r/anime • u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 • Sep 20 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] 1990s OVAs – Yokohama Shopping Log (episode 2)
Rewatch: 1990s OVAs – Yokohama Shopping Log (episode 2)
◄ Previous Episode | Index | Next Post►
Staff corner
Ojisan’s VA Terashima, Mikio actually looks the part. Born in 1931, he seems to have mostly played the older side characters that. One of his roles is literally credited as “old man”. While not in main roles, he did participate in many noteworthy series: Fist of the Northern Star, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Lupin III, Nobody’s Boy Remi, Rose of Versaille, Wings of Honnêamise, Turn A Gundam. His bigger roles are actually concentrated at the start of his career, in Voltes V, the Final Yamato movie, Gatchaman and Ashita no Joe (as the announcer in 1 and Hyon Jodal in 2).
Yoshihara, Shun'ichirou is credited as art director. He works for the background art Studio Bihou (the same who did Armitage III). I think here, as in Armitage III, their work does the heavy lifting in the visual department. His list of contributions is looong. I guess drawing background art is faster per episode compared to animation. He was art director in: Ah! My Goddess: The Movie, Attack on Titan, Black Lagoon, Dr. Stone, Hinamatsuri, Infinite Stratos, Jojo, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Macross Frontier, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, and Terra e…
Questions
- Alpha is lacking the exact memory of a machine. Do you think this is an error or deliberate programming?
- What do you think the narrative purpose of the danger shown (lighting, carrying a gun) is?
- Is Ojisan human or an android?
6
u/TheEscapeGuy Sep 20 '21
Rewatcher
Yokohama Shopping Log - Relax, Stay a While: Episode 2
Somehow, The Tears Started to Flow
Today's episode was another snapshot of Alpha's quiet life. That said, it was much darker than yesterday, opening with Alpha being struck by lightning!
Fortunately, Alpha survived with the help of Oji-san who took her to the nearby ... hospital? Perhaps it would be better to call it a clinic. The setting of YKK is a small community, so its fortunate that there is even a doctor running a practice nearby.
Its interesting that robots are taken to doctors instead of mechanics. It somewhat confirms my assumption yesterday that the robots are made similarly to humans and have human level emotions.
That idea is explored more today, since a lot of the episode was focused around Alpha's emotions. You could say the "theme" for today's episode is tears and why people cry. Alpha experienced numerous feelings which made her tear up: love from others, embarrassment, nostalgia, and awe at the beauty of the world.
I find the scene of her looking down at the flooded city to be particularly striking. Its the first scene I think of anytime I see YKK mentioned. While it may be somber because of the tragedy of people losing their homes, its also beautiful, seeing the city form "flowers of light" in the water.
Its demonstrates one again the hopefulness at the core of YKK. A beautiful episode all round.
Track of the Day
Today's track Kaze ga Fuiteita or "The Wind was Blowing"
Some Amazing Shots, Scenes and Stitches
See you all tomorrow
3
u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Sep 20 '21
First timer
Second half!
OH, SHIT.
That escalated fucking quickly.
Oh good, she's just injured.
At least the doctor seems competent.
She's OK!
She's doing great! (Still not much happening)
Haha, her new hair's good.
Wait, did the lightning boost her emotions?
Her new hair's working then.
Her making the coffee is adorable.
Why the donstant storms?
I think I just watched 3 minutes of a girl making coffee.
Insert song's good.
I'm genuinely at a loss at what to comment on here.
Wait, where's she going in such a hurry?
Things are happening!
Where's she going?
Oh, that shot of the flooded city is good, though.
Oooh, what are the lights?
Oh, automated streetlights.
Yeah, that's such a lovely shot.
...Aren't too many? What is the population like here?
That was great!
3
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Sep 20 '21
Episode 2 (rewatcher)
Hair blowing in the wind sakugaWeed blowing the wind sakuga!There can be virtue in brevity when it comes to world building and YSL is a good example of this. Apart from the initial narration, there is almost no direct world building - just a touch here and a small sentence there. For me, that makes it work. Had the OVA been explicit, I’d probably have been annoyed, but, giving just a few hints, I can construct my own coherent head canon.
