Shark Puppet

Back in the fall of 2013, an anime series called Arpeggio of Blue Steel premiered in a season filled with big-name titles.  A sci-fi series boasting some impressive naval combat sequences, Arpeggio faced stiff competition and was quickly torpedoed by fan-favorite shows from a variety of genres, including Non Non Biyori and Kill la Kill.  With the original manga now available online from Crunchyroll and on course for a print release from Seven Seas, it’s obvious why the anime adaptation didn’t fare better: it didn’t give us the whole picture.

It also didn’t give us gorgeous two-page spreads like this one, but I digress.

For those who’ve neither read nor watched, Arpeggio of Blue Steel doubles down on apocalyptic scenarios.  Rising sea levels have displaced large portions of humanity and thrown a wrench into the global economy.  To make matters worse, a mysterious fleet of AI-controlled warships has blockaded every continent, cutting nations off from one another.  Each ship in the “Fleet of Fog” is controlled by a Mental Model, a physical manifestation of its artificial intelligence in the form of (what else?) an attractive woman.  When Fog submarine I-401 defects to humanity’s side, it shifts the balance of power and sets all manner of changes in motion.  Existential quandaries, geopolitical power struggles, and kickass sea battles ensue.

On paper, this should have made for one heck of an anime series, but Arpeggio of Blue Steel suffered from having to cram a complex plot and setting into just twelve episodes.  As a result, entire elements of the series’ world had to be dropped completely, while others were simplified into irrelevance.  At the same time, character development was kept to a minimum for a significant portion of the cast.  What remained were some solid action sequences, a handful of quirky AI girls, and some interesting ideas.  These alone couldn’t carry the show, and I abandoned ship several episodes early.

Around a month after the anime adaptation of Arpeggio wrapped up, Crunchyroll added the original manga to its catalog of online titles.  One lazy night, I tried out the first few chapters.  One thing led to another, and “the first few chapters” quickly became “the first twenty-four chapters.”  At around 3:45 AM, it became obvious that the manga version of Arpeggio of Blue Steel had everything the anime lacked.

I guess ship girls are the new airplane girls.

The most immediately apparent difference lies in the depth and complexity of the series’ world.  The anime essentially boiled down to a series of fights between I-401 and around half a dozen Fog ships.  There were suggestions that human politics were also an issue for the heroes, but this mostly just served as an excuse to have a Mental Model take on some special forces soldiers.  The manga presents a much more detailed look at all sides of the conflict, an approach that makes it far more interesting.  We see power struggles within the Japanese government, rivalries amongst an expanded cast of Fog characters, and the efforts of human militaries to take on the more powerful Fog ships.  As a result, the Arpeggio manga has a living world to exist in, rather than just a sequence of events to follow.

It takes longer to notice, but the manga also devotes more effort to developing its characters.  To its credit, the anime did a respectable job with several of the Mental Models, examining their varied reactions to direct contact with humans.  Sadly, the same wasn’t true for the show’s human characters.  There was little in the way of backstory for the I-401’s crew, and they spent most of their screen time shouting expository dialogue.  The original work takes the time to develop the crew, their allies, and their enemies.  We learn more about Gunzou’s military past and his family’s connection with the Fog.  Seeing Kongou under pressure from other high-ranking Fog ships makes her more than just a standard “Destroy All Humans” villain.  Outside of combat, the sub crew gets a chance to evolve beyond their roles on the ship.  We get a better sense of where everyone is coming from, and this deeper connection with the cast causes us to be more emotionally invested in the battle scenes.

Exciting combat sequences can make a series like Arpeggio of Blue Steel good, but it’s the more subtle touches that can make it great.  It’s been a while since I’ve had such wildly divergent opinions on two versions of the same story, and it’s a testament to the quality of the manga that it so outshines a perfectly decent anime series.  I’m glad I gave this franchise a second chance, and look forward to seeing the manga’s print release later this year.

You can pre-order Volume 1 of Arpeggio of Blue Steel from RightStuf.com here.

 Kawaii Overthink is written by Paul Jensen. You can follow his ramblings about anime on Twitter.

