An early Madhouse production before the studio rose to megastardom, this anime was one of the first animes to be produced and ultimately buried as 'better' things has taken up demand. It was considered a lost treasure when a fan unearthed their collection and found it. What followed was an arduous but professional restoration job. The original VHS material was damaged by age and un-use. As a result, the restored version as a 'foggy' and 'blunt' lined around the animation.
Started off as an experimental anime that uses novel animation styles (for that time period), Bobby's Girl is a very calm storyline, with a heavy gloom of bittersweet aura underneath it.
Akihiko "Bobby" Nomura is a 17 year old who does not care much for his education. He lives, breathes and sleeps on his blue motorcycle. His slacker attitude is his militant father's bane but he has a supporting younger sister who appreciates Bobby's passion for motorcycles.
Bobby ultimately decided to quit school and work several odd jobs including in a biker cafe frequented by professional riders, coincidentally named Bobby's Cafe. The cafe has on its display a magnificent antique black racer bike, which is probably the reason Bobby asked to work there. Bobby's father, furious at his decision, booted him out. His sister reports to him from time to time on what's happening at home.
A girl from a faraway Japanese district had seen pictures of Bobby of when he submitted his photos to a biker magazine, appearing to have fallen in love with him. She sent him a romantic and airy letter and the two began corresponding. While her letters are long and sweet, Bobby replies in short, straightforward replies. He does enjoy reading her letters but admitted to being awkward with her.
The girl confessed that she is lonely. Bobby asked that she calls him sometime and gave her his number. She arranges to call him on August 10th at 6.00pm, her birthday.
The manager and owner of the cafe saw Bobby's passion for motorcycle and brought him to his barnhouse that serves as a club of sorts for professional and retired bikers alike to hang out. Bobby appeared to have an epiphany. During the epiphany, he remembers that he had made arrangements to call the girl (today!) and raced back home. The ending sequence is a breathtaking pencil animation, an absolute visual treat.
A truck is seen coming from the opposite direction and Bobby was sent flying into the air.
The phone in his room rings at 6.00pm, with the audience knowing that Bobby would never be able to take that call.
The handful of reviews of this anime had called this anime a drivel; ordinary plot with extraordinary visualization; orgasmic animation sequence etc.
I think this story is fantastic. 40 minutes long but it perfectly captured the awkward teen melodrama, the 'floating' phase where a young person does not think about the direction in their lives and a lot of missed opportunities and unsaid feelings.
It was a truly bittersweet treat to watch this anime.
Highly recommended, just for the sake of taking a look into Madhouse's early production works: 9/10
Bobby (left) resembles Nicholas Brown (right) from GANGSTA a little too much. Secret love child? XD
No comments:
Post a Comment