Sat back down with some more of Musashi. The first episode was good, but I would have come back more for the subject matter than for the show itself. That, however, changed with episodes 2-7, which were quite excellent. My only real exposure to Miyamoto Musashi besides this(aside from him being mentioned a lot and some appearances as someone to match/try to beat) is the Vagabond manga. I'll get the novel one day, just let me finish recovering from Shogun.
Anyway, definately glad I committed myself to this, despite 49 hour long episodes....that's so scary...It's following the same general plotline as Vagabond(as they're based on the same book about the same real person...) but aside from the central characters and important plot points, they aren't alike, so I don't get any sort of "been there, done that" feeling from it. I particularly like Sasaki Kojiro's stoeyline...this character is a polar opposite from his Vagabond plotline. Even though I pretty much know how his story will end, I think it's the storyline that I'm the most interested in, so far.
I'm also enjoying Otsu getting to do a lot more...she doesn't really do much of anything after Takezo leaves them village until they meet at the Yagyu estate(they're about to meet...ep 7 ends with his hearing her playing the flute as he's sneaking in) but we see hewr throughout it all, here.
This is also a very pretty show. Not bright lights and airbrushing pretty...it looks like you might actually find places like this(well, if you lived 400 years ago) But...as it's pre-public transportation and running water, it's also rather dirty(grabs a brush and bar of soap and hauls Jotaro and Takazo off to the nearest river) but not in a bad or overwhelming way. It also has very pretty "historical epic" music, but not pretentiously so like so many others. The music is somewhat flute-centric, which suits it very well, not only because it creates the right mood, but because Otsu plays the flute. Also, at the very end, instead of end credits(they have all thhat at the beginning) they have a bare-bones single credits page that looks like an ink painting, then the bird on the branch in the painting flies away...I can't explain it well, but it's very pretty and very much suits the show.
One other thing I really like is that it does that multi-camera double take thing when some people encounter each other, such as when Kojiro and Oshina first see each other, or when Takezo and Otsu almost meet(that dolt--would it kill him to be like normal 18 year olds and notice when he rushes by a pretty girl? sheesh.) Those shots are normally a little too artsy, but like the rest of the show, it doesn't try to be flashy, so it works.
My only complaint is the fight scenes. While they're good, you can usually tell that the swords aren't actually connecting(but not always, and that's getting better)
I'm thinking "Shinsengumi" another Taiga(year long historical, by the same company) will be added to the backlog before long.
Anyway, my poor eyes can only handle so many subtitles, so it was necessary to break for something else, so I started "Orphen's Revenge" and I juat finished the first disc(will watch the second then get back to Musashi for another 7 eps) It's funny and enjoyable, but not nearly as good(so far) as the first series. There's no real plot yet(though a couple hints of the eventual plot, but it stands out as the plot started out strong in Orphen) and the music isn't as good. I wouldn't mind that much, but they added a new character, Lycorice, to the party, and she's like nails on a chalkboard to me so far. Still, it's fun enough so far.
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