So recently I've tried squeezing in some anime between my work sessions. I haven't watched much for quite a long time. In fact I haven't watched anything seasonal for a while. Which I suppose is okay, because not many good shows have come out this year (and no, I'm not into Type-Moon). So I don't feel I've missed out on much. On the topic of Type-Moon, let's talk about Canaan.

I finished watching Canaan a few days ago. It was an okay show. Canaan is just really, really average, and after having watched it I realized how much P. A. Works had improved as a studio during the past several years. For me, Canaan resembles a less well-executed, less exciting version of Black Lagoon. Most of the action scenes were pretty hilarious (Canaan is just that good at dodging bullets), and only a show like Jormungand is arguably worse when it comes to animating unrealistic gunfights, even by anime standards. The show was literally a trainwreck. The story is okay, but I felt that the pacing is a bit too slow and for someone with a short attention-span like me, it was hard for me to keep myself engaged. 

Well, there are pluses, I suppose. For one, I like the character designs. Canaan looks pretty sexy. She's a cold-blooded killer but she also has that tiny dose of humanity which makes her a bit more likeable. Every other character, however, are completely 2-dimensional, which is to be expected since Canaan is largely a story-driven show (except that the story isn't very good). Secondly, Canaan also did an unexpectedly good job portraying Shanghai. I've been to Shanghai a few times and let me tell you, the run-down districts look almost identical to how Canaan portrayed it. The interiors of the trains and taxis looks very much like their real-life counterparts. So I applaud their attention to detail.

An actual Chinese market looks almost exactly like this. Minus the tits.

Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken (or Danna ga Nani for short, although to be serious I have no idea what its abbreviation is) is one of the more interesting shows I've watched in a while. Well, it's not really a show because it, for the most part, doesn't have a continuous storyline. Every episode is like a comedy sketch that lasts a few minutes long. It's about the life of a good-for-nothing otaku husband with an office-lady wife, and the stuff that happens in their daily lives. The husband doesn't like to work so he stays home all day, while the wife is in a dead-end office job and gets drunk on a regular basis. What's surprising, I guess, is that they somehow made a comedy out of this.

Shows that talk about otaku typically fall into two categories. You have the Lucky Star/Oreimo category that makes comedy out of it (and is typically filled with references to the culture itself) or you have shows that looks at its 'dark side' via satire (NHK and Genshiken instantly comes to mind). Danna ga Nani starts out sort of between the two categories. After a few episodes, however, the tone changes, and it turns into more of a sketch about what you'd actually expect in the daily lives of a young couple. It's mundane, it's somewhat repetitive, and it can be pretty cute at times.

I suppose that if otaku do get married, they'd most likely stop thinking about their waifu and worry about raising kids very, very quickly. The last anime I watched that was solely about post-marriage life is Otono Joshi no Anime Time, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Japan really needs make more shows like these. Which is unfortunate, because the minds of the anime fanbase, by and large, are stuck in high school. Not many people will enjoy an anime about divorce when most fans are either single, or spend their Christmas taking a picture of their favourite anime girl looking at a cake in front of the monitor.

I've been revisiting some of the old shows I've watched. A few days before I watched an episode of Aria the Natural, and it touched my heartstrings in the same way it did three years ago. I'm also trying to finish off Tamako Market, but really, I don't think any KyoAni shows post-Nichijou is worth watching. The only show I'm watching that I found interesting is Gunslinger Girl. I'm only three episodes in and I already think it might be one of the best shows I'm ever going to watch. Somehow they managed to combine little girls with blood and gore and ended up with something that's actually tasteful, unlike Elfen Lied (which honestly was terrible). It also has an amazing soundtrack. I can't wait to watch all of it when I have time.

It seems that 2015 has quietly arrived while I'm typing this up. So yea, happy New Years everyone.