Incredible Nothing!

The look on their faces say… all the wrong things…

The final episode of OoFuri... (excluding the recently available unaired 26th episode, which from what I’ve seen off Seleria’s post is really a side story) What can I say, I’m gonna miss this show for a while… and if Major can get 4 seasons, I’m certainly demanding one more (at least!) for Ookiku Furikabutte. I need to see Mihashi, Abe and the rest of the Nishiura team wiping off that smirk off Haruna’s face! Thanks to Central Anime for releasing the subs, since my raw watching experience with this episode ended up as a slightly disjointed one :S

Boys, boys, there’s enough of Mihashi to go around…

Nice to see they brought back the umasou~!

This episode closes off the series on a rather open, life goes on note. Tajima, Izumi, Abe and Hanai gather at Mihashi’s place and reflect on their recent win against Tousei over some umasou~! curry rice amongst other idle chit chat. Mihashi also somewhat realizes how far he’s come since the days of being the hated outcast at Mihoshi and how much a part of the team he’s become now with Nishiura. After episodes of hard hitting (and hard pitching) baseball action, it really is a fitting closing episode that helps us wind down together with our players (which still leaves a wide open opportunity for future installments!) after a immensely satisfying climax in the previous episode.

*drools…*

As a final episode, I treated it as a tribute to the key players in this immensely enjoyable series, starting with…

Tajima (aka ‘Masturbation kid’ XD): Throughout the series he’s been consistently impressive with his talents and off-the-wall remarks. And I so do like a character who appreciates his/her food…
Tajima is one of those just full of energy and life characters that lights up the scene instantly when he’s around. He’s also incredibly sharp and shares an unerring understanding of Mihashi as a friend. It cracks me up whenever Abe fails to understand a word or action of Mihashi’s, yet it’s all effortless to Tajima

Tajima says the darndest things… XD

I like how they brought up the awesome swing which Tajima pulled off during the game, which they would’ve lost had he not done that, as acknowledged by Abe. We also learn a bit about why Tajima chose to study in Nishiura, which has to do with an incident with his great grandfather collapsing one day and his entire family rushing him to the hospital… and leaving poor Tajima rushing back to an empty house. Apparently the family he lives with is so large they totally took for granted that he was with them at the hospital -_-” Since then Tajima chose to study in Nishiura since it was close by and he’d know if an ambulance passes by in another emergency (the long story’s relevance to the conversation was really not apparent to me until I watched the subs >.<). In his mind, Abe was thanking Tajima's callous family for their son's enrollment in Nishiura and becoming a member of their team. So was I!

DangoDaikazoku Arigatou!

…About as welcoming as the innkeeper from Fruits Basket…

No episode of OoFuri is complete without Mihashi freaking out like the frightened little jitterbug that he is XD I highly doubt if he’ll ever grow out of his flightiness despite the steady improvement in his character along the way, which really is fine by me as a source of a lot of comedy in the show. But despite his shortcomings in the self esteem department (it took him forever to realize that Abe was bluffing when he asked Mihashi to step off the mound diring the crucial stage of their previous game. Thinking that Abe and the team must really be very displeased with his ’selfishness’ in refusing to step off, Mihashi spends most of the episode in distress over the issue -_-”)

The real tribute to Mihashi is when Izumi passes him a note from Shinooka with written comments from all the team members about the game they just won, and almost everybody had to mention how impressed they were and how so much of the team’s performance really relied on Mihashi’s pitching strength (Abe had to be the sourpuss who mentions what a ‘close win’ it really was). It should really come as a vindication for Mihashi, to know that he is fully accepted as a true ace pitcher for his team. Though knowing him, he’ll probably need to be reminded again and again in the future, but at least it’s proof that he’s successfully left his dark days of baseball with Mihoshi behind.

