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Anime Discussion: Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

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The anime we’re talking about this time is called Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 (wiki entry might contain spoilers), a story that can be described with few lines (though they don’t quite grasp the whole spirit of it) – What would happen if an earthquake with magnitude 8.0 hit Tokyo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMEzdckL31I

The Anime Discussion series is centered on animes that leads to discussions and has thought provoking content, aimed mainly for adults.
Both to serve as recommendation, and to show animes are not “for kids only”.

I heard of this anime because some blogs and magazines are quoting it as the best anime of 2009.
I didn’t watch much stuff this year, but of everything I watched I must agree with that.

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


The plot is centered on Mirai and Yuuki, daughter and son of the Onozawa family and Mari – single mother that they met during the whole disaster.
I must admit that at first, I was kinda annoyed by Mirai.
On further analysis though, Mirai’s personality is exactly what makes animes so different (and in my personal opinion, far superior) to SOME (not all) of Hollywood counterparts: She is basically a spoiled brat that is never happy, always takes everything in a very negative way, and always fails to recognize the effort of people around her.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


In other words – she is extremely human, much like lots of real kids out there.
Yuuki though, even while being a very young boy, shows a mature positive personality that could be seen as a form of innocence.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


Directed by Masaki Tachibana and written by Natsuko Takahashi, co-produced by Bones and Kinema Citrus, right at the beginning of each episode it’s written that extensive research and collaboration was done during production.
While the story was obviously toned down on more graphical stuff, the intensive work done to create the story really shows.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


The scenario, at times, made me remember of John Hersey’s Hiroshima (book) as some places looked as if they were bombed leaving destroyed buildings and places behind.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


But the scenario, even though well depicted, is only the background to the main story.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


Mirai and Yuuki went alone to visit a Robot Exposition far away from home, after having an argument with their parents which are too ocupied with work.
As expected, Mirai didn’t want to go and sees her young brother as a burden she has to carry around.
When the first shock wave hits, Mirai looses sight of her brother and it’s on this point that she meets Mari who helps her.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


From that point on, they set an objective that makes a clear distinction of the situation before and after the disaster: Getting back home.
As Mari lives close to Mirai and Yuuki’s home, they decide to go back together. If getting where they are was a question of… couple of hours by train perhaps, getting back after the disasters would take days with all sorts of obstacles getting on their way.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


Different from most Hollywood “disaster movies” though, the anime leads to several different reflections.
The way some people react to dangerous situations, a very human side of some people to put every personal problem behind to help others (while some do the exact opposite), the relationship people create, the way society works and the barriers we build up around us.
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


Not to be unfair with Hollywood though, the way people sometimes can change and get together to overcome seemingly impossible obstacle at times of crisis was also the central idea on “The Day the Earth Stood Still”.
All in all, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is one of those animes with plots that can really make you rethink the way you live, your relationship with people around you, and how you see life as of now. And this is the one thing I admire the most on animes.

Hoping that with everthing I wrote, I convince some readers to watch it.
It’s one of those stories that shows how mature animes can be, and how despite all the people badmouthing the anime industry nowadays (mainly because of romantic and sometimes over the edge erotic stories that are popping up everywhere, or because they know nothing but kids adventure/comedy shows), truly good stories are still being made.

Source of images: Google Images! :P


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