Aug 30, 2010 3:10 AM
Mini reviews S-Y
Brief reviews, ranging from a few sentences to several paragraphs, taken from forum posts made during the past couple of years. They're all too short and/or badly structured to be proper reviews. I wanted to compile them all in one place for both my benefit and so that others can read my thoughts about some of the shows on my list. I may add more entries in the future.
Samurai 7 - 7/10
After one aborted effort I finally sat down and watched this very Gonzo-esque adaptation of Kurasawa's famous film (which I've yet to see). And once I'd slogged my way through those early episodes, I found this to be a remarkably easy watch. The story is a straightforward as it gets: a village sends a small convoy (including a cute water priestess and her bratty sister; this being anime, I wouldn't be surprised if these characters didn't exist in the original) to hire samurai to defend the village from bandits. They hire seven of them. And that's about it. There's a few twists and turns, but everything plays out as you'd expect it to.
But though I enjoyed Samurai 7, the whole thing was faintly ridiculous. Here is a show in which samurai cut giant robots into pieces with swords. Then there's the standard anime humour and stock characters and you have something far less inspiring than the same studio's Gankustuou.
School Days - 6/10
Anime romance is sometimes criticized for not portraying the relationships of teenagers in a particularly realistic light; they tend to be oddly chaste. Not so in School Days whose lead character, Makoto, develops an attitude towards girls that makes him easier for many people to relate to than Tenchi and his gazillion girl-phobic harem lead clones. Yet for his transgressions during the course of School Days he has become one of the most loathed characters in anime.
It starts off innocently enough, with Makoto quietly transfixed by the elegant beauty of Kotonoha, a girl with whom he rides the train to school. When a girl in his class, Sekai, offers to act as a go-between, it's not long before the two are dating. But turns out to be not quite what Makoto was expecting: Kotonoha is shy, quiet, and uncomfortable with intimacy, something Makoto discovers as he impatiently tries to push their relationship to a physical level.
Makoto confides in Sekai, who has been offering advice and bitchslapping him over his horny ways. But it's clear that she isn't helping him merely out of altruism, and when she suggests that he "practice" the art of becoming intimate with a woman on her, the warning klaxon began to sound rather loudly. From that point on it's a relentlessly uncomfortable descent into betrayal, infidelity, mental disintegration, and eyebrow-raising melodrama. It gets very messy, in more ways than one. And I couldn't take my eyes off it.
School Rumble - 9/10
I'm pleased to report that my fears about School Rumble becoming dramatic were unfounded. Yeah, okay, in the end there turned out to be more romance than I was expecting (surpisingly good romance at that) but any time the show threatened to get too serious a punch line was lurking just around the corner, ready to shout "psyche!" right in my face. The last episode almost had me. Almost.
Enjoyment of this show is contingent on a tolerance for dumb characters. Because the leads in particular, good-hearted delinquent Harima and sweet airhead Tenma, are two of the thickest, most dense characters in anime. And I love them both dearly. The show is driven by a seemingly endless string of romantic misunderstandings involving an ever-growing number of characters, but it's all so entertaining that I was perfectly happy for the madness to continue. I'm genuinely surprised at how funny I found this show.
School Rumble S2 - 7/10
At its best, the second series of School Rumble is every bit as good as the first. Unfortunately it's weighed down by a lot of unfunny parody and its attempt to give screen time to every member of what had become a very large cast.
Where the first series had a structure underpinning the silliness, and always seemed to be going somewhere, the second is all over the place. There's some plot progression in the middle and towards the end, where it returns to the hilarious romantic comedy it was before, but otherwise there are just too many duds.
Still, the high points trample over just about every high school romantic comedy ever made, and the second ED is quite adorable. Great dub as well.
Shigurui: Death Frenzy - 8/10
In the first episode we see two swordsmen facing off. One is blind; the other has only one arm. The subsequent 11 episodes tell the story of how the two men reached that point. They're supposed to, anyway, but the show ends rather abruptly and unless the viewer reads the manga, they have to fill in some gaps for themselves.
This is one of the most violent shows I've ever seen, with every act of brutality lovingly captured and dwelled upon for what seems like an eternity. The cinematography is amazing and that, more than anything else, is what kept me watching this thoroughly grim story. There really is nothing quite like it (the closest is probably Texhnolyze, which shares the same director).
Silent Mobius: The Motion Picture - 4/10
I get the impression that this film was made for those already familiar with the story through the manga. To everyone else it's not going to make a whole lot of sense.
It starts with a fight scene between a woman named Katsumi and a huge, monstrous creature. The film then shifts into a flashback which shows Katsumi's first encounters with the monsters, known as Lucifer Hawks, and how she came to join the AMP, an elite police unit comprising individuals with extraordinary powers. Unfortunately it does so without explaining much, nor giving any real screen time to the other cast members, and with far too much screaming and wailing as the reluctant Katsumi struggles to come to terms with what's happening. I know the feeling, love. It's back to the present for the last five minutes and the conclusion of Katsumi's fight with the Lucifer Hawk. Yawn.
On the plus side, this 50-minute film boasts some impressively animated fight scenes. The gruesome Lucifer Hawks are brilliantly designed and always seem on the verge of tentacle raping various female AMP members. Indeed, at one point poor Katsumi gets a face full of... something. And there's a gratuitous shower scene in the middle of the film, to which I probably paid more attention than anything else.
Spice and Wolf - 8/10
On paper this sounds like the most boring waste of time ever, but two strong dramatic arcs and some wonderful characterization make it far more compelling than it has any right to be.
Star of the show is Horo, a wolf deity several hundred years old, though she has taken the form of a teenage girl, with only her animal ears and tail serving as a reminder of what she really is. Though it's easy to dismiss her based on appearance, she's a multifaceted character: haughty yet playful, intelligent yet easily jealous, a tease yet desperately lonely. Her interaction with Lawrence, the trader who finds her sleeping in his cart and who promises to accompany her back home, is so entertaining that I didn't mind not understanding much of the medieval economics that drives the plot.
I've not come across anything quite like this in all my years of watching anime, and that alone makes it worthy of attention.
Strike Witches - 7/10
As much as I wanted to, or believed I should, I just couldn’t dislike this show. That each of the characters are (loosely) based on actual WWII pilots; that the story is half decent; and that it has relatively high quality visuals all elevate it above the usual fan service fluff.
