So, I hope everyone’s rushing to the local bookstores at the crack of dawn on March 25th to buy the light novel!
I finally, after some ill-deserved neglect, finished Shinigami no Ballad. (Yes, it took me months to watch six episodes. Yes, you may call me a turtle, since that’s what the T stands for anyway) And yes, it was a grand series. It’s very simple in format, actually; every episode revolves around a lost loved one of some kind. In the anime, the only episode where a character actually dies is the first one. In the other episodes, the deceased has already died, and Momo is merely there shepherding their loved ones with messages and kindness. Yes, kindness. Yes, Momo is a shinigami. Yes, she is crying in the screencap there.
The stories are less “serious” than those of Shigofumi, which deals with the theme of death in a much more searching, philosophical bent (and also with more guns). What it is good at, though, is portraying that even in grief, there is hope. You may not actually have a sympathetic (and rather cute) shinigami girl visit you to cure you of your sorrow, and things that have troubled you since the passing of your loved one, but the message is clear in every episode: death is final, yet life moves on, and grief turns to hope. There’s also great episodes like the second one, where Momo “shocks” the lead character into confessing to the girl he loves and thereby improving his life, despite not actually dying in the end (the lesson learned in this episode is “life is short, but it’s what you make of it that counts” or “carpe diem” or something like that, I’m bad with these things). Every episode leaves warm fuzzies inside–maybe not overwhelming warm fuzzies, but they are there, and they are most certainly warm and fuzzy.
It’s the counterpart, therefore, to Shigofumi’s brooding nature: it’s not necessary the worse the wear for not having deep and profound truths on the nature of death, as sometimes simple messages are the ones that get across best. Personally, I can’t wait for the novel to get released here (I am meeting frustration in preordering it, however, as my local bookstore, which I fervently support, due to being local and cool and all, seems to have no idea that the book is even going to exist at some point in the future. Alas), as I’ve wanted to see how the novel stands up. I have heard nothing but positive acclaim for it, so my hopes are moderately high, but judging from the anime, I won’t be disappointed. And, yes, you should buy the book. Because you want to see more books that “read like anime,” don’t you?
Anime wa Bakuhatsu da! 