One of the shows that I’ve started following recently is the new anime adaptation of the famous Victor Hugo novel Les Miserables, namely Shoujo Cosette.
First of all, I need to thank Ureshii, Yoroshiku and Delicious Fansubs for picking this title up for subbing. It’s very rare that shows like this are subbed and I applaud these groups for going against the norm.
The show is animated by one of my all time favourite anime studios, Nippon Animation and is promoted as the continuation of their once famous (now defunct) project “The World Masterpiece Theatre” (WMT). When it was still running, this project managed to place Nippon Animation as one of the key players in the anime arena but after it was abruptly halted in 1997, the company basically went into slumber mode and the shows it worked on since then lacked the lustre and beauty of the WMT shows. I wouldn’t exaggerate if I said that the WMT shows managed to expand anime fandom across the world (and I mean the WORLD, not just the US and Canada!) long before shows like Ranma ½, Cowboy Bebop or Neon Genesis Evangelion did. Let’s hope that this new show will be the first in many to come.
I would imagine that most of you have either read the novel, watched a movie or TV series based on the novel or at least have some general idea about what the story is about so the story shouldn’t be new to most of you. Despite being old, the story is still one of the most loved and most powerful pieces of modern literature. The topics tackled in the novel like poverty, child abuse, unemployment, corruption, government reform and the role of religion in life are topics that featured prominently in many other pieces of European literature but it was presented in a more powerful manner here because it used the tragic lives of a young girl and an old politician as a literary tool for spreading it messages. While it was indeed a critique of the French society at the time, it can equally be viewed as a critique of many of our societies today and that explains its worldwide appeal.
I have only watched the first two episodes so it is two early to judge this show but I can always comment on what I have seen so far.
The animation quality seems high enough and has remained consistent so far (and I hope it remains that way). While the character designs are quite simplistic and on the shoujo side of the anime spectrum, they are not really bad or ugly and can easily be tolerated. I still miss the realistic character designs used for older WMT shows like Little Princess Sarah and Little Women.
While the opening is a nice calm piece, the ending theme is the true music highlight of the show. I had tears in my eyes when I first heard it because it reminded me of the emotional music of older WMT shows. It has a beautiful melody and the subject of the song makes it even more beautiful and fitting for this show.
I haven’t heard any annoying voices so far and all the character voices seem to fit the characters perfectly. A lot of blogs seem to indicate that the focus of the story in this show will be Cosette but that is yet to be seen as this story cannot function properly without giving equal emphasis on both Cossette and Jean Val Jean.
The show is slated for 52 episodes (just like early WMT shows) so it should have ample time to cover all the main points in the story and give a lot of emphasis on character development. I was disappointed by one aspect of episode 2 though. In that episode, we get a brief retelling of Jean Val Jean’s past which doesn’t really emphasise or detail how he was changed from being a thief to a popular politician. Let’s just hope that this was just a flashback scene and was not intended as the real retelling of his past and let’s hope they will set al least a full episode for his past later on.
All I can say in conclusion is Welcome to the WMT.
First of all, I need to thank Ureshii, Yoroshiku and Delicious Fansubs for picking this title up for subbing. It’s very rare that shows like this are subbed and I applaud these groups for going against the norm.
The show is animated by one of my all time favourite anime studios, Nippon Animation and is promoted as the continuation of their once famous (now defunct) project “The World Masterpiece Theatre” (WMT). When it was still running, this project managed to place Nippon Animation as one of the key players in the anime arena but after it was abruptly halted in 1997, the company basically went into slumber mode and the shows it worked on since then lacked the lustre and beauty of the WMT shows. I wouldn’t exaggerate if I said that the WMT shows managed to expand anime fandom across the world (and I mean the WORLD, not just the US and Canada!) long before shows like Ranma ½, Cowboy Bebop or Neon Genesis Evangelion did. Let’s hope that this new show will be the first in many to come.
I would imagine that most of you have either read the novel, watched a movie or TV series based on the novel or at least have some general idea about what the story is about so the story shouldn’t be new to most of you. Despite being old, the story is still one of the most loved and most powerful pieces of modern literature. The topics tackled in the novel like poverty, child abuse, unemployment, corruption, government reform and the role of religion in life are topics that featured prominently in many other pieces of European literature but it was presented in a more powerful manner here because it used the tragic lives of a young girl and an old politician as a literary tool for spreading it messages. While it was indeed a critique of the French society at the time, it can equally be viewed as a critique of many of our societies today and that explains its worldwide appeal.
I have only watched the first two episodes so it is two early to judge this show but I can always comment on what I have seen so far.
The animation quality seems high enough and has remained consistent so far (and I hope it remains that way). While the character designs are quite simplistic and on the shoujo side of the anime spectrum, they are not really bad or ugly and can easily be tolerated. I still miss the realistic character designs used for older WMT shows like Little Princess Sarah and Little Women.
While the opening is a nice calm piece, the ending theme is the true music highlight of the show. I had tears in my eyes when I first heard it because it reminded me of the emotional music of older WMT shows. It has a beautiful melody and the subject of the song makes it even more beautiful and fitting for this show.
I haven’t heard any annoying voices so far and all the character voices seem to fit the characters perfectly. A lot of blogs seem to indicate that the focus of the story in this show will be Cosette but that is yet to be seen as this story cannot function properly without giving equal emphasis on both Cossette and Jean Val Jean.
The show is slated for 52 episodes (just like early WMT shows) so it should have ample time to cover all the main points in the story and give a lot of emphasis on character development. I was disappointed by one aspect of episode 2 though. In that episode, we get a brief retelling of Jean Val Jean’s past which doesn’t really emphasise or detail how he was changed from being a thief to a popular politician. Let’s just hope that this was just a flashback scene and was not intended as the real retelling of his past and let’s hope they will set al least a full episode for his past later on.
All I can say in conclusion is Welcome to the WMT.
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