After last week’s mangaka-oriented episode, mono Episode 8 snapped back to its photography and kawaii JK-driven plot. Centering on Nagano Prefecture and skateboarding, this episode would make Tony Hawk proud.
Mono Episode 8 in a Nutshell
Let me share a solid life hack with you — make friends with people who have money or travel a lot. It makes life more enjoyable. Don’t believe me? Then look at the Cinephoto Club. Instead of spending their summer vacation lazying at home or going to the beach or a festival (like a Japanese normie), they’re getting to know the world. Well, they’re exploring Yamanashi and Nagano, but that’s better than most.
Mono Episode 8 brought us pseudo-paranormal adventures, hiking, and skateboarding content creation. While I can rant about the paranormal and hiking at length, skateboarding doesn’t share that passion.
My knowledge of skateboarding comes from the few scenes I remember from Viva la Bam (DEAR LORD, I’M OLD). But while that bombing scene had me smiling from ear to ear, the animation dropped the ball. Anko and Taisho’s scene was more fluid than the Cinephoto Club’s bombing run. Some may say the animation style in this scene was kawaii, but I’m not one of them. Had this scene been more fluid, it would have been right up there with the action scenes in Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray.
Random Thoughts
Mono Episode 8 really highlighted how drastically things have changed in the last 15 years. During my teenage years, I traveled and roamed with adult friends, much like the girls in the Cinephoto Club. That’s something that, at least where I live, has become a thing of the past. Nowadays, most parents would need years of counseling and an emotional support turkey if their teenage daughter were to spend a weekend with an alcoholic mangaka. RIP to the youth of today; we deprived you of joys you can’t even imagine.
On a positive note, studio Soigne depicts nature scenes with as much love as Afro. Even though mono isn’t an outdoorsy anime, you can tell it wants you to touch grass. While I can’t praise the skateboarding scene, I’ll gush over Soigne taking the time to properly animate moss and alpine plants. As someone who enjoys botany, I must say there’s more to alpine plants than what mono Episode 8 mentions, but Tony can explain that better than I can.
By this point, you can assume that photography will always remain secondary in mono. This is something I’ve lamented throughout the series, especially since Afro’s other work does a far better job at presenting its chosen pastime. Yuru Camp may have had gaps in what it presents, but the show revolves around camping — here photography is a background character.
Then again, that may be why mono is billed as a comedy instead of a proper hobby-centric slice-of-life. At least as CGDCT shows go, it’s this season’s must-watch, and we get to see the Yuru Camp girls and sites occasionally make cameos.
Screenshots: Crunchyroll
© Afro/Houbunsha, Aniplex, Soigne
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