Japan Sinks 2020 - An anime about "earthquakes" that start to happen in an uncontrolled way, and can sink Japan, in this dangerous scenario, we accompany a family that so much finds a way to survive in the face of all this chaos.
The first thing worth mentioning about "Japan Sinks 2020" is how earthquakes are not the main focus of the anime. The notable presence is in the huge variety of subjects discussed all the time about JAPAN. If you came expecting an anime "about natural disasters" you were probably disappointed, but this is not the anime's fault, it's about the expectation created about the ... genre. Yes, it is an anime about natural disasters, and the events have consequences, but they serve more as an ornament for the central events of the anime, so much so that the first earthquake happens very quickly (of course, with your degree of concern, put it’s still an earthquake), but throughout the series, what’s really worth noting is how the main characters fit into the allegory that the anime builds.
It already begins VERY characteristic when we see both a different hue coming from the central characters, the design as a whole that tends to stand out from the vast majority, nothing has been chosen here. This is all going to be related to the 2020 Olympics that would happen this year, but later on I will get to that. The form and decisions made by the characters are somewhat doubtful, the anime almost always manages to surprise by anticipating the thoughts of the viewer. For example, (Spoiler) the character Kouichirou (Father of the family) who gives the impression that he can be killed by a wild boar, and it does not happen, only to then die by a mine / bomb buried in the ground. This anime at all times shows tiny choices, which can always have big consequences, and this is the anime's way of holding us until the end of the series. Already a feature that differentiates it from other animes in this regard, but that does not mean that because it is different, it is good, it could go very wrong, if the anime did not also focus on the visual factor of the world that it created, that if it does in real life, but with its own established rules. The destruction events are very random and with huge consequences, just like the decisions made by the characters, so everything is very connected, and yes, everything works right from what was established.
Masaaki Yuasa's direction, as always incredible, decides to give a greater brightness to the space where his events occur, and not so much in his characters. Here, different from other of his animations, he focuses more on the amplitude of his scenarios, which besides being very beautiful and detailed, are also frightening and distressing due to the representation of disaster so well achieved. The way the anime is framed reminds me a little "Tokyo Magnitude 8.0", that we also have its simplest characters and maybe less animated than it should, but it also focuses on the immensity of the destruction, it creates this real feeling very well that we are in that medium, and tries as hard as possible to represent the situation passed by the characters. But like everything else I said, about anime creating its own reality to talk about its main subject, which is not natural disasters, this is also reflected in scenarios and animation. The scenarios are real, but it is a reality within Japan Sinks 2020, it is not meant to be a situation of almost 100% real destruction as in Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, the goal is to help further illustrate events and decisions made by the characters, and the consequences of their acts that are often extreme.
This would be the year of the Olympics if it weren't for the pandemic problem, and the anime was originally scheduled to be released in October, even closer to the event. We know that an Olympics brings together different people from all over the world, people of different skin, religions, beliefs and everything that our world can provide with differences. Usually, people who do not live in their country of origin tend to create very vague judgments about that place that does not live together, and a lot of anime may reinforce this stereotype, but "Japan Sinks 2020" does it differently. Firstly, showing problems that are not widely discussed in other countries, but that actually exist anywhere in the world, as generous actions that are also not very expected, sometimes even cause distrust, showing foreigners in a strange and sometimes strange way. different, but reliable, friendly and heroic too. At all times we can see the anime breaking some stereotypes and using them in its allegory.
The goal is to try to generate a concept very close to: "we are not just what the media shows, or how our image is sold, we have the same problems and quality as you and yet we have our culture". The anime shows a little resistance all the time of the older and more conservative there are people from other countries. The whole world would meet in the country this year, so this is perhaps an anime more aimed at the "Japanese" audience, both foreign characters and other naturalized Japanese but of mixed races tend to be generous with others, and sometimes the opposite too. (Spoiler) The old man at the convenience store who hates foreigners, spectacular scene from Episode 9 where they rhyme and the last minutes of the Final Episode are almost like a "summary" that kind of helps to understand a little of this problematic created by anime in a genius way. That's why I said at the beginning of the review that the earthquake is not the main focus of the series, but what it does between the lines that is so great.
"Japan Sinks 2020" is an anime with such important moral importance, and above all, making total sense within the world established by itself where it manages to reach its social criticism very well.
Alternative Titles Japanese: 日本沈没2020 Information Type: ONA Episodes: 10 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Jul 9, 2020 Producers: None found, add some Licensors: None found, add some Studios: Science SARU Source: Novel Duration: 25 min. per ep. Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity) Statistics Score: 6.451 (scored by 84,405 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #74672 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1545 Members: 149,003 Favorites: 421 Available AtResources |
|