and honesty. And again, it’s simple.

So, why is this show that is simply a tournament fighter using sports so special? Why is this show that is aimed at young boys half my age (has it been that long? Wow I’m old…) one of the best pieces of entertainment I’ve seen in a while?

Several reasons come to mind.

First, my expectations are set based on the audience. I started watching knowing this show was aimed at younger teenage boys. So though there is a bit more latitude (you’d think…) to stretch things outside an adult’s belief, a younger person’s entertainment has room to fling around reality. It’s a show made for kids, thus kids aren’t going to really care about physics. But Inazuma feels like it doesn’t stray too far. The kids have special shots and blocks with their own names and superpowers, but it’s all in the context of the show, the fictional world they live in. The show makes it pretty clear from the beginning you’re going to get super-powers for the next hundred episodes or so.

Why does that succeed? Well first off, even though it’s an expectation set on a younger audience, it works for an adult audience as well. After all, they tell you up-front, this is how things are. They define the rules, or lack of them. When creating a work, one very important thing is consistency. It doesn’t matter if something is “wrong” in some sense, as long as it’s consistent. So, a point goes to Inazuma, for not only playing to the kids, but also letting the adults know that it’s okay to drop the belief in reality right away and enjoy the ride.

Why is this of note to me right now? I feel like I’ve somehow grasped part of the reason why recent entertainment has been so lackluster, and frankly annoying at times. It was entertainment aimed at adults. But it treats the audience as if they are young kids. In doing that it trampled over both, it overreached in some way and ended up being a mess. Realistic shows that had just slight missteps in showing how a realistic thing actually happened end up feeling far more artificial than Endou summoning a giant golden “God Hand” to stop a soccer ball from reaching the goal. Endou’s world: Artificial world where than can happen, and kids love it.

Second, the consistency of the message delivered. The badguys that appear here and there always have a team of “enhanced humans,” whether that’s by a drug, a new body-enhancing element, or a brain-modifying program. The “cheaters” are eventually overcome by Endou’s team, who fight with teamwork, trust in each other, and the spirit to never give up, no matter how bad things look. Cheaters never prosper comes to mind.

Other parts of the consistent message are that friends help you overcome trials. That giving your all is satisfying, no matter the result.

Third, the mood it sets. The spirit to never give up and hot-blooded are two themes used strongly in Inazuma, as well as in plenty of other works. And it’s something that’s sorely lacking from most western media. We’re so caught up in “realism” and the dramas of life that we’re lacking a lot of entertainment that creates a good mood. However, this is of course offset by something Hollywood has finally stumbled into. It’s a bit of progress, but it’s still only a small oasis in the midst of daytime TV.

That would be: the superhero movies. Once you consider the above point, it makes sense that the superhero movies have done  incredibly well. Because let’s face it: we like it when the good guy wins. We like it when there is a defined good and bad guy. We like it when sometimes, the good guys help the bad guy to reform.

Notice I said that it’s about the mood. Inazuma never gets too depressing, same with superhero movies. There are downs to get through, of course. But there’s never insurmountable despair. Entertainment that starts off depressing and only goes further down is out-rightly stupid in my eyes. There are some that of course will rise, but I’ve seen some that I stopped and went “this show doesn’t make you happy. Why should I bother watching it when I know it won’t end any happier?” Some I’ve continued watching and regretted. Some manage to pull themselves out of a hole.

(I feel like I do have to enter one notable exception here. Gundam AGE is a current anime, part of the Gundam franchise, that’s been on my mind a lot lately. I initially thought it was aimed at a younger audience at first, considering how the animation at the outset was more kid-like than the previous Gundams, and that the initial main character was a really young boy. Boy, was I wrong. I’ve watched much of the previous Gundam series. Wing, Original, SEEDs, 00, etc. But Gundam AGE has consistently blown me out of the water. It’s not a happy show. It’s probably the most depressing Gundam so far. It made me think at one point: this show isn’t getting happier. So why keep watching? Easy. Gundam has never been entertainment, except for maybe G-Gundam. The Gundam series is Anti-War propaganda. That’s how I’ve viewed the franchise. And war is not happy. Gundam has always played with which lines it’ll decide to approach each time it comes out, and AGE has set them, then crossed them, and then set new ones. Its impressive. And because each Gundam series is anti-war, every series has a massive war in it. AGE has a one-hundred year war in it, actually. It’s still entertaining, especially watching how the characters act and progress. I was very, very surprised to see some characters make decisions that go against the norm, and specifically made decisions that I’d have them make if I were writing. So yes, there are some exceptions, though not many. And it’ll be interesting to see if AGE does end up “happy” in the end or not. Though once you’ve got a hundred year war, a hundred years of pain and sadness, even a happy end is bittersweet. But of course, that’s why it’s Anti-War.)

