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skysenshi (09.28.2002)
Where's the rest of it?
30 minutes of near nothingness. That is what best describes
Fish in the Trap. I felt the anime has just barely begun when,
much to my chagrin, the ending credits started rolling. I
could scarcely understand what happened in there, and I ended
up watching this title a second time just to be able to come
up with a decent synopsis.
So what do we have here? Well for starters, we could define
what the title "Fish in the Trap" means. It actually
refers to Yuuji Tsukamoto's family problems, of him having
to swim in the palm of his overly strict grandfather. Was
he able to resolve it? Now, you have to get the manga to find
out. What else? Well, Yuuji finds himself obsessed with Matsui
for a sickeningly long time. Did anything significant happen
between these two? Hm. Aside from a really disturbing "rape"
scene that reeks of abstraction, and a cliffhanger ending
where Yuuji is about to take advantage of Matsui inside the
swim club's locker rooms… Something should happen. BUT
you have to get the manga to find out.
Now, for the supporting characters. Yuuji belongs to a gang
of men. They sleep (with each other), drink, and generally
be merry. They meet Yuuji in the gay bar where he first took
Matsui to. But other than them terrorizing Matsui with their
scandalous fixation for alcohol, drugs, and sex, they only
appeared at another time to have a spat with Yuuji and for
at least one of them to swear that he will have his revenge.
Does this person ever go through with his threat? You have
to get the manga to find out.
Additional supporting character: Matsui's best friend Yoshino.
He has more personality than Matsui since Matsui walks around
like a catatonic with absolutely zero personality—as
if nothing dreadful really happened. But is he able to help
Matsui with his predicament, just so you could say this best
friend actually had a role in the anime? You have to get the
manga to find out.
There's nothing substantial in this feature. Sure, there
are several steamy scenes, but I couldn't make heads or tails
of them. The characters have potential, but they were horribly
underdeveloped. As for the plot…30 minutes of near nothingness
does not justify the making of an animated feature. It's a
disappointment, plain and simple.
Good gawd, I have to get the manga. Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.
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