The opening says all it needs to about the first three episodes of Needless: loud, brash, and utter nonsense. The plot, flimsy as it is, concerns a nefarious corporation called "Simeon" who are brazenly chopping up the "Needless": a group of super powered twits cluttering up the Japanese post World War 3 landscape. One of these happens to be the sister of a small, annoying child who is saved by an outlandishly dressed, wood carving of a man known as "Blade". From there all semblance of continuity is lost and the episodes devolve into poorly animated fights with contenders announcing their attacks after which the names are emblazoned on screen, usually with flames coming off them.
While ludicrously oddball, the characters are stripped of any kind of detail or nuance
To call Needless silly would be doing it an injustice: it is so outwardly ridiculous that at times it feels like it's trying to be po-faced serious but failing miserably. The cast balloons outward to incorporate a number of noisy and paper-thin characters including: a scantily dressed brawler with a penchant for changing people's names and whose breasts are unsure of what shape or consistency to take; and a short-on words antagonist that has a collar so freakishly huge that one could hang glide with it. The character designs are fresh up to a point - obviously there are mixes of other similar characters, Blade for instance has a healthy dose of Vash the Stampede mixed in with some generic masculinity from the likes of Heat Guy J or Fist of the North Star. Unfortunately they are entirely wasted when given such protracted and atrocious dialogue that it becomes painful to listen, exacerbated by the typical shounen budget-saver of extending every scrap of action with an ongoing diatribe by each character on the vagaries of their fighting style.
When Studio bones attaches itself to an anime, it is a mark of quality that transcends genre. Not one of bones's back catalogue can be claimed to be substandard in either animation quality or production. Common occurrences like a first episode budget-burn or compromising fidelity for fluidity so common to serialised TV anime are non-existent for a bones' creation. So it's with continued admiration and a sense of joy that one can approach Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 safe in the knowledge of bones's place at the pinnacle of production.
one can imagine this is uncomfortable viewing for residents of Tokyo
Beginning with stark sepia scenes of a ruined Tokyo, this tells the - currently fictional - story of a severe earthquake striking the Tokyo metropolis area. Focusing on the trials of Mirai and Yuuki as they try to find their way home, the first three episodes of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 are absolutely superb and are a masterclass in characterisation. Opening in rain drenched twilight then rolling back 24 hours, Mirai is portrayed as a typical urban youth: fractious, jaded and proud. Miles from their prototypical suburban home when the disaster hits, Mirai must first search tearfully for Yuuki but not before meeting the bike courier Mari; with Yuuki successfully located, the trio take flight from Odaiba and start the long journey back to their homes. Following such luminaries as Eden of the East with a diminutive 11 episodes, there is ample time to explore the meticulously researched devastation as well as forge the protagonists.
The missing Kyoto photos are retrieved! All things told there weren't that many good photos on the iffy card, mostly blurry geisha photos (geisha ghosts?) and some lamentably blurry night shots - one of the great problems of my D50 screen and chimping is that slightly blurry photos tend to be missed and only visible upon more detailed examination.
I have been awake since 0330 local time which is annoying as I was asleep 2300 local time and up for lord knows how long before that, jet lag is a real pain and I don't remember ever suffering from it to this extent beforehand. Anyways, some thoughts on travelling around Japan:
Get used to train stations: where to look for times and what to look for (rapid, limited rapid express etc.); always note which exit you use and entrance you want, they may not be one in the same and orientation is easier if you've done the route before; get familiar with the ticket machines as you'll either be ticketing, SUICA'ing or PASMO'ing and they all involve adjustment machines at some point
Improve your train sleeping: this is a necessity if you are jetlagged or have a full schedule as you'll be able to hit the town at night and still have energy for the important parts during the day, even an half an hours nap can improve things; just make sure you're the last stop or have people around you who can wake you up if you get overzealous with the napping
Learn your landmarks: if you're like me and can't read Japanese fluently then navigation can be tricky so instead of recognising stores / pubs, go for colours or tall buildings or quirky objects outside, there are plenty of all three kicking about and makes exploring a hell of a lot simpler
Be prepared to be scrutinised: if you're European or American then you will naturally stand out in most areas of Japan, Tokyo not so much but other areas you will be glanced at more often than not, a friendly smile and a nod is usually all it takes to make everyone feel at ease; there will also be a natural radius around you on trains and local transport, you can mitigate this by plonking yourself in between two current passengers but otherwise there is a general reluctance to sit next to you if it can be at all helped.