But the ones that have you cheering for them, those are entertainment to be cherished. When I saw Iron Man when it first came out in the theaters, I was amazed at the end. Not by the movie, but by the audience. Everyone started clapping and cheering and standing once the movie was over. That had never happened to me before, though I’ll admit I don’t go to the theater much. But it made an impression on me, knowing that this movie about a superhero had people clapping and cheering as if their team had just won the superbowl.

Inazuma Eleven reminds me of that. Its simple, straightforward plot for boys. Its knowledge of the audience. Its dedication to a strong, simple message. And the mood it inspires. It made me glad, both while watching it, and after. It didn’t rush its ending. It didn’t try for stupidly complex plots that no one could understand. It didn’t write itself into corners. It didn’t require you to know every single thought the writers had when creating it scene to know what’s going on. To go along with that: the writers actually knew what was going on. As a writer, I watch stuff and consider what’s going on from the creator’s viewpoint. And sometimes it’s obvious to me when a writer screwed up, and knows they screwed up, but tries to pass it off anyways, since most people wont notice.

I notice. And Inazuma didn’t leave me hanging for the most part. Though there were still a couple parts I winced at as a writer, I didn’t have to snap at them because those winces meant nothing to the younger audience. At least there were no grimaces.

It’s a fun show. It makes me wish soccer was actually interesting. I guess that’s why this is fiction, and they have to add in superpowers. Heh. Way better than most of the stuff aimed at older audiences that’s been coming out recently, and I’m directing that at Japan as well. Get your act together, otherwise I’m just going to relegate myself to the ridiculous shows. The serious ones are either brilliant or boring. And there’s a serious lack of brilliant ones.

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One easy method for a hero to win every time

Posted on June 19, 2012 by James Ashman

Earplugs. Headphones. In any confrontation, don’t listen to what the other person says, period.

Actually I’d extend this to video games/pvp as well, though that’s not as applicable to a writer.

But sometimes it appears to me that really, the best thing someone could do in certain stories is just ignore, not even hear, what the antagonist is saying. Regardless of whether they tell lies or truths, there’s the underlying issue of that a antagonist speaks to throw a hero off.

Of course, this means you’ll never see it in writing. I’ll probably use it one of these days, though.

This technique is also an effective way of throwing the antagonist off. If their goal is to say something to the hero that troubles their heart, but the hero just puts their fingers in their ears and goes “la la la la la la,” that’s upsetting to the person speaking. Regardless of their own intentions with the words, being completely ignored is extremely powerful.

On that note, it may be a pretty neat weapon to give an antagonist as well. An antagonist who completely blocks out anyone’s speech toward him and just talks, unable to be interrupted.

Ignorance is bliss? Ignoring is strong. Sometimes the best way to counter a lie isn’t to find the truth, but to ignore the lie in the first place. It’s a much shorter path, after all.

This of course will never be a tool of the hot-blooded hero or antagonist, since they are emotional and take everything head-on. But sometimes I just wish a character would put in earplugs and go about winning the game they are in instead of being affected by bad guy #33423’s speech about how the hero is just doing the same thing they are but in another way.

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Kazan by Gaku Miyao

Posted on June 5, 2012 by James Ashman

I read a lot of manga. I don’t really review any of it. But I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t say a couple words about the 7 volume series by the name of Kazan.

