Ranked #3314

Soreyuke! Uchuu Senkan Yamamoto Yohko (1999)

(As written on 'The Hateful Anime Truth' on Facebook)

As a pre-teen, I loved animes. I literally walked, stepped, breathed, drink and excrement out anime. During my time, my sister would drag me to the front of the house where the TV is to watch some anime on AXN and Animax.

So I'd like to thank her for giving me this little gem that is Starship Girl Yamamoto Yoko. It's fast-paced, action packed, quirky and light-hearted all at the same time. Well, anything will do for this one, and I believe it's actually better than that stupid Evangelion and the stupid expositionsWith that, let's get on with the review.

STORY:

Usually, it's your typical standard good vs evil anime. 4 ordinary girls become goddesses of their starships to take out evil tyrants from destroying the world... or taking over it. I forgot, it's a REALLY old anime. The story's actually pretty good, with its extra bit of charm and quirkiness.

ART:

Well, this IS an old anime, and at the time, the art style isn't like today's, so it's slightly grainy, but the detail they give to the girls, the spaceships and the attacks are pretty much top-notch.

Oh and SHINY FOREHEAD.

SOUND:

Not much to say about sound except god damn that opening intro is classic. The music is pretty badass when it gets to the fighting parts. Really fitting especially at the last parts of the anime.

CHARACTER:

My favorite part, the characters. The 4 heroines are really different in terms of style. Yoko happens to be the average all-arounder, and then there's the shy one, the sporty one, and the one that wants to beat Yoko. The modern day version of Yoko Yamamoto would be Misaka Mikoto from To Aru Majutsu no Index/To Aru Kagaku no Railgun, since they both use the patented 100 yen coins to fire off giant f*cking lasers.

OVERALL:

This is actually a pretty good anime. I'm surprised as to something being actually better than Evangelion or Gundam. If you like action, but at the same time a light-hearted feel to an anime, then I suggest you pick this up.

9/10 read more

So, these days, a certain name has been on the lips of many anime fans, and that name is “Akiyuki Shinbo”. Riding to fame on popular and critical darlings like Bakemonogatari and Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, loved and hated by many, his eccentric vision is challenging the status quo in a way that hasn't been done since the nineties with Evangelion. Yet for all of his fame, there are titles like this one that still languish in obscurity, even amongst his self-professed fans. It’s a shame, really, because this is an excellent light-hearted and experimental anime that can be enjoyed by a wide audience.

Probably the first thing I should hit on in this review are the two OVAs that preceded this. They aren’t actually prequels, they are telling the same story. However, there are some differences. First, the TV series covers much more material than the OVAs. The OVAs do not add anything to the TV show, there’s no vital information in them. However, I still recommend that you watch the OVAs first. They are both really short, and a lot less plot-oriented than the TV series. They focus a lot on visual effect and atmosphere, but have a light-hearted tone for the most part.

Just like the OVAs, this TV series doesn't take itself too seriously; even during dramatic scenes there's a certain wittiness about it. It's got a good plot premise, but doesn't really explore it too much. It tends to focus more on the characters than the plot, and this is really just fine.

The art is kind of outdated, and doesn't show too much detail. Despite this, the art is still very good in some spots, and of course there are tons of fantastic experimental scenes. As long as you don’t expect high-res, you might find a good amount of charm in the artwork. There aren’t any lapses in quality or anything like that.

The soundtrack is pretty good, the most memorable part of which is the excellent opening. As another reviewer put it, it’s a classic. The characters are all pretty fun, though not terribly deep. Probably where this anime is strongest is in the enjoyment section.
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