The finale of Kill la Kill aired last week, wrapping up a journey filled with epic battles, shocking plot twists, and absurd outfits.  It’s safe to say that this show generated plenty of interest and debate amongst anime fans, and the constant buzz that surrounded it was not without good reason.  Kill la Kill carefully walked several fine lines over the course of its 24-episode run, a risky approach that ultimately helped the series stand out from the crowd.  Fair warning to anyone who hasn’t seen the final episodes: spoilers lie ahead.

Somewhere in Japan, and anime cafe is working on a recipe for mystery meat croquettes. I guarantee it.

Kill la Kill’s first and most obvious balancing act was the way in which it constantly defied expectations while still embracing the conventions of Big Dumb Action Shows.  At first glance, we have a fairly typical shonen plot structure: a rebellious loner with special powers takes on increasingly challenging opponents in a quest for revenge, which ultimately leads to a climactic battle with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance.  Along the way, friends are made, lessons are learned, and monologues are shouted at maximum volume by heroes and villains alike.  Anyone seeking a modern version of the Dragon Ball or Fist of the North Star franchises could watch Kill la Kill and come away satisfied.

However, despite its adherence to the rules, Kill la Kill was still able to constantly catch viewers off guard.  After getting a look at the cruelty and scheming of Ragyo and Nui, many probably guessed that Satsuki would eventually come to her senses and side with Ryuko.  We expected a Return of the Jedi moment where Satsuki would interfere at the last second and help Ryuko snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  Instead, Kill la Kill showed us how gravely we’d underestimated Satsuki when it revealed that she’d been plotting an organized rebellion from the very beginning.  Suddenly, we understood why so much time and effort had gone into humanizing Satsuki and the Elite Four, who began the series as the ostensible villains.  (See one of my past articles for just how completely the show had me fooled.)  By starting off as a “style over substance” action series, Kill la Kill set itself up to constantly surprise its audience with how clever it could be.

Viewers were also kept guessing by Kill la Kill’s seemingly contradictory efforts to empower and sexualize its female characters.  On one hand, nearly all of the show’s heavy hitters are female, a rarity in this genre.  I challenge you to find another shonen action series where the protagonist (Ryuko), best friend/love interest (Mako), rival (Satsuki), archenemy (Nui), and evil mastermind (Ragyo) are all women.  The ladies of Kill la Kill displayed a wide range of intelligence, physical power, emotional depth, and believable flaws as they stood constantly in the spotlight.  On the other hand, the series reveled in having these characters wear skimpy, ridiculous outfits on a nearly constant basis.  The revealing costumes weren’t limited to the female characters, but the battle attire in Kill la Kill always seemed to be at odds with its other themes.

Eat your heart out, Madoka Magica.

Of course, by “always,” I mean “until the last episode.”  It wasn’t until the aftermath of the final battle that we saw the whole picture.  In the process of defeating Ragyo and the life fibers, the last of the heroines’ uniforms were destroyed.  In his final moments, Senketsu told Ryuko to replace him with new clothes.  His request was honored in the epilogue, which showed the show’s surviving characters wearing street clothes of their own choosing in a newly peaceful world.  This change punctuated an idea that slowly built up over the course of the series.  In order to fight their enemies, Kill la Kill’s female characters needed to put on revealing outfits.  We can interpret this as an analogy for the way in which women in anime action series are frequently used as “fan service” characters, their fighting abilities ignored in favor of skimpy clothing and sleazy camera angles.  From this perspective, Ryuko and Satsuki’s battle takes on a symbolic quality: their struggle is as much for the freedom to dress how they want as it is to save the world.  I’m not sure this lets Kill la Kill completely off the hook for its costume design, but it does elevate it a notch above less ambitious titles.

Looking back, Kill la Kill reminds me of other anime titles that proved to be smarter than they first appeared.  It stands on level ground with shows like Black Lagoon, Gurren Lagann, and Fate/Zero.  Each can be enjoyed on a surface level as a mix of impressive action and high drama, but there’s a more complex layer waiting for anyone willing to take a closer look.  Considering that I’ve watched each of these name-drop shows at least twice, I suspect Kill la Kill will soon be due for a second viewing.  It’s the kind of series that simply demands more attention than can be paid in a single sitting.

 Kawaii Overthink is written by Paul Jensen. You can follow his ramblings about anime on Twitter.