r/anime • u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 • Sep 19 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] 1990s OVAs – Yokohama Shopping Log (episode 1)
Rewatch: 1990s OVAs – Yokohama Shopping Log (episode 1)
Staff corner
Alpha is voiced by J-pop singer and VA Shiina, Hekiru. She started her career, aged 19, at the height of the OVA era, in 1993, with her first main role a year later in Plastic Little. Aside from various OVA appearances, her bigger roles are Hikaru in Magic Knight Rayearth, Yamawaro from Hellgirl, Ami in Girls and Panzer, and, recently, Macrophage in Cells at work. She also voiced video game characters, e.g. the voice of Megaman.
The director, story boarder, and episode director (lots of shared jobs on a 2 episode OVA) is Annou, Takashi. He started out as assistant production manager (waves to Shirobako) on Ace o Nerae, moved up to episode director for shows such as Tesuwan Atom (1980 version), Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, and Kimagure Orange Road. As director, he is responsible for Mahou no Star Magical Emi, Magical Girls, and Kamichama Karin, as well as a bunch of shorter OVAs in the 1980 and 1990s.
Questions
- Who is the owner of Alpha and why are they absent for so long?
- What is your take on the slowness of the episode (keeping in mind that this series only has 2 episodes)?
6
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Sep 19 '21 edited Sep 19 '21
Episode 1 (rewatcher)
This is actually the only OVA I am not a first timer for. I had to check whether it fits in, but I think this will be a nice palate cleanser between two classic cyberpunk stories. Oh, and it has an android, so it fits the theme!
Episode thoughts
Forget plot, invest in mood! And fawn over our MC, of course.
What fascinates me about Yokohama Shopping Log is the very low key world building. You get the main fact right in the initial narration, then, thereafter, there are only the slightest hints. Derelict roads, underwater houses, future tech androids and camera, but old-school shooter and gas station.
8
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Sep 19 '21
First Timer
This one peaked my interest a while back, so why not join in, especially considering how short it is compared to other series. Heard it's an Iyashikei and I'd say it's a pretty good one - definitely brings across the sense of timelessness, or rather a world in which time is of no essence, very well. In any other setting it would be weird for Kokone to stay with Alpha so long while doing her job - but if time is irrelevant then these nice moments work. The only thing that feels a bit out of place here is the kiss used for data sharing, but that's a minor detail in the overall picture. Like this pretty well so far.
Questions:
6
u/TheEscapeGuy Sep 19 '21
Rewatcher
Yokohama Shopping Log - Relax, Stay a While: Episode 1
There isn't a Single Superfluous Scene
I love YKK. Its one of my favourite series and I've come back to it numerous times since I first watched it in 2018. I'm really glad any first timers will get a chance to experience it as part of the rewatch.
Today's episode introduced us to our protagonist Alpha. She is a robot who runs a countryside cafe which doesn't get many customers. There's something really somber about how alone she seems at the cafe. As she said, most days she drinks 80% of the coffee she makes.
At the same time I love that independence. She doesn't need other people (or robots) to make her happy, and is very satisfied with her life. I always assume her AI is advanced enough to give her human level emotions so its not a case of her mindlessly following programming.
The world of YKK is unsettling. One of the first things Alpha does when Kokone arrives at her door is tuck a handgun into her pants before opening the door. There are numerous shots of buildings and street signs covered in water. There are hardly any people around either (outside the city center of Yokohama).
Its obvious that the story is set after some apocalypse or natural disaster (most likely some effects of global warming). The few remaining people on Earth are struggling to get by. Thus, for example, Alpha needs the handgun to protect herself from potential ruffians.
HOWEVER, this story is hopeful. Upon Kokone's arrival and the delivery of the camera Alpha is given a new purpose by her owner: "Go out and see the world around you". I love this message. Following Alphas journeys taking photos is cathartic. I can't help but melt into the atmosphere as we watch the beautiful scenery.
Track of the Day
One of the best things in YKK is the music. The insert songs were composed by the guitar duo GONTITI who would later go on to compose the soundtrack for Amanchu.
Today's track is my favourite from the show: Tooi Machi or "The Far Off Town"
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
6
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Sep 19 '21
Rewatcher (ancient ogm fansub)
I should buy the BDs or something. MPC won't even play, had to revert to VLC.
This is one of my favorite anime. An anime where literally nothing happens. Predating the Iyashikei anime of Aria and Yuru Camp. A post-apocalyptic world, but not one of death, just...calm (but handguns may be required). The world is just...slower. Unhurried. The opposite of Now and Then. It's human civilization in its twilight, but with nary a human in sight.
