Medaka Box (Seasons 1 & 2 Abnormal) [Anime Review]

I've been putting the writing of this review off for some time.
I have my reasons, but this time the main reason is that this series is actually far more complex than it first appears. To understand it's complexity you have to understand something about the current trends happening in Japan.

No, the series is not chock full of fan-service. Now, there is a bit.

I read some news from Japan (and from other countries, I feel it is worth while to pay attention to the world at large and not just my local area), and it altered how I looked at this series.

3.5 out of 5 stars

I was originally going to give it a slightly lower rating because if you are not paying attention to trends in the world, this series comes off as an almost 'too average' high-school-of-special-people anime. You've seen them before, there are lots of them. The most obvious that comes to mind is Tenjho Tenge, or Ranma 1/2, Tenchi Muyo... the list is extraordinarily long. I'd almost want to lump Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, but that series is so... odd, strange, and completely out there that I think it goes well beyond the mold I'm talking about. 

No changing in the Student Council room!

I ran across an article in the Japan Times News, thankfully in English, because try as I might I could not read a newspaper article in Japanese (for one thing my limited mastery of Kanji would fall far too short). It was talking about the New Japanese Fatalism.

Strange recruitment practices... certainly.

People, primarily the 20-30 somethings, who no longer want anything. They have grown up and taken jobs in a stalled economy. They feel that effort is no longer rewarded. This was the crux of a book called "Hoshigaranai Wakamonotachi" (“Young People Who Don’t Want Anything”) by Yamaoka Taku. I would suggest reading the article I linked to above. (There is a another, slightly older, slightly less reliable news source here: RocketNews24). I know, holy shit, news articles in an anime review.

Do not wander off. I will explain.

Super Saiyan or an Eva unit?

One of the most massive story points (I'm sorry, this is going to be something of a SPOILER), is the fact that our main character, Kurokami Medaka, is a special student. And I mean special in the way I was talking about earlier... almost (well, probably) super-power level special. She achieves all sorts of things without really having to try. On the other hand her childhood friend Hitoyoshi Zenkichi (the blonde guy yelling at her in the .gif up there) has to work extremely hard and constantly in order to simply keep up. Medaka is called a Genius, Zenkichi a hard worker.

Medaka holds a belief that there are no real geniuses, and cannot see herself clearly. Zenkichi sees this. It is one of the undercurrents of the entire series, this genius vs effort issue.

Well that sums it up.

Now go back to that bit about Japanese 20-30s not feeling that effort is rewarded. Medaka represents how they see the world - a being that already exists at a certain level, and receives the rewards. Her beliefs are antithetical to her very existence. Meanwhile, Zenkichi is the embodiment of effort producing rewards. However he holds a belief that is antithetical to his existence... It is a deeper series that it appears... that or I have been over thinking it, and perhaps it is simply as stupid as Hansode Shiranui (the diminutive blue haired girl just to the left and up) claims it is.  

If I have over analyzed it, fine. That was just me working my brain overtime. I enjoy doing that sometimes. Oh, back in the days when Neon Genesis Evangelion was new I would spend hours on message boards and sites devoted to dissecting every bit of that series. I no longer do things to that extent, but it is still fun to try and find out if there is a deeper message behind certain series. 

Watch it and see if I've over thought it... I probably have. 

Friday will be a review on Age of Ultron, look forward to it.

The title of the second season is 'Abnormal.' I like it.