Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re checking in on Kamiina and her liquor-loving dormmates, as we lounge our way through a fresh episode of Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk. When last we left off, the gang had just returned from a trip to Nagatoro, an excursion that let this production luxuriate in what it does best: offering scene-snippets and montages of young adults enjoying their freedom, and luxuriating in the incidental beauty of the world that these artists so capably bring to life.
For all that, I’m still feeling fairly ambivalent about this production so far. While I quite enjoy the focused outings like that Nagatoro trip, the show’s focus on liquor has so far failed to really add anything to the proceedings in either an aesthetic or dramatic sense. Watching other people get drunk simply isn’t particularly interesting, and beyond that, the show hasn’t really textured its characters enough to make their relationships dramatically compelling. Admittedly, part of this disconnect is simply that I’m less a fan of pure slice-of-life anime than most, but the ones I’ve enjoyed tend to have a little more immediate appeal, be it the intriguing worlds of Flying Witch and Girls’ Last Tour, or the engaging focus activities of Laid-Back Camp and K-On! Nonetheless, the show is so lovingly realized that it remains an easy watch regardless, so let’s see if our third episode finally seizes my attention!
Episode 3
We open on a handful of horror tonal signifiers, in the midst of a dark and stormy night at the dorm. Quick cuts timed to the crashes of thunder and lightning create a sense of disorientation, working to evoke the same sense of peril as if the storm were actually above us. The lightning also casts ambiguous shadows across the dorm room, inviting us to imagine threats lurking in the dark
Excellent loosely drawn Kamiina poses as she cowers with her stuffed shark
The drawings are incredibly loose in general for this one, making me think it might be a solo animator exercise. Lemme just… yep, this is a solo flex by new-gen animator Gin-san, who’s also contributed key animation to such modern animation feasts as Do It Yourself!!, Heike Story, ONIMAI, and Wonder Egg Priority. Seems like we’re in for something special!
Love how Gin-san conveys their wobbling mouths and loosely hanging hair. It feels like the unique styles of specific animators is getting a touch more fan recognition these days, with folks celebrating the distinct highlights of shows like One Piece or Jujutsu Kaisen. There’s something to be said for the aesthetic continuity of firm animation direction, but I think I’ll personally always prefer wild, distinctive flourishes, regardless of whether they undercut the illusion of a production being one stylistically stable world
Ibuki says there’s a waterbug in her room
Lots of unique directorial flourishes here too, like these typographic inserts announcing the water bug’s presence. Feels a little SHAFT-reminiscent, actually, which makes sense, as SHAFT’s directors have frequently employed typography or altered photography to make up for a lack of animation (a natural concern for anything so ostentatious and labor-intensive as a solo animator episode)
The characters shift to expressive superdeformed looks even in closeups. I imagine this episode turned some heads when it aired!
A distinctive staccato rhythm to these cuts. The direction is as memorable as the animation
God, this OP is just nostalgia in a can. One of the most effective tone-setters I’ve ever seen
The necessary compromises of a solo animator gig are clear as we return to the dorm, as we’re treated to long still pans and held shots that only involve minimal lip flaps. Nonetheless, the drawings themselves remain lively and distinctive
Apparently everyone else is away for Golden Week. Another convenient trick – having the solo animation spectacle be the episode where only two characters are present
Quite enjoying these frequent cuts to related on-screen typography or imagined flights of fancy. I suppose as a huge Monogatari fan, simply evoking the stylistic flourishes of SHAFT’s peak era productions makes me feel inherently nostalgic
Also like how their forms get looser to echo their excitement, as with Ibuki heading off to grab some liquor here
Ibuki decides a thunderstorm is apparently the best time to introduce Kamiina to absinthe
Oh my god, I love these accusatory cat eyes as Ibuki chastises Kamiina for doubting absinthe. Gin-san has a wonderful gift for personality-rich stills
“This feels like a brand-new trauma waiting to happen”
Unsurprisingly, Kamiina swiftly takes to absinthe as well. Gin-san’s style is very good for portraying these girls essentially melting into inebriation
The compositions prioritize emotionally charged empty spaces – the vast space behind Kamiina as she considers trying absinthe, the empty space beside the bed as Ibuki lies alone, lost in thought while Kamiina sleeps. An “unbalanced” composition like this naturally implies a sense of restlessness, of unspoken feelings billowing out beside or behind a character
Canted angles the next morning emphasize their rushed discombobulation as they head out of the dorm
God, the expressive looseness of their forms is so strong. This episode basically takes this production’s philosophy for handling those linework-free long shots and applies it to practically every character drawing
Yep, and there are those altered photography shots, effectively employed to replace a conversation’s worth of character drawings
And then a classic Yamada-style trick, following the characters’ legs to emphasize the differences in their physical self-expression
Akane returns home with new instruments and vinyl records, including what is obviously Radiohead’s Kid A. Our mangaka Hey continues to demonstrate superior aesthetic tastes in most things
Bunch of other classics too – Talking Heads, Aphex Twin, a couple Pink Floyd albums
It does not surprise me that Akane is an IPA enthusiast. Those pine-flavored beers are a goddamn menace in indie circles
I very much appreciate that we’re getting into more hobbies than just drinking, though. Introducing your aesthetically untouched roommates to Kid A is indeed a classic college ritual. I can vividly recall getting stoned with my freshman roommate and introducing them to the thunderous drop from Exit Music (For a Film)
“A bitter beer with forty times the hops compared to a normal lager.” That’s too many hops! The lager flavor is entirely buried!