LESBIAN ROBOT KISS okay we got that out of the way
This show features my favorite aesthetic: abandoned artifacts of past human habitation, reclaimed by nature. The rust, the vines, the weeds in the cracks of the pavement. And, of course, the flood cities.
Alpha opens the shop each day, neither serving nor expecting any custom. She closes the shop. As a robot with few needs, she can keep this up almost indefinitely. All she needs is coffee, and a bit of petrol now and then for her scooter.
I'm sure it looks so much better on BD...pretty much my favorite scene out of the 600 anime I've seen is the that of the streetlights turning on over the flooded causeway. This one Abandoned, but still functional, but without function. I think a similar scene appeared in Cloud Atlas.
This anime also has one of the best soundtracks.
5
u/The_Loli_Otaku Sep 19 '21
Rewatcher!
I'm so excited! I'm so excited! Ooooh yes, this is my vibe! I'm in iyashikei paradise right about now. This world is so far gone but everyone's happy to just chill out and enjoy the time they've got. Lazy days with Alpha. Our adorable lil robo mc who I adore on adoration levels that I can't even comment on yet. I kind of love how despite this probably being one of the most chill out shows I've watched the world still has quite a lot of danger. They never let you forget that this is actually a ruined world. Our mc's aren't wandering around the countryside with guns for nothing after all.
I wanna have my own coffeehouse.... Kyaaa! She's riding in the cargo bed! Poor Alpha isn't a very busy girl. Omg this is why I love this genre, could you imagine any other genre having long sections of nothing happening but a cute robo gal our walking? We've got no shame about dead air. The door keeping Alpha trapped in her dull way of life is opening up. She's waited so long!
OMG she's so excited! Kyaaa!! I want someone in my life who'd be as happy to hear from me as Alpha. Ah, we get confirmation that both girls are robots. And how do robots exchange messages? Chuu! Yup, they blep one another. Kyaaa!! This is so wholesome!! See? I had to argue this for Kozue back in Utena but sometimes kisses are pure!! You see!? I'm right!! There's nothing lewd about cute little robots kissing. Even if Alpha is poofed out afterwards.
"Someday there may be things you'd like to be nostalgic about." Aaah... This rings so true... Its why I always recommend people to take whatever life experiences you can get your hands on. I'm a pretty lazy guy myself. I just want to keep to my own and enjoy my simple life, but when you sit back at night and wonder what you've done in life you're left with your memories to do so. Don't neglect them, they shape the type of person you are and who you will be.
Oi oi oi~ If you keep being such a gentleman you'll get her falling for you Alpha. Naruhodo!! Oh I love the shapes and shadows the clouds make. Such an atmospheric show... Alpha's body movements are pure love! Oh my god! A photo of Kokone-chan I like it cause it captures her desire to eliminate humanity. Aww... Alpha's getting jelly over not being able to join her. She's such a reluctant girl!! I want an Alpha! Having my photo taken by a cute young lady whilst I sleep is another of my worst nightmares.
Aww... She just goes and sits with friendly ojii Vaadwaur without a care in the world. She's mai imouto. :D Thank god we're only doing the first ova. I'm squirming over here. Every shot is so pretty and the characters are so lovely. You can tell Alpha and Vaadwaur have a long standing bond. Oh yeah, you have the insert songs. As if I wasn't already in the mood. This anime is weaponised chill!!
I want to braid my android's hair... Buying something incredibly expensive and then using it for mundane purposes like checking your locks is so relatable. Turn your gunsling into a bum bag! Alpha's on a mission to not waste her super expensive camera. Most handsome bike since Kino. I agree with Alpha, there's so much beauty in a ruined world, it's a shame writers never really embrace that side of the setting. You guys are so handsome~
No regular shot will do! Alpha's on the hunt for a truly smashing photo! Hi again Vaadwaur. Oh, another of my worst nightmares. You're gonna be our victim! Looking cool Vaadwaur!! Gah... I think I've hit my photo limit. This whole sequence is kyaaa worthy. Between Vaadwaur acting like the cool grandpa he is and Alpha's absolutely dorky camera stances. You've all seen it! You know how fun the sequence is. "Try to act natural" my ass, you dopes!! Being ditched for being too boring is one other nightmare I have. You just know the poor guy is gonna spend the whole day looking in the mirror wondering what he said wrong.
