anime, Navigation, special anime projects

Day 3 – I Didn’t See That Coming – The 12 Days of Anime

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I think I’ve discovered what my aim for this year’s 12 Days of Anime will be; namely, to pick moments that were the “best” or the “most” or my “favorite” in some way. (Sorry, I couldn’t think of a fourth adjective to include, blame it on my public education.) These moments are something I’ve wanted to include in my yearly review of anime but haven’t because there’s just too much overlap. Hopefully, focusing on it this way will also spread the love around a bit more to series I wouldn’t include otherwise.

Further, I feel like covering something lighter (as opposed to say, the moment that was the biggest emotional gut punch of 2015, which will come at some point). So, for today, I’m picking the moment that I saw the best reference in an anime this year.

A good reference should be a bit surprising to see yet makes sense upon reflection; it should also be fairly unique. This disqualifies the steady stream of Shaft references including the above shot from Owarimonogatari which looks like a reference to the Eye of Sauron and the below shot which is a reference to M. C. Escher.

[Commie] Owarimonogatari - 02 [52E40D9E].mkv_snapshot_13.30_[2015.10.12_02.36.53]–

That also disqualifies this reference in Punchline to the critically-acclaimed Akira because it’s been done so many times. (See how I praise Akira without mentioning that I really didn’t like it.)

[DameDesuYo] Punch Line - 01 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [DE0296A5].mkv_snapshot_00.59_[2015.04.13_02.46.02]–

And disqualifies this reference in Himouto! Umaru-chan aka My Younger Sister is a Jerk and Stars In an Unfunny Comedy because who hasn’t done this reference by now.

[kdfss] Himouto! Umaru-chan - 11 [720p-Hi10P][75EF4EF0].mkv_snapshot_06.43_[2015.10.11_02.32.33]–

As well as this reference to the Obari Pose found in Classroom Crisis because it kind of feels like the entire mecha genre is a reference to Obari.

[DameDesuYo] Classroom Crisis - 05v2 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [77175C21].mkv_snapshot_04.30_[2015.09.09_02.30.04]–

I might have picked this next reference, had not a better one already occurred. This one was taken from Gatchaman Crowds insight and the reference is to the anime Tsuritama (a fondly remembered series whose MAL score I gave as 8 seems too low now – maybe, it needs a rewatch).

[Commie] Gatchaman Crowds insight - 06 [BC99EE93].mkv_snapshot_20.53_[2015.08.21_01.54.12]–

The winning reference is the below screenshot from Punchline. If you don’t get the reference, the genius inventor Meika is dressed as Douglas MacArthur. For those of you that don’t know the name, he was in charge of America’s forces in the Pacific during World War II and then was in charge of the occupation of Japan following the war including being the de facto ruler of Japan for the first few years.

[DameDesuYo] Punch Line - 11 (1280x720 10bit AAC) [99BA5944].mkv_snapshot_02.32_[2015.06.24_01.43.08]

I did a spit take when I first saw this. Douglas MacArthur fits the scene – one where an operation was being planned that would hopefully save the world – but it seemed rather weird and unexpected to see him show up in an anime. He’s a really cool guy but I can’t imagine any scenario where a foreign military leader who defeated the United States armed forces and then ran the country during an occupation would ever be so innocently referenced in an American show, even 70 years later. Therefore, for being so unique and memorable, this moment from Punchline earns today’s spotlight for containing the best reference in anime of 2015.

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4 thoughts on “Day 3 – I Didn’t See That Coming – The 12 Days of Anime”

  2. Oooh, interesting subject! References are one of those things that I enjoy when I notice them, but I rarely think too much about them unless it’s one of those shows that are deliberately going for referential humor, like an Excel Saga or this season’s Hacka Doll (produced by Trigger, another studio like Shaft who seems to enjoy doing that kind of thing). Anyway, your pick looks like a good choice to me! In a similar vein, I enjoyed picking out some of the historical references in KanColle since I’ve been a student of the Pacific War since I was about 8 years old. And it wasn’t the obvious parallels like the Midway-inspired climax, it was the subtler Easter Eggs like Kisaragi getting sunk exactly the same way as what happened to the real ship, or Yamato being outfitted in secret and then left stuck in port for most of the series because she was too slow and too resource-expensive to actually use.

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  3. @Desperado: First, thanks for the nomination for those 50 questions, I’m way to swamped to answer them in the foreseeable future but those questions might make a good filler post in the future. And second, I’ve actually been reading your 12 Days of Anime posts already – and the entire site is rather nice too.

    @WingKing: I’ve penciled in wanting to discuss KanColle somewhere in the remaining days of these 12 days of anime but haven’t quite nailed down exactly how to do it.

    I went through a phase where I devoured everything I could find about WWII but it’s been awhile and I’ve forgotten much of the particulars like the examples you give but I still find the subject interesting. (History in general is interesting to me.)

    And that’s why the character designs in Hacka Doll felt so familiar. I’ve been watching the show but no closely enough to realize Trigger was involved.

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  4. He’s a really cool guy but I can’t imagine any scenario where a foreign military leader who defeated the United States armed forces and then ran the country during an occupation would ever be so innocently referenced in an American show, even 70 years later.

    Imagine what would happen if America was being lead into the Empire of evil Slavery by some clique of power mad X in DC, and the French came in and defeated that power mad X in DC and restored the American Republic.

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