ドッグデイズダッシュ/ Dog Days’/Dog Days Dash

Last year’s Dog Days was a funny, pretty little series that, perhaps because it followed Madoka so closely, everyone expected to take a darker turn. This didn’t happen, despite hints at darker elements, so that in the end it felt almost incongruous, how simple a moé series it was. A cute boy went to a cute kemonomimi world where there was no danger of dying in battle, became the hero of the country and won the hearts of all the girls, then had to go home amidst tears and promises of a swift return.

Well, that return came here. But while at the end of the first season I was surprised by the lightness of the tone throughout, here I ended up more disappointed. Rather than explore any of the hints from the original series about areas where the spell preventing death in battle doesn’t hold, or the origins of the world, Dog Days Dash is determined to have very little happen in a very cute way. It is inconsequential, superficial and adorable. But I wanted more.

Shinku returns to the world of Biscotti and Pastilage to again act as the hero of the dog-eared cuties against the cat-eared cuteys. But this time, he’s brought the girl who used to beat him in the Sasuke-esque challenges to serve as hero for the cats. And his best friend – a girl named Becky – is along for the ride. Of course, a third country – squirrels – gets involved and have Becky as their own underdog hero. And so the games resume.

That’s about it, really. They end up doing a variety of the usual things that fill moé series – bathe together, have awkward romantic moments where they fall on each other and accidentally kiss, magically swap bodies and go to visit each other for tea. About the most interesting thing they do is free an ancient evil – who of course turns out to be pretty harmless, does perverted things and then along with the ancient good who counters him, becomes something of a mentor.

The cast becomes rather too large – there are a lot of random knights and guardians who barely get any screentime, or who become interchangeable – and with only thirteen episodes some characters get rather more attention than they really ought to. The worst part, I thought, was the way poor Éclair was treated, especially since while Shinku would be cute in a couple with just about any of the girls interested in him, she was my favourite – she gets about the most dramatic relationship moment in the series, a bit of the fall-out from it, but then it never really gets fully addressed and she doesn’t even get a goodbye scene in the final episode of the series.

I get the feeling Dog Days is a hit in Japan. It got a second season, after all! But there was a real chance to be ambitious here, only for the fanservice option seemingly to be more appealing. I can only hope Dog Days gets a third chance, and this time takes a few risks instead of treading water. If not, though…well, I have to say I’ll keep watching, enjoying and feeling the brainless pleasure that comes from looking at irresistibly cute character designs in cute contexts.

And perhaps if there’s a third season, I’ll see more of London. I have to admit, I got a kick out of seeing Soho Square. 

魔法少女リリカルなのは/ Mahou Shoujo Ririkaru Nanoha /Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (season 1)

Nanoha is in several ways an archetypal series now. It’s become the prime example of a strange subgenre of anime – shows about an extremely cute little girl given amazing powers that take her on magical adventures…but made for an audience of lonely young men. These little girls are sexualised, given combat powers that tend to centre on large explosions, energy beams and exaggerated weapons. They are usually diffident and submissive despite their powers, and blush a lot in an ideal of innocence. They tend to have to suffer as the plot becomes darker in a way that inspires protective instincts, and win through on the strength of their good hearts and belief in what is right. And many, many figurines and posters are made for collectors who like to surround themselves with moé.

Of course, magical girl anime are far older than Nanoha’s 2004, and much of this was prefigured: Cardcaptor Sakura had much of the same appeal to male audiences, Princess Tutu was experimentally dark and multilayered and the likes of Sailor Moon and Cutie Honey had both sizable male fanbases and darker moments. Even mahou shoujo anime I see as very much aimed towards young girls like Ojamajo Doremi are widely watched by male anime otaku and have merchandise that caters for them. But the combination of all the elements, not to mention the casual nudity of transformation sequences featuring under-10s and the portrayal of the main character as hapless and in need of protection despite her strength have proven extremely influential: in the wake of Nanoha have come numerous lesser imitations (ie Saint October), comedic parodies (ie Moetan) and one rather clever knowing refiguring of the concept (Madoka).

