Just finished watching Saikano. . .
Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2003 11:30 pm
It's a story about two people. . . and that's all one can really treat it as. To try and understand the bigger picture, the events happening around them, is extremely difficult and perhaps even impossible. The reason for this is simply that, even in the end, the question "Why?" is never answered. Thus, as the story of Chise and Shuuji, I found Saikano very satisfying, a great anime to watch. As for the rest, it felt totally incomplete, and perhaps that is one of the main reasons why opinions are so mixed regarding the series.
In a way and ignoring the plot, Saikano can be directly compared to Evangellion. Both are really stories about the characters and not really about the events around them. The events provide a backdrop and situations to place the characters in, but those events are not the sole purpose of the story. I find that Evangellion fails, though, since it attempts to answer the question of "why?" and consequently neglects the characters. Looking to the end of "End of Evangellion" and treating it as the finale to the series, I find characters left behind and even pushed back in their development. The events took precedence and perhaps that was the purpose of that movie. For Evangellion to succeed as a character centric story, one must stop at the end of Episode 26 and go no further. Even then, one is left disappointed since the answer to the question "why?" is only left partially answered. With Saikano, the question is never answered and the focus on the characters constantly maintained. For this reason, as a character centric series, Saikano is wonderful. . .
Now that I'm done watching it, though. . . it's time to watch something lighter and uplifting.
In a way and ignoring the plot, Saikano can be directly compared to Evangellion. Both are really stories about the characters and not really about the events around them. The events provide a backdrop and situations to place the characters in, but those events are not the sole purpose of the story. I find that Evangellion fails, though, since it attempts to answer the question of "why?" and consequently neglects the characters. Looking to the end of "End of Evangellion" and treating it as the finale to the series, I find characters left behind and even pushed back in their development. The events took precedence and perhaps that was the purpose of that movie. For Evangellion to succeed as a character centric story, one must stop at the end of Episode 26 and go no further. Even then, one is left disappointed since the answer to the question "why?" is only left partially answered. With Saikano, the question is never answered and the focus on the characters constantly maintained. For this reason, as a character centric series, Saikano is wonderful. . .
Now that I'm done watching it, though. . . it's time to watch something lighter and uplifting.
