Using the word ‘perfection’ is probably my practically saying ‘my vocabulary sucks’, however it’s the best way I can think for this arguement to make sense, and besides, I see it in what i speak of.
There are shows that I consider perfect, but not because of how great the show is or how much I like it. In fact, my alltime favorite anime could not be called ‘perfect’. However, I think there are definitely anime that are perfect and others that are brilliant.
The reason I came to this conclusion is that among my favorite anime, there are episodes that I don’t like, or parts that I would change or remove. The best example would be my alltime favorite anime, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I’ll admit, this show had some problems. Episode 4 was lame, 5 was more boring, there was a lot of stalling in the story progression, however, in the end the good far far far outweighs the bad and it ends up as probably the greatest anime evar. This rings true for a lot of my favoites – Haruhi (we all know chronological 14 was lame) NHK (didn’t like the pacing around the late teen episodes) and NGE (some eps are just boring >_>) however, all of them are brilliant in their own right.
So what makes an anime perfect? In my eyes, a perfect anime is one that utilizes every episode and every moment as a part of the whole, and without any single scene the series’ value would decrease, or something vital to the show would be gone. And yeas, shows like this exist. most recently, and in my favorite case, there’s Baccano. This is a show that uses every single minute of it’s running time to it’s advantage, and every detail is important. If I were to remove, say, the fourth episode, the entire thing would be ruined. If I took out any scene, one of the plotlines would be destroyed. And thusly, when I consider why I love Baccano, I don’t think only of all the great mometns in the series, but the entire whole of the series.
The only other show I’ve seen with this quality is Serial Experiments Lain, though I’m sure some would debate the trueness of that statement with me, hehe. I also think that the original Boogiepop novel carries this quality, though that’s escaping the realm of anime.
I can’t help but love to see this perfection in anime, though it could also just be because the 2 I’ve found it in are my kind of show, lol, but all in all I’d love to see more anime like this who don’t waste a single ounce of time. (if anyone knows anything else like this, please tell me)
Perfection in general, I think, is impossible to attain (after all, if there was such a thing as a perfect work, it would appeal to everyone on the planet equally); but perfection in a more specific sense, such as being perfect for one person, is certainly attainable. Baccano! wasn’t 100% perfect for me, but I certainly loved it in a way which I didn’t expect to love it, and loved it very, very much. But that’s just because perfection is practically impossible to get right, even with specifics, but there’ll always be that one work that gets you in a certain way.
You talked about the Boogiepop novel, but have you seen the anime? Not a moment is wasted in that if I recall, and the way it jumps around to different chronological times is very similar to Baccano! (except more confusing).
I almost said the boogiepop anime, but the thing is, the individual character sotories aren’t 100% necessary. It’s a combination of standalone and complexity unlike Baccano which is just plain complexity. In that facet, the Boogiepop anime looses, and that’s also why I love the book way moer than the show, because the book places importance on every detail.
[...] to Gurren-Lagann. It’s a class act, not perfect, but brilliant, a product of wit and verve, and greater than the sum of its parts. Its theme was pretty inspiring, [...]
Baccano, I think, is an acquired taste. It’s either you’ll love it or hate it.
I don’t think I can easily respect someone who hates baccano XD
Brilliance does something very well; perfection does something well, but more importantly, does nothing badly.
[...] is perfect, the insert song is perfect. Am I just saying it’s perfect, because I lack the ability to describe it more appropriately? Yeah, probably. But I’m just simply astounded at how great, how [...]