Ah, yes, the fan service. While I didn’t find the many close-up shots of loli crotch particularly arousing, I do have an appreciation for shows that push the boundaries of good taste, and Strike Witches often does. Much like Aika and Najica, there’s a humour and playfulness about the crotch and hindquarters fixation that somehow prevents it from being creepy. Not to mention that several characters are more, um, developed than others...
Being a graphics whore, good visuals can help me overlook deficiencies elsewhere. Not only does Strike Witches have one of the best art directors in anime (Hiromasa Ogura), its flight scenes are brilliantly staged and animated, and that’s what had me watching past the first episode. Also on display is some of Gonzo’s best CG work.
What kept me watching was a combination of that and an entertaining bunch of characters. Early on the episodes played out in predictable fashion; one of the witches had some kind of personal issue that would be resolved, with the help of rookie Yoshika, within the episode itself. Not exactly deep stuff, but entertaining and often quite endearing. That I didn’t find any of the characters annoying was a pleasant surprise.
The story concerning the appearance of mysterious life forms known as Neuroi and a shady military conspiracy is probably the show's weakest aspect. It's serviceable but there wasn't enough time to fully explore everything, and it comes to a fairly abrupt conclusion in the last couple of episodes.
Summer Wars - 5/10
Well, I finished it, but after seeing how cheesy the ending was I kind of wish I hadn't. At times this movie wallows in pure Hollywood schmaltz.
I think the problem I have with Summer Wars is that it tries to be too many things, and it's none of them convincingly. It doesn't work as a romantic comedy because the leads are painfully dull and there's practically no romantic development between them. As a family drama it's partially successful thanks to the film's one strong character, but most of the rest of the large ensemble cast are non-entities as individuals and do nothing but make noise as a collective, and therefore I never really cared about any of them. And the Oz thing I found incongruous and outlandish at best and completely uninteresting at worst. Again, I found it difficult to care.
On the plus side Summer Wars is occasionally amusing and always beautifully animated. One scene in particular, in which two characters hold hands, was moving simply because of the subtle but fluid animation of their fingers intertwining.
Bit gutted, really, as I love The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and now I'll approach Hosoda's next work with less enthusiasm.
Sword of the Stranger - 9/10
I'm a sucker for samurai and ninja anime. Unless it's widely reputed to suck donkey conkers, I'll give it a shot. Ninja Scroll, Samurai Champloo, and the first Kenshin OVA are amongst my favourite anime, and Sword of the Stranger now belongs in that list.
It's a simple story: a young boy and his dog are being pursued by both Japanese and Chinese soldiers, for reasons that aren't made apparent until later. They're saved by a nameless wandering swordsman who then accompanies them, first for money but later because he wants to atone for past sins. And maybe he's a fiddler, who knows.
As a spectacle, though, it's absolutely incredible. The theatrical budget enabled Bones' talented animators to create some truly spectacular fight scenes, with the film culminating in an extraordinary bloodbath inside a fortress. The sweeping score would usually be a touch dramatic for my tastes, but it suits the mood of the film. Ocean seem to be the studio of choice for Bandai these days, and they've produced another great dub.
I would have awarded the film full marks if not for a couple of issues. First, there's a lull in the middle of the film where not much happens; second, the kid was a loud, obnoxious brat at the start. I understand that this was so that the audience could see the bond between him and the stranger deepen, but it still annoyed me. Aside from that I have no complaints. Watch this film.
Takahashi Anthology - 7/10
A series of 13 self-contained stories about very ordinary people, mainly adults, who have to overcome a problem or hardship. While the show isn't strictly comedy, almost every episode is light-hearted and has plenty of subtle humour. Takahashi creates warm, sympathetic characters who, in most cases, I found myself caring about before the end of their short tales. Some of the episodes are quite dull, though, knocking a point or two off the final score. Visually it looks rather flat, but the character designs retain Takahashi's unique charm.
The final episode featured a guest performance from the delightful Fumi Hirano who, 22 years earlier, played Lum in the anime adaptation of Takahashi's first manga Urusei Yatsura. A pleasant surprise to round off an interesting series
"We have never met an elf that we couldn't strip. Did you hear me? Not one. We will not rest until you're naked!"
Those Who Hunt Elves - 6/10
Three people from modern day Japan are summoned by a high elf priestess named Celcia to your standard fantasy world. Airi is a graceful Hollywood actress; Junpei is a dumb but powerful martial artist; and Ritsuko is a schoolgirl... with a tank. Celcia attempts to send them back but is distracted by Junpei's chatter, which interrupts the spell she was chanting and causes it to split into five fragments, which fly off in all directions and imprint themselves onto the bodies of random elves.
And that's all the excuse needed to have this band of unlikely companions to travel around, accost elves (always female, of course), and strip them naked. Celcia joins them, not only because she feels responsible, but because she initially transformed into a dog to hide her identity (it's not good form for an elf to be helping humans sexually assault other elves), and finds herself unable to transform back until the spell is complete. Some of the most amusing scenes are after she transposes a fragment from an elf's body to her own; they're comically imprinted onto her face, making her even more self-conscious about her already undignified appearance.
The first couple of episodes weren't very funny, but I started to enjoy the series more as it progressed. Each plays out in a similar fashion: the hunters find an elf and spend the rest of the episode trying to disrobe her. The humour is mostly of the dumb variety, with slapstick aplenty, constant bickering between Junpei and Celcia, and some fourth wall breaking. My favourite episode is the one from which the above quote is taken. An elf girl is trapped inside a magical armour and, much to their astonishment, pleads with the hunters to strip her naked. Cue several amusing attempts at removing said armour before a much simpler solution is found.
Occasionally the show strays into drama and mawkishness, but it's never long before a character, usually Junpei, does or says something utterly ridiculous. It's not great--I still prefer Rune Soldier--but it's mostly fun to watch.
Toradora - 9/10
Much more than your typical high school romantic comedy. For one thing it has a cast of complex and memorable characters who, despite their many mistakes and struggles and faults, are easy to like. Well, perhaps not Taiga, at least not to begin with.
Because there are so many subtleties that may not be picked up first time around, Toradora is a series that rewards repeat viewings. After watching the final episode I sought out some discussion threads for thoughts on the series as a whole and was surprised at how much I missed.
