Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. It’s a beautiful day today, as the last holdouts of the winter frost melt in the warm spring sun, and birds trill and respond across the budding bows of my neighborhood. I’ll likely be treating myself to a walk through the park later on, but for now, I’m eager to dig into the next best thing: a fresh episode of CITY The Animation, wherein all the manifold pleasures of urban living are celebrated with delirious enthusiasm.
Our last episode reveled in the interconnected vitality of all its players’ various adventures, highlighting the charming relationship between Tatewaku and the middle school duo, as well as the community-uniting power of our playwright’s admittedly confusing performances. But that’s the thing about giving back to the community; the precise nature of your contribution is far less important than simply getting out there, connecting with your neighbors and sharing your passions. CITY embodies a view of local society that feels desperately needed in our increasingly atomized world – between that noble ethos, its absurd aesthetic execution, and its regularly hysterical payoffs, it’s proven itself a much-needed comfort in these past months. Now let’s see what those fools are up to today!
Episode 9
We open by honing in on our local police box. Quite a nice effect used here for heat rising off the pavement – they’re employing outline-free colors with a certain degree of porous translucency that gets more pronounced as the colors “fade” at their edges, mimicking the effect of chalk lines being lightly applied over the composition
I frequently lament the death of practical effects like aluminum light shimmers in the age of digital animation, and am happy to see Kyoto Animation at least doing everything they can to find new aesthetic tools within the digital pallet. Don’t let the unconsidered assumptions of your medium limit your aesthetic horizons!
Ah excellent, it’s time for the city-wide race. Another ideal vehicle for bouncing these characters off each other, and also just emphasizing the joy of community-wide activities. I am as much of a homebody as you can get, but this show sure is tempting me to check out more community theater and other local events
Depth-rich compositions emphasize the sense of interconnected preparations for this event, before we return to the ambitious split screens of that preposterous fifth episode. The form evokes the theme – the more fully this community comes together, the more astonishing CITY’s articulation of their shared adventures becomes
An overhead view of the community accompanies our announcer’s explanation of the race route. I wonder how precisely they plotted out the geography of this downtown region? Knowing this team, I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole community is mapped
Apparently it’s a duo race, and you must pass through each checkpoint with your partner. A smart choice, offering a chance for friction or validation of the production’s many key duos
The audience can also pick who they think will win for a prize, another way to get every possible character involved
In classic CITY fashion, the race course is an insane array of potentially deadly obstacles
These big panning shots offer plenty of opportunities for micro-gags like Grandpa once again dying on the starting line. It’s an ambitious style of “shooting” that feels like something of a KyoAni tradition; rather than the economical strategy of framing layouts so as to avoid unnecessary motion, productions like K-On! and Sound! Euphonium actually embrace the challenge of including active background characters. That in turn brings a cinematic vitality to their scenes, wherein it feels like more is going on than you can process at once, much like in a good pre-Volume film
Incredible smears and distorted acrobatics as Nagumo and Granny both race back to find their partners, a sequence built on the inherently challenging concept of movement out of depth, as the camera pans backwards to keep them in frame. Fortunately, our intimate, low-angle positioning at their feet means at least the buildings remain stable relative to the frame
Tanabe is clearly living her best life, getting princess carried down the course by her crush Tatsuta
More excellent incidental use of prior side characters, as we see Soroban and her challenge floor neighbor manning the obstacles
Our playwright is sadly disqualified when his “partner” is revealed to be five animals in a bag
A nice energetic looseness to these lines as Niikura recalls the locket saga. That challenge to bet on the correct winner is already providing some convenient tethers between the racers and audience
Matsuri and Ecchan stun with their one shared braincell, each choosing “tin can stilts” as their instinctive response to the word “vehicle.” Bless those two
Their unity of thought carries us to Eri’s first arrival as a transfer student, wherein she greeted her classmates’ questions with a handy scroll of hieroglyphics detailing her hobbies and personal interests
Efficient and quietly heartbreaking visual storytelling here, as Eri’s eccentricities swiftly isolate her from her classmates, with only Matsuri appreciating her off-kilter thoughts. I wonder how autobiographical this sequence is
“Soon the junior high school student pair will cross the third checkpoint on tin can stilts, which they somehow had in their pockets.” A choice that embodies their friendship, their shared preference for the circuitous but fun choice over the normal, boring one
Love the variety of weird noises Tanabe makes in this flashback, as she learns of her upcoming pairing with Tatsuta
These regular breakdowns of the racers’ current rankings actually serve a similar purpose to episode five’s screen partitions, frequently detailing incidental side dramas that are taking place concurrently with our lead players. As expected, Granny is off menacing more innocent competitors
Niikura reflects on how different the triumphant Nagumo she once knew is from the current listless Nagumo. You don’t really get all those chances for easy, carefree glory that characterized high school once you enter the real world; you have to carve out your own purpose, and commit to long-term goals that might seem a bit beyond Nagumo’s attention span
Fortunately, this race is just sort of the situation where Nagumo shines. Nice foreshortening effect as Niikura stares up at the determined Nagumo, emphasizing her larger-than-life stature in moments like these
“What Nagumo is missing now… a goal!” Yep. She excels with clear directions, but flounders without a challenge to face
Our announcer completes the gag offered by the last check-in, mentioning how the Quiz King’s pair got knocked off by Granny while no one was watching
Meanwhile, Wako and the manga pair are haggling over autographs and serialization
As usual, these full-color backgrounds make transitions to CG easy, facilitating flourishes like this rapid camera spin between the three speakers
Another nice incidental gag hidden in the next rankings update, as we see Eri and Matsuri have decided to adopt the labyrinth’s purple monster
Suddenly Grandpa’s hover scooter carries his team right into the lead! Also the playwright crew are now celebrating for some reason, hard to tell without a camera over there
With a thousand spectators now joining the race, Nagumo has lost her motivation, prompting Niikura to again fear the death of her treasured perception of Nagumo. Surprised but pleased to see this story digging into the anxiety at the heart of their relationship, as they each face the onset of adulthood with whatever grace they can, and each attempt to hold onto sources of comfort from their adolescent lives. A sympathetic contradiction in Niikura’s feelings – in seeking security as she navigates this new era, she’s craving the constancy of Nagumo’s adolescent self, even as Nagumo grapples with the same questions of adulthood and identity
As with the soccer team sequence, Niikura’s exuberantly animated tantrums are always fun
Aw shit, here’s the flex sequence. Against all rules of animation economy, we are then treated to a stupendous sequence with a continuously moving camera, spinning over and past all of the contestants in order. What a remarkable sense of voluminous space! What a sturdy combination of grounded physical acting and comic exaggeration! This show is absurd
Thus Matsuri and Eri take the win, aided by the unexpected sabotage of Wako
And Done
So ends the fourth annual CITY race, with our junior high school duo taking home the grand prize! Honestly, their final resolution to spend the money visiting each other was likely the best outcome for that prize in the first place, especially given how sloth-like Nagumo tends to get when she’s not directly motivated. As expected, CITY’s second ensemble episode was another visual stunner, impressing through its dynamic storyboarding and absurd crowd shots even before it pulled off that ridiculous finale cut. And beyond that, I’m excited to see us digging into the fault lines of Niikura and Nagumo’s relationship; Nichijou was able to really cut at the heartstrings when it wanted to, and I imagine this thread will eventually lead us somewhere equally life-affirming. Both through its charming drama and glorious execution, CITY continues to delight!
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