13 Aug 2006
Posted by Martin [Tags: Welcome to the NHK!]
Not much in the way of the story progression that I was hoping for this time around, although there's a great cliffhanger at the end that should liven things up next time. Anyway, episode 4...
I'll admit straight out that the animation sucked. I'm no graphical artist (hence why I write stuff) but it didn't even look like the product of the same studio...or the same decade. Things like the furniture and backgrounds were as good as always but the character designs?! I've seen more consistent and well-proportioned animation in
Robotech, which uses footage from the 1980s! Dreadful, absolutely dreadful.
That aside, this was an amusing and educational glimpse into otaku culture with a visit to a maid cafe and the local shopping district in which Yamazaki coerces Satou into leaving both of their respective flats and do some research for the dating sim they're working on. Satou's lack of knowledge is clear so Yamazaki tries to give him some inspiration...with outrageously comical results.
Any anime fan who says they wouldn't feel even a passing interest in the places shown here is lying. Wall-to-wall shelves piled high with comics, DVDs, book and figurines...it was almost enough to detract from the woeful artwork! What it conveyed most effectively was the dizzying array of stereotypes, archetypes and all other types of otaku cliches. One more episode of this and the joke will get stale but it filled the time nicely - Yamazaki's over-the-top behaviour and the ever-great soundtrack keeping the scenes rolling along.
Apart from the surprise in the closing seconds Satou's experiences are straining his already tenuous grip on reality, which is the most interesting thing that happens in this episode. Not the most impressive by a long shot but it promises much with the arrival of episode #5.
[Filed under Anime Reviews] [Tags: Welcome to the NHK!]
Follow comments with this post's RSS 2.0 feed, leave a comment or trackback from your own site
Leave a Reply