As the series progresses it becomes increasingly dramatic. Usually I find that comedy and drama make uneasy bedfellows, but Toradora is different. It's the characters themselves who drive the drama, much of which is intense and uncomfortable, and therefore it never feels forced.
It doesn't hurt that Toradora is aesthetically pleasing. Character designs are strong and distinct and stay on model, colour is bold but not garish, and there are some really well animated sequences. Music is used sparingly but to good effect, and I love all the OPs and EDs.
Toradora is a great example of a show where preconceptions can be horribly wrong.
Toward the Terra - 7/10
Humanity has fled an earth ravaged by war and pollution and ventured out into space so they can do the same to other planets. But the Powers That Be considered that possibility and established a Brave New World-esque totalitarian system to regulate human life and weed out evolved humans called Mu, who are swiftly eliminated. They have psychic powers, see, and are viewed as a thread to society. Protagonist Jomy is a particularly powerful Mu and ends up in a big old spaceship with all the other Mu and is soon in charge. Humanity still wants them dead, though, and so relentlessly pursues them through space blah blah blah
Despite its unoriginal premise and overly familiar themes, this is a show that started and ended well. Unfortunately it drags in the middle, where not much of interest happened. What I like is that two leads receive some interesting character development, even though neither was particularly likeable, and that the show does not shy away from depicting death. This is war, after all. Overall it's a well-told story with no misplaced fanservice or "comedy", and which has a lot to say about discrimination, war, and having faith in humanity -- scummy and retarded as we are.
But the show's reliance on inner monologues and too much melodrama betrays the age of the source material and its original audience, and that made me enjoy it less than I might have. It's definitely a cut above most shounen anime, though, and is well worth watching (but perhaps not owning).
True Tears - 8/10
This one exceeded my expectations. I watched all 13 episodes in two days, something that rarely happens. For me it's better than Kanon, with which it shares a similar atmosphere if not the supernatural themes.
A remarkably understated romance, it can be absolutely heartbreaking without ever resorting to the cheap emotional manipulation that sometimes afflicts the Key works (e.g. girls bawling their eyes out). But it's not just about romance; it's about growing up, overcoming grief, and moving on with life. Shinichiro is an aspiring picture book author, but he lacks inspiration. A chance meeting with Noe, a cute but slightly quirky girl with a chicken fixation, provides that inspiration. Shinichiro not only has to deal with his developing feelings for her, but with those he has for Hiromi, the girl his family adopted when her parents died. The characters don't always act logically, but that's what makes them so real.
And, oh man, it looks absolutely beautiful. The lovingly rendered backgrounds, whether depicting the inside of buildings or the snow and cold light of winter, create a keenly nostalgic atmosphere. Some scenes rival Shinkai's works for sheer raw beauty. Character designs are attractive and always on-model, and there's so much subtle but expressive character animation.
The only real issue I had is with the over "flying" metaphor. It was bearable when used by Noe, but when it was adopted by Shinichiro, it started to annoy. And sometimes the characters' words and actions could be a little too understated, leaving some things more implied than I would have liked. This could be cultural, I guess. Also, the use of CG for crowd scenes (sometimes with hand drawn characters in the foreground) is rather odd; at times it looks as though there's an army of androids marching through the school.
But those are minor quibbles. If you like the Key anime adaptations, you'll probably like this. It's quite fabulous.
Ushio & Tora - 6/10
Whenever I revisit a show I loved in my younger days, there's always a chance that I'll realize it wasn't as good as I remembered. Ushio & Tora is one of those shows.
Not that it's bad--far from it--but this 10-episode adaptation of a loooong running manga never has the chance to really get going. Part buddy show and part supernatural action show, the straightforward stories carry heavy-handed messages about justice, friendship, and environmentalism, mostly through the idealistic Ushio--and while it seems sincere enough, it's all a bit cheesy for my liking.
On the plus side, the interplay between short tempered shrine kid Ushio and short tempered tiger-esque monster Tora (get it?!?!!1 lololol) never fails to entertain, both vowing to kill one another when the time is right but never missing the opportunity to bail the other out of any trouble they happen to be in. The few side characters are well developed enough, and the occasionally shocking violence gives it an edge.
Welcome to the NHK - 9/10
It's hard for me to find words at the moment because I'm sat here stunned that a Gonzo adaptation turned out better than its source material (the manga; not sure about the original novel). Just about all the complaints I had with the manga--that it was too drawn out and that characters became unlikeable, their motivations often unclear--were addressed in the anime.
NHK is a satirical but sympathetic story about the hikkikomori phenomenon, though it touches upon a wide range of serious issues, and somehow manages to balance comedy with drama much better than something like GTO. What I like about the show is that it carries a positive message without inventing any quick fixes or artificially happy endings to the problems that afflict the lives of the characters. But it asserts that they can, perhaps with the help of others, at least try to turn their lives around, no matter how bleak their situation seems.
Because of some differences in the story, and perhaps the soundtrack and voice acting, I found the anime more poignant and reflective than the manga, my lasting impression of which is of something much more darkly humourous and cynical. In that sense they compliment each other quite well, though overall I prefer the tone of the anime.
White Album (s1) - 7/10
Cut from the same cloth as School Days in the sense that both lead characters take douchebaggery to an entirely new level. Seriously, this time last week I was a much more innocent, naive anime fan than I am today.
White Album's douchebag is named Touya. His girlfriend, Yuki, has recently become an idol. Because of the demands of her job, the two of them are seeing less and less of each other. And because the show is set in 1986, a time before the internet and when mobile phones were expensive and the size of paving slabs, communication between them is also difficult.
Not only that, but Yuki's manager, Yayoi, hot in body but ice cold in personality, is determined to keep them apart for the benefit of Yuki's career--going above and beyond what could be reasonably expected. Despite the efforts of Yuki's friend and fellow idol Rina, the two drift further and further apart.
Other important cast members include Rina's brother Eiji, owner of the agency that manages Rina and Yuki and general oddball; Touya's father, with whom Touya has some serious issues; and a bunch of women who for some reason find themselves attracted to Touya.
The show is more maturely written than School Days--at least that's what it's going for--and offers some insight into the topsy-turvy world of the Japanese idol as well as the tempestuous hearts and minds of its characters. Character designs are elegant and the show's tone is subdued, like the repressed emotions of the cast.
