Maybe the “Above Average” Titles are the Most Important in an Anime Diet
Revisiting a concept I brought up earlier. And yes, I'm completely aware it's the name of a blog.
It wouldn’t surprise me if people suspected this were the case, but I’ve been pretty disenchanted by what I’ve been following this season, and I don’t really like that feeling. Almost every season I at least have a few titles that I get excited about and look forward to watching, but I haven’t been really enjoying this season overall, and it’s not really because of lack of good titles like I originally thought. Eden of the East is still a great anime, even if it isn’t quite the all-out winner I thought it was going to be, while Cross Game is proving to be a gem. Both these titles I’d recommend to virtually anyone, while Ristorante Paradiso is also a treat for fans who like character-driven slice-of-life romance series with a mature take on relationships, ala Honey and Clover and Nodame Cantabile. These three are genuine “winners” of the season, but all but a few of the other series I’m following have become somewhat of a chore to watch, and it’s almost like the only reason I’m sticking with them is because I feel obligated. In the past, I’d happily follow series like these through even if I wasn’t enjoying them, because not knowing what eventually happens and how they end would drive me up the wall… moreso than sticking with a series I didn’t particularly like. Now, for a lot of these titles, I barely care what’s going to happen. It’s something of a minor identity crisis, because I don’t see myself as that sort of fan. That’s the sort of fan who’s overly cynical and has no sense of curiosity, with the type of opinion which often comes off as uninformed and more difficult to credit.
To get back to the point, I’m starting to think that one’s (or, more accurately, my own) enthusiasm for a given season isn’t completely dependent on how many good titles they’re following (or how good such titles are). I’m starting to think that what helps keep burn-out in check is how much you’re enjoying those titles, and vital to that is a mix of not just titles that are “critically” quality, but also just plain enjoyable. I find that a lot of the anime that I rate as “Above Average” (6/10 for those unfamiliar with our rating scale) tend to be titles that have little in the way of depth or subtlety or really well handled, hard-hitting drama or intricate yet watertight plots, ie, the types of things that usually have me reaching for a stamp of approval when reviewing anime, but are still thoroughly enjoyable to me for whatever reason. Sometimes the reasons are incredibly superficial and, therefore, they’re the types of anime that I don’t get surprised about when they get rubbished by other reviewers. One such example is Strawberry Panic, which had no concept of subtlety. It’s the type of series that is directed towards a very specific sense of taste, which is why it’s no surprise that it’s frequently talked about as a poor man’s Marimite, a series which, unlike Strawberry Panic, has a set of qualities that can be appreciated by viewers who aren’t just attracted to it’s superficial hooks (which are the same for both series: lots of cute private school girls with a range of lesbian tendencies). And while I’m happy to take a step back from Strawberry Panic for the sake of reviewing and say that the writing is subpar and it too frequently relishes in melodrama and inane plot devices, the combination of adorable character designs (and seiyuu work), great soundtrack and romance between girls made the thing thoroughly entertaining and endearing to me. I could recognize and accept the flaws and then look past them for the sake of enjoyment, because the anime appealed to me on a superficial level. And, counter to what I’ve probably been trying to convince myself of on a subconscious level for a while now, there’s not really anything wrong with that.
