Look how they’re not ALL having fun in this picture. Someone’s getting shafted.
Those of you who follow me on Twitter have heard me rave about Natsuiro Kiseki. Watching it has been a great pleasure― it’s the show I look forward to most every week. (Yes, even over Sakamichi no Apollon and Nyaruko-san.) Part of the joy of Natsuiro Kiseki comes from its portrayal of friendship. It’s certainly more compelling than girls drinking tea and eating cake all afternoon.
School Sucks
There’s been too many shows about school. Every season, a disproportionate amount of time is spent on schoolyard stories. Sure, there’s good reason for this― as one manga-ka once explained to me, “High school is the last real common experience we share. People don’t have the same life experiences after high school, but we all went to high school. It’s a familiar setting that requires no explanation― you go to class, hang out with friends, fall in love. That’s why we write so many schoolyard stories.”
It’s precisely this reliance on familiar themes that schoolyard stories often fail to hold my interest. When titles across the same genre share many of the same tropes and formulas, individual shows have to rely on the strength of characters to stand out. Unfortunately, it’s not often that we see a schoolyard show with truly excellent characters (in my opinion, although K-On!‘s massive success speaks volumes about the strengths of its characters. No one watched K-On! for its riveting plot.)
Summertime
Natsuiro Kiseki is not set at school. It’s set in the short, fleeting months between school. In all fairness, “four friends embark upon a magical journey during the summer” is about as hackneyed as “four friends hang out at school” (see: Ano Natsu de Matteru, Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, etc.), but this formula has greater vitality because summer is inevitably less constrained than attending school.
Speaking about Natsuiro Kiseki specifically, I enjoy the element of magical realism and the central position it occupies in the story. It makes things interesting, adds a huge amount of uncertainty to the story. The beauty of magical realism lies in its ability to break reality. Nothing has to make sense anymore. If anything, Natsuiro Kiseki is a story about the power of randomness in our lives.
Imposing Order
Natsuiro Kiseki has refused to explain its premises. We have no idea why Saki’s moving, and we have even less of an idea about how the magical wish-granting rock works. That is all fine, however― wouldn’t be much of a “miracle” if the characters could figure out how the rock worked. Its absolute refusal to work on anyone’s schedule other than its own gives the rock its power and mystique.
The joy of Natsuiro Kiseki comes from watching the girls trying to impose some sense of order on their lives. Each character does it in a different way. Saki does so by isolating herself, Yuka tries her hardest to keep everyone together, et cetera. This has led to a fairly interesting portrayal of the friendship between the characters, very different from that in other shows within the same general genre of “girls doing nice things with each other.”
The frequent crises that the cast of Natsuiro Kiseki find themselves in test their friendship. The characters seem to be reactionaryー especially Saki, who began the series as a loner with no desire to deal with any of her friends’ antics. Each character attempts to fix the mistakes of the other characters: Natsumi forces Saki to remember her promises, Yuka glues the other girls together (literally) in order to get them to make up, Saki attempts to take the fall for her friends in an attempt to clear a misunderstanding. They’re all selfish, yet selfless at the same time. Each girl may be motivated by selfish concerns (especially Yuka), but ultimately, everything works out for the group in the end. It’s a different approach to friendship than the ones we find in other shows, where everyone seems to be super-considerate and always putting themselves last. I like Natsuiro Kiseki‘s selfish cast.
Al in all, Natsuiro Kiseki refuses to play by the rules of cold, hard logic. Its world is absurd, governed by rules that we don’t understand. Its characters are impulsive, irrational and selfish, yet remain bound in a genuine friendship. In other words, Natsuiro Kiseki works precisely because it excels at creating conflict, and we can see the characters growing week by week. That’s what true friendship is all about― fighting together, crying together, laughing together, growing together. It’s beautiful.
For the significantly sloppier, drunker and less coherent version of this post, please visit Anime Under the Influence. You can follow me @Akirascuro on Twitter.