But it's often difficult to fully understand what's going on, as characters behave strangely and speak cryptically, things happen without much explanation, and time seems to pass without much indication that time has actually passed. At times the viewer needs to fill in some gaps themselves. It's also difficult to watch characters struggle with loneliness and self-destruct the way Touya does throughout the series.
It is with trepidation, then, that I move onto the second series...
A Wind Named Amnesia - 2/10
I'm going to spoil the plot of this movie (or what I could discern) because I doubt anyone cares about it and certainly won't be rushing out to buy a copy.
So basically an alien race has been watching over earth since humans first appeared on it, and have spent all those millions of years procrastinating over whether to liberate humanity and take them all back to planet Awesome. Eventually they decide to instantaneously wipe the memory of every human on earth, thereby reducing them to primitive beings. Why? To see how they cope without civilisation and to determine whether or not they are worthy of being saved or whatever. But wait... haven't they been watching over humanity since the very beginning? Why, yes. Yes they have. So they should know that it's not pretty, right? Indeed.
The protagonist is an 18 year-old Japanese kid named Wataru. At first he's as feral as everyone else, but then he meets a wheelchair-bound kid in a battle against a telekinetic zombie thing, and helps him out. It turns out ol' four wheels can speak and uses a brain machine to re-educate Wataru. (I'm not making this shit up btw.)
Long, boring story short, Wataru ends up being the only person on earth who remembers anything from before the apocalypse, except for a mysterious silver-haired woman with whom he travels across America, and who turns out to be one of the aliens. Along the way they meet some other folks and the writers foist upon the hapless viewer some heavy-handed messages about how humanity functions in the absence of civilisation. Booooring.
Oh, and Wataru is being chased around by a mecha thing for some reason. And there's some nipple sucking at the end - that's essentially what the two points are for.
The Wings of Honneamise - 10/10
Hiroyuki Yamaga, what happened to you, man? From this masterpiece to Mahoromatic and gawd knows what else since.
WoH could only have been made in the boom years of the 1980s. In no other time would a bunch of wide-eyed 20-somethings been given the cash to produce anything, never mind a high-budget feature film with little commercial appeal. Yamaga and Gainax made WoH simply because they wanted to make it and the purity of their vision shines through.
It's an astonishing piece of world-building, in which everything from the design of buildings to cutlery is familiar yet alien, and it's also an inspiring coming of age story. The sad thing is that there will never be another film quite like it.
Witchblade - 8/10
At this rate I'm gonna have to re-evaluate my opinion of Gonzo.
The first half of this series is entertaining but nothing special. The titular Witchblade has existed for hundreds or maybe thousands of years and attaches itself to compatible women. Why? The series doesn't get around to explaining that. The latest host is 23 year-old Masane, who remembers nothing before an earthquake six years ago, when she was found with a baby girl she names Rihoko.
Witchblade has a silly plot involving bizarre genetic experiments and evil(ish) mega corporations, while Masane has impossibly huge tits that find their way into shot at every opportunity. Yet even from early on it was clear that there was more to this show than hot women killing ridiculous looking things--though it's not until the second half that it all starts to come together. Like another favourite of mine, Kurau, Witchblade is about relationships, and especially family. It's the theme that drives the entire story. The strength of the show lies in the interaction between various characters, particularly the believable and very sweet mother/daughter relationship shared by Masane and Rihoko.
Despite being so outwardly generic, Witchblade, mammary obsession aside, is handled tastefully and its subject matter is treated with a surprising amount of sensitivity. Even the ending is perfect. See, I enjoyed the show so much that I didn't get around to complaining about the variable animation quality or vastly inferior second OP/ED combo. That would be churlish.
Working!!/Wagnaria!! - 7/10
A slice-of-life sitcom starring the staff of restaurant Wagnaria, all of whom are different shades of odd - even (or perhaps especially) the one convinced that she, unlike the other weirdos, is normal. For a brief moment it seems as though lead character Souta Takanashi is going to fill that role, the show's "straight man", until it's revealed that he has an innocent but still slightly creepy fetish for all things cute. In fact the only reason he's even working at the restaurant is because of an impassioned plea from pint-sized Popura, a girl a year Souta's senior, something Souta can't quite comprehend.
There's a hint of romance between Souta and painfully shy Mahiro, only Souta's distaste towards women over 12 (or who look over 12) and Mahiru's chronic androphobia (which manifests itself, predictably enough, as violence towards any male who gets too close) means it's not exactly a smooth ride.
Working!! is not always hilarious or outstanding but it is always fun to watch and for the most part sharply written. The initial draw were the character designs, which are not only exceedingly cute but also full of personality, and A1-Pictures' typically good production values brings them even more to life. I find myself increasingly drawn to shows where nothing of consequence happens because that way I don't risk getting aggravated by banal conflict or terrible drama. Nothing in Working!! is of much consequence, and I love it for that. Oh, and the mean-spirited humour recalls Urusei Yatsura - fumbs up!
You're Under Arrest OVA - 7/10
Kosuke Fujishima evidently likes girls and motor vehicles. You're Under Arrest features both and little else.
Loud, energetic rookie cop Natsumi is partnered up with reserved ace mechanic Miyuki, and together they chase down reckless drivers, assist cats in distress, and deal with love troubles and career changes. While initially it seems as though Natsumi and Miyuki ain't gonna get along, they soon discover a shared passion and tenacity for pursuing bad guys at very high and dangerous speeds. The interplay between them and the rest of the cast is great to watch. It's all incredibly lightweight and lighthearted, like a helium balloon of a smiley face, but the lack of anything too serious actually works in the show's favour. The fun factor is high throughout.
And for a show about attractive women in police uniforms, fanservice is surprisingly absent, although I guess attractive women in police uniforms is itself a kind of fanservice... if you're into that kind of thing.
No doubt I wouldn't be so impressed if not for the quality of the art and animation. This is an impressive production, not just in terms of the money that was obviously spent but the quality of the direction. You're Under Arrest has some of the best, most creatively filmed car chases since Gunsmith Cats (which was animated after YUA, yes, but seen by yours truly about 14 years earlier) and at times they approach theatrical quality.
