#show: Nihon Chinbotsu 2020

[ikritique]

Japan Sinks 2020: An Anime Review

I’ve watched a lot of natural disaster movies. Some kind of pseudo-scientific explanation is given to explain a singular or series of natural disasters. High stakes and equally high tension are involved, especially when the movie stars a host of characters you find yourself rooting for at least one of them. In the end, our group finds themselves on tentative safety, with hopes of a future awaiting them. This 10-episode anime hit all of these checkpoints, oft considered formulaic. Yet, why am I still reeling from this roller coaster with no brakes? Today, we will be discussing the July 2020 Netflix release of the anime “Japan Sinks 2020”.

Due to a shift in the tectonic plates, the entire archipelago of Japan begins to break down and sink into the Pacific Ocean. The anime follows on a half Filipino-half Japanese family along with a group of other individuals as they try to stay alive, in the process finding out more about the phenomenon occurring. Overall, it’s nothing too out of the box. It had an interesting beginning, a little too fast paced. The arc in the middle fell flat, building up expectations of something sinister going on but there’s no pay off for it. The ending arc was the most rewarding, complete with emotional highs and lows and the viewer can finally fully invest themselves into these characters survival.

Its target audience seems to be at the Japanese masses and foreigners combined. Considering how it was made to be released around the time the Tokyo Olympics 2020 would’ve occurred, it would’ve been a fantastic release in conjunction to the worldwide hype of the Olympics. Another facet that makes more sense when the Tokyo Olympics come into play is its exploration on the concept of nationalism. I wasn’t aware of this particular detail before watching the show. As such, the focus on the nationalistic spirit was certainly an interesting and unique angle I never quite considered before when watching natural disaster media. A good majority of the exploration of this theme was really well done. The mix of characters had the proper set of diverse opinions that truly allowed the anime to explore any angle of nationalism: a bi-national family, a patriotic Japanese old man, and even complete foreigners. However, there were some moments throughout the episodes where it felt a little too “in your face”, as if the show needed to remind you that nationalistic spirit is appropriate at any given time.

The animation style is very reminiscent of “Devilman: Crybaby”. I recognize that both have the same animation studios responsible behind them. However, while the style certainly suited Devilman’s chaotic nature, it doesn’t necessarily do the same with “Japan Sinks 2020”. The animation is mediocre at best, and sloppy at worse. At the beginning, the characters had very neat, “friendly” character designs. Simple but expressive. But as the anime progressed, the art grew sloppier. With the nature of the anime, there is no expectation for pretty animation. However, at least the animation style could’ve stayed a bit more consistent.

However, the silver lining here are the natural disaster shots. The earthquake in the beginning was so chaotically devastating, and the equally chaotic art style suited those scenes perfectly well. Thanks to the R rating, they weren’t hesitant to show blood and gore when necessary. That kind of willingness is severely lacking when it comes to other shows and movies that explore this trope. Of course there’s going to be gore involved when entire populations are dying. It’s during these shots where I gasped out loud, at how fast yet deadly these kinds of events can be.

The music fit the ambience of the show well enough. It was clever to have the opening represent a serene depiction of everyday life of the family when the show is anything but that. The endings used were not much to speak of, but musically it was tense and dramatic. The endings were more fitting, but personally more enjoyable, than the opening. There is a special mention to the one rap scene in the entire anime that came in so out of place with the grim tones of the end coming near. The rap in itself was okay, but I couldn’t help but wish it came at a better time in the anime.

There is a mixed bag of reactions and observations when it comes the characters we follow through this journey. Some characters died unfairly too fast, and some deaths were easy to predict. Throughout the course of the series, there’s really only one death I truly mourned for. With death introduced so early on in the series, it was difficult to try to root for the characters survival because the circumstances proved to be unpredictable. Only after reaching Episode 8 did I finally begin rooting for our characters, hoping they survived through this hellish nightmare they were going through.

Mutoh Mari, the mother of the family, was the best character of the anime. She had so many aspects to her than simply “the mom of the group”. She is a Filipino who faces trouble from Japanese purists. She is a mother of the group, and takes over as the leader when it falls on her with grace. She is the moral support upon which anyone can lean upon, as the realistic optimist who understands that there is no means of survival when a person is emotionally defeated. The rest of the Mutoh family are all well done as well, all very realistic and relatable when put in that kind of situation.

