April 09, 2006

Anime

High Fructose Corn Syrup Sugar

Just finished watching this one too. (And I found time to unpack some more stuff, do the laundry, and go grocery shopping. Gotta love long weekends.)

I was absolutely entranced when I first saw the opening credits to this show, more than three years ago. Even on a crappy RealPlayer video clip the kawaii genius of the creators came through. But then, though I bought all the DVDs, I foundered on the early episodes. The first episode is wonderful, but then it gets silly for a while. If I'd kept watching just a little longer I would have gotten to the good bit - the last 80% of the show - but, well, too much anime, too little time.

There's not a lot I like in the present anime season (Karin being the prime exception) so I've finally been catching up. And no doubt about it, Sugar is a gem. Highly recommended.

Chizumatic review here.

Some spoilers follow. Steven has a too many words (spoilers!) for this one as well, and unlike Bottle Fairies where we agree to disagree, with Sugar I think he's spot on. I'm not sure about Sugar's mother and Ingrid; it's plausible, but too neat for me. But I wonder how long season fairies live - what if it were not Ingrid but Regina who had the prior experience?

In the earlier post I flippantly suggested that Sugar had a natural SEP field. That actually becomes more plausible the further you get into the show. For the Saga of episode one, there is no such thing as "someone else's problem", because she is avoiding confronting her personal problems by taking up everyone else's. In the end, she resolves her own problems, and ends up not being able to see fairies any more. Steven says he would have preferred it if she had kept the ability, but I think that this was both right and necessary.

It touches on a common theme in fairy tales - losing the magic of your childhood is part of growing up. And Saga really has grown up, and that separation and the way she handles it is the last step in dealing with her own problems. (And also reflects on Sugar's send-off of Pepper and Salt; Sugar also grew a lot during the series.)

Which makes it no less heart-wrenching.

The Summer Special softens the blow by just the right amount, I think. If Saga could still see Sugar, that would have weakened the original ending, but knowing that Sugar is out there even if they can no longer see each other strikes a balance. Saga needed to lose Sugar to complete her healing process, painful though it was, but she is not to be denied all comfort.

This is the best example of a special episode I have seen. (The worst, without a doubt, is the third Fushigi Yuugi OVA, which retroactively destroys everything that came before. Eyuch.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 11:30 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

1 I dunno; I haven't seen the one you're talking about, but I have a hard time believing that it could be as completely off-mood as Elfen Lied's extra episode.
Oy. You go from a dark, horror-filled series to a light sit-com? Oy. What the hell were they THINKING?

Posted by: Wonderduck at April 10, 2006 03:17 AM (7+BNY)

2 The early episodes are all necessary to the long term plot, but when you're watching episodes 2-5, they do seem somewhat pointless. Once you get to episode 6, however, then it really starts to get into gear, and they hook you for the rest of the show.
Yes, it's really a gem of a show, and that's why I've been pushing it all this time. It isn't just an incipient diabetes attack waiting to happen.
As to the summer special, unquestionably it's very well done. Lots of good stuff in there, but by far the best scene is Pepper playing the evil witch. She is spectacularly miscast in that role, and the seiyuu handles it beautifully. (That must have been a fun recording session.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 10, 2006 04:47 AM (+rSRq)

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