Narrative Drive Craving
May. 9th, 2006 03:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieI am getting a bit bored with both GetBackers and Saiyuki. I’ve realized I can’t watch them in more than small doses. And when I wondered about why (after all, I enjoy the individual episodes quite a lot), I realized it’s because they are very close to normal American TV shows: they are episodic (though they have cumulative character development). They are not just one (albeit very long) story with a beginning, a middle and an end, an anime version of Babylon 5 or Farscape. They have no narrative imperative, no driving force. Saiyuki ostensibly has a goal: going to India to fight the experiments to revive a powerful demon, but that is not what the show is about. The ending hasn’t even been written yet and doesn’t even show up in the anime. It has no clear ending it is working towards. It could, arguably, run indefinitely. And as for GetBackers, since the concept is a recovery agency, it does not have one storyline by its very definition.
And that is why I lose interest. That is why I don’t marathon. There is no sense of urgency, no ‘how does it end?’ I am not much of a TV person, but I am a huge book person and my tastes generally reflect that: I love something that is one narrative, one story, basically a very long book put on screen. Anime as different from each other as Fushigi Yuugi, Trigun, Escaflowne, Ceres, and RahXephon have that. And while I like some of them better than others, they kept my unflagging attention to the end because of that.
Fushigi Yuugi, for example, is a story that is working towards end goals which are summoning of that deity, defeating the villains, getting back Yui, and finding a way for Miaka and Tamahome to be together. The whole story arises from that and progresses towards that. It gives it structure and pace. Trigun is about Vash defeating the enemies his brother sent after him and finally confronting his brother, as well as facing his past and modifying his ideology. And the show works towards that end. Escaflowne is about saving Gaea and restoring peace (as well as sorting out certain characters’ issues). Ceres is about returning Ceres’ cloak, freeing Aya from the circle of death and enabling her to be with Toya (who should regain his memory). And the show works towards that. RahXephon is about Ayato brining harmony to the world, and recovering his past as well as discovering his nature, and it is written with that end in mind.
And if I look at other shows I watched non-stop, they are also that way: Peach Girl is very much like a chick lit book (with more angst) that is working towards Momo being free from Sae’s manipulations (whether through a defeat of her wiles, or through Sae maturing) and finding true love (which she does with Kairi). HYD is working toward Tsukushi reciprocating the matured Doumyouji’s love. Even something more fragmentary like Rurouni Kenshin, once it gets into the Kyoto arc is one 30+ eps, coherent, unified story about defeating Shishio, saving Aoshi, and giving Kenshin peace and acceptance and bringing his and Kaoru’s story to a boiling point of sorts. True, the first eps (Tokyo arc) are not one story, but they serve to introduce the characters. And after that it is two very coherent arcs: Kyoto and Enishi (that one wasn’t animate though and I haven’t seen the filler anime did instead). One can view RK as a relatively small number of intro, loose eps, and then two separate story arcs: as if they were adaptation of two novels. Peacekeeper is perhaps the loosest in structure of all the anime I loved, but it is not only 24 eps, it does work (and achieves) towards the confrontation with Yoshida and towards Tetsu both growing up and overcoming his trauma. Cowboy Beebop lost me in a lot of eps not just because of the leisurely pace, but because it didn’t have arc-connected eps, not explicitly. But it clearly had an over-arcing structure and was working, though not with every ep, towards Spike fighting Vicious and discovering Julia. It’s half arced and half isn’t. It’s also a lot shorter than Saiyuki and GetBackers.
Now, I think some of these shows are better than others. For example, Ceres was enjoyable but is not a huge favorite. But they all have structure I crave.
Neither GetBackers nor Saiyuki have any clear, written end they are working towards. The goal of Saiyuki the show is not for the guys to change in certain ways so they would be “x” at the end, or for them to get to India to fight and everything working towards that. The goal of Saiyuki is to have a bunch of episodes where we learn more about the guys and see them fight bad guys. GetBackers has a similar lack of imperative. There is nothing wrong with it, it’s an alternative narrative structure. But it doesn’t hook me as much. And because they are long (Saiyuki total count is over a 100 and GetBackers is 50), I lose interest before the end and so must break it up and watch it in small pieces.
And that is why I lose interest. That is why I don’t marathon. There is no sense of urgency, no ‘how does it end?’ I am not much of a TV person, but I am a huge book person and my tastes generally reflect that: I love something that is one narrative, one story, basically a very long book put on screen. Anime as different from each other as Fushigi Yuugi, Trigun, Escaflowne, Ceres, and RahXephon have that. And while I like some of them better than others, they kept my unflagging attention to the end because of that.
Fushigi Yuugi, for example, is a story that is working towards end goals which are summoning of that deity, defeating the villains, getting back Yui, and finding a way for Miaka and Tamahome to be together. The whole story arises from that and progresses towards that. It gives it structure and pace. Trigun is about Vash defeating the enemies his brother sent after him and finally confronting his brother, as well as facing his past and modifying his ideology. And the show works towards that end. Escaflowne is about saving Gaea and restoring peace (as well as sorting out certain characters’ issues). Ceres is about returning Ceres’ cloak, freeing Aya from the circle of death and enabling her to be with Toya (who should regain his memory). And the show works towards that. RahXephon is about Ayato brining harmony to the world, and recovering his past as well as discovering his nature, and it is written with that end in mind.