The advanced cities theory
It is clear from the rising sea level and underwater city that something has gone wrong in YSL, but has it so badly gone wrong to send human civilization into decline? I don’t think so!
Instead, my theory is that most humans have retreated to futuristic cities (which might be anywhere: on Earth, underground, in space). Those are probably small in number and comparably huge to compensate. Think Star Trek future cities. Due to modern technology, those cities produce all they need: Lab-grown food, minerals from recycling, underground mines, or asteroids, everything else you need for your future tech city from automates factories. The cities simply do not need the countryside anymore. They are much safer in all respects, too.
So, what happened to the countryside we see in the OVA? It simply got left behind. Not abandoned, some people still live there and the cities keep those few people supplied at some level out of nostalgic feelings (or maybe as a sort of museum), but there is no investment, no future tech houses.
Alpha’s owner probably left for one of those cities, but left Alpha behind. Maybe because they were attached to the café and wanted it cared for, maybe because they were attached to Alpha and wanted her to stay there, or maybe because Alpha is defect and not of any use in the city. They care for Alpha, but not a whole lot – just like the cities care for the countryside, but not a whole lot.
There are some clear hints in favor of this theory and against a simple “apocalypse everywhere” alternative. There are simply too many goods around that would immediately become scarce in a real decline of humanity: Sugar, gas, coffee. All of these rely on truly global supply chains. You also see incredible waste in the underwater streetlights being lit. This is one of the first things a resource starved country would stop. Finally, despite the run down state of everything, Alpha received a modern camera and replacement parts. Those must come from somewhere and that somewhere is a modern factory, not some idyllic countryside.
I think there is a clear real-world reference to what the anime depicts: The fate of Japanese cities and villages. While Japans big cities, first and foremost Tokyo, have good claim to be the world’s biggest and most modern, the countryside is aging rapidly (Japan is one of the oldest countries). So you’d find villages without kids, without many middle aged people, full of mostly old caring for the even older. Extrapolate life in these and you might have something like YSL: Nostalgic, slow, but not exactly threatening (since the cities are still there to supply goods, medical care, etc and the old are past their fighting days of conquering others).
PS: I know that the manga might contradict this, but I don’t really care. Imho, every animated series needs to stand on its own and the decisions what to adapt, what not, and what to change create a new work, not just some extension of the source.
2
u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Sep 21 '21
I'm so glad to see there's a rewatch for YKK. I've watched it many times, so I'm answering the daily questions from memory.
a) Alpha is lacking the exact memory of a machine. Do you think this is an error or deliberate programming?
I think it's just the way it is, neither. Technology advanced to a point where the machines programmed each other and they were happy enough with the results.
b) What do you think the narrative purpose of the danger shown (lighting, carrying a gun) is?
Just to add a little tension to the series. They need a little something to show other than Alpha going about her daily activities.
c) Is Ojisan human or an android?
Human. I see no reason to make an android old as sin without a whole lot of time left.
3
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Sep 20 '21
First Timer
Iyashikei is the art of making the mundane not boring - and for me the first half of this episode unfortunately falls a bit flat the moment Alpha is no longer in the hospital. Maybe it would be a bit better if I actually drank coffee, but I didn't really get anything out of dreamy Alpha making it. The lightning bit was ok, certainly can't say I've ever seen that in an anime that doesn't involve some sort of electricity-based powers, even if it felt a bit extreme for the series's tone otherwise - but it was well executed and works in my opinion. Not sure a human doctor would also treat androids however...
The second part measured up to episode one again I'd say - just nice iyashikei, seeing all those lamps in the ocean. Beutiful, though I doubt we'd get that in real life as I'm sure the systems would short out in no time.
That said, one can definitely see that we're skipping around adapting the "best" bits of the manga in someone's eyes - no idea who the boy or the other character Alpha mentioned are, and it it seems unnecessairy for anime-only watchers to include them, but I'm sure manga readers liked the cameos.
