Ben-To

Bento: noun, a japanese style packed lunch.
    Ben-To is a Japanese anime about food fights, and I am not talking about throwing food. What I am talking about is: all-out brawls over food. The story starts when one night Yo Sato gets immediately beaten to a pulp while reaching for a half priced bento. Apparently the blow he received to the head numbed his memory because the next day he runs into Hana Oshiroi, unfortunately he doesn't get much information out of her because she is preoccupied with fantasies she uses for her "hobby" (if you're smart you won't research this too deeply). When he arrives for his first day of school he sees a girl who warns him to not go to the supermarket again. He of course goes and gets beaten up again and blacks out, but regains his memories of the previous night. When he wakes up an employee tells Yo that on a nightly basis people fight over the half priced bento. That night he goes back again, and actually puts up  a decent fight before everyone is annihilated by the the girl he met earlier. She is now revealed to be "the Ice Witch", who is strong and infamous for her fighting skill. After the fight she offers to train Yo, so he can get the half-priced prize.
    Overall I liked this series because of it's action and comedy. As for action: it was well paced, and was well choreographed. As for comedy: there was of course the running gag that they were all fighting over food, and that Hana's hobby was let's just say a little strange. The ending also tackled the issue of inequality amongst the brawlers, this is when an incredibly skilled team shows up and completely decimates everyone. A nemesis of theirs comes to stop them by attempting to reach an agreement where the team gets to take any bento they want, but may not participate in the fight. Thus denying them of the challenge they desire. Yo then shows up, and brings everyone to their senses and starts the brawl (the exact opposite of what the nemesis wants). This is by far one of the sillier series I have watched, and it is by far the most satisfying for it's humor and action.

Yo: Left, Hana: Right, Bento: Bottom

Real Bento (You can get hungry just looking at this)

   

When Marnie Was There

    Of all the things I could have blogged about today, I am happy that I decided to blog about this movie. When Marnie Was There is a Japanese animated film produced by Studio Ghibli, and based on the novel When Marnie Was There written by Joan G. Robinson. As per usual of a film produced by Studio Ghibli, the animation is amazing. The animation is the style used in every Ghibli movie (relatively simple yet expressive character design, and extremely detailed background). I could babble on forever about how much I love the animation, but then I would never get to the truly amazing part - the story.
    The story centers around Anna Sasaki, and what happens to her one summer. One day Anna suffers an asthma attack at school, so her foster parents decide to send her to their relatives in Kushiro, a rural, seaside town where there is clean air. Anna see's an old mansion that is overgrown, and strangely familiar. She goes to investigate, and gets trapped by the rising tide. Thankfully she is rescued by an old fisherman. On the way back to the opposite shore she glimpses the mansion as new and well-lit. Later that day, her relatives tell her it used to be a vacation home for some foreigners, but they have long been gone. That night, and other nights, she has dreams about a mysterious blonde girl in the window of the mansion. Later after a festival at which she was rude to a girl, Anna finds a rowboat and rows to the mansion, where she meets Marnie, the blonde girl in the window. I should probably tell you that up until this point Anna has been unhappy and a bit antisocial, however as she and Marnie become friends she begins to become happy - much like Marnie when they first meet. As time goes on it is revealed that Marnie is just a figment of Anna's imagination, until she meets Sayaka, who is moving into the mansion. Sayaka originally identifies Anna as Marnie because of a diary found in the house that belonged to a girl named Marnie. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it already, so I'll just say that Anna eventually becomes happy and social, and even learns a bit of her family history.
    I really have to applaud Ghibli for making a movie of this caliber. This movie was wonderful in the way it illustrated how friendship can make such a difference in one's life. The way in which the story was laid out and executed was perfect. The voice acting was also very good. I am usually unfazed by stories which try to convey complex feelings, but they did such a great job that they even got through to me. Overall I think that they did a great job on this movie. It told a great story in a perfect way, and got it's point across perfectly clear.

From left to right: Anna, Marnie