Now where do I start? I'm actually lost for words here. To say that the conclusion of Manabi Straight was good is an understatement. To say that the conclusion was great is an understatement. I guess I'll just have to express myself through the following paragraphs in the hope that my true impressions of this show will reach the readers in as clear a manner as possible. What follows may seem a bit disjointed but please bear with me.
Review Summary
The Bad: That shameless and unwarranted scene in episode 6.
The Good: Everything else!
Story
For a slice of life show, Manabi Straight actually has a story...and a solid one at that. Don't let the cute character designs fool you (but I'm not one to talk since I had low expectations of this show when I first started simply because of the character designs). The show actually gets very serious and touches on a lot of themes. Themes like school politics, the generation differences between young people and adults, the choice between education or earning money through work, loyalty and the sense of belonging to a group, career choice, personal insecurity and trusting others and most importantly...friendship (or solidarity as I like to call it).
These themes are generally covered in tandem and the drama content is quite high. From the first scene in the series to the last one, the directors show remarkable competency in executing the story.
I have talked about the politics of the show extensively before so I don't need to repeat myself. The only thing I want to say is that the politics is closely tied to the overarching concept of solidarity that I have mentioned above. In a way, the politics of this show has many parallels with an anime classic that is very dear to my heart;
Romeo's Blue Skies (RBS). In Manabi Straight you have a team of girls who are striving to serve and improve the life of their fellow students. In RBS you have a group of chimney cleaners in Milan who band together (the so called “Black Brothers”) in order to improve their lives and support each other (a form of trade union so to speak). In Manabi Straight you have confrontation between the Seioh student council and the Aikou establishment. In RBS you have confrontation between the Black Brothers and a group of ruthless nobles as well as with the child slave advocates. In Manabi Straight you have a charismatic leader who helped to bring the student council together. In RBS you also have a charismatic leader (Alfredo) who forms and leads the Black Brothers. In Manabi Staright, the girls ponder and finally decide their future careers. In RBS, the main characters also ponder and decide their future careers. It's remarkable how both shows are similar even though one of them takes place in 19th century Milan while the other takes place in the future Japan of 2035!
One must not forget the humour. The comedy in the show is a pleasant aspect that helps to balance the serious aspects of the show. I've laughed out loud many times while watching it and some of the best comedy scenes and punch lines in anime history can be found in Manabi Staright. Episode 7 in particular is very note worthy. Many of the comedy scenes are inspired by the
Manzai tradition (albeit without the
Kansai accent).
The fanservice is there but it is sparse overall and the level of it (with the exception of that scene in episode 6) is nowhere near the shameless sexual references that you see in other shows. The fanservice was never a goal for this show to begin with and the character designs don't help project a fanservicy image either. I'd say about 70% of the fanservice in the entire show is in episode 6.
Continuing the ufotable tradition of including cameos of their old shows in their recent ones, it seems the image above from episode 1 is a cameo of the androids May, April and Febraury from
Coyote Ragtime Show (a younger version of them at least). It's quite a subtle reference and I wonder if there are any other cameo appearances?
Then there is the conclusion. As I indicated in previous posts, my main fear for this show is how the directors will end the story. The previous record of
ufotable isn't exactly astounding in that field. The directors decided to silence me once and for all with the best conclusion of any ufotable anime ever. It's not that the conclusion is very good relative to other ufotable conclusions, it's just excellent compared to any story conclusion (anime or otherwise) you can think of. Simply speaking, the conclusion is just right.
It seems the strategy of using a group of directors to work on each episode of this show has paid off handsomely. Not only that but by adopting such a novel approach, Manabi staright joins the leaugue of innovative and successful experimental anime shows.
There is still an extra OAV episode that will be released with the last DVD volume on the 10th of October and it goes without saying that I'm looking forward to it. I really hope that the epsidoe will be of serious nature instead of being a fanservice episode but I wonder what more can be addeed to the story after the satisfying conclusion of episode 12. Who knows, we might even get a Momoha focused episode (^_^)
Art and Animation
The art is gorgeous...simple as that. That is something to be expected because ufotable shows never lacked when it comes to art and animation. The quality of the art only dropped a few times in scenes that involved a lot of people appearing in one screenshot but even those were barely noticeable. Screenshots of individual characters were well done and the background art was also of high calibre.
The art associated with modern devices like computers, scooters and notebooks is very classy and attractive. The trasparent monitors are especially noteworthy.
The school uniforms are unique enough and use the novelty of
tartan skirts which I don't think was used in any other school anime before. There is also the novelty of having their personal organisers attached to the sides of the uniform skirt in a reminder that the story takes place in 2035 and not 2007. Having said that, the world of 2035 as portrayed in Manabi Straight is not that different from our world with the exception of using some high tech gadgets in schools and at work.
The character designs are definitely cute and attractive (and chubby as some bloggers have put it). Even though the designs have a lot in common with each other, the animators have managed to create a unique design for each character even when you have scenes where a a large group of students is standing together (like in episode 11). The designs have the oddity of making the characters look younger than they actually are because of their short chubby stature but you get accustomed to them after a while (when you are engrossed in the story) and comparisons with the designs of adult characters removes the oddity because the adults are only slightly taller than the students which gives the right sense of proportionality.
The animation is no less attractive than the art and makes its mark felt in such scenes as the opening animation, the Manabi concert in episode 11, the water drop scene in episode 7, all the crazy action in episode 1 and the angel scene in episode 3. The water drop sequence in episode 7 alone deserves some sort of animation award. The ending sequence uses the ufotable trademark of clay animation which is a funny and interesting way of ending each episode.