Kazan is our hero in this book, and yes, he’s a hero (see prior post on heroes vs. superheroes, Kazan falls under the hero type), though he doesn’t immediately seem like one in the typical sense at the start. Kazan is a boy (don’t call him a kid though) who appears to be about eight, on a mission to find a girl named Elsie.

He meets others, has to fight off various bad people at times, and screams out Elsie several times in the book in his search for her. The author did something I really liked with this particular work. In most heroic journey books the hero has to go through a change, a maturation. Kazan doesn’t really change all that much. He never loses sight of his goal: find Elsie. I like it when the hero doesn’t waver, doesn’t question his goal, and relentlessly pursues something with determined eyes. Of course, the story has to fit it, and this story does.

That whole-hearted devotion and desperation shown is something I appreciate. There is, of course, some changes in Kazan, a very slight softening in his attitude and image compared to his introduction. Though if anything it’s more about him gaining qualities he used to have, and then of course the ending. Everything builds up, the plot comes to its end, and the manga ends with a single line that gives you that feeling you look for when reading hero works.

The last line of a heroic book is important in manga. And to be honest, Kazan has one of the best. Utterly simple and short. Just 4 words, when translated into English. But the picture, the history of the events all prior to that last page, and those 4 words, all form an extremely emotional picture. It was touching. And on the very next page was the clincher.

It was the author. He didn’t thank me for reading his work. He told a story. And after reading Kazan, then the last 4 words, and finally the author’s story, I can’t stay silent. I wouldn’t normally do this, but what the author said is really the point of this post. Kazan as a manga was interesting, though the majority of it was typical of the genre. The author did a good job of making it moving. However the author’s Afterward was moving, and real. And more than just that, it has to do with writing, being an author, and why we write. So, as translated by a scanlater group kickthekitty (credit where it’s due, even though manga translation… well we won’t delve into legal issues, just read), please read the author’s afterward in English:

“Twenty years ago… I decided to follow my dream and leave the backwoods of Shikoku to go to Tokyo. I found a job but before I started it I met up with my father, who had come up to Tokyo on business. I told him: “I don’t know if I can make a living doing this. I don’t even know if I’ve got the talent to do it. But… I want to draw. And I want to try to make my living doing it.”

He said to me: “Do as you like. But watch out for things that narrow your mind.”

That was all he had to say on the subject. I thought then, “It’s nice to have a parent who understands.” I didn’t realize what it really meant then. Many years later… I had my own family and had become a father. As my children grew up, I began to understand the importance of my father’s words.

Aside from the fact that Tokyo was a long, long way away from Shikoku, where my parents lived and worked under arduous conditions, they must have had an enormous amount of courage to let me become an “artist” – a profession they knew absolutely nothing about. They must have been considerably worried about it all.

But my father just said: “Do as you like.”

From when I started drawing it, my father really enjoyed Kazan. However, the winter I was about to publish the fourth volume, my father’s chronic cancer put him back in the hospital, for good.

I really didn’t want to have to say these words, but I told my father: “Dad, hold on. You can’t die until I’ve finished Kazan.”

My father smiled and nodded.

But two months later, in the midst of blooming cherry blossoms, on a fine spring day, my father passed away.

I put a copy of Kazan volume 4, which arrived hot off the publisher’s presses, into my father’s coffin. I’ll never forget the efforts of the staff of the editing department in honoring my father’s memory.

Father, I did it. I finished Kazan.

It’s a bit late, but please read it anyway.

It’s the answer to your kind words: “Do as you like.”

Gaku Miyao.”

Writing this is the third time I’ve read that. It still moves me as much as the first time did. This is a man who wanted to be an author for a living. Who wasn’t confident. Who pursued a dream he wasn’t sure he could fulfill. Like the rest of us who write, or want to write. And any further words are just a waste. Thank you Miyao-sensei.

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Heroes and Superheroes

Posted on June 4, 2012 by James Ashman

Heroes don’t win. They try.

Superheroes win because they try.

A superhero wins when they try. A superhero has some faults. But they hold back. When they have a mental problem, they fail. They are unlimited, able to get where they need to go, and powerful enough to change a situation. It’s because a superhero doesn’t win you have a story, because a superhero wins. It’s expected.

