Mini Monday: Parasyte -The Maxim-

Japanese anime/manga likes to ask big questions. Death Note ponders how good intentions can, with the introduction of almost limitless power, be warped into monstrous acts. Barakamon explores art and how our creativity is intrinsically linked with the people around us. Dragon Ball Z attempts to create a cohesive story around hair gel and the age-old playground battle of wits that is "I'm better times a million...PLUS ONE". The anime that I just finished watching a matter of days ago, Parasyte -the maxim-, tackles equally as lofty subject matter, inquisitively poking the concepts of humanity and mankind's destructive relationship with nature; something which, for the most part, it does very well.

Helped along with a healthy dose of unpleasant body horror.

This show is super heavy on the plot, so I'll give you the beginner's version: weird parasites of unknown origin (maybe space, they never say) appear on Earth and infect humans by crawling into their brains and taking over their heads (see above); these monsters then survive by feeding on other human beings to keep their host body alive. Our hero, Shinichi Izumi, is infected by one of these parasites but manages to stop it from reaching his brain, instead it burrows into his right arm and takes that over instead. So Shinichi now has a sentient, shape-shifting right arm called Migi (Japanese for "right") and the pair work together to survive as they come to blows with other parasites and try to keep their existence secret; obviously this doesn't go particularly well.

Seen above: Not being very inconspicuous.

The animation is fabulously grotesque, particularly when it comes to the strikingly regular eviscerations/decapitations, and it helps make the action, although blindingly fast, feel heavy and consequential; you're never sure how things might end up playing out. And boy does the show play off that as best it can! If you thought Game of Thrones was trigger happy with doing unspeakable things to its characters, you're in for one hell of a treat; no-one gets out of Parasyte unscathed. There's multiple massacres, usually in schools, and the majority of the principal cast ends up killed, infected or both, usually in a most unexpected and brutal fashion; although there's a few spots of nice humour thrown in there to keep you calm. It's a heart pounding experience that, with a meaty yet brief 24 episode run, maintains a firm narrative rhythm and knows exactly for how long it should stick around.

Migi is adorable. A cold, ruthless killer, but still adorable.

There are always downsides, however, and Parasyte has a few. The plot runs thick and fast throughout the show, but often each character's internal monologue and contemplations with one another become repetitive and extremely protracted; there's only so many times someone can say "You're not like you used to be" before it loses any meaning. This gets particularly bad in the closing episodes, where you're regularly treated to over-bearing 5-minute long speeches about how mankind is the real evil due to its destruction of the natural world, or how Shinichi has realised the true meaning of being human yada yada bleh bleh. Luckily the writing and translation is good and the points relevant enough to the show's overarching themes to still be engaging, but you can't shake that icky forced environmentalism schtick. Also, it felt like the final epic confrontation was sort of shoehorned in at the end, sticking out like a compound fracture compared to the rest of the show; it may have worked better to introduce the unkillable nemesis earlier in order to establish him as a constant threat, ie Alien or Resident Evil: Nemesis. On a whole, though, if you're looking for some great body horror with satisfying action, fascinating characters and a healthy dose of cod-liver-musings, then, yeah, this one'll do you. Also, you have super specific tastes.

Barakamon: The Many Faces of Naru

This is my first time talking about an anime series, so I'm not particularly comfortable with the whole critique thing here. There's a lot of cultural motifs and references that I simply don't get because this isn't exactly my field; so instead of talking about Barakamon critically I'm just going to bombard you with pictures of Naru, the single most wonderful and adorable character ever to come out of anything ever and you should watch this show just to marvel at her and omg she's so amazing. *inhale*

Readers, I present to you Naru from Barakamon:

Look at that thing! If you could personify the "squeee" noise people make at adorable puppies, this is the creature you would inevitably create. The guy holding her up is Seishu "Sensei" Handa, the main character of this adaptation of the 2009 manga series. A master calligrapher gone stale, Handa gets sent off to Goto Island by his father to cool off after blowing up at a museum curator at an exhibition. His trip exposes him to the myriad beauties of the island along with it's colourfully mental inhabitants; but no-one quite has an effect on him like Naru does.

Annoying as hell and filled to the brim with wild abandon, Naru is the complete antithesis to Handa's stony, defeatist demeanour; but the two are inadvertently brought together by their mutual loneliness and a desire for someone to look to in times of need. Yes, that sounds exactly as tear-jerkingly heart warming as it is, and no, you will not be spared. What I especially love though is that although this is a prime setup for lots of feelsy music and monologues about how their lives have been changed forever by each other (we'll call this technique "Disneying"), they never do that. It's almost agonising how little the two acknowledge how much they mean to each other and that just makes it all the more lovely.

