Michiko & Hatchin - General Discussion

[Iguessnot]

Anti-climatic ending. It was not believable that Michiko didn't get shot. They never should have written the scenes that way. We finally meet Hiroshi and he's just nothing. Every character in this anime had more substance than him, but this "holy grail" was nothing and it wasn't even a hoax on his part.

 

The matching tattoos were never addressed. Michiko told the foster mother, that she was her mother, but the rest of the anime ignored the comment and gave no clue to their relationship. So what was the point of the speculation?

[Lantern7]

Saw the finale today. Didn't feel like a waste of 22 weeks, but I can see how it could be underwhelming.

 

So Michiko isn't Hatchin's mother? Then why did Hatchin uproot herself and her rambunctious son to meet her?

 

Good anime. I think you'd have to be in tune with Brazil to really "feel" it. Interesting that Samurai Champloo is replacing it in the Toonami lineup, since the ongoing plot also involves finding somebody who's hard to track.

 

ETA: I liked Adult Hatchin. It felt like the end of Moral Orel, where a kid growing up with all sorts of bullshit in life grows up to be well-adjusted.

[lathspel]

The end was sweet, but now I'm worried about that little kid. Can Hana manage to mother both of them?

[weyrbunny]

Oops...lost track of when this ended on Toonami. Here are my thoughts on the finale:

 

We finally meet Hiroshi and he's just nothing. Every character in this anime had more substance than him, but this "holy grail" was nothing and it wasn't even a hoax on his part.

Hiroshi being a waste of time and a loser was the story's point, IMO. The whole series was ultimately about Michiko and Hatchin letting go of various idealizations of lovers and fathers and making their own, new family. If you look back at the examples of parent-child relationships within the show, most are variations on that theme. And I dislike a lot of the show's examples of love--because they're misogynistic or abusive or a child in love with an adult or something else creepy--but they're significant because they teach Hatchin about relationships, about emotional resilience and surviving heartache. They're preparing her for being the single parent in the coda.

 

A coda about a single mom is really interesting, because it's progressive and different for anime, I think. It's a lot more interesting than a lot of the subplots in Michiko & Hatchin, too. If only the show hadn't wasted time being repetitive or meanderingly paced--not enough story for 22 episodes, really--and had instead shown us more of Hatchin's later life.

 

Like Gungrave. Gungrave was about two friends growing up and how relationships change and are destroyed. (And also zombie mutants or something--yeah, it's anime.) It's realism and exploration of relationships were really good, though, and the coda here instantly reminded me of its quality.

 

I just realized: Michiko & Hatchin might be the first josei anime I've ever watched. I look forward to seeing more.

 

ETA: Kids on the Slope is josei, actually. So this isn't the first after all.

Edited January 2, 2016 by weyrbunny

[Sandman87]

Yeah, I figured it was one of those "it's the journey, not the destination" deals. Too bad that the journey wasn't all that interesting.

 

 

(And also zombie mutants or something--yeah, it's anime.)

It's kind of like The Godfather, but with a rampaging tragic Frankenstein Monster who's toting Big Guns, and a bunch of genetically engineered tentacle-monster abomination mobsters.

[weyrbunny]

Well, sure, if you want to make it seem all classy...genetically engineered tentacle-monster abomination mobsters are much better. Heh.

[lathspel]

It's strange to say that a show with so much crazy

stuff in it was a little light in the story department, but I agree. Seems like the effort went into the car chases and shootouts, but the people remained two dimensional almost until the end. It was an OK show but probably wouldn't rewatch.