Binbou Shimai Monogatari

[Cal-Reflector]

Fascinating, simply fascinating, the opinions on this show and my own.

Roughly quoting myself, my first impressions of this show were something in the gist of "So feel-good-and-rediculously-goody-goody that it makes me want to slit my wrists" and "CHEESY."

Episode 4 is no different, there's still the blatant use of the infamous pink flower petals, but I declare now that I've come around in my attitude on this series: It's not bad. Honestly, if you just take out the infamous flower petals, this is not a terrible show.

As for realism, its certainly more realistic than Mushishi, strictly speaking; don't get me wrong, I LOOOOOOOOOVE Mushishi (go read what I wrote about it in the thread), and Binbou Shimai doesn't come within ten miles of being in the same league as that show. The point is, realism in anime is a subjective matter dependent on both viewer and producer, and hardly the only important measure of whether a show is good or not.

Binbou Shimai is in fact quite similar to a highly acclaimed, borderline goody-goody feel-good family-values show, Aishteruze Baby, to which I had the same initial reaction but ended up enjoying for what it was: A poorly drawn and terribly animated show that taught the importance of family relationships.

No matter what the original intended target audience is, a show is what the viewers choose to view it as; I regard Daa! Daa! Daa!, Aishteruze Baby, Kamichu, and Binbou Shimai as one of very few family friendly shows that's also good for kids.

The truth of the matter is not every show can be the kind that amazes viewers and knocks our socks off; many shows try and fail. Binbou Shimai doesn't try to be great (nor is it great), and in my opinion its a good addition to a tiny pool of anime titles that is safe for viewing by younger audiences.

[Muir Woods]

Everything is fine and dandy, except for one thing that I just need to expound on. I know I shouldn't be coming back, but bear with me as I wax more lyricals from TOK.

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

The point is, realism in anime is a subjective matter dependent on both viewer and producer, and hardly the only important measure of whether a show is good or not.

Whether a show is "good" or not is also subjective. One may use whatever they possess (point, tool, abilities, observation...etc) to support their views. To declare "hardly the only important measure of..." is a shaky statement. If one wants to denouce a show through realism, then so be it. If one wants to nitpick that this show needed bigger explosions, then so be it. It is the reader's job to interpret and understand their views and reasons through the writer's and their own biases, however disagreeable or bizzare they may be. For example, what if I said I hated YKK, for the singular reason that there's too much green, and I hate green (really not true, I love YKK and green!). Does that mean I'm crazy and my judgment is naught? Maybe the former but not the latter, it is still an opinion. My view may be narrow and/or extremely peculiar, but an opinion isn't suppose to see the whole picture (impossible), or to be "accurate". But these opinions are voices, and voices form consensuses, and consensuses construct our notion of "facts". My point is, don't restrict how one judges a show (or rather, of anything). Freedom of thought allows abundance of views, and reading other people's impressions is one of the main reasons why I'm here at Animesuki.

[Sorrow-K]

Still don't align with your opinion on the show, but totally agree with your point in that post. People may argue about the technical merits of a show all day, but in the end, its the emotional impact a show that determines whether you enjoy it or not. Although, discussing both is what makes discussions such as these fun and it's always good to hear from and consider both sides of any given argument on anime.

I just hope people realize that anything I post is my opinion and nothing more. All I can do is call it as I see it, but saying anything else/less is being dishonest.

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Muir Woods

Everything is fine and dandy, except for one thing that I just need to expound on. I know I shouldn't be coming back, but bear with me as I wax more lyricals from TOK.

Whether a show is "good" or not is also subjective. One may use whatever they possess (point, tool, abilities, observation...etc) to support their views. To declare "hardly the only important measure of..." is a shaky statement. If one wants to denouce a show through realism, then so be it. If one wants to nitpick that this show needed bigger explosions, then so be it. It is the reader's job to interpret and understand their views and reasons through the writer's and their own biases, however disagreeable or bizzare they may be. For example, what if I said I hated YKK, for the singular reason that there's too much green, and I hate green (really not true, I love YKK and green!). Does that mean I'm crazy and my judgment is naught? Maybe the former but not the latter, it is still an opinion. My view may be narrow and/or extremely peculiar, but an opinion isn't suppose to see the whole picture (impossible), or to be "accurate". But these opinions are voices, and voices form consensuses, and consensuses construct our notion of "facts". My point is, don't restrict how one judges a show (or rather, of anything). Freedom of thought allows abundance of views, and reading other people's impressions is one of the main reasons why I'm here at Animesuki.

A bit confused, I agree with everything you've said about subjectivity and the importance of freedom of opinion. Does my statement about realism restrict other's opinions? I thought I was merely disagreeing... but if I were, say, Nosanninwa or another mod for instance, then the case may be different, hahaha.

