So, I was on YouTube and came across this future funk song by Nanidato, already a favorite of mine:
To anyone not familiar with the genre, future funk takes funk and remixes it like it is EDM. Yung Bae, my favorite artist of this genre, and his album Bae is a good start for anyone who is curious about it.
Moving on, the GIF featured in this video is from the anime Magical Angel Creamy Mami.
Creamy Mami is about a young girl, Yuu, who after seeing a spaceship is given the power to use magic for one year. She is also given 2 cats, Poji and Nega, to watch over and guide her. Using her magic powers to transform into the idol Creamy Mami, Yuu must work hard at acting, singing, helping her parents at their crepe shop, fighting aliens and bad guys, going to school, plus try to get the affections of her childhood friend Toshio.
After looking up information, I started watching immediately. I’ve seen episode one as of the time of this post.
Magical Angel Creamy Mami began to air on this day, 33 years ago in 1983. This is an anime older than I am, and it shows its age in a great way. Of course, I’m saying that because I enjoy feelings of nostalgia.
Eazy Peazy’s choice to use an animated GIF from this anime could not have been more appropriate. I can see the series’ own 80s style of pop music and production being remixed by retro artists. At times, the art style becomes abstract or otherwise exaggerated, fitting with the slapstick nature of the episode that got me to smile a few times. It’s like the music: unusual but chill.
The slapstick nature reminds me a lot of American cartoons from this era, but there is a key difference between Magical Angel Creamy Mami and them: the series contains suggestive sexual themes, such as nudity and fan service.
Protagonist Yuu is quite a cute girl who has a childlike innocence. What I find promising about her is that she already shows faults in this first episode. She is pure but also stubborn and a little cunning, like many kids are.
The anime is 52 episodes long. I’m going to watch all of it.
This will be a cross-post of sorts for a blog for my university’s newspaper where I introduce mostly slice-of-life anime primarily to newcomers.Like with Uncanny Mountains, I hope to do so in a mostly professional but still fun context.
I also still plan to create podcasts and related material in the future. Although, it may be for something other than my overview series.
Undoubtedly, the Clannad series is tied with Hachimitsu to Clover (Honey and Clover in English) for my favorite anime series ever. I’ve pondered about which series are most appropriate to discuss in an analytical context, and this masterpiece by Key Studios comes to mind. Appropriately, with Valentine’s Day in the air as of the time of this post, Clannad is a great choice for a reviewing or first-time viewing.
The story follows Okazaki Tomoya, a student who believes life is dull and will never amount to anything. He and his friend Sunohara Youhei commonly spend their days skipping school. One day, Tomoya passes a girl whispering to herself as he walks to school. “Anpan!” she exclaims (Anpan is a popular Japanese snack.). He learns her name is Furukawa Nagisa and she likes to exclaim things she likes for motivation. Nagisa then claims the two are now friends, and Tomoya passes on without acknowledgment of this statement. As Tomoya notices her more around school, he soon concedes the two are friends. Next, he learns Nagisa has been held back a year because of a severe illness and her dream is to revive the school’s drama club. He chooses to help her with this goal, along with four other girls, Sakagami Tomoyo, Fujibayashi Kyou, Ichinose Kotomi, and Ibuki Fuko. In the process, he discovers more about them and their personalities and opens his heart to life.
From left to right: Sakagami Tomoyo, Ichinose Kotomi, Furukawa Nagisa, Ibuki Fuko, and Fujibayashi Kyou. Studio: Key and Kyoto Animation.
Clannad rather fittingly is of the slice-of-life genre. A slice-of-life can be defined as a series set in a world that at least mostly parallels our own or parallels our world’s history. Specific details do not have to be the same. However, aspects such as technological advances have to somewhat closely match contemporary time or historical periods. Thus, sci-fi, fantasy, and super power series most likely are not going to be slices-of-life.
Anime newcomers may watch the first few episodes or even most of the entire first season of Clannad and may think it is flawed or such. And I would agree with them.
It is good, but it does rely on a variety of character archetypes, particularly for the heroines. This anime features the likes of a tsundere, kuudere, and dandere. For clarification, here is a link from Kotaku simply explaining what these and the other most common dere mean.