But what I truly enjoyed was the tribute to the volatile (and closely bordering on violent, lol) relationship between Abe and Mihashi XD

Abe always means SRS BSNSS

So someone could use a little anger management classes… Well I hope not, since the fees are probably too high for a high schooler to bear, and it’s more fun to watch Abe go ballistic on poor Mihashi over every little miscommunication =P Somehow it never really got old for me through the series, and has played its important part in building up Mihashi’s character. Abe too, gives his best efforts in trying to understand Mihashi as a person and to strive to advance themselves as a strong battery for the team. Although he probably has quite a bit more to learn…

Am I the only one who thinks Mihashi’s antics are actually quite adorably hilarious? =P

Also in this episode:

Hanai got a small monologue where he ponders that Mihashi does irk him almost to the same level as he irks Abe sometimes, but since Abe’s got the abusive front covered, the team captain’s relationship with Mihashi has been a placid one, to his relief (and Mihashi’s too if only he knew, lol). Hanai started out as a rather ‘too-cool for this team’ character when we first saw him, but when the true potential and strength of the team quickly became apparent, he too quickly integrated with the rest to form yet another integral part of Nishiura. And we should always remember that it was his dumb luck that drew their team against last year’s champions in their first match that set the entire second half of this series in motion. Cheers to Hanai!

And we shouldn’t forget the roses amongst the thorns. The women of OoFuri are a nicely varied bunch, from the capable and sweet Shinooka to the awesome ‘juiciness’ (so-to-speak) of Momokan and even the ever supportive moms. Also, surprisingly for her late introduction in the series, Ruri probably had more of an impact to the story than all the others combined. So here’s saluting her for pulling “Ren-Ren” out of his one of his major funks in the game.(Yay for Marina Inoue voicing Ruri. Her Minami-ke ’sister’ Rina Satou was the announcer during the match, btw. It makes me think that Haruka-sama is the one behind the stands voicing lines such as “Be careful of foul balls”, lol)

Finally there’s Kanou, or Shuu-chan as Mihashi calls him. A salute for believing in Mihashi even when his entire team refused to acknowledge him, and for encouraging an old friend to keep on pitching. If the series does continue on, would it become inevitable that Nishiura and Mihoshi face off once again later on? Yet another match to look forward to… *Has already deluded self into thinking that there are future seasons confirmed…*

One more for the fangirls ;P

Sleep well Mihashi. You deserved it ;D

As if to highlight the fact that the show is ending on a feel good manner, we end with a scene where Mihashi napping peacefully. It give the viewer who’s somewhat disappointed to see a series they’ve enjoyed coming to a close (i.e. me) a sense of peace with the show, I suppose. Eventually training with Momokan and the team will resume for him, and there’ll be many other teams for Nishiura to play against… But till then, and as long as he can continue pitching, all is well in Mihashi’s universe (unless he’s dreaming of Abe torturing him XD), and perhaps we will one day see him in animated action once more… Here’s hoping anyways!

Here’s something new on this blog: a ’serious’ review post restricted to just one screenshot and one paragraph. *Gasps* Does this mean that Seirei no Moribito (or if you prefer the cheesier but accurate translation Guardian of the Sacred Spirit) is not worth me writing a longer, more detailed post peppered with samples of its stunning visuals? Does it mean that its characters (such as the kick-ass yet wise and motherly heroine Balsa and the surprisingly mature and unspoilt prince Chagum turned out to be) lack the necessary strength of character and growth to deserve individual paragraphs of their own? What does my lack of verbosity speak of the show’s linear but engaging storyline, the spectacularly choreographed fights, the superbly tuned soundtrack, the wonderfully fitted in fantasy elements and the overall impressive quality and atmosphere of the show? How will I be able to express all that and my opinion that this was probably the best overall show of its year just by virtue of being the kind of no-nonsense show that you can even recommend to non-anime watchers and as an argument that anime doesn’t need fanservice or snazzy one-liners or unnecessarily flashy plot devices like giant robots or magical girls to work (though a Shaman on a donkey seems to work fine as well)? The answer to this last question: by writing a damned long paragraph full of rhetorics, that’s how. And now if you excuse me, I think my job here is done. Good night.