I, like many other viewers I know, came very close to passing on this title simply because of its surface: 4 girls in high school, yada yada. But, I now love it for the exact same reasons that you raise. I’ve always been a fan of magical realism, and enjoy the mystery that it brings in Natsuiro Kiseki. The way in which the show used the phenomenon of “sticking to each other” twice yet conveyed different lessons for each was pretty great. Followed you on twitter and hope to see more raving about this show!
I love the magical realism and the ways they’ve played with it throughout the show. Yuka & Rinko’s “stuck together” was very different in character to Natsumi and Saki’s. One was designed as a move to get the two feuding friends back together, while the other was a selfish act of revenge. It’s cool to see how whimsical the rock is and how the characters really don’t have any control over it, and how events take on new significance in that framework.
The portrayal of friendship in the show that you describe is exactly what draws me in to the story and makes the characters different then the average anime highschool girls. Like you say, they are selfish, but no in an egocentric way. Rather, they have their own feelings and desires that they want to pursue, but they also care about each other (even if that does mean they fight at times).
Also, I really like the quote from the manga-ka you shared because that is a great explanation. Thanks for sharing it!
Yep. It’s really weird how just a little attention to detail results in a far superior show to the usual trash we get out there…
I wish there were more good shows out there that focused on friendship. I really enjoy stuff like Myself ; Yourself (and NatsuKise) because the world just seems so realistic, even with the crazy plots, because the characters are so believable.
Exactly! If you haven’t seen Hanasaku Iroha, you definitely should. I, like Ryan, believe it to be one of the greatest portrayals of friendship around.
I really enjoyed Hanasaku Iroha as well, though I felt it was a bit too slow-paced at times. Fingers crossed for a second season…
It’s happening. Seriously, they’ve announced it.
You’re quite generous with the superlatives, but I agree with your message.
It’s funny how the simple act of fighting is refreshing (In fact, Saki’s yet incomprehensible hostility is what drew me into watching the show). It tells us something about how friendship is usually portrayed in this medium.
Now they just need to be a little more selfish and it’ll be perfect!
You’ve been reading my blog long enough to be used to the superlatives by now, I’m sure.
Yeah, I agree that the girls need to continue being a little selfish. We do have to draw a distinction between selfishness and unwarranted dick-ishness, though. The former is all right, the latter is irritating.
I haven’t seen much of the show but I think the feeling is that conflict [or tension rather] is a great point for developing characters as friends. High school conflict [in anime] is typically angst-driven and irritating as such. It seems that titles I enjoy in the genre of “girls doing nice things with each other” do have alternative colours of conflict. And I’d have to say my personal flagship would be Hanasaku Iroha; I think it has all the right elements for a series about high school girls and friendship.
I’d have to say, Hanasaku Iroha is quite excellent. It gets a little petty and ridiculous at times, but the interactions between the characters (especially between Kou and Ohana) are wonderfully devoid of melodrama.
This show, and Hanasaku Iroha are both closer to the idea of true “slice of life”, than all the similar girl-group shows that create some unnatural world with all traces of romance, adult and/or male characters, and conflict removed from them.
Also look out for Tari Tari in the next season, it already has a trailer out, and it appears to be similar to these.
I personally have little experience with Magical Realism, but based on reviews of acclaimed Murakami titles, I gather Magical Realism allows its audience to experience the what ifs the audience never could in reality. However, the “magic” itself cannot be completely random; it must adhere to its internal logic (whatever that may be). Otherwise, the “magic” ends up being a gag, contributing nothing to the story except for moving the plot along.
I’ve only watched the first episode, but based on your article, the “magic” only seems random to the audience because “it is governed by rules that we don’t understand.” I don’t have any issues with the “magic” presentation, but I am skeptical about the necessity of a Magical Realism element to depict friendship. In Mawaru Penguindrum, for example, Magical Realism can be justified, since the “magic” in the show is necessary to explore possibilities the audience cannot grasp in reality (fate, death and much more). On the other hand, using the magical element to essentially make the writer’s job of depicting friendship easier cheapens the value of the show to me. I’m sure the portrayal of friendship in Natsuiro Kiseki is amazing, but does the show really need a wish-granting rock to do this?
