Magical Pun Appreciation – Otaku Digest
Welcome to the latest instalment of Otaku Digest. The spring season is approaching in the coming weeks with even more new anime titles for us to sink our teeth into. It raised a question here on Otaku Digest of is there too much anime coming out each season saturating the market? Too much to keep up with? For us here on Otaku Digest we always find ourselves playing an epic game of catch up each season meaning we tend to only focus on one or two titles but what do you guys think? Are we overloaded or do we need more?
For now however we are delving deep back into some anime shorts from the winter season with this week’s selection being Mahou Shoujo Nante Mouiidesukara and Oshiete! Gyaruko-chan.
Mahou Shoujo Nante Mouiidesukara
First up this week is Mahou Shoujo Nante Mouiidesukara or I’ve Had Enough of Being a Magical Girl a comedy and magical girl anime adapted from a manga of the same name which began airing on January 12. This anime introduces us to Yuzuka Hanami, a young women who does not have many friends but can do anything that she sets her mind to. She leads her life her way until one day she is hounded by an odd little creature called Milton who she happens across as he is digging through a trash can. He expressed to Yuzuka that she has the potential to be a magical girl but there is an air of suspicion around his intent. In that sudden moment Yuzuka finds herself transformed into a magical girl but there is one teeny tiny issue, her so-called magical outfit is a bathing suit.
It is no secret that I am a massive fan of magical girl anime and you could go as far as saying they are my favourite genre of anime as a whole. I have particularly enjoyed the progression we have seen in the genre over the past couple of years where the usual cliché and cutesy tropes have been left behind and replaced with much darker and deeper narratives and visuals. This anime however seems to have just taken on the usual tropes that are well-known to the genre with the cutesy but slightly on the clumsy side of life female protagonist who is a try hard and popular but not a stand out, the usual furry in this case flying furry companion, the usual transformation scene and lastly the careful teeter on the line of what is well used fan service and sleazy fan service. Where anime like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors and Madoka Magica shone was that they made each element of the anime interesting but with this anime everything comes off as generic and in particular with the focus it seems to have on the fact Yuzuka’s magical girl outfit is a bathing suit makes it stand out as an anime that will focus more on the fan service than building any sort of story.
Will I Continue to Watch: Sadly no, this a magical journey I will not take
Oshiete! Gyaruko-chan
Next this week we have Oshiete! Gyaruko-chan or Please Tell Me! Galko Chan that originally aired on January 8 and is a school, comedy and slice of life anime that was adapted from a manga of the same name. The anime takes on the story from the manga following the lives of three normal high school girls who also happen to be the best of friends. Otako although a complete loner and sits alone is still friends with Galko who is good-natured but foul-mouthed girl who is very popular in the class with a hobby of film appreciation. Lastly there is Ojou, the cliché airhead who is connected and speaks frequently with Galko and Otako.
Catch those puns there? Each of the girls names ties to their stereotypes. Galko is a play on gyaru or gal a term used to describe the street fashion of girls in their teens and twenties who wear highly decorated nails, a lot of makeup and bleach their hair. Ojou’s name refers to a daughter of a well to do family and lastly Otako is a pun on the everyday otaku.
I am deep down seething in the fact that this is a slice of life anime and we all know my aversion to that anime genre as a whole but thankfully there have been quite a few titles that have begun to change my opinion on the genre as a whole, yet I still sigh in disappointment when the genre pops up for me here on Otaku Digest. This anime was entirely random in every aspect, although a generic story about a group of friends mainly focusing on the blonde large chested and loud member of the group. The episode itself has no real storyline bar following the day-to-day class lives of the three girls it does pose questions to the viewers usually of a personal nature to the viewer which are then answered even if oddly or incorrectly by the girls or by ransom onlookers from the classroom they are in. There actual funny moments in this episode in particular in the interactions between the three girls as we see them bounce off each other although the three are from completely different stereotypes. However there is nothing to really stay with in this anime as there is no real narrative but it is a nice anime to maybe have on in the background because going by that first episode you do not need to keep up with to enjoy.
Will I Continue to Watch: No, although cute and funny enough there is nothing to stick with
