Sparrow's Hotel (2013)

From https://ic.pics.livejournal.com/rotten_k/28560669/
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Director: Tetsuji Nakamura

Based on a manga by Yuka Santō

(Voice) Cast: Daisuke Kishio as Misono-kun; Haruka Nagashima as Tamaki Shiokawa; Minori Chihara as Sayuri Satō; Asuka Yūki as Yū Kojō; Shūta Morishima as Sakai

A Cinema of the Abstract/1000 Anime Crossover

[Sometimes, due to the fact I have two blogs, one of which also covers anime, i tend to miss the chance to cover some curiosities in the medium unless I deliberately post reviews on both. Here is an example of an older review for that blog, which you can see for yourself HERE, that I have re-reviewed for both this and that one. If anything this show's premise, a hotel management comedy where episodes are only three minutes long with a drastic animation shift halfway through, was odd enough for this blog too]

First thoughts? 480p resolution, as this particularly obscure anime oddity, three minutes per episode over twelve of them, is notorious for those who know of it for its aesthetic appearance and/or the highest quality you could screen it on an anime streaming site Crunchyroll. This gets weirder as that's only the first six episodes where that aesthetic is there, one of the many peculiarities of the kind of title you'd never have gotten a release of in the West were it not for streaming, a feature of modern entertainment which has allowed, in the ability now to have anime stream soon after its premieres on Japanese television, a similar premiere online for the West. (That, hey, it probably costs less to just license than to produce DVDs for, that also meant titles of a greater variety like Sparrow's Hotel can be made available) Considering how esoteric the subject matter is, the day-to-day management of a hotel, it certainly feels odd though that is tempered by aspects of the production. The first is that it's actually an adaptation of a "4-koma" manga, which are normally gag comic strips which have pages divided up by four panels. It's not that different from a Western comic strip in structure, just to give you an idea. The other is that it happens to be a hotel that hired a beauty buxom female employee, one named Sayuri Satō who happens to also have commando combat skills and assassination abilities. But still, pretty strange especially to someone used to the better known anime titles that crossed into the mainstream.

Some have speculated this is a parody of nineties straight-to-video animation, which had a history of high quality work, when it became an industry by the mid-eighties onwards to its down spell in the 2000s, but could also scrape the bottom of the barrel. I question this, having seen many bizarre anime premises especially in these "micro-series", and with knowledge that a lot of them use a lot of low-fi and frankly crude animation, sometimes for deliberate effect but some others clearly what was available. I wouldn't be surprised that this was a sincere production that, as I'll get into, was always meant to be a sex comedy/hotel hijinks show, where one of the jokes is a smaller female character smashing her face into Satō's giant bust as if that's a new concept, but had a major change of guard or how the episodes were being made halfway through.

Start with the first episode and the show's at least an experience, as whilst the second calms down and sets the pace, the first is (at merely three minutes including beginning credits) quick, hectic as it gallops along without pausing for breath as it introduces Satō, the carefree and sweet lass who is also the ultimate killing machine in the body of a voluptuous ditzy Venus, Tamaki Shiokawa the diminutive female manager, Shiokawa her older brother who is her superior and has a creepy incestuous fixation she is disturbed by, and bellboy Misono who is at first the meek, glasses wearing male employee but has a dark despondent side. It's a chaotic mess of a pilot, but the show in general is a series of vignettes which plays off those character traits. Whether they are actually any good is to question as the show never transitions further from just its surface. Yes, it is a curious subplot about Tamaki being freaked out by her older brother's advances (cough), and whilst even played out of humour that's a transgressive plot line to have, it never thankfully crosses into poor taste. Really, the only character who gets a lot of coverage is Satō, the figure on the manga covers who is significantly voiced by Minori Chihara, a singer who just happens to also play a side character, but still one of the main voice cast, of the huge franchise The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya before Sparrow's Hotel.

It doesn't try to hide Satō as a figure of cheesecake fan service. She openly declares, creating the second episode title, that her best assists are her breasts and assassination skills to Tamaki, which leads to a dichotomy that is reoccurring in anime of voluptuous female characters who are nonetheless insanely powerful and/or violent. Is it demeaning or empowering to have these kinds of female characters who are very sexual but strong? It frankly comes off as a kink at times and there are definitely times where it is just a failure and proves sexist when the material's dreadful. Yet there is also the double standard danger of the stereotypical picture of femininity being negative being itself an insult, really the bigger concern with these kinds of characters is whether they are just for sex appeal or if they're going to have some emotion or characterisation to them. Even the case of Satō being very simple and at times naive isn't necessarily something that could be used as a negative characterisation if done properly. If anything, in a better and more fleshed out work, we could've had a lot to work on as already in this there is plenty of subversive material already there to mind - of a sedate, kind hearted soul who can yet can power lift a whole bed by herself, buys gym equipment the same way Tamaki does for handbags, and always carries kunai (Japanese throwing knives) under the skirt, with the ability to use them in an improvised game of William Tell at the company trip to a cherry blossom festival in the park.

