Shounen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49 6/10

 

"Shounen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49" was a big surprise for me. A nice slice of life with a lot of J-Pop, 6/10.

I'm genuinely impressed with the show, it doesn't mind telling you straight out some of the negative aspects of show business (especially how Japan produces their Idols). They have some profound lines here and there... I'm not a big fan of J-Pop, so the music isn't really why I enjoyed watching this (and I'm sure with less of it I would have given it a higher score), there's also no yaoi even if you would assume that by having an all male cast!

We follow our characters in what they're doing in their everyday life, as well as their training to become Idols. Kakeru is a high-school student that was scouted, Ikuma the oldest member used to be a delinquent, Kira has always been in show business as a child actor, Shun wants to become a musician, Daiki is an orphan and fan of the original Shounen Hollywood group... so a colorful bunch that got together under 'Shachou' (former member of Shonen Hollywood) who manages the guys. We find out more about each one's backgrounds and dreams later on.

What I appreciate is, that you not only see those characters having the time of their lives and saying things like 'This is great, I'll fulfill my dream of becoming an Idol... blah blah' sunshine and rainbows. No. They actually say things like 'I don't want to do this' or 'this is ridiculous and embarrassing'. They are holding a mirror on male Idols and what they have to go through. This show is more realistic and less melodramatic than other anime in the same genre, and partly responsible for that is the experienced manager, who tells Kakeru how it's going to be for him in the future. His friends won't be his friends anymore once he's famous, they'll probably sell private story's about him (whether they are true or not), the media is merciless and you won't make it with just talent or just hard work, and getting a fan base takes time. The manager already went through that, so he knows show business is never a save career.

All those uncomfortable subjects are processed and I think 'Shounen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49' is refreshingly different. So even if you don't like J-pop like me, this show has a lot more to offer than just hot guys and music. The members want to accomplish something out of the ordinary (maybe you have dreamed of performing on a big stage one day too), they're still young and inexperienced and many times lose hope and want to quit. The character development is well done, and so are the dialogs, and the pace of the anime is relatively slow, which I always prefer in slice of life.

Now what I don't like so much is the animation, compared to other anime it's really nothing special. The band's performances weren't spectacular, sometimes it was rather cringe worthy. And some moments were simply dull. But I was always waiting for the next episode because I wanted to know if they will become successful idols, and if in the end that was what the boys really wanted. The journey of them becoming the next big thing looks pretty exiting.

Tenkuu no Escaflowne aka Vision of Escaflowne 4/10

 

A while ago I remembered an anime I used to watch when I was a kid (9 or 10 years old), "Vision of Escaflowne". My memory of it was hazy to say the least. What I did remember were those characters with the long noses, the pretty guy with long blond hair, and a very memorable soundtrack (the German OP was great). So I had a strong urge to re-watch it, and I did, the unfortunate result was, my memories of this fairy-tale like anime were shattered.

Escaflowne starts promising (girl travels through worlds, meets knights and royalty, can use magic, some interesting adventures) but the more episodes you watch the more plot holes appear. Things often made no sense, or they simply ignored important details, added or just changed rules for convenience (to get out of a tricky situation, for example).

Don't even get me started on the lazy, repetitive dialogs, or how many times a character yells out another one's name to make things 'dramatic'.
Most characters were irritating, mainly because they were walking stereotypes. The antagonist role wasn't really explored, his past, his plans, his purpose (except he wants to destroy the world as we know it and mess with faith), just what was going on in his head? The Van's brother suddenly became a good guy and all was forgiven (this could have worked out better if they didn't rush his development, it only took one episode for him to do a 360).

Many elements just got smashed together here; fortune-telling, robots and all kinds of machines (whose origin never was explained), luck enhanced soldiers that defied logic (lack of logic in general), magicians, atlantis, faith everywhere, shoujo romance, and the climax - utter disappointment.

Let's talk about the romance. Three (or more) failed love-triangles, which had ineffective build-ups and were executed poorly (I just didn't care anymore at one point, it was too much). The main characters never even showed they really liked each other until we were reaching the end, which was a mistake if that couple was supposed to be the main selling point of this anime, it wasn't believable and I couldn't root for them. And then once Hitomi realizes who she loves (and it was all faith), she leaves his world forever because...? They don't explain that part either, so much for true romance.

Art? Well it's an anime from 1996, so I can't complain, it's actually a pretty good production. The world the director created looks beautiful, that's the one thing my memory hadn't failed me at. As well as the epic soundtrack, it might be the best thing about Escaflowne (later found out it was done by Yoko Kanno) - but nothing can save an anime that has so many inconsequent story lines such as this one, and it's sad because it had potential.