Whoo-hoo! Our first Guest Review of 2014. Even more exciting, it’s a brand-new Guest Reviewer. How cool is that? Today we welcome Bradley M. of Those Damn Cartoons! with a review of sleeper series Non Non Byori, the anime based on a manga I have never reviewed here. Please welcome Bradley to Okazu and shower him with praise and thanks!

Natsumi, Komari and Renge live so far out in the Japanese countryside that they’re not even sure they live in the countryside, since they’ve never had anything else to compare it to. But it’s a comfortable life. Their small town, which probably isn’t even a town but a small collection of farms that just happen to be within a few kilometers of each other, has a bus stop, a candy store, an unoccupied vegetable stand and a rundown school, where they make up three-fourths of the entire student body. But now they’re getting a fifth student and a new friend, Hotaru, who transferred in from the far-off land of Tokyo. She assures them that yes, they do live in the countryside, and also, Renge, it is weird for a family to own an entire mountain.

Non Non Biyori is an iyashikei anime like Aria and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, set in the modern Japanese countryside. It’s an idealistic cartoon that’s a bit like a picture of puppies- completely relaxed, intensely cute and utterly charming. This thirteen episode series is the ideal anime for a Sunday afternoon, watched while wrapped in a blanket and sipping coffee. These kind of anime tend to get labeled as “slice of life” and dismissed as moe fodder, but there’s a distinct tone that separates series like this one from, say, K-ON!, that’s important to note. That tone is gentleness, and a sense that anything wrong or threatening is miles away. It’s the idealism of Tolkien’s Rivendell transplanted to Japan, and while there may be cutesy comedy or some stressful problems, comfort is the overriding feeling through it all. That’s different from other series like Azumanga Daioh or K-ON! which, not to take away anything from them, are basically sitcoms.

Non Non Biyori opens with the strained, heartfelt sounds of a recorder playing a simple tune over lingering shots of its idealized countryside, firmly placing it in the iyashikei category. Its children are practically ideal as well, especially the very smart, if a bit loopy, second grader Renge, whose intensely cute voice (voiced by Kotori Kowai) is a little rough and always excited. If you aren’t grinning after hearing her greet Natsumi with a cheerful “Meowning!,” you could very well be dead inside.

Relationships and observational jokes about life in the countryside, children, and first (Yuri!) crushes are the dominant source of humor and heartbreak in Non Non Biyori, not only between the children but also their parents, teachers, and the other adults in their life. There’s a great sense of community here, where everyone knows everyone else and that provides a sense of security to the children and the viewer, even when the children struggle with losing friends to the end of summer break or have a hard time with their parents. It’s a community that would be the envy of Mennonites. This is a sensitive anime that’s completely in tune with its characters and setting.

Since this is Okazu, I should mention the Yuri, which comes from a subplot where Hotaru crushes on her sempai Komari, who is largely oblivious to her feelings. While it’s played largely as a childhood crush, the humor from this borders on creepy obsessiveness, since Hotaru does things like make little handmade Komari dolls, but it’s generally played tastefully and in good fun. It’s also just a cute pairing. Komari may be older but she’s much shorter and physically and mentally less mature than Hotaru, making for a nice contrast that lets the two of them play off of each other very well. Since this anime is almost entirely devoid of men, you can also detect hints of more Yuri goodness from other characters, though nothing else is as explicit.

Overall, Non Non Biyori is a very good cartoon with a narrow audience that does what it does competently. It does cute, funny and heartbreaking equally well on what is obviously a very small budget, with very little in the way of animation. Heck, they shamelessly try to save money by holding onto a still of a character’s face for nearly a minute, absent even some mouth flapping, and it says a lot about the writing that the scene still works, and made for one of the saddest moments in the series. We seemed to get at least one relaxed Yuri-esque comedy like this every season, and for my money, this one was my favorite.

Non Non Biyori is currently streaming (free, legally, with regional restrictions) on Crunchyroll.