These archetypes are not surprising given the series’ source material is a dating simulator visual novel of the same name. Think of a visual novel roughly as a cross between an anime and a manga where the viewer reads and listens to dialogue and occasionally makes decisions which can affect the outcome of the story, with some exceptions.
The nice aspect of the first season is that, while many of the plot lines have expectable outcomes, there are attempts made at exploring the characters’ complexities beyond just these archetypes. I suppose director, episode director, and storyboard director Tatsuya Ishihara, who has worked on titles such as Air, InuYasha, and K-on!, and his staff did this to please fans of the visual novel who are fond of a particular heroine or heroines.
From left to right: Girl from the Illusionary World, Garbage Doll, Furukawa Nagisa, Okazaki Tomoya, Youhei Sunohara, Fujibayashi Kyou, Fujibayashi Ryou, Ibuki Fuko, Miyazawa Yukine, Ichinose Kotomi, and Sakagami Tomoyo. Artist: aZLing.
Speaking of heroines, in a series such as Clannad based on a visual novel with romantic options presented to the player, the anime adaptation generally does not follow the specific female protagonists’ paths all the way through if at all. An anime like Grisaia de Kajitsu (Alias: Le Fruit De La Grisaia) is like this. This is done for a few reasons, including for the sake of fanservice and time and budget constraints.
Clannad is unique in this regard because it does not use this formula which is one of the most common archetypes in and of itself. And, to add to this, this series is in the minority of those that continue to follow the characters after they have finished high school. There are a few Japanese societal reasons as to why this is the case, although I’ll explore that at a later time. Even before they finish high school, the female protagonists, the male protagonist, and some side characters experience growth and the aforementioned complexities that make them more dynamic than many of their counterparts in other adaptations.
I believe the trailer for the first season is an appropriate teaser about this complexity, particularly for Tomoya:
The trailer and the OP act as a good preview of the series’ music and art style.
Newcomers, one staple of contemporary anime is the characters’ large eyes. Because artists and animators cannot possible draw every facial detail (think frown lines for example) within the confines of time and budget constraints, they compensate by drawing larger eyes which are better at displaying emotion.
Music soundtracks in anime are quite diverse, just as they are in other media. Often, they depend on the animes’ genres. Since Clannad is a comedy, a drama, a romance, a slice-of-life, a school anime, and a supernatural anime, the music reflects moments where at least one genre predominates. Slice-of-life permeates nearly all of the anime, so the music is not likely to depend on it, instead choosing to depend on at least one other genre accompanying slice-of-life when it is present. The overall genre of the original soundtrack (OST) loosely can be described as pop with elements of orchestral music and EDM.
In the first trailer, which is a reflection of the drama and the supernatural aspects, the song is rather melancholic with its use of synthesizer, string instruments, and percussion set in a minor key. You just would not expect something like mid- to high-tempo EDM in such scenes reflecting these genres.
However, you would in moments which have a similar romantic mood as the OP, along with the aforementioned instruments generally played in a major key. This also applies to scenes where comedy and school-life dominate, especially when they are intertwined.
From left to right: Furukawa Akio, Furukawa Sanae, Sunohara Youhei, Fujibayashi Ryou, Furukawa Nagisa, Fujibayashi Kyou, Okazaki Tomoya, Ichinose Kotomi, Ibuki Fuko, and Sakegami Tomoyo. Artist: KairiHearts.
Clannad After Story, the second season, in my opinion, is where the anime shines brighter than all other dramatic, romantic slices-of-life I’ve seen so far, excluding one. Hachimitsu to Clover is tied with it. I’ll definitely talk more about that anime later. The direction of the art, music, and writing come together in such a way that it had my friends and myself emotionally invested at a level we did not think an anime was capable of doing when we first saw it six years ago. This is what sparked my interest in anime and for slice-of-life in particular.
I could say more about Clannad and why I’ve seen it at least seven times, but then, I’d begin to spoil it for you. For those out there who are new to anime or the dramatic, romantic slice-of-life genre, I recommend Clannad and Clannad After Story. You probably will not finish or even begin it by Valentine’s Day, but, by all means, take your time with it if you decide to watch it. I hope you enjoy it.
