Review for "Dark Green Episode One" by Cherry-Chan
Or so I've heard. Apparently eating peppermint has the ability to help with some kind of medical condition.
But that is of course for people who believe in home remedies. Which I totally do anyway so...meh.
Aw, let's see here. I have been feeling the URGE to dig my hands into some "Dark Green" as of late. My mind is has been on it and thinking about and I've finally caved in and decided to go ahead and review the series. I'm almost done with "Dreamers" and I won't do more "Star Soldier Polaris" until the next redux episodes catch me up so...I got nothin' left ya know? Also Raymond disappeared so I guess that means no more "Evan". Time for new blood in old places.
Let's see what this "Dark Green" is all about.
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Wow...in this title screen Mint has shoulders like a MAN.
And that's some pretty pink lipstick Akaiya sporting in the first scene. Cuteness.
Akaiya: I never thought that killing you was going to be in a way as simple as this!
(I've got an idea! Let's all stand around and talk about killing her! That way nothing gets accomplished! YAY! I SO SMART!)
Oh damn, Green Cycloned right in the face too. Ouchies.
(???) ...Wha-? Where am I? Oh....I must have blacked out again...
(Dude your face is fat and doughy)
(???) This is really bad...I'm bleeding...what's wrong with me...?
(You're B-L-E-E-D-I-N-G did we not just ESTABLISH this?! You gotta keep up if you want to roll with the big dogs Noname seriously)
Whenever you see Mint walking anywhere you see another her behind her. Evil twin or lazy animation? I don't know!
Why is she the only person in the village to see Aozora lying unconcious and BLEEDING in the street?! NO ONE else wanted to help? Are they all used to seeing him like this?!
Man: Well I'm about to go and work out in the fields. I'll be home for supper.
Wife: If you see Aozora-san lying bleeding and useless in the streets step on his tender young heart for good luck.
Man: And get Aozora-san all over my shoe? AS IF!
Wife...
Man: ...
Wife: I want a divorce you heartless bastard.
Sigh...that Aozora, always causing problems.
I love how in "Normal mode" they all wear these hideous brown potato sack looking things but in "Vigilante" mode they get these colorful costumes and such.
This is fucking RIDICULOUS! Why would Mint automatically ASSUME that Aozora is Akaiya from him being cut on the FACE! He could have been attacked BY Akaiya OR gotten in fight, had an accident while working. AGGGHHHH!!!
Aozora: Uh...I feel it again...
(He's looking a little sexually excited in this scene...)
What the fuck is going on in this kami anymore?! Can't breathe...will o wisp...and Midori's hair keeps getting BIGGER?!
Damn her hair really IS getting bigger....
(Demon) No wench, I never touched him, I decided to have some fun with his soul...
(That would qualify as TOUCHING him, genius.)
Aozora sure does get smacked up a lot...and yet...his hair is always PERFECT. Conditioner? You think? I think so.
Was Hoshi REALLY the voice for Mint?! I am SO gonna have to rib her about this...mercilessly.
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Wow. No wonder this series get's acclaim and mad props.
Good stuff all around.
The art was very good, it's obvious that Cherry-chan could draw. Although I haven't seen her produce anything as of late...hmmm. Oh well she was apparently doing it a lot back then and THAT coupled with the bright colors created a very...deep kamishibai? And by deep I mean it added depth to what she was doing. She had nice colors, backgrounds, the characters we a little bit of this and that visually. Each character had something unique about them visually whether it be Midori's sparkly hair or Akaiya's smart uniform. The animations were...okay for that time period and considering how old Cherry-chan would have been at the time. I still don't like the fact that some of the walking motions had the base big behind it but...what cha gonna do? For all I know she was drawing in MSpaint.
The music was pretty good. I head some of the anime tunes she was playing and recognized them straight away. The sounds were all pretty good and of course the addition of Voice Actors (namely that scamp Hoshi) adds flavor to any kamishibai project. I haven't a clue why she didn't get a VA a for Akaiyo but...maybe no one volunteered?
Anywho so storyline wise. It's...okay. Pretty creative for a young girl but then again...young people can come up with some pretty interesting ideas. They just don't know how to articulate those ideas into anything physical most of the time. Cherry-chan definately came up with an interesting premise...We're kind of HURLED into this situation that has apparently been going on for a while and given a sense of "This is normal and familiar, therefore you must accept this as normal and familiar". And it works. The whole situation with the demon was a little "God in the Machine" ridiculous. Why was the demon messing with Aozora soul? Because that's what demons like to do? Did this demon particularly hate Midori for some reason? How did it even get mixed up with Aozora in the first place. And why did no one else ever notice Aozora suddenly missing? Do they have no friends or family in this village?
I could accept them not really knowing anyone else in a big city but Cherry-chan's BG designs suggest a...well a village. And villages typically have EVERYONE knowing EVERYONE ELSE because you can't go two steps without running into the same people. Even if it was a TOWN the same rule applies. And yes yes yes I know Cherry-chan was not some grown ass writer, but this is a review for a story so I'm trying NOT to pull my punches where punches are due.
However for two dimensional characters Cherry-chan did a good job of making them individualized without giving them personal depth. She substituted goals for outward characteristics set the characters apart from one another AND leave the reader to infer the deeper workings of the characters. Take Aozora. He's barely up for being considered a two dimensional character in the first place. So far he has no goals, desires, loves, hatreds, etc. But are made to understand that he suffers from "black outs" (Which has a deeper meaning than you'd think because his conciousness is literally "blacked out" by his darker side. Darker...Blacked? ho-hum. Nevermind). We also understand that this UN-NERVES him. He does not like this fact and it fills him with dread. He's given blue hair which is a cool coloring and therefore not usually identified with hostility and wears earthy brown clothing. Therefore the audience will assume that "He doesn't deserve his fate" from the get go. Even if Cherry-chan later revealed that the demon had EVERY RIGHT and maybe even a RESPONSIBILITY to punish Aozora the audience would take one look at him and feel conflicted.
Character Design can be one of THE most powerful tools that you can use ANYWHERE. Be it in a kami, comic book, novel, or even radio DRAMA. Charles Dickens (my hero) knew clear as bell: If you make your character LOOK like a saint and act like one people will believe that they ARE a saint. Even if you have them come out later as serial killer the readers will try to JUSTIFY any wrong doings simply because of the presentation. Just as a jury is less likely to convict a beautiful thief but MORE than willing to persecute an ugly one (even if they were framed). If Pearl from "That...and the Rent!" had had black hair would she have had the same effect on us as she does with her wild red hair? Would we have felt as sympathetic towards Alicia from "Star Soldier Polaris" if her hair was platinum blonde instead of even brown? Or Kachou from "Kamikaze Saint: Kachou"...what if his hair had been white instead of black?
Pearl would have seemed more petty, Alicia would have been much harder to empathize with, and Kachou would have taken an air of "righteous" rather than "mysterious". Appearance changes outlook. I promise you this. We're human so we judge books by their covers despite warnings.
And I'll get off that soapbox now. ^_^
Anyway this episode was very well rounded.
And I'm rounding my ass off to bed cause I'm tired.
Later Kami fans!