There are some scenes that just don’t need subtitles to be understood…

Watching OoFuri raw proved to be as difficult for me as expected, but since it’s the last episode of the long running Nishiura VS Tousei match and the last I read in Central Anime’s forum thefinal 2 subbed episodes would only surface in March (which technically is just a few days away, but still…), I just had to continue watching, subs or no subs. Even with subs the technical aspects of the game fly past my head anyways (I suppose the task should be much easier for those seasoned with the actual game), so I was concentrating more on the rest of the spoken parts, which in this climactic episode consisted a lot of yells of support, monologues of self-doubt, harsh but well-meant berating, and yes, manly tears… So which team exactly wins the match and which team is left in despair, that is what we’re here to find out!

*Spoilers start here*

Mihashi being Mihashi XD

The pressure was very much on Mihashi in the final inning of the game. With the already mounting tension and the outcome of the game relying much on his pitching, his confidence wavers terribly as he recalls the bad old days of playing with Mihoshi and thinks that he’ll once again bring disappointment to his team. And it turns out Momokan’s giddy face from the preview wasn’t from the match outcome after all, it was from seeing Mihashi fallen and thinking that the poor guy must’ve reached his breaking point. Thanks to Impz’s episode summary (wasn’t able to get to scrumptious for some reason), I was finally able to understand that when Abe saw Mihashi at his lowest and started shouting at him, he was really calling Mihashi’s bluff by telling him to either pitch or leave the mound – an instant no-brainer for Mihashi since all he ever wants is to pitch for the team that wants him to pitch (kinda like telling him to believe in the team that believes in him!!).

Abe’s bluff manages to get Mihashi’s head back in the game, but at the cost of Tousei’s runners at 1st and 2nd base (I think). It all comes down to Mihashi’s final pitch… And again he second guesses himself! It’s all very much infuriating, but leads up to the very strong sequence of scenes where the rest of the team start calling out to bring Mihashi’s confidence back.

And so Mihashi pitches… and Tousei’s batter swings… and hits! The ball goes far down the centre, and the game once again enters high tension mode. It’s up to Izumi and team captain Hanai to strut their stuff – Izumi dives and catches, he passes it to Hanai who throws it back to home… Silence falls as Abe catches the ball just as Tousei’s runner slides in…

“OU-TO!!!”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH YES, THEY DID IT, THEY EFFING DID IT, THEY WON!!!!!

ROLFMAO XD Nice to see someone as excited as I am with their win =D

*PHEW that was a close one… Okay perhaps my reaction at Nishiura’s win wasn’t as big as I’m making it out to be since I know the manga’s still going on with so despite the anime coming to a close there really was ‘no doubt at all’ in Nishiura winning after all, teehee* What was immediately apparent after the game ended was despite the whole tension leading up to the final deciding pitch, Nishiura’s eventual win didn’t come with many extreme scenes of euphoria (aside from Tajima jumping Mihashi XD) and instead came across as a very subdued ‘celebration’. There was hardly any loud cheering from the winner’s side, instead we get both teams humbly bowing to each other and Nishiura lining up to thank their supporters. Eventually the cheer squad guy starts howling a little and there’s smatterings of applause throughout, but the overall level of joy shown wasn’t too high and kept to a tasteful level. Still you can’t help but feel the silent pride of the supporters (especially if you’re like me, a supporter yourself!) and the team sure as hell seemed pleased enough with the win!

Also noticed that the Nishiura moms reactions to their sons’ win was hardly significant to how they usually are (especially Tajima’s on the far left, though it’s probably because she knows well enough how much of a wonderkid Tajima is) lol. I suppose for most of them watching the match was more of a learning experience in baseball and a chance to watch their sons in action… I’m guessing at least some of them were as lost as I was during parts of the game, Note too that there isn’t a single dad in sight in the supporters, which would be strange if this was a sports match in any other country… Guess it must be the Japanese salaryman stereotype in action here.

True Tears T_T

For Tousei, the loss obviously came as a hard blow to the team, understandably enough, and a lot of the emphasis at the end of the match was on how they had to come to terms with the outcome. As much as my full support goes to Nishiura, it was hard to suppress that pang of sadness that came while watching Tousei’s evident despair, especially from Takase and the catcher. It’s probably the toughest on the senior students like them who won’t be able to play in the Koshien anymore once they graduate.

