Cinnamon Ass - Reborn Like a Zombie

Zettai Shounen Episode 4 - The Shrine of Trees Into Which the Light Beckons

Is there anything actually to recap in this episode at all? There was lots of talking, and it seemed to be about Wakkun, but I'll be blown if I can really remember much of it and I only really paid much attention at the end, when Ayumu meets up with Wakkun again but leaves things almost exactly as they were in the first episode. Sure, the conversations were vaguely interesting, but they didn't reveal much we couldn't have already guessed from the first episode about relationship dynamics (plus I'm going against the flow and saying that Miku really, REALLY annoys me).

I'm on a bit of a downer with regards to Zettai Shounen, you may have gathered from above. It's a plot-and-character driven show, but the plot is barely moving anywhere and the characters aren't really all that different from when they started; admittedly it's only the fourth episode, but I'm sure it should have gone SOMEWHERE by now, right? Since it's such a stretch for me to say anything more than what Matthew has, and I'm rather pressed for time, I think I'll probably stop blogging Zettai Shounen if it doesn't pick up with the next episode, to be honest.

Zettai Shounen Episode 3 - The Arrival of the Distinguished Announcer

A reporter, Akira Sukawara, comes to Emerald Land and the environs to invesitgate ghost sightings. She interviews all the kids, but is getting nowhere, although she guesses that Ayumu is hiding something. A chance detail in a photograph leads her back to Ayumu, but he reveals nothing - he knows nothing, really, so he arranges to meet up with Miku to find out what he's forgotten. Meanwhile, Akira heads into Emerald Land to try and catch the ghost, but finds something else instead...

Well, a whole load of nothing really happened in this episode, but it was a compelling nothing nevertheless. I can't help but want things to get moving a little faster, but I assume that Akira will at least be a vaguely important character - I have to say that I'm more interested in Ayumu and, oddly enough, Shione, but overall the cast is developing quite nicely thanks to all the talking they do!

Zettai Shounen Episode 2 - The Tsukuyomi Observatory and Okakababa

Hmmm, more cryptic rambling here, I'll do my best to summarise a bit.

Ryousuke continues to search for Okakababa, who keeps evading him - although Ayumu nearly gets a photo of her, and Miki keeps seeing her. Ayumu properly meets Shione (the depressed looking girl with the phone from last time) and makes friends with her, but it appears she has some kind of scary stalker thing going on with a friend of Ryousuke's named Takuma. Finally, he meets up with Miku, who reminds him that he's seen fairies like Wakkun before when he was much younger, or summat like that.

Blimey, Zettai Shounen's a bit weird. It's filled with lots of conversations where there's always something that's not quite explained - Miku's unnatural intelligence, all the cryptically apocalyptic stuff that old bloke at the observatory keeps waffling on about and the fairies themselves makes it all very confusing. I like confusing, though, although the show is pretty tough to follow given that it's quite static and dialogue-heavy. The art direction continues to impress, though, and it helps that the music is pretty decent as it fills the various protracted silences fairly well. My main problem is that I keep thinking of Shooting Stars every time I try and type Okakababa, and almost type OKAKAKAKAKA! or something like that (trust me, if you've seen Shooting Stars you'll understand. Vaguely.)

I'm really having quite a bumper season of shows I like it seems - chalk up another one for me to keep following...

Zettai Shounen (Absolute Boy) Episode 1 - The Depressed Start of a Strange Summer

OP - Hikari no Silhouette (CooRie) - none of CooRie's stuff has ever quite measured up to Nagareboshi from Narue no Sekai for me,but it's still a nice enough song. I LOVE the OP animation though, it's really surreal and has an almost "cel shaded" look with thick black lines everywhere.
ED - Shounen Humming (Masumi Ito) - Masumi Ito's voice (Scrapped Princess ED, Haibane Renmei ED) is one of those that is sometimes great and sometimes a bit obnoxious, but the song is really nice here. The animation is again a little surreal, but the poor CG spoils it a tad.

Ayumu goes to stay with his estranged dad, the local vet, for the summer. Everything is slightly odd - flowers are in bloom out of season, there's an babbling old man with a dog he dresses in a pinafore and straw boater, and Ayumu sees strange lights in the air. In fact, everyone seems slightly odd. Things only get weirder when Ayumu encounters a mysteriously dressed young boy apparently named Wakkun in a forest, who wants to play with Ayumu - after more of the strange lights appear around them Ayumu agrees, but then finds the boy gone - and a small spaceship flies into the sky...

What an odd little show! Read Matthew's entry for the full synopsis given that I've missed out rather a lot of detail, but Zettai Shounen seems to have an awful lot going on - there's a great deal of mystery about not only Wakkun, but all the human characters as well. The show's "washed out" look really suits not only the hazy summer atmosphere but also Ayumu's reticent, vaguely downbeat attitude.

The first episode is a little slow - a lot of talking and cycling around! - but nevertheless it's a compelling watch, and I'm suitably impressed with Zettai Shounen for now to see how it continues (adding yet ANOTHER series to my watching roster...)