Don't expect high technology everywhere: Tokyo is privileged in its use of wireless internet, modern transport methods and so forth but other areas of Japan can be just as rural and disconnected as your home country - downloading TV to your mobile phone is a nicety, not provided as standard
Get good shoes: or tough feet (general life advice but especially relevant)
I know have a plethora of bits of paper (receipts, ticket stubs, reservation tickets, leaflets etc.) and photos to organise. Last count for photos was just a hair under 700 and unlike my last trip there are very few duplicates and the overall quality of the photos has surprised even me - helped of course by the stellar weather that held for all but a single day. One thing I do regret is not taking my lens hood for my 18-200, with the 18-55 there's little need for one but looking through some of the photos there was definitely a need for one (and me holding the lens cap in conspicuous positions was not a good interim solution) - here was me thinking lens hoods were just for camera pimping.
Other random thoughts include my choice of clothing - definitely took too many warmer tops although I was expecting the weather to be 6-8 degrees less than it was, unseasonable warmth indeed. No matter how much you cram into a backpack, it can always hold more with judicious application of body weight and zip moulding. Do not trust hotel bedside clocks - their alarms oscillate between weedy and useless to sonic sleep destroyers. Hotel wake up calls are surprisingly sinister at 6am.
Back in Tokyo! Where people have actually heard of the internet rather than having to walk 20+ minutes to the nearest 'net cafe or in Hakone where people just scratched their heads and shrugged their shoulders.
Had some good times in Kyoto, day tripped out to Osaka and then bullet trained it to Hakone which was deep in the mountains but the weather held thankfully. Now back in Tokyo where I've already done some shopping and aiming to do more tomorrow. The hotel is awesome but I've just seen a sign that limits me to 20 minutes on this PC so better skidaddle. A few photos for you. More tomorrow likely.
Most of my internet access has been in the brief, fleeting moments while waiting for the group to gather for the day's activities so it's somewhat nice to be able to have some time to actually write something that doesn't end with the equivalent "okaygottagobye!".
My feet were doing (slightly) better today thanks to some loosening of shoes and no longer having any skin to lose from them although my left foot has shown some signs of trying to copy my right - not best pleased. Nikko today was awesome and showed me something that I hadn't seen before in a temple; it was sprawling, ornate and yet quiet and reserved at the same time. I also started getting fancier with my camera, having found out yesterday that I had somehow fixed the camera on aperture priority somewhere in transit which was slightly embarrassing but I've been storing up some shots for panoramas and also tried a long exposure today of the bridge for some floaty water effect.
Leaving Tokyo is definitely a good thing as having been here for the past three to four days has let me become a bit jaded to it which is not what I had expected. I've been using a lot more of the language than I did last time (much to the amazement of one of the hotel clerks when I said good morning to him, to his credit, it was 4am so maybe that's how he always looks) so I've crested the hill that is ordering food and not looking like a complete twit. I'm torn between whether I'm getting used to the language or just using what is most likely to be said next and going from there. Thankfully a lot of the Japanese people I've met seem happy to ask me questions in English and for me to answer in Japanese, at least then everyone knows what is being said.
Tokyo itself is impossible to encapsulate in a single sentence or paragraph, there is no easy way of saying "City of the Future" or "Bustling metropolis" and capturing the spirit of it, even if both are true and I've only been in the city just over 150 hours total. You can be wandering down the street and hear a melody you recognise with words you don't while nearly being hit by the plethora of bicycle riders and being barraged with neon advertising high above you. Eclectic doesn't even begin to sum it up. It is a city I love though, there is no congestion to speak of, the transport is first rate and there truly is everything you can think of to do or to buy (both probably available from the local convenience store). I'll be glad to come back to Tokyo, but just as London isn't England, Tokyo isn't Japan and there are hot springs and all sorts of other goodies awaiting.