I'm really into the OP song now, btw, can't wait for the single to come out.

[Maceart]

Apparently the single for the OP-ED comes out August 15th (gah, so late) but hey, it's a good song.

And I never knew that an innocent 10 episode anime about two poor sister would eveolve into statements about "freedom of opinions" "realism" and some other abstract existential things that I'll probably never get.

I just like this anime because of Maaya Sakamoto, the innocence of it, and how it doesn't stray too far from its source manga material.

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Maceart

Apparently the single for the OP-ED comes out August 15th (gah, so late) but hey, it's a good song.

And I never knew that an innocent 10 episode anime about two poor sister would eveolve into statements about "freedom of opinions" "realism" and some other abstract existential things that I'll probably never get.

I just like this anime because of Maaya Sakamoto, the innocence of it, and how it doesn't stray too far from its source manga material.

Hahahaha, I can't tell whether you're amused or frustrated, perhaps a bit of both. Thanks for subbing this show.

On the one hand we have shows like Binbou Shimai Monogatari, on the other hand we have shows like Elfen Lied. Granted, the production quality of Elfen Lied is far higher, but production quality is not the focus of the criticism of this show; it is the over-rosy portrayal of life in poverty and how things work somehow work out.

Elfen Lied is in my top ten, but I'll be darned if it isn't one of the unrealistically over-dark portrayals of life in hell and how just when you thought it couldn't get more heart wrenching and depressing, the time bomb implanted in the homicidal ten year old--whose just had a change of heart for good after knowing nothing by abandonment and abuse her entire life--which we thought had been disabled, goes off and blows her to smithereens, taking her father--who finally reunited with his daughter--with her, but not before the main character slices off all her limbs and decapitates the innocent secretary.

The funny thing is, if you just take out the pink rose petals, you still got yourself a story in Binbou Shimai; if you take out all that good stuff above, Elfen Lied wouldn't be Elfen Lied.

[DaFool]

Originally Posted by Cal-Reflector

Fascinating, simply fascinating, the opinions on this show and my own.

Roughly quoting myself, my first impressions of this show were something in the gist of "So feel-good-and-rediculously-goody-goody that it makes me want to slit my wrists" and "CHEESY."

Episode 4 is no different, there's still the blatant use of the infamous pink flower petals, but I declare now that I've come around in my attitude on this series: It's not bad. Honestly, if you just take out the infamous flower petals, this is not a terrible show.

As for realism, its certainly more realistic than Mushishi, strictly speaking; don't get me wrong, I LOOOOOOOOOVE Mushishi (go read what I wrote about it in the thread), and Binbou Shimai doesn't come within ten miles of being in the same league as that show. The point is, realism in anime is a subjective matter dependent on both viewer and producer, and hardly the only important measure of whether a show is good or not.

Binbou Shimai is in fact quite similar to a highly acclaimed, borderline goody-goody feel-good family-values show, Aishteruze Baby, to which I had the same initial reaction but ended up enjoying for what it was: A poorly drawn and terribly animated show that taught the importance of family relationships.

No matter what the original intended target audience is, a show is what the viewers choose to view it as; I regard Daa! Daa! Daa!, Aishteruze Baby, Kamichu, and Binbou Shimai as one of very few family friendly shows that's also good for kids.

The truth of the matter is not every show can be the kind that amazes viewers and knocks our socks off; many shows try and fail. Binbou Shimai doesn't try to be great (nor is it great), and in my opinion its a good addition to a tiny pool of anime titles that is safe for viewing by younger audiences.

Okay, I now see where this show is going. I had high hopes for it, but now I have to say it. I'm sorry, but it fails.

If I want intellectual slice-of-life anime, then yes Mushishi and Kino no Tabi are the flagship titles.

Thing is, there are many different types of slice-of-life anime. The subgenre Binbou aims to be is squarely in the iyashi-kei (healing) genre, which happens to be family-friendly. YKK, Aria, and in my opinion, Kamichu! are the flagship titles here. Because they do it well without becoming overtly sappy.

I'm sorry, but the melodrama here reminds me of some local dramas with bad writing. The whole point of slice-of-life is to get a good feel and atmosphere. Being bombarded with sappiness and rose petals shows lack of taste. In this genre, the more understated, the better.

Originally Posted by nadare

For someone who live in a third world country (namely me), it's not that cheesy at all. There are actually some kids that are living alone(some abandoned by their parents and still manage to go to school). Some happenings in real life are even more sad than this anime.

Its cheesy because it makes light of things that shouldn't be taken lightly. The whole point of slice-of-life is to appreciate the little things. Here its like the other way around, like when the meat was given to a pet alligator. I was so angry that the poor sisters didn't just burn down the rich sisters' house after that.