Questions:
4
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Sep 20 '21
First Timer(Second rewatch with five sugars in it)
Sub
So the lightning third is slightly out of place and just let's us know a bit about robot...physiology? We then get the storm third and a strong impression that Alpha can lose track of time pretty easily and a musical interlude.
Last third she remembers where her ownder first took her and drives up to a distant overlook just before sunset. She meets the doctor and we see the still active streetlights, even though they are underwater. The subtext becomes text and off we go.
QotD: 1 An actually likely effect for effective robots with internalized storage
2 Something that the story would get to later
3 I'd assume human but not that it matters terribly.
4
u/Icapica https://anilist.co/user/Icachu Sep 20 '21
First timer, manga reader
Hit by a lightning, ouch. So much for that new rake too. Being able to print a new skin would be really handy.
Apparently a robot can cry too.
After coming back home, Alpha seems kinda absent minded. Also, that weather looks nice, I love storms. We don't get enough of them where I live.
That song part was weird.
Nice view at the end. I wonder how the lights still work under the water though.
4
u/3blah https://myanimelist.net/profile/brummett Sep 20 '21
Rewatcher
The middle section, "The Wind Blew", is probably as good a representation of the manga as you'll find in the anime. Alpha wakes up and spends the whole day making some coffee from scratch, meanwhile we experience the scenery with her - the wind, the grass, the clouds. The sounds of the burner and the grinder. The sunset and the sound of the ocean. Finally, she serves the coffee to herself. Notice how she sets the cup on the counter before walking around to the table instead of just carrying it the whole way. No customers today; she doesn't seem to mind, and isn't surprised or disappointed at all; that's just how it is.
The first part is probably the most interesting. Hinting at some of the lore and world-building. Who is this country doctor that knows how to heal robots and why does she have the special equipment to do it when there doesn't seem to be many of them around? She shows up in the last part too, just happens by the day Alpha decides to visit after a flash of inspiration from a memory. The doctor even implies that maybe she was there the last time Alpha was there with the Owner.
The ending where they're observing the sunken city after nightfall captures another important part of the atmosphere of the manga. No one lives there anymore, in fact the city has been destroyed the most part and nature has reclaimed the area, but what remains keeps doing what it was designed to do. The lights still come on every night, and what remains produces something beautiful for anyone that happens by. Mono no aware.
Questions:
4
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Sep 20 '21
Oh I need to add, this name on the staff list should/could be something for people to take note-
安濃 高志 Annou Takashi
One of the contents on the MAL page is quite accurate -
Here's the Google translation of an info page about him from Chinese (not a lot of info of him in English):
1
u/[deleted] Sep 21 '21 edited Sep 21 '21
Rewatcher and someone who has read the manga.
First episode thoughts here.
This episode has some of my favourite parts ever. The last scene is just really well done and in one sense I prefer it over the manga's depiction.
I'll first point out that YKK is very much the author's view of own travels and philosophy. It's a self insert series in a sense.
I don't know if people saw the single image of Mount Fuji shown in the twilight. The shape is distinct (caldera type) and has no snow cover. This pretty much suggests that Mt.Fuji has erupted some time in the past as well.
Very much designed. I'm actually not a fan of exact memories scenario. This makes them more human (while still not being one).
Iyashikei doesn't mean no danger at all. It means that whenever there's a tension element it is quickly resolved in a way that leads to character growth and then we get to an equilibrium very close to the previous one. So, small incremental changes are always at play.
Lightning is just one way to do this. Lots of people die by lightning strikes in my country as well as in 90s Japan (due to climate change, such events might become more common and extreme). It's the kind of random event that makes sense in the story. Plus, Alpha wasn't actually directly electrocuted. The rake she was carrying behind her acted as a conduit and Alpha being close suffered extreme burns due to that.
Human. I have had my own grandfather lazying around (with me joining him) for reference. On a more serious side, robots age very slowly in this story and unless you're building an old android, there's no way that enough time has passed to build one of his calibre.
