Idle Master

One of the most difficult skills in story-telling is the technique of presenting information. Say I want to set up a plot point about a villain. This villain is a powerful influencer who has been undergoing some shady deals under the public eye. How should we present this information to the audience? One easy way is to have our characters discuss it, such as a group of police giving out mission reports. Another way is to allow the audience to just see the villain engage in his devious acts. But perhaps if we take a page out of the 'Lycoris Recoil' playbook, we may first establish him via a news programme praising his societal contributions, metonymize him with a owl pin and then transition to us seeing the "hero" engage in his treachery.  There is no perfect answer to the debate of how to present information. While the first method of simply having our characters info-dump may be a bog-standard one, it is still effective in ensuring that the audience understands what ...

  I think everyone is familiar with the term 'breaking the fourth wall'. In a theatrical play, we peep into the life of a character by seeing past the fourth wall, which is the wall that connects both the house, the character and the audience. However, a house should logically have four concrete walls. In a sense, even though the fourth wall is invisible for theatrical purposes, the characters still have to treat it as a concrete entity, ala exiting through a door. It is when the characters step forward and phase through the fourth wall does the audience's immersion break. It is by breaking its concreteness are the audience reminded that they are watching a bunch of actors acting on a stage. In anime and manga, this technique is mostly used for comedic purposes. Shows like 'Gintama' and manga like '100 girlfriends' utilizes these fourth wall breaks to subvert expectations and remind their audience not to take its content seriously. However, 'Goodbye Eri...

  I think the sound design in 'Aharen-san' is phenomenal. That might be a strange statement to make for a slice-of-life anime. Phenomenal is a powerful word and it's not like there's a Hiroyuki Sawano track dropping when Raidou was at the claw machine. In fact, when we actually consider what sounds actually are in the first episode, you will realize that there's actually very little going on; Raidou and Aharen speaks in a monotonous voice with none of the usual tonal antics of a comedy; Most of the soundtrack consist of sparse piano notes that leaves a lot of "empty space" in between them; And as much as we like to diss Berserk for its horrible *pings and pongs* , you can't really say that nailing the sound design of bento boxes is comparable to how a mega-ton sword should sound on every conceivable metal, rock and bone. Thus, is there even a conversation to be had about sound design in a show where school kids just bumble about? Well, to consider that...

Entry #03: Date A Live has justified its existence to me (11th April) I do not like 'Date A Live'. I think it's a harem show that is outdated and past its prime. It uses the trite formula of "collect girls like you would collect Pokemon". Granted while its one of the earlier pioneers of that genre, the sheer influx of Isekai shows that adhere to those tropes like a bible, has made the bible itself obsolete; A relic of a past that has been translated to death, and would be soon replaced with fresher, more respectful harem tropes. However regardless of all its flaws, 'Date A Live' has "justified its existence" to me. That phrase means a great deal in my mind. It surpasses the mere idea of just being good. For example, last season I watched a show called 'My Dress-up Darling'. I finished all of it, thought that Marin is super cute, thought the animation was super crisp and thought that that show was in all fairness, a pretty good show. Howev...