Perhaps things would’ve have been different if they had been on their guard against Nishura from the start, but there’s no doubt that both teams still played their best against one another. So as an expression of appreciation for their match, Tousei even gives Nishiura the 1000 cranes they folded and wishes them the best in the future. Certainly a nice and fitting gesture there to say no hard feelings.

Heck, Tajima’s such a star in the game that he even gets asked for his autograph by that Tousei dude who was always at the bench! Okay, maybe they were just exchanging numbers… Was still pretty funny how the guy couldn’t express his questions about Tajima’s gameplay properly XD

For Nishiura, there really is no time to celebrate as Momokan goes into full coach mode and instructs everyone to show up for practice the same evening… Ouch, but the announcement doesn’t come as a surprise at all since the team knows that Koshien is SRS BSNSS after all. That saga continues on in the manga, but unfortunately stops here for the anime. The final episode looks like a casual ending from the looks of the preview and will no doubt be another challenge altogether for my raw-untrained ears, but after watching Nishiura beating the odds and showing up with that seriously satisfying win, I’m willing to endure any amount of confusion to watch OoFuri’s much deserved closure.

What of our ace pitcher Mihashi though? The lad’s totally worn himself out and konks out immediately to get some well-deserved rest. I say to him: Good Job Mihashi! Nishiura wouldn’t be Nishiura without your ace pitching, and OoFuri certainly wouldn’t be OoFuri without your signature flighty antics =P

And one final pic for the BL fangirls of the show…

It’s all in her face… well, kind of.

Aiming low to avoid disappointment?

Tajima Good Job!!!

Wish there was a better way for me to convey the sheer awesomeness of Tajima’s swing this episode… (I’d make a GIF image if I knew how…) It was about time that he got to show off that batting talent of his in the game, up to then Tousei had been guarding against him pretty well (still wowing at that seemingly never-ending stream of foul balls he was forced to hit at his previous batting). But FINALLY Tajima pulls through with sheer skill against Tousei’s battery -no fluke involved, they even deconstructed his decisive swing to prove the point (it would’ve been extra awesome if they did it Yakitate-style with reactions =P) – and as a result the game isn’t only tied (again), but Nishiura takes the lead!!!

*coughs* inyourfaceTousei *coughs*

The reaction I had was quite the same as Tajima’s… well, it would’ve been if there weren’t as many people in the house already concerned about the sanity of the person cooped up with the computer all day. So I had to settle for that Momokan-ish-just-barely-holding-in-the-jubilation face (first pic in the post) with my fists balled up so tight it actually felt like I could easily crush a pomelo or two… And the game isn’t even over yet!

There’s still one episode left in the game, and I wish I could say for sure how it’s going to turn out in the end, but… All I have to go on now is Momokan’s slightly vague expression in the preview… Don’t want to get too ahead of myself though like poor Takase did…

Not happening… just yet

YES you can, just GIVE IT ALL YOU’VE GOT!!!

Next episode… on with the raws! Wish me luck =P

As far as I know, taking an image and rotating it before posting it on you site does not make it your intellectual property

2007 was quite the year for SHAFT, ignoring their work on Negima?! for a while, the studio managed to churn out some of the better titles of the year including Hidamari Sketch and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (both which we are/will be seeing more of this year thankfully) but most notably in my opinion, ef ~a tale of memories~ (and I’ll just add here that all 3 of these shows were among my top favourites during their respective seasons).

Now if I can just figure out a better way to start out these supposedly more serious posts without having to mention a single studio…

Hidamari Sketch and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei both obviously had much to gain from SHAFT’s quirky and ‘artsy’ artstyle (the first title being an art school anime while SZS is quirky to say the least), it can be somewhat debatable whether the SHAFT touch was even necessary for a visual novel adaptation such as ef. Certainly the visual aspect comes to mind, especially when the show was first promoted with a preview that was aesthetically stunning to the eye. But the true colours (or lack of them) of ef were truly revealed when the first episode premiered. As we start getting introduced to the characters and setup of the story, what should intervene but SHAFT’s signature psychedelic scene blending (honestly, I’m at a lost at how to describe what SHAFT does) which immediately turn off some, yet personally I knew quite immediately that I was sold on the show.