Then again, maybe the magical rock is crucial to where the show will be taking us. Maybe this show will offer deep insights about friendship–using the magical rock as a catalyst–that we normally would never experience. In that case, I will take everything back (and start watching the show), but I am not sure Natsuiro Kiseki can pull that off given its main characters are high school students with petty problems. The one anime I can think of that effectively used its magical elements to pull off a stunning bond of friendship is Gungrave. Am I setting the bar too high?
Perhaps you are setting your bar high. Anime does not necessarily have to shed insight on the nature of the human condition. Just watch Natsuiro Kiseki for light entertanment. It’s certainly refreshing, I’ll guarantee you that.
Sure, magic isn’t necessary— but it isn’t necessary to any genre, really. Mawaru-Penguindrum’s magical realism is no less “justifiable” than the magical rock in Natsuiro Kiseki. This is what the creators of the show have decided to work with, and we evaluate the show on how well the creators can write a story GIVEN the constraints that they’ve set for themselves. In other words, Marty McFly didn’t NEED a time-travelling DeLorean to make his family happy and functional, but we do not criticise the directors of Back to the Future for inserting a time-travelling DeLorean into the story. We WOULD criticise them if the DeLorean served no purpose and served merely as a deus ex machina, but fortunately, we don’t have to do that. It’s the same with the magical rock in Natsuiro Kiseki, and only time will tell if the rock is an integral part of the story or simply a lame gag-creating device.
I’ve been trying to think of why I like Natsuiro Kiseki when its premise on the surface isn’t very interesting…your post here helped me figure it out =D
I never thought about it in terms of how the friendship of the girls is portrayed when compared to something like K-ON. I think with K-ON and similar shows where the girls are all insufferably nice to each other and there’s pretty much no real conflict, it’s all about humor and, well, moe-ifying the characters. For Natsuiro Kiseki, the added touches of conflict and making the girls not always get along nicely makes the show lean on the dramatic side rather than comedy and moe (the magical realism helps, too). Of course, it can be funny sometimes too (I thought Natsumi and Saki getting stuck together was hilarious). There isn’t much of a plot in Natsuiro Kiseki either but I wouldn’t mind if some things about Saki’s move, the magical background of the rock, etc., are explained. Not necessary but I wonder how, or if, it would jolt the atmosphere the series has at this point.
Pingback: Aniblog Stuff – Round 2 – Day 5·
Pingback: The Texture of Friendship in Natsuiro Kiseki – aloe, dream·
Hi Akira, this is the first time I’m commenting on your blog. Excellent post! Natsuiro Kiseki is my second favourite show this season (after Kuromajo-san). I’d like to add two aspects:
Natsuiro Kiseki does not only feature conflict between the girls but also a different sort of tension. I’m talking about the yuri vibes. The girls start to explore the limitations in their relations to each other, not only in conflict (uh, this sound a bit sleazy). Maybe it is exactly the conflict which also creates the yuri vibes by literally “sticking the girls together” (like in eps 2 and 3). Yuka’s crush for Takashi is just a dream for now as she still is basically a child (no wonder she chooses her cousin and hesitates at the end of ep 4). In one or two years’ time the girls may be more like the heroines in AnoNatsu or in HanaIro. But for now, all is just quite playful.
The rock is an excellent instrument to make the story more interesting. Imo it serves as a device to visualize what would have happened anyways (the girls experiencing their friendship by figuratively “flying” or resolving their conflict by “sticking together” or Yuka realizing that her crush is just that). The character development would be basically the same w/o the rock but with less enjoyment for the audience.
Postscriptum: Lovely picture! I also agree with the “anime under influence” post. Saki is the best. I like her wearing tights which make a nice contrast to her hair.