And to veterans of the genre (or the series), I think it could be worth a (re)view for this time of year. I hope you enjoy doing so, as well.
Newcomers, I also recommend the Japanese dub with English subs over the English dub if you don’t mind reading the subtitles. Some characters’ names and other words are pronounced incorrectly in the English dub. I am not sure how the English licensing studio allowed this…
I’ve got some explainin’ to do. Well, I’ve invested in some new audio equipment, namely a Blue Yeti microphone and an Auphonix Microphone Pop Filter MPF-2 since I’ve thought about occasionally video recording for fun. Otherwise, this setup would be complete overkill for simply chatting with friends, haha.
Just two notes.
Firstly, to be concise, I had issues with ambiance and Windows Movie Maker. I methodically attempted to edit this as best as I could with studio headphones. Trying to do even moderate editing in Windows Movie Maker was nightmarish, I should add.
Secondly, I have the transcript provided below if that is what you prefer. Choose whichever is most comfortable to you. I will do this again in the future, provided I have better, inexpensive editing software.
Video
Transcript
Good day, everyone! This is Jalen from Uncanny Mountains. Welcome to my first video! I thought about trying something new for my blog, and here it is. The content will be as you have seen on Uncanny Mountains, but just in an audio format. Any images and sources I use will be in the description below or throughout the transcript. Without further ado, let us begin.
Hachimitsu to Clover is spectacular, to put it concisely.
From left to right: Morita Shinobu, Mayama Takumi, Hanamoto Hagumi, Takemoto Yuuta, and Yamada Ayumi. Studios: J.C. Staff and Nomad.
Before I say more, I definitely want to thank Katarina of Okarin Photography for bringing this series to my attention when I wrote about the similar series Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo. Her photography blog is linked below in the description and above in this paragraph and in the credits and sources.
Moving on, here is the abridged version of this overview. If you enjoy romantic tragicomedies, you’ll probably enjoy this. Although I have seen just over 150 series of anime, with more than half being slice-of-life, Hachimitsu to Clover has the best overall execution I’ve seen so far at least since Clannad After Story. The anime is relatively unique, as well, because it centers around university life and young adulthood. Therefore, if you feel like you cannot as easily relate to a series and its characters because they are high school-aged at oldest and, thus, do not have to deal with the pressures of the real world, you may also enjoy this.
Now, we move on to further clarification. Hachimitsu to Clover is defined as a comedy, drama, josei, romance, and slice-of-life. While it is a slice-of-life, which can imply there isn’t a story with a deep plot, this is a series the viewer has to pay attention to in order to receive full enjoyment. There is a lot of story here, so it is not for viewers who do not want the investment.
Takemoto Yuuta. Artist: Umino Chika.
Mayama Takumi. Artist: Umino Chika.
Morita Shinobu. Artist: Umino Chika
In mentioning the story, Takemoto Yuuta, Mayama Takumi, and Morita Shinobu are college students who share a small apartment. The three live in poverty but are able to enjoy the minor pleasures of everyday life. They are good friends with a fellow student by the name of Yamada Ayumi and a sensei of the university, Hanamoto Shuuji. This contentment and stable dynamic change once Shuuji’s younger cousin, a talented prodigy named Hanamoto Hagumi, appears at their university and unknowingly begins a love dynamic among them. Logically, the second season is a continuation of the events of the prior season but concentrates a little more on the drama, romance, and poverty aspects.
Yamada Ayumi. Artist: Umino Chika
Hanamoto Shuuji (Standing). Artist: Umino Chika
Hanamoto Hagumi. Artist: Umino Chika
All of the genres are self-explanatory with the exception of josei. Josei means “women” in Japanese, so when it is said something is of this genre, it means it is an anime primarily targeted towards women. Prior to watching Hachimitsu to Clover, I have had no experience with the genre, and this series makes me want to seek it out. To see a relatively uncommon genre as this, uncommon in the mainstream at least, executed so well is a wonderful feeling. I’m sad I haven’t seen more of this in charts of newer seasons of anime. Hachimitsu to Clover is a josei, and yet, I found it to be appropriate for men and women because of the anime’s great use of perspective. I’ll explain this later.
