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Oct 19 2005

Categories: anime, general review
Tagged: yokohama-kaidashi-kikou

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I was shopping for a new digital camera when I started thinking of the original Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou OVA. Originally released in 1998, the OVA came before the proliferation of digital cameras and before the advent of digital fansubbing. For people not familiar with YKK, it pretty much defines the slice-of-life genre. The original (and on-going) manga is about Alpha, an android who runs a coffee shop sometime in the future. Some undisclosed event has led the Earth to become slowly uninhabitable, and most land is now flooded, but the story only alludes to these points forcing the reader to piece the totality together. Rather than raging against the dying of the light, humanity accepts this fate and refers to this time as the twilight age of mankind.

The stories mostly deal with Alpha and her coffee shop, even though she admits that she “drinks about 80% of the coffee made.” There’s no real plot, not a lot of dialogue or action, and a lot of scenary to appreciate. The OVA is geared to people who have previously read and enjoyed the manga. It is a fantastic translation from manga to anime; one of the best that I’ve seen. The OVA is an hour long and broken up into 2 “episodes,” when, in reality, it is more like five mini-stories and two music videos that span an hour. Of course, what does a seven-year-old OVA series have to do with me buying a digital camera?

In the first segment, Alpha receives a package from “owner,” and it turns out to be a new fangled camera. The camera is fairly modern in that it doesn’t use film but instead little cubes that can store about 300 photos on a single cube. She can then review the pictures by plugging a wire into her “USB” port (no, it’s not the same location as Chii’s or Hand Maid May’s). It just got me thinking that her camera is a fairly good representation of digital cameras today. The cubes are no different than a CompactFlash or SD memory card, and with a 5MP camera with a 512MB card, that’s about 200-300 pictures on a card. And, of course, a modern camera can transfer the photos to a computer using an USB cord. YKK is pretty prophetic in that sense, and I liked how Alpha mulls over taking photos because she might run out of cube space. (She worries too much. ^^) Worrying about space is a very pre-2000 concept… nowadays it’s more of a “will I ever look at these pictures again?”.

The second ministory involves Alpha going around trying to figure out what to take pictures of. For me, taking the picture is more fun than viewing it afterwards, and I think Alpha’s the same in that respect. Though, with my digital, I snap away, which is the complete opposite of Alpha. The third is about Alpha getting struck by lightening and getting taken to the hospital. The fourth follows Alpha’s day, and it takes her one whole day to make one pot of coffee… which never gets drunk. The 2005 equivalent would probably be if they made an episode of Shakugan no Shana where Shana eats a melon bread for 24 minutes. (I’d watch it!) The last segment has Alpha looking at the lights at night from a flooded city. Sadly, as we know from the images from New Orleans, if a city gets flooded, the streetlights aren’t going to work.

Oddly, even though it has been awhile since I originally watched this series, I remembered Alpha’s camera, and it shows that anime just needs good storytelling to be memorable. The little joys of everyday life are maybe some of the most marvelous.