Even if the point of the show was about the sisters bonding, I finally realized you just can't mix poverty and slice-of-life. You should be at least have a minimal level of comfort before you can appreciate the blessings. Believe me, I've tried writing fanfic slice-of-life scenarios with Metro Manila as the setting, and they end up becoming action-dramas with kidnappings and drive-by shootings. Maybe because they're poor within a rich country that they can afford to make it pleasant, because other taxpayers have already paid for the nice infrastructure.

[itzfurrball]

people need to remember that it's a moe show, shown late at night and targeted at a certain audience, and is, very much, genre-oriented
I read some of the comic, listened to the drama CD (different seiyuus) and got pretty much the idea of what it's about. and the anime hasn't let me down one bit.

It's not suzumiya haruhi, it's not expected to mix romance, comedy and drama in a whirlwind of genius combination. it's not supposed not to be one-sided and monotonous. it's a genre show. it's seinen moe.

[DaFool]

Originally Posted by itzfurrball

people need to remember that it's a moe show, shown late at night and targeted at a certain audience, and is, very much, genre-oriented ...

.... it's a genre show. it's seinen moe.

I am exactly the target audience of this show. I still say it sucks. Btw Suzumiya Haruhi falls under late-night seinen moe shows as well, along with Aria and Kamichu! (among those I've mentioned). The only thing they have in common are exactly what you've mentioned. Unfortunately, quality is not one of these automatic traits, as I've watched too many already.

[lavielove]

Aplogy for interrupting the genre dicussion having in here ^^;;

Originally Posted by DaFool

Here its like the other way around, like when the meat was given to a pet alligator.I was so angry that the poor sisters didn't just burn down the rich sisters' house after that.

I also felt the same way when I saw that scene, I even thought that they should slaugther that alligato and make a soup.But I really think they should remove that ribbon before that though.

Seriously,If Binbou shimai monogatari is classified as MOE show, I do think that what DaFool-senpai pointed out is quite right since not so much of MOE bits I had a chance to see so far.May be I didn't watch it properly.Still it can be considered as creative since they are trying to mix up MOE and slice-of-life in such a way.

[raphaël]

Originally Posted by itzfurrball

people need to remember that it's a moe show, shown late at night and targeted at a certain audience, and is, very much, genre-oriented
I read some of the comic, listened to the drama CD (different seiyuus) and got pretty much the idea of what it's about. and the anime hasn't let me down one bit.

It's not suzumiya haruhi, it's not expected to mix romance, comedy and drama in a whirlwind of genius combination. it's not supposed not to be one-sided and monotonous. it's a genre show. it's seinen moe.

I completely agree with Da Fool. I just watched ep.3 and I almost crashed my computer. I easily get angry in front of bad stuff. I won't be long, cause I don't want to flame people who happen to like the show, like you, itzfurball. I know you're into Ichigo Mashimaro, which is seinen moe as well, but pure genius in terms of humor, script, and direction. So sorry to be rude, but BSMG is just sh... There's nothing good to take out of it. Love between sisters? Again, Ichigo Mashimaro depicts it so much better. Poverty? Niea_7 was absolutely delightful, and moving, on the same topic. Remember the heroin? She lives with nothing as well, and work very hard to feed that parasite of Niea. This was so much "realistic" in a way, and of course, funnier. Even Honey&Clover deals with the topic with much more wit...


Clichés only. I guess the 2 rich sisters were the last straw (is it what you say, in English?). I don't think the flowers around Asu and Kyô are the worst part. No, I just can't stand Asu's voice as well...

This is not a "genre" show. I usually don't mind the genres. I like what's fun and/or moving. Those two sisters are just irritating, nothing more. There's nothing you can get from a whole episode about one rich kid crying over 100 yen meat or 50 yen carrots! Don't tell me it's moving! This is simply pathetic, when you think about it. It's all too "easy", too tear-jerking, too... lame, sorry I'm French I miss the words...

And to finish, lavielove, you have tons and tons of slice of life anime and manga which succeed exactly where BSMG pathetically fails. The ones I mentioned above are some of them. I know you like Ichimashi too. ^^
But, for instance, I just finished reading "Yotsubato" vol.4 and yeah, again, IMHO, that's sheer genius.
The fact is even some episodes of "Keroro Gunsô" had more to say about daily life.
I'm not saying this because I'm a fan, it's just what I'm watching a lot recently.


So my point is : I know no one cares, but I won't download ep.4 or any other ridicule chapters of that series I consider as the worst and the most utterly overrated (even in here) series I've ever watched. Just because it's seinen moe doesn't mean it's worth the watch, oh no.

(And you have a (seinen) moe fan speaking here, maybe not as expert as Da Fool in that field but... lol)


My last question would be : I mentioned Keroro because Doremi subbed it, and as they are subbing this too, I confess I now would really like to know how the fellow Maceart and Ladholyman could fall for that cheesy thingy...