And if I look at other shows I watched non-stop, they are also that way: Peach Girl is very much like a chick lit book (with more angst) that is working towards Momo being free from Sae’s manipulations (whether through a defeat of her wiles, or through Sae maturing) and finding true love (which she does with Kairi). HYD is working toward Tsukushi reciprocating the matured Doumyouji’s love. Even something more fragmentary like Rurouni Kenshin, once it gets into the Kyoto arc is one 30+ eps, coherent, unified story about defeating Shishio, saving Aoshi, and giving Kenshin peace and acceptance and bringing his and Kaoru’s story to a boiling point of sorts. True, the first eps (Tokyo arc) are not one story, but they serve to introduce the characters. And after that it is two very coherent arcs: Kyoto and Enishi (that one wasn’t animate though and I haven’t seen the filler anime did instead). One can view RK as a relatively small number of intro, loose eps, and then two separate story arcs: as if they were adaptation of two novels. Peacekeeper is perhaps the loosest in structure of all the anime I loved, but it is not only 24 eps, it does work (and achieves) towards the confrontation with Yoshida and towards Tetsu both growing up and overcoming his trauma. Cowboy Beebop lost me in a lot of eps not just because of the leisurely pace, but because it didn’t have arc-connected eps, not explicitly. But it clearly had an over-arcing structure and was working, though not with every ep, towards Spike fighting Vicious and discovering Julia. It’s half arced and half isn’t. It’s also a lot shorter than Saiyuki and GetBackers.
Now, I think some of these shows are better than others. For example, Ceres was enjoyable but is not a huge favorite. But they all have structure I crave.
Neither GetBackers nor Saiyuki have any clear, written end they are working towards. The goal of Saiyuki the show is not for the guys to change in certain ways so they would be “x” at the end, or for them to get to India to fight and everything working towards that. The goal of Saiyuki is to have a bunch of episodes where we learn more about the guys and see them fight bad guys. GetBackers has a similar lack of imperative. There is nothing wrong with it, it’s an alternative narrative structure. But it doesn’t hook me as much. And because they are long (Saiyuki total count is over a 100 and GetBackers is 50), I lose interest before the end and so must break it up and watch it in small pieces.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 09:15 pm (UTC)I'm in it for the characters. Narrative doesn't bother me so much as characters that I really fall in love with. I'll watch Ban bake a cake if that's what he's doing for an episode. As long as I see more character facets, I love it.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 09:40 pm (UTC)Inuyasha: didn't that one not have an ending, and ended with nothing resolved?
Btw, I am curious about checking out Chobits. Do you know if it's one of those 'one story' animes?
Also, are there any fun fluffy girly ones that aren't too long and have one story?
I like characters too, and at one point I thought I could watch the Kenshingumi do nothing but bicker and be happy. But the thing is, then the show has to be shorter. I can do this with a 20+ ep show, but if it gets longer, it loses me. I like GB and Saiyuki and enjoy them and will finish them, but I have to watch them in much smaller quantities.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 11:41 pm (UTC)Fruits Basket
Kodocha
Kyou Kara Maou!
Ouran High School Host Club - This one is still coming out in fansubs, but I LOVE it! It's hilarious and fluffy. ^_^
His and Her Circumstances is really good, but the ending just stops and annoys me like mad. But it's so very cute and fluffy for the rest of it.
Gravitation is fantastic if you're okay with yaoi.
Ai Yori Aoshi is another fun, fluffy, girly one. It's all romance and silliness without an adventure story - but it's very cute.
Umm... *strokes chin thoughtfully* I'll get back to you if I think of more. lol
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 11:48 pm (UTC)chobits to get "Chobits" for some reason, because it sounded cute, so I definitely well. What is Kodocha and KKM about? And do they have an ending? AYA, what is that about? It sounds familiar.no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:17 am (UTC)KKM - Boy gets sucked down the toliet to an alternate world. Turns out he's the long lost king of an ancient prophecy. There are lots of pretty men. It's very hilarious.
AYA - not sure why it sounds familiar, but it is a widely loved title. And it has a sequel that came out last year or so.
I'm not sure about the endings on Kodocha or KKM as they aren't finished yet. But both are already being released stateside.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:04 am (UTC)Inuyasha does have a resolution to the major problem, it's just the romance that is sort of vaguely resolved.
Gankutsuou, while not fun or fluffy is great. They're released all the discs now.
Melody of Oblivion, which can be just WEIRD sometimes, is also a really good sci fi/fantasy.
Ouran High School Host Club is great, just not fully released.
Here Is Greenwood, which is underrated and fluffy and very short.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 11:36 pm (UTC)You would like Spiral, I think. It's very character driven, and there's also a definate arc of events in the storyline. And the ending is beautiful. And I second the vote on Samurai Champloo.
And of course, I recommend Yu Yu Hakusho with every breath. ^_^;;
Fullmetal Alchemist is like Kenshin in style and format, I think. Hmm..this is making me wanna watch anime. *skips off*
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 11:49 pm (UTC)What is Spiral about?
And does YYH have one storyline and an arc?
FMA looks very very good, but I can't bear it because it's so depressing and I can't watch kids mistreated (the kid in the armor).
no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:02 am (UTC)Spiral is a mystery. Ayumu Narumi's rather famous, perfect brother disappeared under mysterious circumstances two years prior to the anime. No one knows where he is or what happened - not even his wife. There's only a cryptic message about the Blade Children.
Yeah, FMA is tragic - but it's so wonderful... *tears up*
no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:06 am (UTC)*really needs to let it go*
no subject
Date: 2006-05-09 11:57 pm (UTC)The God Arc just about killed me. I don't know exactly what they were thinking for that one, but it's like they just changed the formula of the show. Saiyuki just does not work well without the humor, and they lost it over that one.
I personally though SC was brilliant and not so long that it wore out its formula.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:10 am (UTC)Yes...you do.
God Arc - basically the manga creator got really ill. And they were stuck in the middle of the anime and had a contract, etc. So they had to just write something to complete it.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-10 12:41 am (UTC)