Next, I want to talk about the execution. The voice acting, art style, and music all are great. The overall quality is high and consistent. In mentioning the art style, it uses a drawn-like style where there are clear uses of pencil and color pencil, particularly in the character models, creating a rather unique look. You can see that in the video as of this moment or in the following slideshow.
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The music is alternative rock, one of my favorite genres, and indie-like rock. The soundtrack appears to have been composed for the series itself because the lyrics often reflect the events. This applies to the opening themes, ending themes, and the insert songs which appear during specific moments in certain episodes. Speaking of ending themes, I have to agree with one person who said “Waltz” has to be the best ending theme he or she ever heard. At least lyrically, it is in my top three.
Note: The translation is in Portuguese. If I find an embeddable video of good quality with English subtitles, I’ll replace this.
Note: The series-sized version ends at 1:42, although I recommend listening to all of this stellar melody. I used this over other videos because they either lacked the intro or used a video clip from the end of an episode. The ED’s intro begins just as an episode is about to end.
Think of Hachimitsu to Clover as being composed of three primary plot elements: comedy, drama, and romance. Over two seasons and 36 episodes, the series executes these masterfully. Firstly, the drama and romance are quite believable. The romance, in particular, is a reflection of josei and, thus, is targeted towards heterosexual women. There is no harem-esque, passive love polygon that every involved person appears to be fine with here. There is unrequited love, and there is much time dedicated to introspection. Since these elements are substantially heavy at times, comedy is used as a means of providing breaks for the audiences, as well as more complex character development. Comedy is inserted at appropriate moments and at appropriate amounts.
With introspection, the series uses a third-person subjective viewpoint. This means the thoughts of more than one character are revealed to the viewer. Hachimitsu to Clover uses the thoughts of one particular character more frequently. I believe this works because it allows the characters to be more relatable to the viewer. Also, this makes the josei aspect more digestible for men and newcomers to the genre since women are not the only characters who have introspection. Personally, I find this series to be surprisingly more gender-neutral than expected. I would not mind if it is not, nevertheless.
From left to right: Mayama Takumi, Yamada Ayumi, Hanamoto Hagumi, Morita Shinobu, Takemoto Yuuta, and Hanamoto Shuuji. Studios: J.C. Staff and Nomad.
Finally, I really enjoyed the college aspect of this series, which is why I will say this: I cannot say enough about how happy I was to finally discover a serious slice-of-life anime centered around secondary, non-mandatory education. This anime’s execution of it is very good, also. However, one small criticism I have is that it is not enough for me. Still, I understand the romance and friendships are the main focuses of the anime, and so, original creator Umino Chika, director Kasai Kenichi, scriptwriter Kuroda Yousuke, and the other staff members of J.C. Staff and Nomad probably though more emphasis on college and the real world was not needed. Perhaps, there is more in the manga. I do not know for certain. I have to add there is enough of a good portrayal of young adulthood, career prospects, the real world, and the neurosis one may experience during or after college that I wanted much more.
It is rather intriguing I find the execution of the genres of Hachimitsu to Clover to be a masterpiece while the plot ironically holds it back ever so slightly. Once more, it is not because the plot’s university and real-life settings themselves are flawed or portrayed unrealistically. There is just almost enough of an emphasis on them to completely satisfy me. Simultaneously, there is enough to allow me to empathize with the characters the most in this regard. Ultimately, it, as with any other argument, is a matter of an interpretation influenced by one’s beliefs, talents, vices, experiences, current situation, etc. as the characters themselves know quite well. All of these characteristics fall in line with my own more so than any other anime I’ve seen so far. Hachimitsu to Clover is one of my favorite series in part because I have managed to see it at a time when I have needed it most.
This concludes my review for Hachimitsu to Clover. This is Jalen from Uncanny Mountains. Please take care!
I discovered Amagami SS and Amagami SS+ about three to four months ago through an online friend. He knew (and knows) of my fondness for the slice-of-life genre, and I believe he recommended it to me because of how much I love the Clannad series.
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo simply is wonderful. I know others’ opinions will vary, however, I believe Sakurasou is a slice-of-life with a greatness similar to that of the Clannad series.
Uncanny Mountains 