This OVA was the first of the franchise to be animated. I'm half-tempted to follow it up with the first TV series, but I know that the drop in animation quality would pain me greatly. For now I'm going to track down a copy of the mini-specials and see where I am after that.
Samurai 7 - 7/10
After one aborted effort I finally sat down and watched this very Gonzo-esque adaptation of Kurasawa's famous film (which I've yet to see). And once I'd slogged my way through those early episodes, I found this to be a remarkably easy watch. The story is a straightforward as it gets: a village sends a small convoy (including a cute water priestess and her bratty sister; this being anime, I wouldn't be surprised if these characters didn't exist in the original) to hire samurai to defend the village from bandits. They hire seven of them. And that's about it. There's a few twists and turns, but everything plays out as you'd expect it to.
But though I enjoyed Samurai 7, the whole thing was faintly ridiculous. Here is a show in which samurai cut giant robots into pieces with swords. Then there's the standard anime humour and stock characters and you have something far less inspiring than the same studio's Gankustuou.
School Days - 6/10
Anime romance is sometimes criticized for not portraying the relationships of teenagers in a particularly realistic light; they tend to be oddly chaste. Not so in School Days whose lead character, Makoto, develops an attitude towards girls that makes him easier for many people to relate to than Tenchi and his gazillion girl-phobic harem lead clones. Yet for his transgressions during the course of School Days he has become one of the most loathed characters in anime.
It starts off innocently enough, with Makoto quietly transfixed by the elegant beauty of Kotonoha, a girl with whom he rides the train to school. When a girl in his class, Sekai, offers to act as a go-between, it's not long before the two are dating. But turns out to be not quite what Makoto was expecting: Kotonoha is shy, quiet, and uncomfortable with intimacy, something Makoto discovers as he impatiently tries to push their relationship to a physical level.
Makoto confides in Sekai, who has been offering advice and bitchslapping him over his horny ways. But it's clear that she isn't helping him merely out of altruism, and when she suggests that he "practice" the art of becoming intimate with a woman on her, the warning klaxon began to sound rather loudly. From that point on it's a relentlessly uncomfortable descent into betrayal, infidelity, mental disintegration, and eyebrow-raising melodrama. It gets very messy, in more ways than one. And I couldn't take my eyes off it.
School Rumble - 9/10
I'm pleased to report that my fears about School Rumble becoming dramatic were unfounded. Yeah, okay, in the end there turned out to be more romance than I was expecting (surpisingly good romance at that) but any time the show threatened to get too serious a punch line was lurking just around the corner, ready to shout "psyche!" right in my face. The last episode almost had me. Almost.
Enjoyment of this show is contingent on a tolerance for dumb characters. Because the leads in particular, good-hearted delinquent Harima and sweet airhead Tenma, are two of the thickest, most dense characters in anime. And I love them both dearly. The show is driven by a seemingly endless string of romantic misunderstandings involving an ever-growing number of characters, but it's all so entertaining that I was perfectly happy for the madness to continue. I'm genuinely surprised at how funny I found this show.
School Rumble S2 - 7/10
At its best, the second series of School Rumble is every bit as good as the first. Unfortunately it's weighed down by a lot of unfunny parody and its attempt to give screen time to every member of what had become a very large cast.
Where the first series had a structure underpinning the silliness, and always seemed to be going somewhere, the second is all over the place. There's some plot progression in the middle and towards the end, where it returns to the hilarious romantic comedy it was before, but otherwise there are just too many duds.
Still, the high points trample over just about every high school romantic comedy ever made, and the second ED is quite adorable. Great dub as well.
Shigurui: Death Frenzy - 8/10
In the first episode we see two swordsmen facing off. One is blind; the other has only one arm. The subsequent 11 episodes tell the story of how the two men reached that point. They're supposed to, anyway, but the show ends rather abruptly and unless the viewer reads the manga, they have to fill in some gaps for themselves.
This is one of the most violent shows I've ever seen, with every act of brutality lovingly captured and dwelled upon for what seems like an eternity. The cinematography is amazing and that, more than anything else, is what kept me watching this thoroughly grim story. There really is nothing quite like it (the closest is probably Texhnolyze, which shares the same director).
Silent Mobius: The Motion Picture - 4/10
I get the impression that this film was made for those already familiar with the story through the manga. To everyone else it's not going to make a whole lot of sense.
It starts with a fight scene between a woman named Katsumi and a huge, monstrous creature. The film then shifts into a flashback which shows Katsumi's first encounters with the monsters, known as Lucifer Hawks, and how she came to join the AMP, an elite police unit comprising individuals with extraordinary powers. Unfortunately it does so without explaining much, nor giving any real screen time to the other cast members, and with far too much screaming and wailing as the reluctant Katsumi struggles to come to terms with what's happening. I know the feeling, love. It's back to the present for the last five minutes and the conclusion of Katsumi's fight with the Lucifer Hawk. Yawn.
On the plus side, this 50-minute film boasts some impressively animated fight scenes. The gruesome Lucifer Hawks are brilliantly designed and always seem on the verge of tentacle raping various female AMP members. Indeed, at one point poor Katsumi gets a face full of... something. And there's a gratuitous shower scene in the middle of the film, to which I probably paid more attention than anything else.
Spice and Wolf - 8/10
On paper this sounds like the most boring waste of time ever, but two strong dramatic arcs and some wonderful characterization make it far more compelling than it has any right to be.
Star of the show is Horo, a wolf deity several hundred years old, though she has taken the form of a teenage girl, with only her animal ears and tail serving as a reminder of what she really is. Though it's easy to dismiss her based on appearance, she's a multifaceted character: haughty yet playful, intelligent yet easily jealous, a tease yet desperately lonely. Her interaction with Lawrence, the trader who finds her sleeping in his cart and who promises to accompany her back home, is so entertaining that I didn't mind not understanding much of the medieval economics that drives the plot.
I've not come across anything quite like this in all my years of watching anime, and that alone makes it worthy of attention.
Strike Witches - 7/10
As much as I wanted to, or believed I should, I just couldn’t dislike this show. That each of the characters are (loosely) based on actual WWII pilots; that the story is half decent; and that it has relatively high quality visuals all elevate it above the usual fan service fluff.
