Have you noticed that some of the most epic anime isn’t necessarily anticlimactic, but rather has an anti-climax? In some of the most interesting, thought-provoking, or just plain bad ass anime, the shows/films/adaptations don’t just come rolling to a halt, but they’re goddamned confusing or outright tragic and that’s what makes them so good. If you’re an avid anime fan, how many times have you watched one, following carefully along, only to end the series in a blank stare of “what the fuck?” or wallowing in a sea of tears?
If you know you know.
Is this some aspect of Japanese culture that I am completely missing as an uncultured American? Or is it, perhaps, the depths of feeling that are evoked by the emotional masterminds behind the storyboards? I’ve seen my share of blah anime, and a healthy dose of shit anime too. What seems to set the great anime from the good, the bland, and the terrible is the ability of a show to capture the imagination, develop a world that is plausible, and imbue the important characters with that particular form of simpatico that allows a viewer to connect deeply with them. This is no easy feat, and serves as a marker of great writing, especially when it’s accomplished in short form, a la a film (ie Akira), or single season series (ie Cowboy Bebop). Longer running series seem to sacrifice much of this up front, as if the writers deliberately choose to run the series forever so they can eventually get this shit right.
I once read an epic fantasy series and was annoyed through the first seven books before I finally really got into it. The only thing that kept me going at the time was the great reviews the series got from my siblings, who are avid fantasy fans, and my trust that the author would eventually get there. Even then, the story came to a close in a very “meh” way.
Fuck all that. I can appreciate a good setup, but seven books? As in some shows out there: three to four seasons? Some of the best books I’ve ever read fell short of 300 pages, some of the best films I’ve seen are less than 90 minutes, and some of the best anime ever is only one season. Of course, there are exceptions, but those exceptions are generally rare.
After all, just because it’s long doesn’t mean it’s good.
Anyway, here’s a design of @cassie from her set Spin Psycho, which tells a short (and sweet) story:
