Scum’s Wish #01 — Angst Porn

January 12th, 2017

With only a slight more emphasis on the porn part than usual.

Impressions:

Since this is a particularly melodramatic noitaminA show with angsty teenagers being especially insecure sacks of garbage built right in, I'm half tempted to give it the "hell no" treatment too, but I would hate to give off the impression that it was something as drab as those things that are its greatest sins. Obviously it's not the near-sex either. I'm pretty sure that's one of its selling points. Look how edgy we are. Teenagers having sex. Have you ever heard of anything so wild? Someone better get on the horn with the authorities and stop them before Japan society crumbles from the collective gasps of ten thousand PTA members. And only adult shows have teenagers having sex. Remember how adult Cross Ange and Valvrave were?

No, it's the nonstop exposition that does it. There is no emotion in exposition. There is no life in narration. And that's what dominates the entire thing; a never-ceasing monotonous announcement of her current feelings and explanation of the current situation. The entire show would be 5,000 times better served if every internal monologue was gone. No announcement of being able to tell they were shared the same pain from one glance in his eyes. No explanation of "that frustrates me" while making a face and growling. Nothing. And it could fall back on the excuse of artsy and atmospheric too. No amount of sad pianos, washed-out paletes, or shots of rain is going to cover up the 20 minute train of thought narrating every single goddamned thing, nor give it any actual emotional weight. It only has the vague affectations of emotion. And especially not the weird cut-ins or times when it decides that it wants to be a cutesy romance instead and starts making silly faces. It's hard to even really say it's fulfilling the 'drama' part of 'melodrama.' It moves too slowly for that for one, and spends the first half of the episode repeating itself, then flashing back so it can then re-establish what it just established.

Posted in Anime | 5 Comments »

5 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • PP2 says:

    I usually hate these teacher romance things and while I still hate that here too, the show was pretty alright. The directing and the music were really good. It’s too bad the teachers are just these really bad cardboard cutouts, a glance at the male teacher and you can tell he’s as dense as a harem lead and it’s just frustrating thinking about how he’ll show up again for the sole purpose of being dense.

  • The Phantom says:

    I knew that a girl has to have written this horseshit, there is no way a male can write a female lead like that. Could she be less of a bag of insecure crap?, she was already tiresome by the 5 minute mark.

    I started fast forwarding just to see more saaaaaad faces and she almost having sex with somebody that was also saaaaaad because on unrequited love, so I guess the story will be these two getting together with extreme melodrama and sad faces galore, definitely one of my most hated shows of the season.

    • Opulent Rag says:

      Compared to how most men write female characters in anime, even the non-garbage tier ones, she’s oddly more… (blech) believably “human” where as others would just renounce their personhood to be some intolerable prick’s pet girlfriend.

  • Neclord X says:

    I liked it, it is pure melodrama but…at least is actual melodrama and not just “I can’t tell them I have something to say, what if they stop being my friends?!” At least here there is something to build melodrama on.

    Also, characters are aware that the other characters are human beings and not just some sort of untouchable divine creature. They can touch each other an iteract with each other.

  • Haba says:

    This is literally the most disgusting thing ever.

    Everyone is a giant, self-centered asshole. They are not insecure or conflicted, they are just pure scum.

    In other words it is probably the most accurate portrayal of teenagers any Japanese manga writer has ever done.