If you’re following along with this blog challenge, then I hope you’ve made good and watched my suggestion for Best Concept! If you have, then rejoice in the fact that the director of that series came back this year with “Aoi Honoo” (TV Tokyo / 2014), which is a love song for anyone who has ever watched and enjoyed anime or manga classics, and anything retro.
I’ve had a lot of free time lately, so I went ahead and finished Aoi Honoo, which has been floating around in “currently watching” purgatory for the past few months. Aside from the history lesson in learning about GAINAX before they were GAINAX, Aoi Honoo provides the lolz. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it because it was hella slapstick and Honoo Moyuru (Yuya Yagira) did so. much. screaming, but midway through it became very difficult for me to hide my laughter.
Honoo is an aspiring mangaka who is SO over the top, SO emboldened by delusions of grandeur that I can’t help but love him. Sometimes he’ll go on this overblown soliloquy about techniques, some of which he might include in his grand work, and the delivery KILLS me. He is simultaneously rigid (the way he sits in class just makes me l m f a o) and goofy, and thankfully Yuya Yagira is not afraid to just go for it. The GAINAX crew was pretty funny, but not even Yasuda Ken’s oddball Hideaki Anno holds a candle to Honoo’s enthusiasm. You think you’ve seen dramas more ridiculous? NO WAY, BRUH.
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(More) Reasons to Watch: More of the same humor as Yuusha Yoshihiko, but with a bigger budget (hah), a nicer camera, and more butts. It doesn’t make as many references to pop culture as the former, but the story does speak for itself (being based on a semi-autographical manga) and it contains a lot shoutouts to popular manga. If you’re like me and grew up reading some of that stuff, it’s really nice. The cameos are also freaking fantastic!
Honorable Mention: “Saikou no Rikon” (Fuji TV / 2013). How is it that Sakamoto Yuji is able to curbstomp my heart with dramas that explore the human condition AND deliver a winning heartfelt comedy? Also, “Hana Kimi” (Fuji TV / 2007), a proper ensemble/ikemen comedy.