I started watching Nanoha many years ago, stopped for a while, then was pleased I did because the rest was screened by my university anime club. I thought I’d leave impressions until after I was finished with A’s and StrikerS, the sequel series, but now after rewatching some and in the wake of Madoka, I want to do each on its own.

The story is one so familiar now it seems almost a joke. Nanoha, who first appeared in Triangle Hearts as one of the characters’ little sister, is given magical powers in order to help a little cutesy rodent collect 21 MacGuffins, here ‘jewel seeds’. The series’ tension is derived from a girl her age and with similar powers but with a much darker past and outlook, Fate Testarossa, also vying for the shards, collecting them for her abusive mother.

The setup is simple and most of the plot is given over to Nanoha fighting with Fate and then wondering why, slowly trying to win her over with her kind and gentle heart. Of course, though, both girls have powerful factions behind them, and they both must come to a head by the end.

Nanoha has very little special about it. It’s not sophisticated or visually very impressive. What it is, though, is cute. Very cute. Cute characters, cute situations, cute set-up, cute sidekicks – even cute boys to go with the cute girls. And strange as it is, there’s no denying cute kids struggling to fight to save everything they know is…well, moé.

ドッグデイズ/ Dog Days

Dog Days, which just ended at 13 episodes, seemed oddly out-of-place in a 2011 season. Perhaps it’s just the lingering shadow of Madoka, or the fact that this was animated by Seven Arcs, who tried so very hard to make Nanoha darker than it looked, but I spent the whole thing expecting the cutesy series to take a dark, depressing turn.

It’s no bad thing that it did not. The story is not dissimilar to that of MÄR: a Japanese schoolboy is mysteriously transported to another world, where he finds himself a warrior hero and pretty popular with the ladies – while at the same time looking for a way back home again. Unlike Ginta, the protagonist here (シンク, variously transliterated by fansub groups as ‘Shinku’, ‘Cinque’ or even ‘Sink’) is a gifted athlete on Earth, too, and the world he finds himself in is not threatened by a malevolent overlord. In fact, two things define it: firstly, there are two nations at war, one of which has mostly feline characteristics while the other seems more canine – the latter having summoned Shinku and presumably given the anime its title – and secondly, a form of magic is in place which allows those who fall in battle to simply turn into a cutesy ball-with-a-face rather than dying. So with little real risk, warfare has evolved into what is essentially a huge gameshow.

The series hints at directions the plot might take, but none of them end up taking a darker turn. The areas outside the reach of magic are not explored – perhaps in a second season? The queen on the opposing side sees a dark prophecy, and tension comes from her acting on the premonition without explaining her actions, but nothing comes of it and a dramatic battle with a third party soon comes along to make the tearful apologies at the end flow more easily. Ultimately the last episodes revolve around the angst of saying goodbye, but it is all clearly a set-up for big smiles and an impression of ‘to be continued’.

But if Dog Days stays very superficial, it certainly suits it. Dog Days is the cutest action-adventure I’ve seen since…hmm, I don’t know, Mai-Otome? Its character design looks like characters from Haruhi Suzumiya redrawn by the mangaka of Bamboo Blade, and every character is adorable, from boyish, sensitive Shinku, who in that great tradition of half-Japanese, half-European anime characters is so blonde and blue-eyed Hitler would cringe, to the female captain of the guard who is voiced by the seiyuu who was Azusa in K-On and embodies the ‘tsundere’ concept better and more likeably than any other character I can think of. Then there is the sweet childlike princess Miruhi, who goes into adoring disciple mode when around the opposing army’s princess Leo, the bookish head researcher Rikotta, always trying her best, and the sweetly bratty cat-prince Gaul. Everything here comes from an already somewhat tired moé moé tradition, but is done with affection and sincerity, and works.

There’s not much to this show. It doesn’t even seem very well-conceived, starting off with an idea of warfare through athletics that is soon dropped, telling us things like Shinku is from Cornwall that never really gain relevance and hopping between mini-arcs in a desperate plea to keep the audience’s attention. But while it could perhaps have made a much greater impact, as a piece of fluff it was always fun to watch and enjoyable, and in 2011’s more cynical seasons, refreshing too.

Season two: here