Aimless Wanderings 14: Goose, and Moose, and Apple Juice

There isn’t going to be much of an intro this issue, so let’s just get down to business. Aimless Wanderings AWAY!

Nanatsu no Taizai takes place in the ancient kingdom of Britannia, after the rogue group of knights, calling themselves the Seven Deadly Sins,  conspired to take over the kingdom but failed sue to the efforts of the Holy Knights. Ten years later, the Holy Knights have staged their own coup and wrested control of the nation from the royal family. Elizabeth, the king’s only daughter, escapes confinement and embarks on a quest to find the Seven Deadly Sins, despite the fact that they are a) notorious criminals and b) supposedly all dead, because they are the only ones who could have any chance of defeating the now tyrannical Holy Knights.

All gaping holes in Elizabeth’s plan aside, I have really enjoyed this manga despite the small amount of material to go on. It’s only a couple of chapters into the story at the time of writing, but it has already established a spot in my mind due to it’s unique take on history; there’s magic and monsters and all that stuff, but that’s not what I’m referring to here. I talking about it’s take on how history is passed to the next generation, a “History is told by the victors” kind of thing, and there are already hints that the Seven Deadly Sins may not have necessarily been the bad guys in the conflict ten years ago. That means moral grey area, and I love nothing more than a story with moral grey area.

Most people know someone who has, at some point, played matchmaker for somebody else, maybe you’ve even done at one time or another. Shurabara is the story of one such person. Yagimoto Kazuhiro is well known for his matchmaking ability troughout his high school and has successfully set up multiple couples with each other. After one such occasion, he reveals his deepest secret to the audience: in reality, the thing he actually wants most is a girlfriend for himself! Yes, that was most certainly underwhelming, but he apparently wants to keep it secret enough to be blackmailed into being the fake boyfriend of the girl who filmed him profess his desire for a female companion, although it was partially to get her off his case, as he was late to work. Our dear protagonist arrives at work and gets asked by the humble and beautiful ojou, who is researching how life is among “common people”, to be her practice boyfriend, to which he agrees. He goes home, only to find his childhood friend waiting for him so he can make her supper, and I think you can see where this is going.

While on the surface, this seems like a generic harem manga, there are definite hints that it could be much more. Unfortunately I can’t elaborate much more because there isn’t a whole lot more to elaborate on. As it stands this manga is only one chapter in, but the potential is there, and we’ll just have to read on when more chapters get released.

Quick note about  another new series, Bright World Project. I elaborate more about it in the podcast, so I won’t say anything more here, but trust me when I say it will be one of the most interesting series’ I’ve seen in a long time.

Moyashimon is, at it’s core, the story of two friends attending university together which, in itself, is a little unique already (there are a lot of series’ that take place in high school, is what I mean). Tadayasu Sawaki and Kei Yuuki are childhood friends, and the sons of a yeast maker and a sake brewer, respectively. To a normal passerby, there would appear to be nothing abnormal about either of them, but a normal passerby wouldn’t know about Sawaki’s ability. Sawaki has the odd power to see, and even interact with, microbial life forms (bacteria and the like). Originally a manga series, it was adopted into anime in 2007, with a second season, titled Moyashimon Returns, that ran in the Summer 2012 anime season.

This is one of those shows you come to watch if you’re looking for a break from the shows about normal-high-school-student-gets-superpowers/giant robot-and-saves-the-world/girl(s). It’s a great show if you’re looking to unwind; it’s not ridiculous(mostly), though it features some good comedy and well developed characters, with genuine motivation for their actions, however much you may dislike them. It’s about as slice of life as it gets, if you can ignore the bacteria vision.