Ah, yes, the fan service. While I didn’t find the many close-up shots of loli crotch particularly arousing, I do have an appreciation for shows that push the boundaries of good taste, and Strike Witches often does. Much like Aika and Najica, there’s a humour and playfulness about the crotch and hindquarters fixation that somehow prevents it from being creepy. Not to mention that several characters are more, um, developed than others...
Being a graphics whore, good visuals can help me overlook deficiencies elsewhere. Not only does Strike Witches have one of the best art directors in anime (Hiromasa Ogura), its flight scenes are brilliantly staged and animated, and that’s what had me watching past the first episode. Also on display is some of Gonzo’s best CG work.
What kept me watching was a combination of that and an entertaining bunch of characters. Early on the episodes played out in predictable fashion; one of the witches had some kind of personal issue that would be resolved, with the help of rookie Yoshika, within the episode itself. Not exactly deep stuff, but entertaining and often quite endearing. That I didn’t find any of the characters annoying was a pleasant surprise.
The story concerning the appearance of mysterious life forms known as Neuroi and a shady military conspiracy is probably the show's weakest aspect. It's serviceable but there wasn't enough time to fully explore everything, and it comes to a fairly abrupt conclusion in the last couple of episodes.
Summer Wars - 5/10
Well, I finished it, but after seeing how cheesy the ending was I kind of wish I hadn't. At times this movie wallows in pure Hollywood schmaltz.
I think the problem I have with Summer Wars is that it tries to be too many things, and it's none of them convincingly. It doesn't work as a romantic comedy because the leads are painfully dull and there's practically no romantic development between them. As a family drama it's partially successful thanks to the film's one strong character, but most of the rest of the large ensemble cast are non-entities as individuals and do nothing but make noise as a collective, and therefore I never really cared about any of them. And the Oz thing I found incongruous and outlandish at best and completely uninteresting at worst. Again, I found it difficult to care.
On the plus side Summer Wars is occasionally amusing and always beautifully animated. One scene in particular, in which two characters hold hands, was moving simply because of the subtle but fluid animation of their fingers intertwining.
Bit gutted, really, as I love The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and now I'll approach Hosoda's next work with less enthusiasm.
Sword of the Stranger - 9/10
I'm a sucker for samurai and ninja anime. Unless it's widely reputed to suck donkey conkers, I'll give it a shot. Ninja Scroll, Samurai Champloo, and the first Kenshin OVA are amongst my favourite anime, and Sword of the Stranger now belongs in that list.
It's a simple story: a young boy and his dog are being pursued by both Japanese and Chinese soldiers, for reasons that aren't made apparent until later. They're saved by a nameless wandering swordsman who then accompanies them, first for money but later because he wants to atone for past sins. And maybe he's a fiddler, who knows.
As a spectacle, though, it's absolutely incredible. The theatrical budget enabled Bones' talented animators to create some truly spectacular fight scenes, with the film culminating in an extraordinary bloodbath inside a fortress. The sweeping score would usually be a touch dramatic for my tastes, but it suits the mood of the film. Ocean seem to be the studio of choice for Bandai these days, and they've produced another great dub.
I would have awarded the film full marks if not for a couple of issues. First, there's a lull in the middle of the film where not much happens; second, the kid was a loud, obnoxious brat at the start. I understand that this was so that the audience could see the bond between him and the stranger deepen, but it still annoyed me. Aside from that I have no complaints. Watch this film.
Takahashi Anthology - 7/10
A series of 13 self-contained stories about very ordinary people, mainly adults, who have to overcome a problem or hardship. While the show isn't strictly comedy, almost every episode is light-hearted and has plenty of subtle humour. Takahashi creates warm, sympathetic characters who, in most cases, I found myself caring about before the end of their short tales. Some of the episodes are quite dull, though, knocking a point or two off the final score. Visually it looks rather flat, but the character designs retain Takahashi's unique charm.
The final episode featured a guest performance from the delightful Fumi Hirano who, 22 years earlier, played Lum in the anime adaptation of Takahashi's first manga Urusei Yatsura. A pleasant surprise to round off an interesting series
"We have never met an elf that we couldn't strip. Did you hear me? Not one. We will not rest until you're naked!"
Those Who Hunt Elves - 6/10
Three people from modern day Japan are summoned by a high elf priestess named Celcia to your standard fantasy world. Airi is a graceful Hollywood actress; Junpei is a dumb but powerful martial artist; and Ritsuko is a schoolgirl... with a tank. Celcia attempts to send them back but is distracted by Junpei's chatter, which interrupts the spell she was chanting and causes it to split into five fragments, which fly off in all directions and imprint themselves onto the bodies of random elves.
And that's all the excuse needed to have this band of unlikely companions to travel around, accost elves (always female, of course), and strip them naked. Celcia joins them, not only because she feels responsible, but because she initially transformed into a dog to hide her identity (it's not good form for an elf to be helping humans sexually assault other elves), and finds herself unable to transform back until the spell is complete. Some of the most amusing scenes are after she transposes a fragment from an elf's body to her own; they're comically imprinted onto her face, making her even more self-conscious about her already undignified appearance.
The first couple of episodes weren't very funny, but I started to enjoy the series more as it progressed. Each plays out in a similar fashion: the hunters find an elf and spend the rest of the episode trying to disrobe her. The humour is mostly of the dumb variety, with slapstick aplenty, constant bickering between Junpei and Celcia, and some fourth wall breaking. My favourite episode is the one from which the above quote is taken. An elf girl is trapped inside a magical armour and, much to their astonishment, pleads with the hunters to strip her naked. Cue several amusing attempts at removing said armour before a much simpler solution is found.
Occasionally the show strays into drama and mawkishness, but it's never long before a character, usually Junpei, does or says something utterly ridiculous. It's not great--I still prefer Rune Soldier--but it's mostly fun to watch.
Toradora - 9/10
Much more than your typical high school romantic comedy. For one thing it has a cast of complex and memorable characters who, despite their many mistakes and struggles and faults, are easy to like. Well, perhaps not Taiga, at least not to begin with.
Because there are so many subtleties that may not be picked up first time around, Toradora is a series that rewards repeat viewings. After watching the final episode I sought out some discussion threads for thoughts on the series as a whole and was surprised at how much I missed.
As the series progresses it becomes increasingly dramatic. Usually I find that comedy and drama make uneasy bedfellows, but Toradora is different. It's the characters themselves who drive the drama, much of which is intense and uncomfortable, and therefore it never feels forced.
