Great Passage 6
Ughhh. Maybe im being spoiled by the good character writing/moments in Poco's Udon World but all my frustrations with this show came to boil in this episode.
For a show that is paraded as being mature, do the characters in this really have much depth or isn't the writing awfully simplistic? I guess that came work but i don't find anything in the show with greater depth than any throwaway shounen show. I think im guilty of being more lenient with the show and holding it to a different standard for some reason earlier on. Characters generally have their one or two character tropes that they've stayed pretty close to so far. Ive already been pretty clear that i don't like Majime's character. It is a bit too "precious" and twee for my liking and everyone around him is too accommodating or accepting of it, just seems completely at odds with the more adult cast.
I suppose the thing i still like the most is the actual subject matter. Anything can be interesting if presented right. Even though the way it's presented never fails to make me laugh. Every time the old guy makes some sage proclamation about dictionary writing being a "chosen calling" and "its the most important thing in your life" i can't take it seriously at all. And I know Nishioka sort of counterbalances that because he just sees it as a boring job like any other but it can be tough to swallow.
The romance angle. Eh im happy they didn't needlessly drag it out. But it was pretty flat and unconvincing, These two have talked together on-screen what...twice, three times? And now they're in love. Now I'm a big sucker for sappy romance stories but even i know even by "love at first sight rules" that's a lightning quick turnaround. I think i would accept their weird, bumbling courtship if they were supposed to be 15 or 16 but fuck are they not 25 or something? Sure you get shy, awkward people at any age irl but i thought it was a bit nonsense the whole thing. The granny trying to set them up was pretty cringe too.
My biggest problem is probably; what's the aim of the show? Just in general. Is it a character driven show about Majime learning to express himself? Id accept that but those aspects encompass a very small part so far. And even then it can be a bit heavy handed (lol literally drowning in words, really?). But its not really a plot driven show either. At least I don't think so. Now I don't need millions of things to be happening, i appreciate a nice, sedate pace. But i was thinking of the obstacles people encounter in this show and how they are almost always immediately overcome. They have to write a new dictionary. they find the perfect person. They need to convince the head office for funding. They get it. They need to edit this other dictionary. They do it. There's no real drive or urgency about anything, it feels like obstacles for the sake of having them. The only one so far that has had any weight was Nishioka being transferred, which tbf looks like they will focus on the impact that will have. In conclusion i don't know what the shows going for really(lol jesus i hope the romance isn't going to turn out to be the show driving force anyway because that is a sure fire death sentence).
And the unfairest criticism in the world because they have completely different contexts but i keep comparing this to Rakugo and they're just on two different levels. Now i know the similarities are pretty superficial but think how rich the characters were in Rakugo at this point and how many factors were at play. And overall i still like Great Passage quite a bit, but i can't pretend i find anything compelling about it either. For instance if this was a Western TV show, id be immediately discarded onto the pile of forgettable whatevers that come out every year. Just because it's "different from most anime" dosen't mean it dosen't suffer from similar shoddy writing that most of them have at least imo.
That was nice long rant.