Kamiina makes the Nyoron smoked cheese face when considering the bitterness of beer. And yes, I know that reference dates me terribly
Yeah, this episode’s doing a nice job of delving into the tactile satisfaction of using a traditional record player
Wonderfully loose-sketched pastel fantasies as the girls sink into the music. A terrific illustration of one of those rare, transcendent moments of sharing art together, and feeling united in its embrace. In Rainbows actually came out while I was in college, and I listened to it straight through in silence with the guys who introduced me to Okkervil River. Good memories
The aggressive cutting does a fine job of conveying motion without actual animation, making it still feel like the eye is being drawn across active drama
This episode’s limitations become clearest when it holds for a long pan on a character’s face; these distinctive expressions feel a bit stiff and unnatural when they’re held for longer than a quick cut
As always, Kamiina gets exceedingly forward when drunk, and swiftly invites Ibuki to a private hot spring
Ahaha, poor Gujo. We briefly cut to her wondering where Ibuki has gone, before jumping to a dramatic letterbox format for Ibuki’s big date with Kamiina. Sorry Gujo, Kamiina’s stealing your girl
Big fan of this sort of frog-faced Ibuki as she admires Kamiina. These loose drawings capture a lot of the raw energy of initial sketches, which often possess a personality or emotional impact that gets sanded out through corrections
This focus on close-up character acting feels like a necessary concession to this episode’s limited staff; there are very few layouts requiring full backgrounds here, a fact that becomes all the more apparent when the show heads outside while maintaining its closed-in boards
Fun layout isolating Kamiina’s surprised eyes after Ibuki wipes her cheek. Some of the boarding here reminds me of Masaomi Ando’s manga-reminiscent focus on frame-in-frame partial body shots, consistently directing the audience towards the points of charged contact shared by the characters
Pretty much constant examples of how “off-model” drawings can provoke distinct emotional effects, like how this Kamiina with her blunted nose and jaw presents a sense of trepidation at being asked a question
Tons of attention paid to Ibuki’s flowing hair as they reach their gorgeous ocean-view onsen. Last episode’s excursion was charming in its own right, but I’m feeling actively jealous of this one
Though Kamiina’s a bit more obvious about it, it’s clear that Ibuki also gets more social confidence after some sake, as she shifts from sighing at Kamiina’s jokes to making some of her own
Kamiina works up the courage to ask if she can call Ibuki by her name, a request that seems to strike Ibuki as disappointingly restrained
“Now it feels like something’s missing when I drink alone. It was never like this before.” A keen observation from Ibuki. The experiences that broaden our horizons can also steal old pleasures; the more happiness we find, the less we can feel satisfied with our insular habits
“I want to drink lots more with you, Botan.” The classic activity-based slice of life confession
And Done
Whew, what an episode that was! The base material here was a lot stronger than our previous episode, with both the initial thunderstorm and subsequent sauna outing providing opportunities for Kamiina and Ibuki to make a much clearer emotional connection than before. But of course, the real story of this episode was Gin-san’s triumphant solo animation, as he basically redefined the production’s visual aesthetic through his expressive character art and playful, energetic storyboarding. His work embodied anime’s capability to bring a single creative vision to life, offering a holism of aesthetic that made it a pleasure to follow the emotional turns of our dormmates’ latest adventure. Every solo-animated episode is a rare dive into an artist’s distinct sensibilities, and from his SHAFT-reminiscent boards to his evocative character acting flourishes, Gin-san has some fine sensibilities indeed!
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