By the way, I love how Manabi makes manga sketches of herself and her friends and uses them for student council documents every now and then (^_^)
One of the unique and very obvious aspects of the show is the use of low colour contrast for much of the indoor scenes. You would think that this would be an annoying aspect of the show especially if you compare it to the bright colours used in other shows but I never found this aspect annoying at all. On the contrary, it actually gave the show a unique flavour that would distinguish it from other shows. This is another example of the innovation and experimentation approach that was adopted by the producers.
Music
The music in the show is as appealing as the art. Whether it is the opening theme, ending theme or background music, all of it adds to the “feel good” atmosphere of the show. The clapping sound that is used every now and then (the one played during episode previews) as background music is a nice touch. My favourite piece is by far the opening song, A Happy Life, by
Megumi Hayashibara (who was a candidate for Manabi's voice role). That song is calm at the begining but the pace increases half way through and the lyrics are about the generation difference between young people and adults and the rebellious nature of the youth (one of the main themes of the show). The Seioh school anthem, which features prominently throughout the show, is also another favourite of mine (especially the concert version).
Characters and Voice Acting
1) Amamiya Manami “Manabi” (also known as Boss)
The charismatic leader of the group and the one who brought life back to the Student Council. Her energy, enthusiasm and “never give up” attitude have always been the driving force behind most of the events in the show. She has a heart of gold and that earned her the love and admiration of students and teachers alike which is a very important asset when leading a group.
2) Inamori Mika “Mikan” (also known as the Cat)
She was the glue that kept the whole group together. She kept performing the student council duties alone for some time before Manabi came in and that in part shows her dedication to her work and her diligence. She also managed to establish a good relation with all the members of the council (including Mei) and that has protected the council from falling prey to personal rivalries between members. She is too innocent for her own good and extremely sentimental (which is why she cries a lot) but that has proven beneficial in a way because it made the other members look after her thus forgetting their differences.
3) Etoh Mei (also known as the Chancellor)
My favourite character and the leader in the shadows so to speak. The true intellectual in the group. When things start sliding into disarray, you can always count on Mei to correct things and put them back to order. Her technical and managerial abilities were invaluable to the group. A character with a sad past, she finally found true solace and friendship after joining the council (thanks to Manabi). The scene where she is lying on the grass with Mikan near the end of episode 5 is a stark reminder of the famous scene in episode 17 of
Mahoraba where Tamami is also lying on the grass with Kozue and gazing at the sun. With retrospect, there are indeed many similarities between Tamami and Mei's pasts.
4) Uehara Mutsuki “Mutchi”
The grassroots populist character. Athletic and strong (personality wise and physically). She is always willing to give a helping hand to anyone in need. That attitude coupled with her tomboyish character has earned her considerable popularity amongst students. Her openness to others is demonstrated by the fact that she was Mikan's first friend when she enrolled in Seioh Acadmy and was Mei's only friend before Manabi joined the school.
5) Odori Momoha “Momo”
The public relations officer if you like. A very cheerful and weird girl who likes to wander off and do whatever she pleases. While not officially a member of the student council, she nonetheless shadowed the official members and provided support most of the time (as long as she is not playing around somewhere else (>_<). An amateur journalist at heart, her video recordings provide a real biography of all the major student council activities since Manabi took over (thereby making her the official council biographer). It may not seem obvious but she is actually a very rich girl. That however hasn't changed her friendly attitude towards her friends. She loves to tease Mei every now and then and a lot of the humour in the show is associated with her. (^_^)
6) Shimojima sensie
This great guy deserves special mention. He has always been on the student council side and supported them in every way possible (unlike the other teachers). He even donated his lunch money to the council at some point! Yet, for some reason, he was the object of the student council member's wrath whenever something goes wrong (a sort of scapegoat)!! Despite all this, he never gets mad and continues to support the council to the very end! Is this guy great or is he great?! If you ask me, a golden medal is the least they could offer him.
7) Seioh School Principal
She sympathised and supported Manabi's efforts from the shadows. She would often intervene in favour of the council members whenever they get into trouble. Her memories of being a student council member herself have given her a different perspective on student issues than other teachers in her school.
The voices for all the characters fit them perfectly. If I was to pick a favourite then I would say that
Yui Horie's role as Manabi and
Aya Hirano's role as Mei were the most memorable but honestly, all the voice actors and actresses involved in this show did very well indeed.
Manabi Straight Rankings
So, after all that has been said above, where does Manabi Straight stand in comparison to other shows.
Well, I don't know about you guys, but, as far as I'm concerned, this show is:
1) The best ufotable show ever.
2) The best show of the 2007 winter season.
3) A strong contender for the title of “Best Show of 2007”
4) One of the finest slice of life shows out there.
Utopia
So, in the end, was the school of Manabi a
utopia like the title suggests?
I don't think so. It was no different from your typical modern Japanese high school and very similar to school environments in many parts of the world. You're not meant to suffer or experience troubles in a utopia but that is exactly what happens in the show. I think the show was trying to say that you don't really need a utopia to live happily and you can always strive to improve your conditions and the conditions of people around you through sheer sweat and hard work which is what Manabi and her friends have come to realise. Another important issue here is the fact that nothing will ever change unless you decide to take action and change it yourself. Just sitting there, ignoring the problem and not caring will lead nowhere.
Well, if you have read this far then you have my thanks for your perseverance and my apology for the length of the post. I think I've said enough. I'll be looking forward to the DVDs once this show is licensed.
This is Mohammad, webmaster of Oyasuminasai Anime Blog, signing off. (^_^)