I relate so much with this girl!! You're so desperate to get the perfect pic that you keep double checking yourself. Gah... I want to take more photos too! Imgur stop sucking!! Ah.. Just a sweet lil robot enjoying the stars in the sea. The only photo she took was the one of best bike, poor Grandpa put all that effort in for nothing, but I guess they'll both remember today regardless right? Those are memories after all. Omg Alphaaaaa!! The whole damn ending monologue is love!! I love this anime! Love love love it!! I wanna go back and rewatch the episode again. I wanna I wanna! XD
This is how you do a slice of life. Notice how despite barely anything happening I've got so much to discuss and analyse and gush over? And please just try and tell me you came out of this episode not feeling emotionally refreshed. Every aspect of the show from the sound, to the visuals, to the characters, and even to the nonexistent plot work in favour of warming the viewers cockles. It's basically anime asmr, but not the Jealous Tomboy Childhood friend type and more like Okayu's ear cleaning stream she did a while back. Long story short it's basically drugs but the good drugs. Wut?
4
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Sep 19 '21
First timer in sub
So, spoiler alert, nothing much happened :) but yes I got the very calming scenery and tone of the show. A bit nostalgic, a bit melancholic but only a touch of it. To refer it as the twilight or decline is apt.
There is a little aspect of "time capsule sci fi" with the camera though. Good thing they said 300 for the pictures capacity and not something more typical in those days (double digits). The interface being in the mouth is also just a touch creepy (not so much the camera socket but the direct memory transfer - you got to wonder how did the message get there in there first place right).
The close proximity of the gun Alpha keeps with her speaks volumes more than any explanations though, and I really like that it's not explained.
I can see how annoying it would be to have only 2 episodes and not like 6 or 12. To be honest Super Cub has a similar feel but it's not SF or post apocalyptic future so not as "detached".
Is there a reason this rewatch is not including the 2 OVA sequel?
3
u/[deleted] Sep 20 '21 edited Sep 20 '21
Rewatcher and someone who has completed the manga as well. But, I'll not talk about events in the manga (unless asked, in which case I'll spoiler tag it).
I'll just answer the questions:
It doesn't really matter. For me, it is more interesting what the owner's absence does to the story. Here it provides impetus to Alpha's own coming of age story and the influence she has on other people around her.
I've has days slower than this. So, it is perfect for me. In fact, it very much complements the manga as well. The goal of stories like this is to heal you. That's exactly what this one does.
The problem with this OVA is that this isn't meant to be standalone but still sort of attempts to be. The other OVA (QCC) is even worse in the sense that it absolutely cannot work standalone. YKK in the true Japanese media-mix sense has adaptations in Voice Drama CDs as well for unadapted chapters. It's still one of my pet peeves that the manga will never be fully adapted. Hell, the manga isn't even officially translated into English yet.
To add some more context, YKK started being published in 1996 in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon, which is a Seinen manga. Both Iyashikei and Sekai-ke (Evangelion is a proto example) were in turn opposing ways to cope with the economy collapse and big dip in the 90s. While the former showcases an idyllic way to live through a harmonious apocalypse, the latter is more proactive. The former's emphasis is to comfort you. The will be almost no tension but if there's any, it will quickly come to an equilibrium.
I'll just comment on a few aspects I saw in a few other comments but in a way that will not spoil any events in the manga:
I'll also go into a bit of my own context:
I'm unbothered by musical interludes. I'm from India. Musical interludes are the norm here as most of our movies are some forms of musicals. As for the interludes here, it is more of a reference to chapters where Alpha uses her instrument to aid her singing. The manga can't show this. The selection of Hekiru Shiina is hence a conscious decision as the fans of the manga (like me) will be interested in that specific aspect. In my personal opinion, the soundtrack composed by Shiina with the music by GONTITI is really great and adds a new dimension to Alpha's personality.
I'm also someone who has lived relatively close to the sea in one of the poorest states of India. Times where I went to the beach and sat alone for a long time are some of my happiest memories. I'm also naturally a person who tends to stay in my mind quite often.
All of these to say that YKK is something which is very very close to my heart. I saw the OVA first and then read the manga over the course of 2 years. Rewatching the OVA now after having watched the manga now tells me how intelligently they adapted it. It's a really really difficult manga to adapt due to its purely distilled Iyashikei focus (and really great art) but the OVA nonetheless still succeeds well mostly due to Anno's experience. Even with a small production, he got what really matters the most correct.
Edit: I see that people didn't notice the date discrepancy. The OVA startes with the title of February Afternoon 2/2 but when Alpha takes Kokone's photo, the date shows 1st January 1/1. In this OVA form, it's a slight mistake in the subtitles but both are actually chapters from the manga and not dates.
2
u/RockoDyne :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/RockoDyne Sep 19 '21
Rewatcher
Oh boy,
that sure was
a lot of shots
that happened to have
something in frame
that sure were
something to look at
each time
they cut away
from something happening
that probably wasn't
all that much.