KITE is another interesting character. Initially I didn’t think he’d prove to be too important, but he’s certainly one of the more important people you need to have in a group. He’s light-hearted, intelligent and his intentions aren’t too clear. There’s no room to have faith in him because he holds up his appearance quite well as a shallow guy who’s really only looking for something thrilling. But that leaves room for surprise for when he does get serious.

Overall, the anime was actually pretty enjoyable. It has its up and down moments, but when it’s up, it’s very engaging. The finale was excellent, and is a touching tribute to Japan as a nation. The diversity in the cast of characters is to be applauded. The anime only starts to show cracks when you look at it too closely. It’s a wonderful story of destruction, rebirth and growth. I’d rate this a 3.5 out of 5.

Go: “Where are we going now?” Mari: “Wherever we go, it won’t be the afterlife.”

[agathon]

japan sinks 2020, 1x04 “an open door”

[noticemedeku]

6!! I need some more recommendations

• What anime would you recommend and why? (ask game)

STOPP lmao I got like tons of shit to recommend but ima slide one recommendation to keep things short:

• Warnings: Death, Gore, Violence, Rape, one Sex Scene.

Japan Sinks 2020 is an anime series directed by Masaaki Yuasa (who also directed another anime series called Devilman Crybaby which u should watch too) which follows a family that goes through a chain of catastrophic natural disaster events such as earthquakes, flooding, and facing the literal sinking of the country Japan into the sea.

The main reason I watched/recommend this anime, disregarding the fact that Yuasa directed this and I lowkey would watch anything he directs, is because while the anime itself isn’t based on a true story.. the show was inspired by a 1973 novel by Sakyo Komastu called Nihon Chinbotsu (Eng translation: Japan Sinks) which was inspired by the actual geographical aspects of Japan’s region and the boundary it sits on between two intense tectonic plates and of course Japan’s history of major earthquakes and tsunamis.

Besides the history and inspiration of this anime, I also recommend it because it is directed by Yuasa. He is extremely talented at creating heartbreaking, detailed, and beautifully animated work. And it’s not really a spoiler for me to say that there are a ton of major and minor deaths in this anime.

so I cried. I cried a lot. like fucking sobbed. I’m going to be honest. this show hurts as much as Devilman Crybaby did.

So yeah. please watch this because I need to vent with you 😭.

[conflagrate]

Summer 2020 Anime Season

Well, spring was mostly a washout. Thanks ‘rona!

Well, the top-scoring shows should be easy! Weren’t many of ‘em….

01. Great Pretender (8.29) 02. Railgun T (8.20) 03. Hamefura (8.17) 04. Fruits Basket S2 (7.85) 05. Nami yo Kiite kure (7.58) 06. Yesterday o Utatte (7.50) 07. Honzuki no Gekokujo (7.31) 08. Arte (7.08)

Total shows completed: 11 To finish: 1 (Argonavis)

Categories of Completed Shows

Must watch: 5/5 Likely: 2/4 Try first: ¼ Not keen but…: 3/6 Genre Hell: 0

Onto summer! Fingers crossed normal anime production service resumes….

Must Watch: Nihon Chinbotsu: 2020[1]

Likely: God of High School, Deca-Dence, Ninja Collection, Kyojinzoku no Hanayome [4]

Try First: Dokyu Hentai HxEros, Gibiate, Peter Grill [3]

Not keen but…: Lapis Re:LiGHTs, Mao Gakuin no Futekigosha, Muhyo & Roji S2, Uzaki-chan, Kanojo Okarishimasu, Monster Musume no Oisha-san, Koi to Producer, Utau Soccer Panda Mifanda

Sequel/Genre Hell: Fire Force S2, Re:Zero S2, No Guns LIfe S2, Oregairu finale, SAO: Alic whatever, Cho Futsu something, Umayon

Kill Me First: Shokugeki no Soma S5 (again)

Covidelayed/Resuscitated/Continuing: Great Pretender, Railgun T, Olympia Kyklos, Furuba S2, Major 2nd S2, Hokago Teibo Nisshi, Appare-Ranman, Fugo Keiji Balance:UNLIMITED , Komatta Jiisan(?) [9]

Expected load: 13

Gonna be the season with the fewest number of shows on my watchlist for a long while…time to binge stuff on Netflix in the meantime!

[dizigang]

Ressurection

Onodera's data contains a map showing that parts of Japan may resurface. For the survivors, rescue hinges on reconnecting to Kite's internet balloon. source https://dizigang.com/dizi/nihon-chinbotsu-2020/sezon-1/bolum-10