The problem is that none of the anime I’ve been following this season have filled that role, and I’m starting to speculate that might be the reason why I’ve felt disengaged by anime as a whole right now. That was, until I picked up Valkyria Chronicles. Now I’d be the first to admit that there are elements of it that are pretty silly. It doesn’t make any attempt to hide the fact that it’s based on a game, with Squad 7 having the familiar meshed-together feeling of a motley crew who must learn to accept each others’ differences and work together in order to survive and triumph, a cliche much loved by JRPGs. And there’s just no way to buy that the behaviour from the members of Squad 7 can possibly be an accurate depiction of soldiers at war; the setting itself, which is more “period” than “fantasy” isn’t enough to dampen expectations for something serious, but the light-natured characters completely blast them away. Particularly the girls. There’s a feeling of an Allison & Lillia style “accidental moe” except for the fact that the moe in this anime is no accident. But, unlike K-On! (which has almost become my personal whipping boy, so maybe I should shut up about it for a while), the type of moe in this anime talks to me. I think it’s partly because there’s romance involved so the main character, Alicia isn’t just being tsunDERE towards the audience, she’s being tsunDERE towards one of the characters… and partly because the two moe characters that get the most screentime are voiced by two of my favourite seiyuu, Inoue Marina and Kuwashima Houko. I have a lot of fun watching Alicia in particular. She’s like a slightly toned down Sakura Misaki (from Wagaya no Oinari-sama, another “Above Average” anime that filled the “mostly meaningless but certainly enjoyable” role while I was watching it), neurotic and with just as many different facial expressions, but she also embodies a lot of characteristics of the more old-school Shiraishi type tsundere (cf. Lucky Star), eg, headstrong, capable, principled, etc. And that smile in the OP sequence is just adorable.
These are soldiers.
So, the cute girls (mostly Alicia) drew me in, but at a slightly deeper level there’s a few things that, at this stage (up to ep 7), seem worth sticking around for, such as Welkin’s unconventional tactics and the developing mystery about the Valkyria. And even if that stuff doesn’t turn out to be all that good, I’m happy to enjoy the pretty art and animation and Alicia and Welkin’s romantic development (assuming it becomes a focus). This couple kinda remind me of Lydia and Edgar from Earl and Fairy, not so much because of similarities between the characters themselves (Alicia and Lydia are very similar, but Welkin and Edgar are almost opposites, Welkin being extremely laid back while Edgar being on the front foot with pretty much every thing he does, especially when it comes to romance), but because the respective males in these relationships have a knack for saying/doing things which get the respective females riled up in a way that puts them offside, but also keeps them at the forefront of their thoughts. It’s the classical tsundere relationship, and I’ve always found something enjoyable about the internal dissonance that usually accompanies it, such as the whole “I hate him, so why can’t I stop thinking about him”.
Cute is as cute does.
In the context of an anime diet, titles like Valkyria Chronicles, which are mid-to-low on “critical” qualities but high on enjoyability (at least for me) are a bit like fast food. In small doses, they can actually be a good thing, since they inevitably add to the balance and variety of a season’s make up. So far this season I’ve been following a few anime that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying and would rate highly and a lot of anime which I haven’t been enjoying much at all. I can finally say I have a title that I’m also finding incredibly entertaining, but wouldn’t necessarily rate highly, and I have to say, it’s the most refreshing addition I’ve made to my “currently watching” list this season.
There are many shows this season that I’m really into, but given your description of Valkyria Chronicles, it would be Hatsukoi Limited for me.
Yes, I think people should watch what they enjoy, even if they are for superficial (or guilty?) reasons, and not because one should be better informed. One can have a balanced diet of good and bad, but if you aren’t enjoying it, I think it’s a terrible waste of time. Personally I think Souten Kouro isn’t that good critically speaking, but it has enough there to keep me interested and coming back for more (I’d rate it between 6~7). Recently I watched School Rumble, which I thought was a great comedy (and a failed romance/drama), and had an absolute blast with it, as long as I kept my expectations low.
I think an anime diet is filled with “above average” titles by sheer necessity more than their collective importance. If we could, we’d all gorge ourselves on all AAA series every season, consuming only the most important or innovative or greatest works. However, just like any entertainment medium diluted by execs driven to make an easy buck, only a few truly outstanding shows emerge per year, not nearly enough for an average anime fan to survive on. It’s not necessarily bad, that’s just how things are.
Whereas you likened fast food to easy, superficial anime, I think anime is unlike dining out in that when it comes to food, we can simply spend more money for higher quality, but unless you, individually, somehow meaningfully influence anime production, there’s a strict limit to what’s available. Reason as to why I’m a huge proponent of rewatching older series if you feel any particular season isn’t satisfying your anime fix.
