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Synopsis

After a kendo practice where he suffers a humiliating defeat, Matsutani Shu finds himself at a favorite getaway, the top of a tall smokestack above a crumbling factory. There, he meets a quiet and withdrawn girl of the blue-haired variety (you see where this is going). Before he can manage to coax from her more than her name, Lala-ru, a cadre of mecha appears out of thin air bent on kidnapping her. Shu’s chivalrous nature leads him into a battle for Lala-ru…and into another world where losing is more than a momentary pain and the only victory is survival.

Impressions

Everyone had hyped this series to me for a long time before I finally sat down for a viewing. In spite of my efforts to the contrary, my expections grew until the series had no hope of satisfying them. Alas.

The first thing of note about this series is the character art. It’s crap. No sir; I don’t like it. It isn’t that the designs are simple or a bit cartoonish. I have no problem with that. I do have a beef with the general low-brow Dragonball hairstyles and eyes, though. Not my cup of tea, not my Dewar’s & soda.

The animation itself is adequate at best, far from spectacular. Some episodes do have an overabundance of still shots that begin to distract from the action. The general art style follows the simple character designs, so there’s not a lot of beauty to be had there either. Even so, the series is not built on its animation.

Story wise, everything is cool and froody. The simple character art belies the complexity of personalities. And even if there is the obligatory quiet and mysterious blue-haired chick who is the key to world/universe/afterlife domination, the cast is interesting and their trials are real. Lest anyone suppose NTHT is going to be a lighthearted romp, an early episode showcases the sort of animal cruelty that would make PETA declare war on Japan. If cat murder doesn’t shake the Dragonball vibe, the upcoming torture and rape should clear things up.

Strangely, the show isn’t nearly as heavy as I had been led to expect. While everything certainly doesn’t end up wine-and-roses, the ending is abrupt and a bit disingenuously sunny. After several hours worth of trials and suffering, the simple wrap-up leaves one saying, “yeah, but what of it?”

Dwelling on these negatives is just my way of avoiding the fact that NTHT is, in fact, a very engrossing 13 episodes, one of the best short series out there. Don’t mind me.

- 2004-07-30 18:43 -