Indeed I will maintain till that ef owed much of its success to SHAFT’s styling on it, and not in spite of the studio’s efforts. Not only did the art style compliment the stories (for it is not just a tale of memories the show offers, but two), the imagery and symbolism wasn’t just there to make the animators seem ‘cool’ *will not mention Evangelion… damns*, they almost always had a purpose and reflected a great deal upon the progression of the story (well most of the time anyways. The rest of the time it’s just SHAFT being SHAFT – which I still enjoy).

Of course being rather shallow myself (and biased SHAFT fan), I’m not the one to be asked about symbolisms so I’ll just redirect you to this post.

Storywise, ef is a romance drama of two halves which progress side by side, with the obvious theme of memories in play (specifically, memories that you do not want to forget). It is said that with drama, the story should have a level of believability and should best be uncontrived… But really isn’t the whole point of drama to compel emotion into the viewer, and to do so it is almost always the case where contrivances have to be employed to a certain extent? In ef’s case, I don’t think it was so much of a concern as to whether or not the drama comes across as a tad bit fantastical (true as it is, stating that part of the plot borrows from an Adam Sandler movie leaves a slight bad taste in my mouth fingers), the drama comes across with a strong conviction, the characters are given a respectable amount of depth and growth, and the story is handled very satisfactorily overall.

But for those who feel ef does not triumph with its story and drama, to me this is secondary to how these all important elements not only worked together with the unconventional style of presentation, and how this approach basically conveys the story in a visually and emotionally compelling experience.

I’ll also note that ef was not only everything and more than what I expected of the show itself, but also from the same year’s sola, which in the end sold out its slice of life charms to some campy action. Also for a supposed sky-whoring anime, sola is majorly outwhored by ef in that respect. (It should be interesting to note that this is my first time using the term ‘outwhore’)

*spoilers start here*

Just some extra spoilerific personal thoughts on my ef watching experience:

Favourite character: Miyako. I’m a sucker for those seemingly fun-loving whimsical characters, though there was obviously more to her than what met the eye. Which was probably why it pained me as much as it did to watch her infamous 99 message scene, which was the perfect example of how SHAFT’s rendering could make all the difference in a scene. It also occured to me that Kei’s biggest mistake in the show was to delete Miyako’s messages on Hirono’s phone. Though Miyako made it obvious later to Hirono that she had reasons to be needy, it probably would’ve added another level of conflict if Hirono realized the full extent of her personality before being able to accept her. But to rise from that level of devastation to finally snag the guy, Miyako earns a place as one of the stronger heroines of her year.

…Burebureburebure…

Also Miyako’s ED song “I’m Here” sounds the best next to the epic one they played in the final episode.

As for the supposed ‘cheapness’ of SHAFT in not animating Miyako’s phone booth drama, as a frugal person myself, I say it was an excellent way to both elevate the tension in the moment and save on the budget at the same time =P

Evidently, Chihiro’s story was designed to have more of an impact and related more to the theme of memories, in which case it succeeded. (At any rate it’s a much better take of the memory loss concept than 50 First Dates was) I envied Chihiro’s ability to convey her subconscious onto her writing and the effort she put into it… but not her feeling of utter desolation and worthlessness as she basically spent her days in a loop of hopeless mundane-ness. Her final dramatic act of basically tearing her memories out of her diary near the end may be arguably the most contrived thing to happen in the show (or rather how she overcomes this in the end), but the impact it had was undeniable, and as much as it should’ve been predictable given the direction her story was going, I still found myself shocked to watch it happen. As a foil to Chihiro’s character, Renji was an admirable not only for willing to stick by her through it all, but more so because he didn’t do so out of some blind (shounen anime like) chivalry – he had his moments of weakness and fallibility (when Chihiro was the one becoming more forward in their relationship), yet he sought it within himself to help Chihiro for both their sakes.

Since this post has already exceeded my own limitations of wordiness and rantiness, I’ll just end it here with a convenient link to sum up what others thought of this show.