From https://theglorioblog.files.wordpress.com/
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The subject of the series is also to be asked about as, honestly, for what is a unique twist; sadly, the show never had enough time to run with its premise of hotel management further. Manga particularly has a heritage of the least expected subjects being covered in stories, and in what little we get here, Sparrow's Hotel had so much to mine here too. A tale in which rowdy people outside are an issue, booking crowds for a nearby anime/manga convention is stressful, or where one has to send off Satō to subdue a drunk and irate customer by knocking him out with a single chop. If it'd been a full length series, it could've easily become worse, but it could've also been actually more interesting and funny to see an anime set in hotel management, as seen in a later episode where a violent storm outside provides a huge swath of customers to the benefit of the empty hotel. As it stands, the show's too short for this, even if it is still to be found in slithers.

Beyond that the episodes' are so short, it's both difficult to analyze them but that in itself is a critique - that for humour, it's not the best but with some amusement, but as mentioned it never fully invests in its premise. There is an additional character of Yū Kojō, a hotel inspector whose attempts to keep that are secret are useless, but a lot of the show never drastically changes for the first half. Really, the moment where things get really interesting is with the art style. The first half follows the source manga in style but is infamous, for those who know of it, for its brash colours and crude character designs, a garishness matched by the manic pace that is compelling in a way but arguably limits the show's potential by being a one note mood. The transition, befittingly set against the episode where renovations lead to a new bathing area being created in the hotel, and the episodes having end credits instead of opening ones, is a shock.

Muted colours, softer character designs, and frankly a leap in budget or craft as the animation becomes more fluid and more ambitious even in the show's comedic double takes and gags; I forgot how impactful it was, the change absolutely distinct and looking like an entirely different adaptation of the same material. There is even a deliberately attempt as well to push the fan service, such as the end credits being a nude Satō sleeping surrounding by underwear and kunai on the bedspread. (Make of that what you will). It however even includes the cast, including Misono, being dressed in cute animal costumes in the mid-episode eye-catches that were added for the later episodes. It doesn't necessarily add more - alongside Kojō returning, there's a possibly American older male fighter named Billy who locks eyes on Satō as his rival, the show teasing the pair fighting continually. A lot of the show is still based on the initial premise mind - your main female staff member a killing machine, the manager is still creeped out by her older brother's thoughts of her, Misono is despondent. It doesn't particularly change a lot and that's honestly the real issue for Sparrow's Hotel even if the show was entertainment. It thankfully did change the aesthetic completely thought, which is arguably why I feel those episodes pass the halfway mark are of a higher quality.

Personally, the fact I've rewatched Sparrow's Hotel shows it has had a lasting mark even an odd curiosity. The micro series as a concept is fascinating - allowing for new talent, odd premises like this can allow for a lot of creativity and opportunity just for strange content. The issue is really how slight the micro-series is, at literally under thirty minutes or so here with Sparrow's Hotel never pushing to a further level than it probably should've. I admit as much of the incentive to re-watch the show was how short it is altogether, but I have as I realise a fascination with these micro-series in general that isn't exactly a guilty pleasure, but a love directly from the gut. That doesn't mean I won't be honest mind.

Is it abstract or strange though? Strange definitely, but not as strange as it potentially could've been, one of the greater ironies beyond Japanese animation that if you play something off as comedy, unless you fully distort the structure or push yourself, it makes an odd premise more normal as a result. And as much as the three minute episode length a surprise, just in terms of how much storytelling you can try to tell with minimal time, Sparrow's Hotel isn't exactly unconventional. In fact it could've done with a lot more preciseness, more weirdness and probably less fan service, unless it was going to be more positive for the main character's depiction, and I might've had a little gem on my hands. Cause I don't know about you the reader, but a thirteen or twenty four episode normal length comedy show about the banalities about running a hotel, if pushed further even with these same characters, would be an utterly peculiar and interesting experience to sit through.

Abstract Spectrum: Quirky/Weird

Abstract Rating (High/Medium/Low/None): None

From https://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire1-tmb/d707
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