Watching 'Silver Spoon Season 1'

Silver Spoon is a summer 2013 anime that is based on a manga by Arakawa Hiromu (Fullmetal Alchemist). The anime was produced by A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Your Lie in April), is directed by Itou Tomohiko (Sword Art Online, Erased), and was composed by Murai Shusei (Terra Formers). The narrative is primarily based around the characters of Mikage, and Hachiken who are played by Miyake Marie (Owari no Seraph), and Kimura Ryouhei (Angel Beats!, Kuroko no Basket, ReLIFE), respectively. The first season of the show consists of eleven episodes.

Summary

This is a simple high school anime. The only difference is that instead of taking place in a traditional high school, Silver Spoon takes place in an agricultural high school. What is even more interesting is that much of the things regarding the actual school itself is based on how an actual agricultural high school is run, and much of the processes present are accurate as well. The reason for this is because the author of the manga Arakawa Hiromu has actually attended an agricultural high school herself, lending more authenticity to the manga. Hachiken is from Tokyo, while Mikage is from a farm herself. The two are first year students and the show depicts how the various students around them survive both high school life and their lives back home when brought face to face with the risks of running a farm.

Narrative

This is very much a fish out of water story as many of us take on the position of Hachiken, and just as he is learning things about this side of life, we too are learning. As such from an educational perspective, because much of the base information presented is accurate (at the time), it subconsciously encourages the viewer to look into these aspects and confirm things for yourself, which in turn helps you learn all the more. The narrative illustrates just how hard it is to run a farm in the modern climate, and how much of a financial risk it is. So much so that a couple of the students' futures are affected in a big way due to these risks. The biggest message that I got from this anime is that it is ok to fail, and it is even ok to at times run away from your problems, as long as you take stock, learn from them, and grow to becoming a better person. Above all, to not be afraid to try new things and broaden your views.

Characters

As the show progresses, we not only get to know the main cast quite well, we are also given knowledge about some of the supporting cast as well. This helps in populating the world with characters that are believable, and gives the impression that we are peering into lives instead of watching an anime. While there is a fair group of characters that are fantastic, I must admit on this rare occasion that the character that I thought was the best of the bunch is actually Hachiken. The character arc that he goes through, combined with the character development, is greater than any of the other characters present. What really emphasizes this is the fact that despite having a fair amount of baggage in his past, he is incredibly earnest, and not without fault, which makes him both empathetic and sympathetic at the same time, which is quite rare in itself.

Visuals/ Music

Visually the show feels quite dated at this point, especially when it comes to the usage of 3D in the environment, as even though they are used in a limited manner they still stick out quite a bit. That being said there is a certain charm to the anime. In all, the show is bright and colourful, making it very pleasing on the eye. It is also great to see that the animators have kept the Arakawa aesthetic to the characters, a signature of her artstyle. The music is also quite wonderful to listen to, including the openings and the endings of the show. In short the anime looks good, if a little dated.

In Closing

This is an anime I loved when it first came out, and having watched it again now I actually appreciate it a little bit more now than I did back then. I am now able to appreciate some of the nuances that exist in this anime that I did not pay too much attention to earlier. With all that out of the way this is a show that I highly recommend. Silver Spoon season one is available to watch on Crunchyroll.