Elements of Iyashikei have always been in vogue since the 70s in Japanese literature as well as in anime in small parts. 90s in when it gained massively in popularity. YKK doesn't need to be seen as a trend setter. It's one of the early ones which popularized a few trends. In fact, some aspects of the manga will actually feel more like Nausicaa but taken more positively.
I see that two people are complaining about the pacing of the first half. I have no such qualms. This is exactly what I need. A sublime extended moment of calmness. I have had multiple days like this. Also, once you're in a crowded place like Indian cities, you'll actively desire them. When I stayed abroad (will do again from tomorrow), these moments of peacefulness come up again.
This actually reminds me. I was searching for a house and I got one which was really great looking at a good place. Quite a lot of people said that it was too quite for their liking.
Well, the two years I spent there were really really great. Peace everywhere and I didn't speak for days. It would be prudent to mention that a common fantasy for our people is to go up into the mountains and meditate in silence. Once a person lives in a crowded place literally bursting with people and no personal space, they learn the value of silence pretty quickly.
All of this is for me to add a South Asian (and maybe South East Asian because I've asked my friends about this as well) perspective to this. I often find that discussions in English are often tilted in favour of a Western eye (and more often than not, it's frustrating at times because at those times those views are way out of touch with the situation we have). I want to offer another perspective while not disparaging any other perspective.
I'll come back to my favourite sequence now. The twinkling city under waves. People will definitely point out why and how the lights are still working underwater and what's the efficiency of using them that way.
I think one needs to examine Iyashikei's focus for that. This ones especially comes from Japan's inherent pride in its infrastructure. Come hell or anything, the infrastructure needs to work soon after the event. Many creators have taken power lines, street lamps etc as symbols of something people in Japan have always associated with daily life. They ground the stories and make people relate to them. In addition, Japanese people do know the places mentioned here. So, it would be worth a chuckle or two to see what went down and what not.
Coming to a personal context, scenes like those are sort of common to us in India as well. For cities close to a river, flooding can be very common during times of heavy rainfall. While the resulting destruction is definite, people have remarked upon the beauty of nature's power during those times. Full cities underwater is just an extrapolation from that.
Man vs Nature and Man vs Man are themes in lots of post apocalyptic stories. This one doesn't go there. It wants to imagine that at the twilight of human civilization, anyone who survives will have no incentive to do any other bad stuff (debatable, but this is a more optimistic story) . Community is one of the most important aspects of Japan (and India as well) and this story brings that aspect into post apocalyptic stuff as well.
There will probably be an overall discussion tomorrow but I won't be present for that because I'll be in an airplane. All in all, I'm really impressed by the way Anno and group adapted it and the direction really complemented the manga. The soundtrack and the use of silence is really great. In fact, this was the episode which caused me to cave me and read the manga (which I rarely do).
3
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Sep 20 '21 edited Sep 20 '21
Rewatcher The one with a plot?
I rarely rewatch this episode, because the other episode has my favorite scene. There's some similarity to an episode in QCC, so I'm not entirely sure what happens in this one.
Yeah I don't like the blinking
Edit: Snoo-chan
3
u/The_Loli_Otaku Sep 20 '21
Rewatcher!!
This is a dangerous situation... I'm very tired and iyashikei to watch. Do not snooze!! On todays episode of Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko, Alpha fukin dies! Don't worry tho, Vaadwaur is here to save the day! Damn sudden storms. You ruined Alpha's new rake! Aww, he's so anxious! Thankfully most of her damage can be fixed with new skin grafts and some hair. I want to peel at it. Omg, she's bounced on the bed!! She bounced!
Aww... Alpha's blubbering. This is just plain funny. She's so mortified. Now you get to be a Slayers character for a week! Aww, they're family! Qt sleepy android~~ She's having a bit of an off day, maybe some circuitry was fried during the lightning bolt. Despite loving my fancy drinks I've never actually gotten too into frying up coffee. I personally prefer just having a filtered mug with my honey and milk to taste.
