When telling a story, the way you tell the story is just as important as the story you're telling, especially when it comes to tailoring your story to your chosen medium(whether that of the original work or its adaptations). Super Cub is a good example of effective anime storytelling, especially considering that it's an adaptation of a light novel, and it's well worth seeing.
The story is rather basic- it's about a high school girl named Koguma who buys a Honda Super Cub for pennies from a local dealer, and gradually finds herself making friends and enjoying life more. There isn't much of an overarching plot, since it's mainly a Slice of Life story showing Koguma and her friends over the course of a year in-universe.
The anime really shines in how it tells its story in a rather realistic and understated manner. Music is used sparingly to set the tone, and there's no music at all in the first episode until Koguma rides her Super Cub for the first time. The first episode also has desaturated shots with a still camera to highlight how lonely and unfulfilling Koguma's life is.
Super Club is rather realistic, at least from the perspective of someone with little technical expertise. Technical details and operating procedures are gradually revealed at the same time, helping the viewer learn at the same pace as Koguma. Koguma goes from accidentally running out of gas to preparing her Super Cub for winter, an effective example of Character Development.
The anime doesn't waste time with extraneous details, which may be why it doesn't reveal the names of most characters. Significant details are shown, rather than told about; for example, a man doesn't brag about climbing Mt. Everest, but you see a picture of him at the summit. It can take an episode or two to get used to this storytelling style, but it's one of the most effective ways I've seen to adapt a light novel into an anime.
In fact, the anime does a somewhat better job than the light novel in some ways, which seems to mainly be written with Beige Prose and often tells, rather than shows. That said, it does include details that were absent from the anime, such as why Koguma's parents are no longer in her life.
Super Cub is a surprisingly enjoyable anime that makes excellent use of its medium in order to tell its story, so I recommend it to anime fans.
Literature Anime: An unconventional but well-told story
When telling a story, the way you tell the story is just as important as the story you're telling, especially when it comes to tailoring your story to your chosen medium(whether that of the original work or its adaptations). Super Cub is a good example of effective anime storytelling, especially considering that it's an adaptation of a light novel, and it's well worth seeing.
The story is rather basic- it's about a high school girl named Koguma who buys a Honda Super Cub for pennies from a local dealer, and gradually finds herself making friends and enjoying life more. There isn't much of an overarching plot, since it's mainly a Slice of Life story showing Koguma and her friends over the course of a year in-universe.
The anime really shines in how it tells its story in a rather realistic and understated manner. Music is used sparingly to set the tone, and there's no music at all in the first episode until Koguma rides her Super Cub for the first time. The first episode also has desaturated shots with a still camera to highlight how lonely and unfulfilling Koguma's life is.
Super Club is rather realistic, at least from the perspective of someone with little technical expertise. Technical details and operating procedures are gradually revealed at the same time, helping the viewer learn at the same pace as Koguma. Koguma goes from accidentally running out of gas to preparing her Super Cub for winter, an effective example of Character Development.
The anime doesn't waste time with extraneous details, which may be why it doesn't reveal the names of most characters. Significant details are shown, rather than told about; for example, a man doesn't brag about climbing Mt. Everest, but you see a picture of him at the summit. It can take an episode or two to get used to this storytelling style, but it's one of the most effective ways I've seen to adapt a light novel into an anime.
In fact, the anime does a somewhat better job than the light novel in some ways, which seems to mainly be written with Beige Prose and often tells, rather than shows. That said, it does include details that were absent from the anime, such as why Koguma's parents are no longer in her life.
Super Cub is a surprisingly enjoyable anime that makes excellent use of its medium in order to tell its story, so I recommend it to anime fans.