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In this episode, Daryl reviews one of his favorite titles from the 2010s which is finally readily available for viewing in English: the two-part theatrical film adaptation of the formative shojo classic Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern! (Spoilers: Gerald thought it absolutely sucked and is of appeal to nobody who is watching anime in the 21st century.)
Introduction (0:00 – 57:40)
Despite repeatedly missing months this year, our number of Patreon supporters is steadily approaching the 200 mark. Remember: at 250 total patrons we will be reviewing Hand Shakers, which Gerald purchased on Blu-Ray (because obviously one buys what one cherishes most). We also haven’t read emails in a while, so this time around we’ll read two! With the new Harmony Gold arrangement in place regarding the international rights to Macross and Robotech being distinct entities, is a US release of Macross 7 on the foreseeable horizon? Why is Eternal Wind so memorable when most of Gundam FORMULA NINETY WAN is so not? Who is more petty, Yoshiyuki Tomino for not letting us Americans see the infamous Cucuruz Doan’s Island episode of the original Mobile Suit Gundam television series, or Yoshikazu Yasuhiko for directing a theatrical-length film adaptation of it due for release next year? And why does the AWO continue to LIE AND EXPOSE THEIR SHALLOW IGNORANCE~! regarding the “death” of 2D animation? None of these questions and more will be adequately answered in this approximate hour of chatterbox noise.
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (57:40 – 1:03:27)
In the time between us recording the promo and getting around to posting this writeup, the Dub Dirty Pair TV Into English and Release It On Blu-Ray Kickstarter has been 100% funded. But the campaign lasts until the end of October, and it is the beginning of October, so YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS: stretch goals! Much like what was basically done with the Irresponsible Captain Tylor Blu-Ray set as well as the various Animeigo Kickstarter projects (Otaku no Video, Riding Bean, Gunsmith Cats, Megazone 23), the stretch goals will determine not only how nice the physical extras are for the fancy Collector’s Editions that are exclusive to the Kickstarter, but also the general release! For now, aside from a new interview with Haruka Takachiho, what the stretch goals will be are shrouded in mystery. More will be revealed…within the next 24 hours! Be sure to keep tabs on https://twitter.com/NozomiEnt for details, but given how these things have turned out in the past, we’re pretty certain that you’ll want to back this project. All of us did, anyway.
Review: Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern Parts 1 & 2 (1:03:27 – 2:20:04)
Daryl reviews this 2017-2018 theatrical film adaptation of one of the formative 1970s shojo manga classics that he didn’t even know existed until after having seen these movies. This period comedy/melodrama/romance/liquor adventure from Waki Yamato is one of the most beloved and fondly remembered shojo titles the world over–the non-English speaking world over, anyway–having remained in print and adapted into multiple other media including live-action and Takarazuka plays right up until the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. Set in the socially turbulent Taisho era of Japanese history, it’s a tale of modern Western ideals clashing with conservative Japanese traditions wrapped around a Days of Our Lives-caliber soap opera romance.
Opinions are, as they always seem to be for literally everything Daryl recommends, sharply divided as to the qualities of this cartoon. For now, you can watch both parts streaming free of charge via the oft-forgotten streaming platform Tubi: here’s Part 1 and here’s Part 2. You can buy the Blu-Ray of Part 1 from the film’s distributor, which is–oh, right–our sponsor Right Stuf. But part 2 to date has never been released on physical media in the US, presumably because so much money was lost on dubbing the first part into English and releasing it into theaters that (as far as we can tell/recall) no English dub was produced for the second part.
I’m definitely in the demographic of older woman (turned 40 this year) who loves trope filled romance and anime. Miss Modern sounds awesome and I’m a bit heartbroken that the manga isn’t translated. I’ve added these two movies to my list.
I’m pleased and grateful that y’all did something well outside your usual comfort zone this month (sorry, Gerald). I did see Haikara-san part 1 in theaters, and took my then-12-year-old daughter, who thought it was great. Unfortunately, while part 1 came out in like 100 theaters in the US, part 2 came out in maybe 10, none of which were within 300 miles of us. So we waited for a Blu-Ray that never came, and finally got to see part 2 when Amazon offered it as download-to-own last year.
Usually when you have something with a small but loyal fanbase, the solution is to charge more money, which is kind of the secret sauce of crowdfunding: your whales will kick in more, if it’s a choice between that and not having the thing at all. So yeah, if there were a Kickstarter to dub part 2 and put it out on Blu-Ray, I’d be in for $100 without a second thought. Problem is, I don’t know if crowdfunding campaigns are really in Eleven Arts’ wheelhouse, and Right Stuf is going to be busy for the next year with Dirty Pair (and it seems like they prefer to focus on one dubbing project at a time, having progressed slowly through Aria and Emma before kicking off the Dirty Pair campaign). So, chances are we’ll never get a dub or a Blu-Ray, and that’s a huge bummer.
Thanks for reviewing Haikara-san and for dropping some Candy Candy knowledge on us listeners! I saw Candy Candy on TV around 95′ in Spanish with my mom and aunt but haven’t checked any Shojo except for Bananafish (which was CRAZY) since then. These movies definitely took me back to those same oldschool telenovela feels and I’ll be adding more stuff like Haikara-san to my viewing rotation.
I though the movies were great! It was easy to care about all of the main characters; I even found myself emotionally invested in the geisha’s story. Like y’all mentioned in the show, the movies looked and sounded gorgeous; the background art literally had me mesmerized! I get that it doesn’t check a lot of the boxes that modern fans would like to see, but it still deserves a chance. I guess good old fashion romance isn’t a thing anymore… unless there’s alien sex, or mermaid sex, or monster sex… are vampire and werewolf sex played out yet???
The only thing that distracted me while watching was that Benio has such strong convictions the majority of the time, but then she’ll randomly do or say something way out of pocket. All the stuff y’all pointed out as dodgy I agree with, and I assume most of the pacing issues were brought on by the condensed treatment of the source material. While watching it was pretty easy to assume that the major events in this story were originally way more drawn out. I’d love to get my hands on the original story because it felt like the characters were a little misrepresented in this treatment. With all that being said, I too would pay good money to have both parts on Blu-Ray!
In one part of y’alls show you got to clownin’ on the prettyboys and I can’t disagree. The perfect Shojo prettyboys were indeed all flawed in their own ways, but I gotta say it was refreshing to watch an anime made recently with assertive, non-creepy male characters who were not afraid to shoot their shot at the girls. They all knew what they wanted and these guys even confronted each other about their feelings! Even Ranmaru, the softest dude in the story, was bold when professing his love to Benio! The whole thing where the girls are constantly throwing themselves at the guys who are sitting there with nosebleeds questioning if they should make a move for 99% of the story needs to die.
Thanks again for being awesome!