"We're just bobbing along, bobbing along..."

I think it's safe to say that the rest of the supporting cast is pretty much perfect as well. The island's inhabitants have a spot on mix of quirkiness and genuine humanity that is very difficult to balance, particularly in a cartoon.

Yes, there's a few absolute caricatures (one stand-out being Miwa's terrifying dad), but on a whole you'll love everybody. From Naru's best friend Hina [top, in the rubber ring] who cries at everything especially when she's happy, and the two middle schoolers Tama and Miwa [bottom, holding the sparklers] who use Handa's house as their den and mercilessly torment him for fun, to the shopkeeper's adorable dog and the chain smoking headmaster of the school who spends all of his time fishing; there's not one person you won't find yourself gushing over eventually.

The episodes are, at a merciful 20 minutes (I couldn't handle much more cute in one go), very snappy and full of energy; usually starting with Handa struggling to find inspiration before being whisked off by the kids to go do something stupid or distracting himself with a mundane task that ends up taking all day. I'll put it this way: it's no explosive robot battles or 20-story tall flesh giants, and that makes it a wonderful breath of fresh air after you've hit a bit of a sensory overload with other anime.

By forgoing battles and unnecessary flashy effects, Barakamon spends its time lazing around on the beach getting to know the islanders and, with the help of some great writing, its interest comes from simply getting a glimpse into the normal lives of normal people who incidentally all happen to be utterly crazy.

The more relaxed overall pace of the show also gives it the time to mess around with a lot of genre tropes (ie. the aforementioned over-the-top effects and such) to create some really funny and original moments. The animation helps, stretching itself around a joke with remarkable fluidity; be it by turning the characters into adorable chibi versions of themselves or giving Naru the most disturbing serious face I've ever seen (see above).

They even managed to play with censorship laws to make two relatively innocent moments seem much more adult than they meant to, with hilarious effect. The bowl Naru's holding up there is meant to be a bowl of onions Handa cut himself preparing and bled all over, but the addition of the fuzzy blocks makes the potential contents of the bowl appear a whole lot more sinister. Then there's the incident with the sea slug:

You shouldn't laugh but...

All in all, I've not laughed, giggled, wept or cheered along with a show this much in a long time. And what's more it gave me yet another wonderful insight into a culture that has me thoroughly captivated. I'd watch Japanese people pee if- wait, that's already a thing and no thank you. Ahem.

I canny wait for series 2!

Neither can they, the wee scones.

And if you're ever worried that you don't have enough of a heart, do yourself a favour and let Barakamon grow you a new one. Till next time, Ben out.

Film Favourites: Only Yesterday

Hello, dear readers. For some time now I've reviewed films and games and talked incessantly about stuff for pages and pages of precious internet space. I've decided that in order to prepare myself for the all-too-real threat of the shapeless void that is exam stress and to save you, dear reader, some time in your own procrastination efforts, I shall start a new series of blog posts that are built around a shorter template.

But still just as entertaining and full of intrigue; like a dancing midget.

The first of these new condensed posts is a series I shall call Film Favourites, where I let you in on some of the movies that are not only great, but also hold a place much closer to my heart on a personal level; either as a result of nostalgia, relation to my own experiences or because they've managed to shape the very person that I am today.

Let that be a lesson to future parents everywhere.

The Film

The first film on the list is also one of my most beloved movies of all time: Isao Takahata's Only Yesterday, or Omohide Poro Poro if you're into knowing the phonetic translation of movie titles. 

Top 5 "Oo, That Looks Good" Movies of 2014

The new year has arrived at long last; we only had to wait 365 days or so for it. And with the new year comes the long wait for the inevitable wave of summer blockbusters that arrive every June with the timing and grace of only the most punctual and voluminous menstrual sloughs.

There is never not a good moment to use this image.

Summer this year seems to be set to flood us like so much body-temperature uterus lining with a veritable smorgasbord of exactly the same movies over and over again. With lots of lasers and jumping and looking seriously into the distance, sci-fi and alien invasion seem to be the aim of the game, so be prepared for, well, lots of sci-fi and aliens; along with the obligatory kids animated movie sequels and another superhero movie, because we're totally not tired of them yet. Yay.

Why can't we all just wait patiently for Ant-Man?

That said, there's still plenty to be excited all through the year so, without further ado (or adon't), I give you my top 5 list of movies that, as the title suggests, make you lean over to your mate in the cinema and shout-whisper, "Dude, we need to see that." Let us begin with: