Resurrecion.
Since I haven’t had much (bordering on any) contact with the anime blogging world in the past 2-3 months, I have no idea which shows are “hot” and which are “not”. Therefore, I went ahead and decided on my own which shows to check out without the buffer of kneejerk criticism I normally get from Twitter reliable sources. It still seems like a season of slim pickings though; that is, until I found Trapeze, a show that seems to be on a permanent LSD trip.
From all the promos previews and, most noticeably, the art style, for me Trapeze has all the trappings of something Lain/Kaiba-esque. I was expecting the show to contain endless speculation on what it is to be human or dialogue and direction supremely hard to make sense of. For a while I was even looking for some sort of subtle hidden meaning behind recurring motifs in the show (i.e the calendar, the vitamin shots, thinking the three forms of Irabu represented the Id, Ego and Super-ego).
But, although I don’t claim to understand every choice made by the director, there’s nothing here that comes off as having hidden meaning. Strange as it may seem, things are almost always as they appear in Trapeze. A teenager is addicted to his phone because that’s just a phase he has to go through; a salaryman has destrucive urges because he’s been repressing his emotions. Irabu (eccentric as he is) helps his patients as best he can, and usually succeeds. It’s almost completely transparent, in the best way. I don’t mind complex shows, but every once in a while it’s great to watch something that isn’t too mentally challenging.
At the same time, while being easy to understand, it’s nowhere near being fluff. While looking at psychiatric disorders from a surreal and comedic perspective, Trapeze still knows how to give some depth to each episodic character. They’re all archetypes, people who we’ve known, hear about or perhaps even been able to relate to on a personal level. And, as with most cases, the more connected to a character you are, the more you’re able to enjoy the ups and downs they experience. The balance between comedy and empathy is handeled very well.
Trapeze is better than most other shows I’m watching at the moment because it’s the only one that has me completely engaged from the second it starts to the second it finishes. Partly due to the fact it has the best OP/ED this season as well.
One last thing…
That’s just a damn shame.
Grand Punk Railroad 
I think everyone’s been (pleasantly) surprised at how straightforward the show is. I’m enjoying it lots too.
It’s turned into a really good episodic show. I can watch it weekly and not have to try remembering the finer details of the greater story arc, because there are none. Even stupid harem shows aren’t this simple, and that’s what’s made it very enjoyable.
For me there’s always that niggling feeling that the dates hav esomething to do with something larger. Always that voice at the back of my head…
Its strength is that it always succeeds at getting to the bottom of its episodic characters. It does a really good job of unraveling them, and more often what helps them the most are events and realizations that happen in the real world, rather than in Irabu’s below-ground clinic. It’s interesting, too, that a lot of them are set on the road to recovery when they come to realize that they’re not alone in their problems/uncertainties/confusion etc.
It’s enjoyable. And it stands out as something different to all the unfortunately generic anime on offer this season.
I know the series isn’t exactly rooted in reality but something that bothers me is Irabu’s presence throughout his patients everyday lives. Most of the time it seems he’s there, but there are those moments when it would be almost impossible for him to be around them.
omi, why do you think irabu keeps giving them “vitamin” shots!!
I wonder if that itself might be taken as a subtle argument: things simply are what they are, without the attendant baggage and symbolism that clutters most interpretations.
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