Oh, yeah, sorry, one last thing : Please don't mention SHnY here, this is completely out-of-reach here. lol
Anyways, I hope I didn't make anyone mad with this post. That's not my intention. I just wanted to make things clear, and give my (last) thoughts about that show.

Sorry.

and I said I wouldn't be long... again.

Though you'll agree it's better than a one-line post reading "This series is a goddamn faggotry" or something like this, isn't it?

[Maceart]

What I was amazed at is the unique perspective given by this anime. Usually in a cliched plot you would have the poor sisters being good friends with the rich sisters and then they'll be bailed out of their poverty or something.

But this anime doesn't take that route. So the theme is probably to juxtapose the difference in sister love between the two families.

Hey, at least the music's good.

[ladholyman]

Originally Posted by raphaël

My last question would be : I mentioned Keroro because Doremi subbed it, and as they are subbing this too, I confess I now would really like to know how the fellow Maceart and Ladholyman could fall for that cheesy thingy...

I got interested in Binbou because of the manga. The older sister, younger sister love just got me. I was rather pumped when they announced an anime adaptation, and at 10 episodes, I decided to sub it. Short and sweet, as I like to call it. When the first episode did come out, I didn't get exasperated editing it, so I decided to continue. As of episode 5, the show has reached my expectations, although it is a bit lacking in the animation department.

Originally Posted by raphaël

Though you'll agree it's better than a one-line post reading "This series is a goddamn faggotry" or something like this, isn't it?

Well, in a way, it is faggotry between an older sister and her younger sister. That's completely fine by me.

[raphaël]

Thanks for your answers. You didn't really convince me to keep on downloading it (too many keroro eps to watch anyway... ), but it means you read my post. lol

Lhm, I think I'm going to look for better examples of "sister love" manga and tell you about it later.
For instance, there are 3 sisters in Yotsubato, but they aren't very fond of each other, I'd say.

Ok, thanks once more, and good luck for the rest of the series.

[Kaoru Chujo]

I liked ep1. I even positively revelled in the sappiness. It almost created its own genre, it was so beautifully extreme. I watched 2 and 3, but they just seemed to go nowhere so I've dropped out. I'll watch a later ep when I have time, just in case. I'm not angry like some other people, but it was somewhat disappointing, considering the seiyuu talent.

[Starks]

Originally Posted by ladholyman

I got interested in Binbou because of the manga. The older sister, younger sister love just got me. I was rather pumped when they announced an anime adaptation, and at 10 episodes, I decided to sub it. Short and sweet, as I like to call it. When the first episode did come out, I didn't get exasperated editing it, so I decided to continue. As of episode 5, the show has reached my expectations, although it is a bit lacking in the animation department.



Well, in a way, it is faggotry between an older sister and her younger sister. That's completely fine by me.

That's my Lad... Fansubbing anything that smells of HAWT LESBIAN ACTION.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by DaFool

Its cheesy because it makes light of things that shouldn't be taken lightly. The whole point of slice-of-life is to appreciate the little things. Here its like the other way around, like when the meat was given to a pet alligator. I was so angry that the poor sisters didn't just burn down the rich sisters' house after that.

Even if the point of the show was about the sisters bonding, I finally realized you just can't mix poverty and slice-of-life. You should be at least have a minimal level of comfort before you can appreciate the blessings.

That's actually part of the appeal, IMO, that they do manage to find something to appreciate even though they have so little. It is unique in a sense, since most slice of life contain settings where conflict is minimal, and the setting here is just rife with potential for constant conflict and hardship, but I find that uniqueness appealing, since I don't think I've ever seen something that's ever held such a hardship-laden setting and not gone down as dramatic a road as it can create. Some may find it unrealistic. I find it refreshing.

Ep 5 was enjoyable too, I thought. I was really impressed with the strength of character shown by the two sisters in this ep... I still think the attention and focus given to the main characters has been a strenght of this series. Some of the music in this ep was really good as well.

[iamtetsuo]

All I have to say is:
Random flower blossom petal power... GO!

Oh and episode 5 didn't have a single flower blossom scene for all those of you flower haters out there. Personally I give this series a "meh." If I wasn't QCing or editing it I would have stopped watching at episode one. It's not bad, I'm just not that big a fan of slice of life anime.

Episode 5 definatly was the best episode yet, I actually somewhat enjoyed this episode. Sappyness was kept to a minimum, and Mr. Landlords backstory was actually quite touching.

[iamtetsuo]

Episode 7 available from Melody Fansubs:
Get it here: http://melody-fansubs.fansub-torrents.com/

[ladholyman]

And also from Doremi. www.doremi-fansubs.com

Take your pick.