@ghostlightning
I was thinking of picking up Hatsukoi Limited. I still might yet. Pandora Hearts and Shangri-La are doing exactly nothing for me, so maybe I’ll go back on my rarely-drop policy and drop them to make way for Valkyria Chronicles and Hatsukoi Limited. I didn’t think much of Ichigo 100%, but people were comparing Hatsukoi Limited early on to Kimikiss, which I really enjoyed. No matter what, though, I’ll definitely be onto Aoi Hana next season which, like Kimikiss, is directed by Kasai Ken’ichi and like Strawberry Panic and Marimite, is about shoujo-ai.
@gaguri
I think expectations is a massive part of anime watching (and consequently judging). It’s something I’ve thought for a while, but I have a feeling that lesser expectations often make it easier to enjoy something. Perhaps the “balanced” anime diet is more appropriate for a time when anime is in a state of flux like it was a couple of years ago, rather than at present where it’s stagnated a bit. Back in 2006 everyone was trying to mix moe with something else… moe with horror (Higurashi), moe with sci-fi (Haruhi), moe with slice-of-life (ARIA). These mixes are more common now, but they’re a bit old-hat. When anime comes up with its new big thing, that’s probably the time to jump on as wide a variety of series as possible to “keep up”.
@kadian1364
Even if it were possible for every series to made to be “OMG brilliant”, I’m not sure it’d be desirable. I think you need the less ambitious “guilty pleasures” every now and then. But yeah, I certainly won’t disagree that anime needs more ambitious titles right now. No one really seems prepared to make a big risk just at the minute.
@kadian1364
I’m not sure I’d hold that view myself. If you gorge on filet mignon every day, it’ll get bland really fast.
I’m in a somewhat dry spell as far as anime is concerned with in passing free time, and maybe – just maybe – the reason is due to me being too critical about my preferences. Years before I began writing reviews, I used to watch all kinds of anime which I know I won’t be compelled to watch in my present state of mind. Perhaps back then, I didn’t form many opinions on anime and see it as simply a way to pass the time. Nowadays, it may seem like either the quality of anime is dropping, or I’ve become a little demanding with my anime preferences.
To address my so-called “anime drought”, I’ll resort to either find those anime I’ve been meaning to watch, or just randomly watch anime and see if there’s something interesting for me to keep watching it. I may not like it at first sight but hey, I wouldn’t know whether something turns out to be good, if I don’t try to watch it.
I probably need to reevaluate how I look at our grading system since your perception of “above average” has become my perception of “average”.
Anyways, I don’t think that it’s necessarily “above average” titles that interest us as it is our niche. Recently, I’ve noticed that I’ve actually been enjoying more shounen action oriented titles like Dragonball Kai and Sengoku Basara more than the more high brow titles. Much like AC, I wonder if my willingness to explore the anime medium as shrunk as I’ve grown to have strong, sometime debilitating expectations of titles, which has kept me away from the vast majority of shows since I arbitrarily project that I’ll dislike a series and the only exceptions are the things I’ve always enjoyed like older tiles DBK and high intensity action like Basara.
@zzeroparticle
I think it’s a bit of a flawed counterargument to say eating filet mignon would be boring. It certainly would be, but that’s contorting my statement to some bizarre logical leap of “All great things are/will be the same.” I just don’t think that’s true.
I guess in a practical sense it is a good thing the majority of anime isn’t epic. I can only imagine an entire community in a perpetual state of ‘Mind => Blown’. Probably a fandom with really, really low expectations. “Woah! A finale in color!”
And it’s not like I maintain some kind of elitist mentality, “8 or it doesn’t matter.” I’ve got my fair share of ‘average’ entertainment. I ask two questions:
1) What is this show trying to do/accomplish/be?
2) Is it good at it?
Series that can answer the second query affirmatively are usually good enough, but woe be those that can’t even answer the first.