It must be Wednesday, because we have a Guest Review! Even better, we have a brand new Guest Reviewer. I love when that happens. ^_^ Today we welcome Grisznak, who has kindly offered to review something I had never heard of, much less watched. So let’s settle in with some popcorn as Grisznak takes the stage. /applause/

Anyone here remember Freezing? Yes, this series from 2011 with lot of bloo… I mean boob… well, technically, with a lot of boobs and blood as well. Another generic danger to the humankind (this time an unknown monster called “Nova”) and some scanty clad girls with super powers – we’ve seen this lot of times, haven’t we? Usually, in such series we can find some Yuri hints. But was that a good reason to watch? Not this time, trust me. Freezing wasn’t bad a anime – it was a very bad anime. So, why even mention it here? Because it is getting a second season. And, surprisingly, Freezing Vibration (sic!) isn’t THAT bad. After all that what I can say after watching some episodes. Full opinion can be made when this series will be finished. But let’s take a look…

This time our bunch of superpowered girls (called “Pandoras”) arrive in the USA, where group of scientists work on a program that allows turn every girl into Pandora. This project is called “e-Pandora” and you can probably guess that there’s something fishy about it. But before we find what’s going on, some dresses will be torn, some boobs revealed and some blood will be spilled.

There are some major differences between the two seasons. Freezing focused on Satlizer el Brigett, blonde meganekko whose nickname was “Untouchable Queen”. With such a nickname it’s rather easy to predict that character will be touched lot of times.

And most of the series was about that – Pandoras were fighting against each other, girls were doing something that could be called “Strip Fighting” and everyone was waiting until Nova appears.

The second season shows Pandoras on duty – there’s little place for girly fights and arguments,  there is serious business going on.  We have two groups – Pandoras and E-Pandoras. They are different, but they’re meant to cooperate. Of course, it won’t be easy, because E-Pandoras not only have to compete with original Pandoras, but they need to survive deadly experiments their makers are performing on them.

Lot of fights, lot of drama, but what about Yuri? Those who were watching first season already know that each Pandora has her male sidekick called a “Limiter.” To cooperate at full power, they need to perform a “Baptism.” (It amazes me how the Japanese creators use Christian terminology for what is simply sex). Our Untouchable Queen had problems with that and still has, but her Limiter was really the protagonist of the first season. Now he’s in the shadows; he rarely appears and hasn’t much to do. The second season is about girls. And this is good, especially if you’re Yuri fan.

Almost since beginning of the story we can see tension between leaders of both groups – Elizabeth Mably and Amelia Evans. And, this is not the usual love-hate, but rather a much more complicated relationship between two strong women who holds responsibility for their people. Yes, Yuri fans could be happy, seeing Amelia in Elizabeth arms at the end of the fourth episode. Of course, we have lot of groping, boob touching and other fanservice moments in this anime as well. Boys are still there, but they’re merely tools, without much use in the plot.

I’m always curious if they make clothes from some kind of very frail materials in anime. Remember Ikkitousen or any other series like that? Right, those anime where you can perform a punch and the girl’s blouse is ripping apart, often with bra as well. Freezing has same problem –  in almost every battle, participants have to lose some of their clothes. Years ago I found this amusing, today I found it boing… I mean boring. Still, original Freezing had an annoying tendency to mix fanservice with gore. Freezing Vibration has lost some of gore. And it’s good.

With a plot (finally), less gore and some nicely done relationships between characters, this series looks watchable. Still, I’m not calling this anime good – it’s a deep valley between Freezing Vibration and lot of good series. But, if you like to see something action and fanservice-oriented and already watched Ikkitousen, check this out. Of course, you have to break through first season (or just read summary in the web), but some sacrifices always should be made.

Art – 7
Story – 5
Characters – 6
Yuri – 4
Service – 8
Overall –  6

Erica here: Funimation is streaming both Freezing and Freezing Vibration online for free (with regional restrictions) so you too can “enjoy” what sounds like it might be some kind of fun.  Thank you Grisznak for the highly amusing review. I’m almost tempted to watch it now…but I expect that will pass. ^_^