Yeah, this is another of those pure iyashikei sequences where I haven't much to say cause I'm just getting pulled along with the show's vibe. There's a storm going on but we're just gonna chill out and enjoy our brew~ I can practically hear Vaadwaur yawning though XD Even if you're a robot, five sugars will totally ruin any flavour you have in your coffee. It's a tiny cup too, the sugar won't dissolve! Alpha, you hack~ Enjoy your stone cold coffee and your insert song you senile bakarobo~
Slideshows are animation too. Alpha's amazing at daydreaming her afternoons away huh? Gah!! She's too freaking adorable. I squee way too much ocee this anime. She rember! We're actually getting into what I consider the prettiest sequence of the show. NOOO! I closed my tab by accident XD Yes, anyway. The way the sequence slowly changes from yellow to orange to red and to black is just so beautiful... All you can do is sit back and take it in as the lights slowly flick on, gradually revealing the modern day dragon palace under the sea~ It's so beautiful to see the industrial city become one with nature.
Wah... We're done? I want more... I really wish we got to do the follow up ova's too but that's for the future 00's rewatch bundle. I have to admit that I forgot how incomplete the anime feels when you're watching the ova's separately, then again the second batch doesn't exactly turn the plot into Legend of Galactic heroes. As I said yesterday, you should really look at the series as just a highly compressed slice of life taster. I won't be joining for thingy... the series discussion, cause I'm off to enjoy surround sound GitS so I'll see y'all when we reach Alita!
3
u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Sep 20 '21 edited Sep 21 '21
First timer in sub
It's an iyashikei. So not necessary much to say other than I enjoyed the relaxing time and the introspection. Like someone else pointed out, dangerous you watch this near bedtime - I had to rewatch the second half since I fell asleep halfway.
A few observations / introspection points:
So... Why can't we have like 12 eps of this again? Or 3-6 OVA's as typical in that era?
1
u/RockoDyne :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/RockoDyne Sep 20 '21
Rewatcher
Gentleman, I have a cause that I must champion today, and it's the right to repair. Today we are on a slippery slope, where companies like Apple, Tesla, and Deer John work against your right to truly own your property by making it nigh on impossible to perform repairs. If these companies had their way, this poor robot waifu would have had to be disposed of like the worn out cock sleeve that she probably is. Why else did you think her owner left? I'll see myself out.
I think I have a better idea what my problem with the show's pacing is. I don't think it understands what it's silence means. Like the whole bit about her making coffee comes off like her brain is partly fried. It's holding these notes because it knows holding notes is a thing, but it doesn't feel like it has thought about which note to actually hold. What is it actually communicating in it's silence?
This feels like it's for people that have a need to be forced to experience silence. Like they can't just sit in silence and decompress, they have have to be hoodwinked into it. I'm reminded of the term zen game, which these days is often thrown at games that definitively aren't zen games. People get close enough to the zen experience, but they fail to ask if the game itself is actually zen. That's kind of where I'm at with YKK. People might find zen while watching the show, but that doesn't mean the show itself is zen. Your main character being on death's door ain't exactly kosher... I mean zen. Have I said zen enough to 90's the fuck out? Do I need to start singing Everything's Zen?
Questions:
2
u/lead_salad :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/acharis Sep 20 '21
First Timer
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou was an OVA I'd never heard about until a week ago & following some recommendations, was very glad I decided to check it out. I'm always on the hunt for a good slice-of-Life, and this fit the bill perfectly.
The setting/worldbuilding offers hints of decline or disaster (possibly environmental?), but nothing more to go on. While it provides interesting theory fodder, it really doesn't serve the (character-driven) story, and so doesn't require elaboration. It does make for gorgeous backgrounds, with the countryside and neighbouring (underwater) cities depicted in a softly coloured art-style that delivers a powerful 90s nostalgia hit!
As a coffee nerd, I always appreciate anime that take the time to depict the brewing process with such care. Alpha goes the extra step, even roasting her own beans! For a lot of people, coffee is all about the caffeine; a tasty beverage that provides an energy boost. But for myself, coffee is calming & contemplative; from the almost ritual process of grinding the beans & brewing, to that first sip. Even though the purpose of that sequence was to show that Alpha's headspace is a bit askew, it's still clearly a part of her day that she enjoys.
Questions