Naturally, a viewer of any medium of entertainment is going to hit that same wall you have, Sorrow. It happens as tastes, preferences, and standards evolve over time as they being to become more established. In fact, I have more or less hit that wall plenty of times down the road when there is just not much appealing. Nor is it promising when the “above average” fare does not provide enough assurance to just kick back and enjoy the ride. At the sametime, it is difficult for people to just pick up those kinds of shows and stick with it enough. Dragonball Kai is not necessarily the most appealing choice to go with after all.
Still, preferences can play a role in this, as an anime season can be oversaturated full of shows one would immediately detest. (Stuff like K-On and Haruhi are shows like that for me, since there is no way in hell I will ever watch them.) Even then, I still share the same sentiments with gaguri over Souten Kouro when I have my brain turned off. Otherwise, its a mind-numbing ROTK adaptation and not the best out there. Another anime in that “above average” category is the Dogs/Bullets and Carnage OVA which is a loud, action packed, gunfest in the shadow of Black Lagoon. But, that OVA is quite fun to watch while passing some time and never mind how shallow it is.
@Shadowmage
“Above Average” isn’t the categorical rating for “enjoyable, but meaningless” anime. Some I rate “Average” because they have other, more tangible things that pull them down (Allison & Lillia, Earl and Fairy), some I rate “Good” because they’re particularly well executed, even if they are blatantly unambitious (Minami-ke, Hayate no Gotoku). “Above Average” is just what I go for with this type of title on balance.
@kadian1364
Sometimes I’ve noticed that the fans who are deliberately selective with their anime diets so that they only watch titles that are highly acclaimed are often the ones who get jaded the quickest. Maybe it’s inherent in the more picky taste, but maybe there’s something to the idea that one should occasionally wallow in more shallow titles for the sake of keeping the hobby fun. Sometimes if only for the timely reminder that it’s misguided to expect everything to be a masterpiece.
@Flash Sword Irene
I’d guess that those types of action-packed gunfests are your “Above Average” series. Maybe the relevant question from all of this is: would you find anime just as enjoyable to watch if you didn’t follow those types of anime simply because you knew there was better stuff out there?
These are sort of my thoughts on the matter. And while I don’t have any proof, I feel like it’s watching in that manner that a person can watch anime for a long time running.
@Sorrow Kun
Good question. I think one would be hard pressed or find it next to impossible to find enjoyment if they were unable to enjoy anime while not following it simply because of the fact that better quality exists. Not to mention, there would be a lot of entertaiment to be taken for granted in the process. It would probably be that much more difficult to even think about bothering with lesser fares of entertainment, if at all. It can be difficult enough with the weight of quality as a reasoning. So, I think I would be able to enjoy anime even if I were not following shows for the particular reason you articulated.
Depending on what anime I am watching, it can very well be an “above average” show for me. On the other hand, it is true that a good amount of what I considered at that level is usually action-packed involving high levels of testerone due to the nature of gunfests and fights.
It won’t be a waste of time if you’re enjoying it. Screw “objectivity”
At times, we end up complaining about what we’re watching instead of enjoying it for what it is, and at the end of it all, conclude that we’ve “wasted our time”. It honestly won’t be the case if we enjoy the ride. As N said, this kind of mindset is most likely to get us far~ 
I’m also vowing to change ways and enjoy shows more, complain less. it’ll be more fun that way too XD
BASQUASH! Absolutely awful in terms of writing, plot and characters, but so idiotic that it’s awesome.
I love your “above average” concept. This season, that might be shows like Guin and Hanasakeru Shounen for me. I really lost interest in Valkyria, but it could easily just be personal taste. We watch what we personally enjoy, and may it ever be so.
Phantom has risen to the top of my list, even above Eden. And Pandora Hearts is in the second rank: above above average, lol.
@hashi
Above Above Average = Good (at least on our scale). :p
A lot of people who I generally have a lot of time for say Pandora Hearts is a good anime. But it just did nothing for me. This is one I’ll just chalk up to personal taste and move on. But I’m under no pretenses that Valkyria Chronicles is a good anime, I’m just enjoying it for what it is… a bit of fun with a tsundere romance thrown in on the side.