The big anime of the moment, the most-discussed, most-watched, most polarising anime amongst the up-to-date fansub community, and reportedly in Japan too, is undoubtedly Lucky Star. It has many vociferous fans, and many vocal detractors too – threads frequently pop up in Azuma Kiyohiko image boards, usually full of people annoyed at far-fetched comparisons between Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star. But at the same time, under the radar, an anime far more similar to Lucky Star, and in many ways rather better, has been broadcasting, and that anime is called Manabi Straight.
Both shows revolve around high school girls with typical anime stock personalities, and the comedy derived from their interactions. The five girls in Manabi Straight are the usual suspects – the timid and childlike one, the athletic and brash tomboy, the sophisticated but rather taciturn one, the ditzy one and the forceful yet simple-minded leader. As with Lucky Star, these girls are supposed to be in their mid-to-late teens, yet look like they’re nine or ten, here with the slightly round-faced look of Petopeto-san, and cute cat-like smiles reminiscent of the :3 smiley. While Lucky Star focuses on being clever, with its incessant in-jokes and long scenes about nothing in particular, Manabi Straight is more conventional, with characters being adorably sweet to one another and a heartwarming story arc about putting on a school festival despite hardships and a lack of interest. Indeed, if there’s a fault to Manabi Straight, it’s that most anime fans have seen this all before, and beyond the very much peripheral gimmick of a near-future setting, the show does not offer much that’s new, and thus relies entirely on its characters.
And yes, the characters are likeable. Ironically, given that the crux of the matter is that Lucky Star has been given far better marketing and relies on the reputation of Kyoto Animation, while UFO Table may get some mid-sized hits but haven’t had a string of productions head-and-shoulders ahead of their competition, I took an initial dislike to Manabi, our protagonist, because she struck me as too similar to Suzumiya Haruhi (Kyoto’s flagship character). I never liked Haruhi, the smug, selfish, bratty, insensitive bully, which made me cautious of Manabi, but after the first episode, she became a calmer, more likeable character, caring of others and willing to work hard to realise her idealistic aims. On the other hand, her spontaneously being able to give a professional-standard vocal performance at a school festival, where the animation standard went up a few notches, was too derivative of Haruhi for my liking.
There wasn’t much to Manabi Straight, and its humour was a little too soft and gentle for it to work as a comedy. Lucky Star probably brings more fresh ideas with it, but in taking risks, it ends up falling flat a lot more. Manabi Straight may not introduce any stunning new concepts, or make its stamp on the moé subgenre, but it does what it sets out to do, introducing well-conceived and likeable characters and telling a satisfying, small-scale story. And that’s why I think overall, it was a better show.
(Originally written 02.08.07)
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