It doesn't hurt that Toradora is aesthetically pleasing. Character designs are strong and distinct and stay on model, colour is bold but not garish, and there are some really well animated sequences. Music is used sparingly but to good effect, and I love all the OPs and EDs.
Toradora is a great example of a show where preconceptions can be horribly wrong.
Toward the Terra - 7/10
Humanity has fled an earth ravaged by war and pollution and ventured out into space so they can do the same to other planets. But the Powers That Be considered that possibility and established a Brave New World-esque totalitarian system to regulate human life and weed out evolved humans called Mu, who are swiftly eliminated. They have psychic powers, see, and are viewed as a thread to society. Protagonist Jomy is a particularly powerful Mu and ends up in a big old spaceship with all the other Mu and is soon in charge. Humanity still wants them dead, though, and so relentlessly pursues them through space blah blah blah
Despite its unoriginal premise and overly familiar themes, this is a show that started and ended well. Unfortunately it drags in the middle, where not much of interest happened. What I like is that two leads receive some interesting character development, even though neither was particularly likeable, and that the show does not shy away from depicting death. This is war, after all. Overall it's a well-told story with no misplaced fanservice or "comedy", and which has a lot to say about discrimination, war, and having faith in humanity -- scummy and retarded as we are.
But the show's reliance on inner monologues and too much melodrama betrays the age of the source material and its original audience, and that made me enjoy it less than I might have. It's definitely a cut above most shounen anime, though, and is well worth watching (but perhaps not owning).
True Tears - 8/10
This one exceeded my expectations. I watched all 13 episodes in two days, something that rarely happens. For me it's better than Kanon, with which it shares a similar atmosphere if not the supernatural themes.
A remarkably understated romance, it can be absolutely heartbreaking without ever resorting to the cheap emotional manipulation that sometimes afflicts the Key works (e.g. girls bawling their eyes out). But it's not just about romance; it's about growing up, overcoming grief, and moving on with life. Shinichiro is an aspiring picture book author, but he lacks inspiration. A chance meeting with Noe, a cute but slightly quirky girl with a chicken fixation, provides that inspiration. Shinichiro not only has to deal with his developing feelings for her, but with those he has for Hiromi, the girl his family adopted when her parents died. The characters don't always act logically, but that's what makes them so real.
And, oh man, it looks absolutely beautiful. The lovingly rendered backgrounds, whether depicting the inside of buildings or the snow and cold light of winter, create a keenly nostalgic atmosphere. Some scenes rival Shinkai's works for sheer raw beauty. Character designs are attractive and always on-model, and there's so much subtle but expressive character animation.
The only real issue I had is with the over "flying" metaphor. It was bearable when used by Noe, but when it was adopted by Shinichiro, it started to annoy. And sometimes the characters' words and actions could be a little too understated, leaving some things more implied than I would have liked. This could be cultural, I guess. Also, the use of CG for crowd scenes (sometimes with hand drawn characters in the foreground) is rather odd; at times it looks as though there's an army of androids marching through the school.
But those are minor quibbles. If you like the Key anime adaptations, you'll probably like this. It's quite fabulous.
Ushio & Tora - 6/10
Whenever I revisit a show I loved in my younger days, there's always a chance that I'll realize it wasn't as good as I remembered. Ushio & Tora is one of those shows.
Not that it's bad--far from it--but this 10-episode adaptation of a loooong running manga never has the chance to really get going. Part buddy show and part supernatural action show, the straightforward stories carry heavy-handed messages about justice, friendship, and environmentalism, mostly through the idealistic Ushio--and while it seems sincere enough, it's all a bit cheesy for my liking.
On the plus side, the interplay between short tempered shrine kid Ushio and short tempered tiger-esque monster Tora (get it?!?!!1 lololol) never fails to entertain, both vowing to kill one another when the time is right but never missing the opportunity to bail the other out of any trouble they happen to be in. The few side characters are well developed enough, and the occasionally shocking violence gives it an edge.
Welcome to the NHK - 9/10
It's hard for me to find words at the moment because I'm sat here stunned that a Gonzo adaptation turned out better than its source material (the manga; not sure about the original novel). Just about all the complaints I had with the manga--that it was too drawn out and that characters became unlikeable, their motivations often unclear--were addressed in the anime.
NHK is a satirical but sympathetic story about the hikkikomori phenomenon, though it touches upon a wide range of serious issues, and somehow manages to balance comedy with drama much better than something like GTO. What I like about the show is that it carries a positive message without inventing any quick fixes or artificially happy endings to the problems that afflict the lives of the characters. But it asserts that they can, perhaps with the help of others, at least try to turn their lives around, no matter how bleak their situation seems.
Because of some differences in the story, and perhaps the soundtrack and voice acting, I found the anime more poignant and reflective than the manga, my lasting impression of which is of something much more darkly humourous and cynical. In that sense they compliment each other quite well, though overall I prefer the tone of the anime.
White Album (s1) - 7/10
Cut from the same cloth as School Days in the sense that both lead characters take douchebaggery to an entirely new level. Seriously, this time last week I was a much more innocent, naive anime fan than I am today.
White Album's douchebag is named Touya. His girlfriend, Yuki, has recently become an idol. Because of the demands of her job, the two of them are seeing less and less of each other. And because the show is set in 1986, a time before the internet and when mobile phones were expensive and the size of paving slabs, communication between them is also difficult.
Not only that, but Yuki's manager, Yayoi, hot in body but ice cold in personality, is determined to keep them apart for the benefit of Yuki's career--going above and beyond what could be reasonably expected. Despite the efforts of Yuki's friend and fellow idol Rina, the two drift further and further apart.
Other important cast members include Rina's brother Eiji, owner of the agency that manages Rina and Yuki and general oddball; Touya's father, with whom Touya has some serious issues; and a bunch of women who for some reason find themselves attracted to Touya.
The show is more maturely written than School Days--at least that's what it's going for--and offers some insight into the topsy-turvy world of the Japanese idol as well as the tempestuous hearts and minds of its characters. Character designs are elegant and the show's tone is subdued, like the repressed emotions of the cast.
