Gin no Saji

[David75]

Another nice anime with no thread

Yugo Hachiken dreams of life separated from his family, so he takes the initiative by enrolling in an agriculture school. He thinks, with his talent in studying, no problems will arise no matter what kind of school he attends. He is proven wrong very quickly. Raised as a city boy, he is forced to uncover the inconvenient truth about agricultural life. Enjoy the story of Hachiken, as he tries to keep up with his new friends, farmers' heirs, who are already accustomed to the harsh world of farming. With no clear goals or understanding of farming life, how will Hachiken survive this new, cruel reality? The story of a sweat, tear, and mud-stained youth begins!

[HorribleSubs] Gin no Saji - 05 [1080p].mkv

[HorribleSubs] Gin no Saji - 04 [1080p].mkv

[HorribleSubs] Gin no Saji - 03 [1080p].mkv

[HorribleSubs] Gin no Saji - 02 [1080p].mkv

[HorribleSubs] Gin no Saji - 01 [1080p].mkv

Another nice anime, I'd grade it under Kamisama no Inai, but it's still a nice watch. Might be bland if you do not like farming and or you know too much of it.
At times, it really feels like an advertising campaing for good products and other such messages.
But it's really a show you can watch on your spare time.

[Ryllharu]

My anime of the season personally. Every episode has been a joy to watch.

The pizza episode in particular is a must see. Hachiken really throws himself into it, and the stark difference between farm life and urban life in Japan is apparent. The side characters really stand out on their own. It was also a nice tie-in to the overall character arc for Hachiken. His teacher advised him to go there to "get away," but Hachiken had clearly found his place in life at the farm school, he just doesn't realize it yet. The others, even the teachers, were desperate for that connection. Sure, they could probably make the pizza too, but only Hachiken knew what it was meant to taste like, and using the local ingredients, he made one better than he had ever tasted.

It should also be pointed out that if the character designs seem familiar, they should be. The author of the original manga is better known for her earlier work: Full Metal Alchemist. She is as good at comedy as action, and this series displays her other strength well.

Lastly, this anime already has a second season. Split cour series ftw!

[David75]

Yup, the Pizza ep was a nice little gem in itself.
I was really surprised no one created a thread for that anime. Sure the subject is very different from your usual anime, but most ingredients are there for a good watch.
Thanks for the intel about a second season, made my day

[shinta|hikari]

Great show, but an atypical choice for the usual anime watcher, much like Moya***mon.

[Kraco]

Apparently pizza isn't as common in Japan as it's in the West (and countries founded by the West) and it's ungodly expensive as well, so it might explain for a large part the "stark difference between farm life and urban life in Japan". Although that's just something I read from some Japan blog years ago, so who knows if it's true.

I was reading the manga before the anime launched and thus this show was a nobrainer for me. Whilst I have never lived at an active farm I have far more than simple passing experience from such circles due to special circumstances I won't go into here, but nevertheless that's probably one big reason why I found this story extra interesting.

[MFauli]

woah, why did nobody tell me this show was good actually. much better than moyashimon, which was to crazy for my tastes.

though can anyone clear up what kind of school this is? it doesnt feel like university level, but if it was vocational school, shouldnt everbody work at some farm when not in school? or is that special for agricultural students that they learn and work at a central insitution? or is it all made up?

[Ryllharu]

...

I apologize if this comes off as rude and abrasi- Who am I kidding? Were you even awake when you claim to have watched this?!

Vocational High School. Everyone who isn't Hachiken works on a farm. All the time. They only talk about it constantly. It's a boarding school, so they only work on their farms when they go home for breaks. That's a major plot point, because Hachiken doesn't come from a farming family, but also doesn't want to go home. He's running away from embarrassment, perceived failure to get into a good school, etc.

This is also why the pizza episode is great. Hachiken's middle school teacher came, worried that Hachiken would be having a hard time in his place of self-imposed exile. Hachiken was definitely the type of student who has too much pride, but runs away when he can't succeed. However, he threw himself into making the pizza, and his middle school teacher saw a Hachiken that was actually fitting it rather well.


Yes, these places exist. In the US they are more common at the University Level, but there are dozens of "Tech Schools" (vocational trade schools) with Agricultural programs in my portion of the state I live in alone.

In Japan, there are plenty of these schools in each of the prefectures of Japan, though the would obviously be more common further from Tokyo and on the eastern coasts where food is primarily grown.

[MFauli]

Vocational High School. Everyone who isn't Hachiken works on a farm. All the time. They only talk about it constantly. It's a boarding school, so they only work on their farms when they go home for breaks.

stop being angry. yes, i got that. so it is a special kind of vocational school. that´s what i wanted to know. :>

[Ryllharu]

Given the depth of their practicums, I'd be a little surprised if you could have a school like theirs that wasn't a boarding school. It would be difficult for students spread across a wide area to get to their agricultural school at 4-5am each morning.

I'm also a little surprised they confiscate their cellphones. They barely get service out there...

NOTE: Ryllharu is always angry...or at the very least rather cross.

[MFauli]

just watched ep6. something i wondered for a while:

in "Into the wild, when he shoots the moose, he has to instantly preparate the meat to keep fly larva from hatching. it´s the only movie where ive seen this. here in gin no saji, nobody seems to be in a hurry to prepare the deer.

are there any special conditions in Alaska or what am I missing.