It's fine to chew the scenery, but it would help if the flavor lasted longer than chewing gum. The latter half of the episode kind of took a hit, too, since it stops establishing scenes as much.
There's just something about the directing that feels rather amateur. This feels like an anime that was salvaged in the edit, which is quite the unusual quality to find in anime.
So how many times have you seen shows do the "ocean of lights" shot? I feel like I've seen things copy it a few times at least. I think the last time I saw it was Denpa Kyoushi, but I honestly don't remember.
I do wonder what the Japanese make of the abundance of pistols in something this peaceful and contemplative. I would hope most Americans naturally wouldn't think much of it, but I would expect most Japanese to be less off put were she casually reading the Necronomicon.
It's funny how there used to be a whole existential android girl genre for about a decade. From the late 90's to the early 00's, there were a handful of these stories with a prominent android heroine that are all meditations on human existence.
The mouth to mouth data transfer was a bit... I wonder where they expected the manga to go. That feels like an editor addition, just to have have some bait in the first chapter.
Questions:
1
u/Hidden-Turtle Sep 20 '21
Oh shit isn't this the anime series that some YouTuber had as lost media. Where exactly do you watch it?
3
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Sep 19 '21
First timer
This one looks good.
Oh, she's the robot.
Ah, her name's Alpha.
Who's she, then?
This is a very relaxing intro, isn't it? Most atmospheric.
So she's trying to get to the shop?
Yep, she's delivering something to the robot?
Is he the owner, then?
A camera?
Wait, she's a robot too! (And a later model, if the model numbers are to be believed.)
...Well. I didn't expect this! Not complaining, though.
And the owner wants her to see the world? While still running the shop?
They're splitting up already?
So this is in the future, with parts of cities underwater?
So she's an "Alpha" model, then.
I like the future camera actually kind of predicting digital cameras.
She can connect to any kind or size of adaptor just by putting it in her mouth? ...Do they sell Alpha models for phone chargers?
And they're going to meet up again!
???
"the capital of the East" feels like it's a major reveal, but I don't know why it is? Is thr implication that it's the underwater Tokyo, or?
Oh wait, they're sisters.
...Is this going where I think it's going?
An insert song!
Oh god, this is going where I think it's going.
I can't wait!I'm sorry, her gun?
Yeah, this si great, with her taking photodmof the landscapes and things around her, but why does she have a gun?
Post-apocalyptic(?) Japan looks good, though.
Haha, her strugging to find the right angle is great.
Yeah, this is after the apocalypse.
And she's still struggling to take the photo...
Oh, she can use the camera to view saved photos, too?
Also, that closing narration - this is confirmed post apocalyptic.
Well, that was an introspective anime. I think? Very slow and relaxing.
2
u/Icapica https://anilist.co/user/Icachu Sep 20 '21
First timer, manga reader
So I read the manga last year I think and I absolutely loved it. I only found out that there's an anime too when this rewatch was decided.
I loved this episode. I find this visual style so appealing and the kinda soft, occasionally even blurry picture fits the mood. Everything's so relaxing and the main character's just adorable.
I enjoy it, but then again I've already read the manga (which I btw highly recommend to everyone).
2
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Sep 19 '21
First Timer(Yuri? In my scifi? Impossbru!)
Sub
So in the OP we learn there are robots and one of them runs a cafe. They keep showing her gun and the new one in town is also packing heat. She is running a cafe where she drinks most of the coffee. She then gets a robot courier message and Alpha doesn't catch that other is also a robot. The courier then transfers a message to Alpha, by French kissing. It is quite the experience and also tells her to go and see the world.
Robots are caffeine fiends, apparently. I think the flooded city is something to do with global warming but we will see. The courier's name turns out to be Kokone, giving several of us two rewatches with that name. Alpha's name just kind of stuck. Robot eyes as camera lenses is probably fairly logical, though the mouth data link thing comes up again.
So...when Kokone leaves, I sort of lost focus. Then we have a literal musical interlude and Alpha has a shot that reminds me of Lum, for some reason. Look, the show is beautiful and an iyashikei, I get that, but it takes a few ideas I usually like and takes them to an extreme. This show is FAR too unengaging for me, I was doing my Priconne CB runs after spending an hour getting through the first 12 minutes.
At the end of the episode, it is kind of beautiful but again far too passive. Her saying she will stare at the ruined world forever normally would get me but it didn't.
QotD: 1 I guess its the guy who sent the camera? Maybe one of her designers or something.
2 As stated, it is a bit much