I don’t write superheroes. I love the concept of a hero. A hero has a ton of faults. But a hero tries. And sometimes they fail. They fail because they are limited, imperfect, in the wrong place, or simply powerless to stop something from happening. But when a hero does win, you cheer. It’s emotional.

The reason is this: Humans can only be heroes. A super-human can become a superhero, but then you aren’t on our Earth, our Non-Fiction. A hero can exist in non-fiction. A hero is who they are, not what they are. It’s when you bring a hero to fiction that you create a moving, emotional, epic story. Because heroes don’t win. They try. And they fail. But they try.

And sometimes, they succeed. And it’s those moments we can truly cherish.

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When a plot point is dumb

Posted on May 30, 2012 by James Ashman

Happens far too often. There’s an anime currently being aired in Japan called Phi-Brain. I like it quite a bit. The adventures and point of the show is the main character is a pretty smart guy who has to solve these massive, overarching puzzles, and if he doesn’t the result will usually be someone’s death. There’s plenty of standard anime like this, where a character has to do something in a certain field to keep progressing/saving lives/etc., but it’s interesting to see one where the main accomplishment is puzzle-solving instead of something typical, like physical fighting or sports.

Anyways, the first season was enjoyable, and the second season just started a couple months ago. Now, I’m not saying the plot is spectacular or mind-blowing, that’s rarely the case with most entertainment. There are very few spectacular plots, those that are have already been relegated to the classics and must-see categories, so putting that aside, I like Phi-Brain for it’s novel use of puzzles while not doing anything utterly dumb. It has dramatic characters and points, sure. But it’s fun.

But the second season just revealed the main antagonists motivation for harassing the main character. And through it all I’m sitting here thinking… “wha… you think that’s gonna disturb the main character? I mean, all he has to do is say: ‘That’s got absolutely nothing to do with me, I have no idea where you’d ever get the idea to place any sort of blame on me whatsoever. Promises are broken all the time, I had more important things to do, and your blame on me for that (big oh-so-important reason the antagonist is harassing me) is misguided at best.” Once he does he’ll go back to winning. That’s such a dumb reason. Anyone with half a mind knows that’s stupid. Oh… he’s losing?”

I try to avoid spoilers, but I’m tempted to write the entire thing out to explain just how dumb it is. Long story short, without spoiling anything, the antagonist blames the main character for something in the past. Frankly though, it shouldn’t matter to the main character. I’m tempted to say it doesn’t make sense, but misplaced blame and anger never does, so that part of it makes sense. But for the hero to not realize that really irks me. It’s dumb. It’s incredibly dumb. It doesn’t make sense to me. Sure, it may to someone else, but it doesn’t make sense to me. They somehow do have one character say that the hero obviously hasn’t gotten over his complex and prior emotional scars involving this particular setting, but that’s the only acknowledgement given.

It’s possible that his personal past has given him an extreme complex regarding this kind of situation, but it’s still too far of a stretch for me. It’s not compelling. I find it to be a very weak plot point. It might be the authors decided to harp on the same kind of issue and motives from the first season, which to me feels very shoddy. It was fine to have people from the past come up with a secret motive and such, and it could be something anime-quality, but it really should have been better than something that I just sit back and go “that’s dumb!” over and over at. It’s also infuriating because more than just being dumb, it’s a side-effect of the main cause of the first season’s antagonists issues. It’s not all that original. If it had been some different cause, but same effect, it may have been salvageable. But it’s both dumb and reused.

Fortunately it’s more of a side-point to the core issues going on in the show, so it’s not like I’d stop watching the show. It’s enjoyable, and it’s about puzzles. And there are other issues to resolve. And there’s still a chance that the authors recognize the weakness of the plot point, but used it to point out a character weakness in spite of a weak plot, possibly to add depth to the character. They do have a character in the show who has a big mouth and speaks the obvious truths every so often, so there’s hope that they are gonna have him or someone else beat some sense into our hero. At the very least I can hope, considering how dumb I think the plot point is. Argh, so dumb. So easy to push aside and say “not my fault, your problem for getting all crazy super-villain over it!”

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