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Originally Posted by Mentar
Your first point is correct, of course, but it's also a totally subjective one. If the viewers find out that they can't empathize with the characters displayed, the enjoyment watching it will be impacted, correct. However, at least when it comes to me, I like the anime exactly because it is NOT doing what you seem to demand later on: "Make me like the characters". To be honest, in the past, particularly romance shows are geared to simplicissism lately. The anime takes me by the nose and leads me where it wants me to. It's telling me "this is the heroine, isn't she great?" or "this is the bastard, watch how twisted he is".
I don't like that. I prefer to watch the story unfold and draw my own conclusions. I want to be able to make up my own mind if I like/dislike what the characters are doing. I.e. I do NOT want to be spoonfed "you're supposed to care here". Which in my opinion is one of the selling points for _me_ to watch it. Other people might prefer the other approach.
Overbearing music? Sorry, I disagree. And there undoubtedly _is_ alot of detail implied in the way the material is presented. At least when I realize just on the third proofing watch of episode 1 that the early frantic phone call of Touya, _this_ was probably when he was getting fired, and that this is what triggered his subsequent self-doubts about his worthiness for Yuki, then this is a fairly unusual approach nowadays. These details have become very rare in anime. Is that what you mean by "smoke and mirrors"?
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I can see what you're saying. Characters don't need to be likable to be genuinely interesting (although anime has a pretty shocking track record with trying to make unlikable yet still interesting characters). One could say that White Album's approach to storytelling shows that it has a great respect for its audience, but at the same time, there's a pretty thin line between respecting your audience and unclear storytelling.
My problem is that these details are all plot related. When I pay attention, I want to be rewarded with an insightful exploration of the characters or an examination of a theme. What's the point of obscuring plot details, people are either going to figure it out by themselves later on when the drama comes to a head, even if they weren't paying attention, or these obscured plot details simply won't matter later on. Which would make the style of storytelling redundant. Which is why I'm kinda saying that if they want to take this "mature", "respectful" approach towards storytelling, they're better off using the "under-the-surface" layers to say something about the themes and/or the characters, rather than saying something about the plot or even the state of relationships, since it may or may not matter later on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mentar
Let's agree to disagree on the "an anime should have a meaning" part. It's WAY too early to judge that, the story has barely started, and I disagree with the notion to begin with. The meaning for me to watch anime is entertainment. And I am entertained, because I do connect with them and am curious what is going to happen. If you're lukewarm towards them and not emotionally attached, I can see how the enjoyment might be significantly lower.
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Well, I don't necessarily think anime
needs meaning, but it helps, especially if the show wants to be taken seriously, IMO. The trap that a series like this faces, and that KGNE fell into, is that the drama can feel like drama for the sake of it. And that just feels empty, especially when, like in KGNE, they're so forceful with it. What can possibly save an experience like that is characters that you can connect with. They don't have to be likable, but sometimes that's the easiest way.
True Tears comes to mind, which, in my opinion, fell over because it's brand of drama hinged on the audience caring about the characters, but as they became more and more erratic towards the end of the anime, they became harder to sympathize with. I know this is a simplification, but we can almost consider a dichotomy between character development and character analysis, in which the latter is more appropriate if you've no real intention of making the character likable. But you've still got to say something of interest about them. You can't put them in a dramatic situation that only works if the audience is concerned about said character and then ask "do you care about this person?" That has to come earlier.
You and me both, neither of us want to be told by an anime to pointlessly hate on a character just because they're portrayed as a caricatured jerk-ass. Good drama should be more complex than that. Let them paint a detailed portrait of this character, and let those details be interesting, and come together to form a thesis of this character, something that lets the audience understand and appreciate just what makes them tick. Knowing that Touya was fired over the phone doesn't give us an insight into what makes him tick, it just tells us that he got fired over the phone. Nixon's drunken phone call to Frost in Frost/Nixon, that's the kind of scene that gives a deep insight into a character, the thing that defines a really great piece of character analysis. I'm certainly not expecting White Album to pull something off comparable to that. But, maybe, that sort of character analysis, that attempt to understand the character at a deep level, is what's needed to make an otherwise detestable figure sympathetic.
Touya is no Richard Nixon, though, and here's why they might be falling into a trap. Unlikable is one thing, you can still be interesting. Bland and unlikable, well, there's very little you can do with that.
And yes, I know it's only two episodes, so pretty much all of this is speculative.