But it's often difficult to fully understand what's going on, as characters behave strangely and speak cryptically, things happen without much explanation, and time seems to pass without much indication that time has actually passed. At times the viewer needs to fill in some gaps themselves. It's also difficult to watch characters struggle with loneliness and self-destruct the way Touya does throughout the series.
It is with trepidation, then, that I move onto the second series...
A Wind Named Amnesia - 2/10
I'm going to spoil the plot of this movie (or what I could discern) because I doubt anyone cares about it and certainly won't be rushing out to buy a copy.
So basically an alien race has been watching over earth since humans first appeared on it, and have spent all those millions of years procrastinating over whether to liberate humanity and take them all back to planet Awesome. Eventually they decide to instantaneously wipe the memory of every human on earth, thereby reducing them to primitive beings. Why? To see how they cope without civilisation and to determine whether or not they are worthy of being saved or whatever. But wait... haven't they been watching over humanity since the very beginning? Why, yes. Yes they have. So they should know that it's not pretty, right? Indeed.
The protagonist is an 18 year-old Japanese kid named Wataru. At first he's as feral as everyone else, but then he meets a wheelchair-bound kid in a battle against a telekinetic zombie thing, and helps him out. It turns out ol' four wheels can speak and uses a brain machine to re-educate Wataru. (I'm not making this shit up btw.)
Long, boring story short, Wataru ends up being the only person on earth who remembers anything from before the apocalypse, except for a mysterious silver-haired woman with whom he travels across America, and who turns out to be one of the aliens. Along the way they meet some other folks and the writers foist upon the hapless viewer some heavy-handed messages about how humanity functions in the absence of civilisation. Booooring.
Oh, and Wataru is being chased around by a mecha thing for some reason. And there's some nipple sucking at the end - that's essentially what the two points are for.
The Wings of Honneamise - 10/10
Hiroyuki Yamaga, what happened to you, man? From this masterpiece to Mahoromatic and gawd knows what else since.
WoH could only have been made in the boom years of the 1980s. In no other time would a bunch of wide-eyed 20-somethings been given the cash to produce anything, never mind a high-budget feature film with little commercial appeal. Yamaga and Gainax made WoH simply because they wanted to make it and the purity of their vision shines through.
It's an astonishing piece of world-building, in which everything from the design of buildings to cutlery is familiar yet alien, and it's also an inspiring coming of age story. The sad thing is that there will never be another film quite like it.
Witchblade - 8/10
At this rate I'm gonna have to re-evaluate my opinion of Gonzo.
The first half of this series is entertaining but nothing special. The titular Witchblade has existed for hundreds or maybe thousands of years and attaches itself to compatible women. Why? The series doesn't get around to explaining that. The latest host is 23 year-old Masane, who remembers nothing before an earthquake six years ago, when she was found with a baby girl she names Rihoko.
Witchblade has a silly plot involving bizarre genetic experiments and evil(ish) mega corporations, while Masane has impossibly huge tits that find their way into shot at every opportunity. Yet even from early on it was clear that there was more to this show than hot women killing ridiculous looking things--though it's not until the second half that it all starts to come together. Like another favourite of mine, Kurau, Witchblade is about relationships, and especially family. It's the theme that drives the entire story. The strength of the show lies in the interaction between various characters, particularly the believable and very sweet mother/daughter relationship shared by Masane and Rihoko.
Despite being so outwardly generic, Witchblade, mammary obsession aside, is handled tastefully and its subject matter is treated with a surprising amount of sensitivity. Even the ending is perfect. See, I enjoyed the show so much that I didn't get around to complaining about the variable animation quality or vastly inferior second OP/ED combo. That would be churlish.
Working!!/Wagnaria!! - 7/10
A slice-of-life sitcom starring the staff of restaurant Wagnaria, all of whom are different shades of odd - even (or perhaps especially) the one convinced that she, unlike the other weirdos, is normal. For a brief moment it seems as though lead character Souta Takanashi is going to fill that role, the show's "straight man", until it's revealed that he has an innocent but still slightly creepy fetish for all things cute. In fact the only reason he's even working at the restaurant is because of an impassioned plea from pint-sized Popura, a girl a year Souta's senior, something Souta can't quite comprehend.
There's a hint of romance between Souta and painfully shy Mahiro, only Souta's distaste towards women over 12 (or who look over 12) and Mahiru's chronic androphobia (which manifests itself, predictably enough, as violence towards any male who gets too close) means it's not exactly a smooth ride.
Working!! is not always hilarious or outstanding but it is always fun to watch and for the most part sharply written. The initial draw were the character designs, which are not only exceedingly cute but also full of personality, and A1-Pictures' typically good production values brings them even more to life. I find myself increasingly drawn to shows where nothing of consequence happens because that way I don't risk getting aggravated by banal conflict or terrible drama. Nothing in Working!! is of much consequence, and I love it for that. Oh, and the mean-spirited humour recalls Urusei Yatsura - fumbs up!
You're Under Arrest OVA - 7/10
Kosuke Fujishima evidently likes girls and motor vehicles. You're Under Arrest features both and little else.
Loud, energetic rookie cop Natsumi is partnered up with reserved ace mechanic Miyuki, and together they chase down reckless drivers, assist cats in distress, and deal with love troubles and career changes. While initially it seems as though Natsumi and Miyuki ain't gonna get along, they soon discover a shared passion and tenacity for pursuing bad guys at very high and dangerous speeds. The interplay between them and the rest of the cast is great to watch. It's all incredibly lightweight and lighthearted, like a helium balloon of a smiley face, but the lack of anything too serious actually works in the show's favour. The fun factor is high throughout.
And for a show about attractive women in police uniforms, fanservice is surprisingly absent, although I guess attractive women in police uniforms is itself a kind of fanservice... if you're into that kind of thing.
No doubt I wouldn't be so impressed if not for the quality of the art and animation. This is an impressive production, not just in terms of the money that was obviously spent but the quality of the direction. You're Under Arrest has some of the best, most creatively filmed car chases since Gunsmith Cats (which was animated after YUA, yes, but seen by yours truly about 14 years earlier) and at times they approach theatrical quality.
This OVA was the first of the franchise to be animated. I'm half-tempted to follow it up with the first TV series, but I know that the drop in animation quality would pain me greatly. For now I'm going to track down a copy of the mini-specials and see where I am after that.
Posted by
alteredcourse
| Aug 30, 2010 3:10 AM |
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