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hawk-in-a-jazzy-hat · 7 years ago

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Anime Review: ClassicaLoid

Kanae is a high-school student, also acting as a landlady for her grandmother’s beautiful old house. It’s frequently visited by fellow student Sousuke, a budding musician who is unfortunately terrible at it, and she spends her days doing housework and keeping the pet/guest/overlording shoebill Hasshie happy.

(It’s never made clear what Hasshie is other than the fact that he is clearly pure evil)

It’s a quiet life, or at least it would be, if not for the fact that her tenants are Beethoven and Mozart. Not the actual composers; they are Classicaloids, humanoids who look (somewhat) like their real-world counterparts and have the ability to conjure miracles using their mysterious power of Musique. Kanae finds the two already enough of a handful (especially since they don’t pay rent), given Mozart’s childish nature and Beethoven’s obsession with making gyoza. But soon other Classicaloids show up; the shut-in nerd Chopin, the love-obsessed femme fatale Liszt (yes, she’s a woman), and Schubert; an unassuming gentlemen with an obsession for his senpai Beethoven.

But all is not well, as J.S. Bach and his record company have plans for the Classicaloids, along with his two teen idols Badarzewska and Tchaikovsky, and I’m sorry but I need to stop summarising this right now and have a drink because my word does this sound like the most insane rambling I’ve ever made. And trust me, this is not the weirdest part of the show. Not by a long shot. Not even a smidgen. It doesn’t matter how well versed you are in the anime scenario; you are not ready to watch ClassicaLoid, and you never will be.

So, let’s just dive right into this madness.

This is a Sunrise show, the ones who do all of Gundam. It’s clearly a bit of a step away from their normal work, and while it doesn’t look amazing, I have to admit I kinda like it. The character designs are a bit more caricatured, which honestly helps soften some of the visuals. And while a lot of the show is standard slapstick, there are a few choice moments where the animators must have looked at their briefings, downed a few vodkas and just thrown together whatever they could. The Musique segments are all gorgeous to behold, or at the very least amazingly creative in their concept and execution, even putting in a few different styles here and there. Overall the show looks solid; never anything to write home about, but certainly warranting of mention.

So, when you make a show about famous composers, you really expect the music to be absolutely top notch. And it’s...different. Each episode takes one of the composers’ pieces as a centrepiece, but not the original; they do actually make sure to name the piece and the composer, but within the show the piece is remixed in a variety of interesting ways. Despite the name, the actual ‘classical’ part of ClassicaLoid doesn’t show up very often, usually being relegated to some bizarre techno, J-pop, trance or rock remix, or something even more out there.

It’s not bad! In fact some of the remixes are pretty fantastic, and actually listening to them once again with the benefit of not having insanity flashing in my eyes helps me to appreciate them a bit more. Not all of them work, but there are some inspired moments here and there. Mozart’s Requiem gets a spin, as does Swan Lake, Toccata and Fugue and Ode to Joy. Probably my favourite remix is Mozart’s Turkish March, which is actually remixed (bizarrely) with a version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Along with the...very special visuals of that scene, it makes for one of the unforgettable centrepieces of the entire anime. I’ll admit, I am in no way an expert on any of these pieces or composers, but I can appreciate batcrap insane effort when I see it. Also a shoutout to the ending themes, which actually changes every episode; some lovely paintings of the eight main composers over the cover of nthe song that was played in the episode; it’s creative, and really quite nice.

Honestly, aside from that there’s not a great deal I can say about this show. I have no idea who it was who came up with this idea but they’re either a genius or require some sort of attention. It’s pretty much what you see is what you get; some new problem to solve within the episode, shenanigans occur, we get some cute musical jokes or jokes about the composers’ proper lives, all the while with some hints of plot sprinkled throughout. Though don’t expect anything at all deep here; if you try and get your head around the thought process of this plot your head will probably explode. There is no logic in any of this, to the point where during the grand finale when you think we’re finally completed and things can’t possibly get any more out there, it literally goes more out there than ever before.

This is of course all acquired taste; you’re either going to enjoy the comedy and antics or you’re going to find it incredibly annoying incredibly quickly. The characters do help that somewhat, since they all have distinct personalities and a goodly amount of time dedicated to them. Though not all of it works; Liszt, despite being incredibly flamboyant and watchable, doesn’t have a great deal to her, and Chopin is by far the weakest, having very little to him aside from “shut-in computer game nerd”. He’s not ‘bad’; just very hollow. I think even Pad-kun and Hasshie have more character than him, although he does still get a few laughs here and there.

Actually Bach’s crew does a lot better in that regard. Bach himself is an enigma for much of the series, to the point where he only speaks in musical terms (both weird and oddly hilarious). Also he has probably the single greatest design I’ve ever seen in an anime character. The idols are even better, with Badarzewska’s constant insecurities and hang-ups over being branded a ‘one-hit wonder’, and Tchaikovsky’s...everything. Tchaikovsky is probably my favourite character; a tiny little teen package of Russian fury and angst; it’s bloomin’ glorious. Of the ‘main’ ClassicaLoids, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert probably get the most attention and are far better off for it, both in hijinks episodes and slightly more serious fare.

That’s good itself, but there are also the human characters and they don’t drop the ball either; in fact they usually get some of the more emotional moments to themselves. Sousuke, despite being a dork, has large insecurities about his own musical talent compared to everyone else, and Kanae has her own constant struggles with her past and her family life. Even Bach’s assistant Mitsuru gets some decent attention. It’s nothing overly deep or that’s going to blow your socks off, but it is there.

And that’s the thing; for all the wacky shenanigans, there’s clearly a heck of a lot of effort that went into researching and writing this show, and sprinkled here and there are a few genuinely heartwrenching moments. Sure, there’s Kanae and Sousuke’s problems, but the show also takes time to touch on actual incidents from the composers’ lives, from Beethoven going deaf to Mozart losing his mother. It’s a bit more effort than you’d expect from a kid’s show. And yes, this aired in a family slot in Japan.

Still, these moments never go too far, and they are few and far between. The rest of the show is absolutely, and utterly, bonkers. Giant Napoleon penguins, wrecking crane robots waltzing with organ mechs, giant stone dongs, robot duplicates, brainwashing via stupid wigs, everybody just turning into a fish for a day, Tchaikovsky reverting back to old-Russian-guy mental state when she’s stressed, people’s heads turning into tangerines then doing the Thriller dance, or Schubert absolutely destroying everybody in a rap battle called Arigato Avocado, with a surprise reference to Parappa the Rapper, all set to a remix of Schubert’s Erlkönig.

Yes, all these things actually happen and yes I need another drink.

ClassicaLoid is one of those shows which only comes round once in a while. Utter, absolute balls-to-the-wall insanity from concept to execution.I can’t possibly recommend it because it is unrecommendable; you’re either going to love it or despise it. Me personally? I think it’s great. I’m a music nerd, and I can appreciate the pure unfiltered effort going into every part of this, even if it doesn’t all work.

And the best thing? There’s a season 2 coming this October. I hope they bring in Holst.

My score: 7/10

Next review; something a bit more down to earth. A bit. Not really. Time to take out the trash with no Game, No Life.

#classicaloid #anime 2016 #studio sunrise #honestly what do you expect me to say

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