[Dark Dragon]

This show is just so relaxing to watch. I also find myself laughing at jokes that are not suppose to actually be that funny, but somehow it just works in this show.

This is easily the best anime of the season for me.

[MFauli]

it really is fantastic. my only little gripe would be that Hachiken is a little to impressionable. Eating stuff and almost orgasm.

Also, I kinda hate his justification for killing animals: BECAUSE THEY TASTE SO GOOD. :|

[Dark Dragon]

When it comes down to it, that's the reason most people who eat meat truly do it for. It's less of a justification and more of a fact of life, those pigs are going to be slaughter regardless of Hachiken meat eating status.

[MFauli]

still doesnt mean that hachiken HAS TO be part of the meat eating people. It definitely gives off a weak impression of him. "Oh, youre such a cute piglet, Im gonna fight the devil for your sake! ---- but you´re so tasty. Sorry "
no

personally, im eating meat because im on a low carb diet and couldnt do it by only eating eggs. but if i werent overweight, id seriously contemplate going vegetarian because of how i feel towards animals. but them being tasty just isnt a valid excuse for, basically, murder.

[David75]

Regarding the affection/love and eating thing, something in the same line of thoughts was discussed in the last ep of Uchoten Kazoku.

Hachiken just made it more difficult for him on a psychological level when he named that piglet. That's all there is to it. But at least he's slowly understanting what he wants and goes that direction. He prefers eating meat.
Others would choose otherwise and decide not to eat meat.

Regarding the murder part, it's a tricky thing.
Living beings feed on other living beings to survive, even when they are plants...
I guess as self proclaimed "superior" race, we should enforce more rules on food spoiling, because the real crime is there. Killing and letting food go to waste.

[Dark Dragon]

@Mfauli

Hachiken reason for eating meat is very practical and realistic, he simply just prefers to eat meat over not eating it.

I understand the sentiment of those who become vegetarian have toward animal, but it's not realistic to expect that simply becoming vegetarian will suddenly solve the issue of having to kill animal.

If the world population gradually become vegetarian, the demand for meat would go down. This will cause the price of meat to go down and meat producer will gradually adjust their production to the market. This doesn't mean that they will kill less of the animals they have available, since there's cost to housing/feeding. They'll just reduce the amount of animals being born, so they simply won't exist in the first place.

There's also people like yourself who need to eat meat for health reasons, so that won't go away completely. It's also necessary to kill animals like pigs because they are being use in life saving medical research, so that won't go away either. Hachiken becoming vegetarian would only serve to make him feel better about the situation, it really wouldn't make a difference at the end of the day. His reason for eating meat is no worse than someone who choose to become vegetarian, it's a matter of preference.

It's also very odd to have someone who rejects the killing/eating or animals to be working in an industry that specialize in that.

[MFauli]

i just think it´s too shallow, answering this moral dilemma with "because it tastes so good".

And quite on the contrary, Hachiken being 100%-against killing the piglet could have resulted in an interesting plot development. As a farmer, you eventually have to kill animals (unless youre only growing plants), so watching Hachiken find a "real" answer to this would have been prefered to what we got.

Then again, he´s an idiot anyway. Egg comes from chicken anus. Ew. But it tastes so good -> I´ll eat it anyway. lol

[Kraco]

Dropping meat eating because he saw a piglet for the first time would have been the epitome of shallowness. It would equal to "we don't need power plants because electricity comes from the wall socket" thinking. He has been eating meat all his life even if he hadn't seen the living things before with his own eyes.

A human can survive without eating meat, so there's no particular vital reason to eat it in a developed country with food surplus. So, the only reasons are the taste, texture, and ease. Plus some social reasons still for many people.

[Ryllharu]

It's not just "because it tastes good." Those are two separate issues, though somewhat related.

Hachiken is discovering that locally grown food, fresh from the fields, is super delicious. There's a big difference between eggs from a farm or eggs industrially, though the message from the early episodes was that Japan venerates the industrial method that is looked on unfavorably in the West these days. Hachiken learned in the first episodes with both the eggs and the chicken and the pizza episode that there is a clear difference between the stuff grown at the school and the mass produced product he used to get in the city.

The other message is that people these days, generally speaking, have no idea where the hell the food they eat comes from. Hachiken never knew that the cloaca where chicken eggs come from is dual purpose (the specific details of which he ignored once he conflated it with an anus). Or the casualness with which chicken are beheaded for meat. There is a disassociation with common meats and the animal it's from in English, making the problem even worse. While chicken is chicken, cattle meat is beef and pig meat is pork/bacon/ham, sheep is lamb (which is the word for when they're young), or mutton when they're older. There's a lot of kids that might enjoy petting zoos, never realizing the meat on the dinner table comes from a similar animal.

It's less about getting attached to a particular animal and not having the heart to eat it. It's more about having pride in the products you are working on. I happily devour the vegetables I grow in my backyard. If I grew animals, I personally wouldn't have the heart to give them to anyone else. I would have to be the one eating them.

[MFauli]

new episode was nice.

i hope hachiken and mikage actually become a couple and its not just all teasing through-out the whole show. Not the most likely outcome, but hey, hachiken doesnt seem to hate mikage´s parents´ farm, so why not have him take over as the heir, while mikage expands their business on the horse side? :3

have to criticize the "even fat girl´s parents care about their cows". its not entirely clear what her parents feel like about the cows, but fat girl simply sees it as a business. so even if she´d reanimate a newborn calf, it´d be for business, not out of love.