1) Obligatory Lucky☆Star Motekke Sailor Fuku parody. (Caution: criminally disturbingly slim legs involved)

2) More Furi☆Star (Nekomimi mode warning, lol)

3) Baccano + OoFuri. Perhaps if Mihashi and Tajima were really cast in Baccano as they were in this video (instead of that annoying couple), I would’ve made it past the second episode… Also lulz at who Abe is cast as XD

4) PoteMiha After that certain butler, Mihashi may just become the next non-female non-trap to qualify for SaiMoe…

5) And my personal favourite… OoFuri Dash! ~Mawaru mawatteku~

Wish I could do what Momo-kan does to fruit… Feeling the urge to crush something right now…

*Spoilers for Ookiku Furikabutte episode 22*

Though the match against Tousei seems to have gone forever, rather than feeling bored to tears watching, OoFuri has been doing an excellent job making every inning thus far extremely riveting and just plain giddifying! Nishiura as a new team comprising of only first-years have so far done a praiseworthy effort against last year’s champion Tousei. And they’re not just here to fluke it out against them – we’ve seen how the wonder-battery of Mihashi and Abe worked their magic with the full support of their team as whole (’support’ seems to relegate the rest of them as sub-par to our two main guys, but it’s only for a lack of a better word, they’re all great players in their own right), and with their tactics set up to take down the powerhouse players of Tousei, there actually seemed like no doubt in Nishiura pulling off this victory… For the first few innings at least…

Which is why it’s incredibly frustrating that when our underdogs pull are GIVING IT THEIR ALL with their skills, Tousei keeps coming back with flukes!! *Throws childish tantrum* Really, it’s so infuriating that Tousei’s now back in the lead in a split second that up to then really seemed to have favoured Nishiura. Guess as a baseball noob still I’ve yet to learn to read the atmosphere in the sport. In this scene itself I was more than convinced Abe has managed to save the play when he caught the ball at the home plate… Only ignorant old me never realized how physical this game could really be, so when the opposing player came sliding in and successfully pushing Abe off the plate – thus earning Tousei their fourth point- I was absolutely befuddled… and then enraged!!!

Thankfully the Nishiura boys are infinitely better at keeping their cool, so when history threatened to repeat itself almost immediately after… Oh god, I would’ve nearly passed out if it wasn’t for the timely comic intervention of Mihashi:

*Ouch* Poor Mihashi’s been dished a lot of physical damage this match… As if being mentally bashed up by Abe wasn’t enough (All for his own good of course ;P)

OH SHI- Where’s the ball? WHERE’S THE BALL???THERE it is! THERE IT IS!!!THROW THE BALL THROW THE DAMN BALL!!!

LMAO, though in actuality, Mihashi’s slowness really elevated the tension in the scene, I was already in stitches even before Abe eventually caught the pitch – and blocked the slider from the home plate this time around. WOOT! Of course, Mihashi isn’t going to be left off the hook by Abe… XD

Funnier still when Tajima has to step in to translate Mihashi’s incoherent blubbering. Tajima’s such an awesome character, if he wasn’t playing baseball, he could join Mensa or solve crimes or something =P

Mihashi’s such a priceless character… Though he’s made much progress from his decidedly wimpy state at the start of the series, but watching him inevitably regress back into a blubbering pile of nerves when Abe has something to say about him is always the highlight of any episode of OoFuri for me.

You better believe it, Mihashi XD

I’ve slowed down in watching this series lately, mostly due to the fact that after the slew of subbed episodes coming out a while back, Central Anime seems to have stalled releasing the final two episodes. So I decided on taking my time with these few episodes building up to the finale in hopes that once I do get to episode 23, 24 and 25 (and what’s this I hear about a 26th episode???) will be subbed and ready to watch… Well, it hasn’t happened yet, so we’ll see if I’ll eventually succumb to the urge of baffling myself to no end watching the raws and reading the episode summaries at scrumptious =P

Till then, NISHIURA GANBARE!!! (And GIVE IT ALL YOU’VE GOT!!!)