August 30th, 2010
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 | 0 comments
August 20th, 2010
Mini reviews I-R
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.
I''s Pure - 5/10
This 6-episode OVA is a heavily compressed adaptation of Masakazu Katsura's 15-volume manga. I'd read the first two books before watching the anime and one thing that became apparent is that much of the series' humour was deemed too frivolous to keep.
And that's a shame because most of what's left is, I assume, the story's pivitol dramatic moments--but that drama is not always good (rapeman ffs). The loss of the light-hearted moments of character interaction may not have much effect on the plot, but it certainly makes the cast less interesting and endearing to me. Not that the show is entirely without merit: the first two episodes are a faithful (if slightly truncated) retelling of the first two books, and episode 5 generates some compelling romantic tension. The rest is either forgettable or something I desperately want to forget, but I fear the ending will stay with me for all the wrong reasons.
Predictably enough, the visuals also lose out in the transition from manga to anime. I quite like the OVA designs but the series doesn't have the budget to animate them with any fluidity. It all looks a bit cheap. The music didn't leave any impression at all.
The problem is that OVA adaptations like this are meant to compliment the source material, not serve as a substitute for it. Thus the series has a "greatest hits" feel to it; months pass between episodes, characters come and go, things happen without much build up. It's fanservice, really, and not meant to stand alone. As its own entity it doesn't work very well.
Ikki Tousen - 4/10
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The High School Years. Or something. Not being familiar with the story on which Ikki Tousen is very loosely based, all I had to explain to me what the hell was going on were the portentous ramblings of the narrator.
Pro-tip: if you're going to make a fighting anime, at least spare some effort to animate the fights. There are only so many stills, speed lines, and other shortcuts I can take before I start to wonder what the point is.
Oh, wait, the fanservice. Ikki Tousen fares a bit better on that count, but the unrefined art and character designs undermine that as well.
As for the story, well, it didn't take me long to forget it. The tone of the show wavers between serious and downright silly, and I never quite knew what to make of what was happening. It earns an extra point for being so unashamedly proud of what it is, and for Carrie Savage's memorable performance as Hakufu. Really, the only reason I watched this series is because the sequel is supposedly much better, which leads me onto...
Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny - 7/10
And it really is much better. For one thing, Dragon Destiny seems to have a budget (and some talented staff): character designs are sleeker and sexier, the art is more refined, and the fights are much more dynamic and creatively staged. Director Koichi Ohata is responsible for some of anime's most horrendous travesties, so I wasn't expecting much when his name appeared during the opening credits... but this is easily the best work of his I've seen.
Not only does it look a hell of a lot better, the story benefits from a much darker tone (though the series isn't without its lighter moments). It's not going to win literary awards or anything, but it kept me vaguely interested through to the end.
A special mention must go to the OP and ED, especially the ending. Famed nipple-meisters Kinji Yoshimoto and Satoshi Urushihara turn out a beautifully designed and animated sequence with some of the most hilarious peanut smuggling I've ever seen. Bravo, gents.
Infinite Ryvius - 7/10
This one was difficult to rate and generally assess. The first half is slow and plodding; the second half often enthralling; and the whole thing is bogged down with incessant technobabble and an unclear plot.
An examination of how teenagers function in an isolated society, the ship Ryvius, it becomes fascinating to watch as time passes and characters change with increasingly desperate circumstances. We see a clash of egos and ideals between various groups and individuals, all of whom eager to impose their own will on the ship's crumbling society.
But, man, the battles are boring. Whenever the Ryvius was attacked, I just wanted it over with. Few of the characters are memorable and I did, at one point or another, want to punch just about every single one of them--but I guess that's the point. As might be expected from the director and studio that brought us Code Geass, the show often indulges in excessive melodrama. Some is justified by what the characters have gone through, and some of it could have used a more subtle approach.
On the plus side, the traditional cell-painted visuals look good. All the reviews on MAL mention that it looks "old" because--gasp--it doesn't have shiny digital paint, while somehow missing the often excellent character and battle animation. Tards. The ending wasn't as explosive as I'd hoped and is liable to infuriate, but it was consistent with the message the show was pushing.
Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA - 7/10
Despite the Tylor TV series being primarily a comedy show, it was set against the backdrop of war, one in which Tylor and his crew became increasingly involved. The OVAs, for better or worse, eliminate most of the comedy.
It's actually two series; the first two episodes are a follow-up of sorts to where the TV series left off, but unfortunately the reset button was pushed for both the Soyokaze crew and the enemy in how they regard Tylor. The second series of eight episodes was produced by a different animation studio, and takes place a bit later, during a cease-fire. It first covers the personal stories of various cast members, who are temporarily assigned to ground duty, then ties it all together as a larger plot emerges and war approaches again.
Sadly it ends with things only partially resolved. But thanks to Nozomi's on-disc liner notes I was able to find out what happened in the original novels, both in this story arc and beyond. The lack of comedy and character interaction that made the TV series so great hurts the OVA, but it was good to see the cast again.
Azalyn-chaaaaaan <3
Junkers Come Here - 9/10
I love this film, a thoroughly charming Ghibli-esque tale of a young girl and her talking dog. On paper it doesn't sound very interesting but the girl, Hiromi, is not only troubled by the impending divorce of her parents, whom she rarely sees because they're so busy with work, but has a crush on her engaged-to-be-married tutor. Despite this, she's doesn't let how she feels on the inside show on the outside. Her dog, Junkers, is the only one she can talk to about her problems, and as she struggles to cope, he tells her that he has the power to grant three wishes.
The film has beautiful background art and animation, with one scene in particular standing out as particularly impressive. Despite the subject matter, the film never gets too heavy, mainly due to Hiromi being such a likeable, believable character and the moments of subtle comedy throughout. It's very sweet but, like Ghibli's work, never schmaltzy--something I can't tolerate. Highly recommended.
Kannagi - 8/10
Takes the basic set-up of Ah! My Goddess, but Nagi is no Belldandy; she's selfish, demanding, bratty, and frequently hilarious. Whether it's gluing her "magic wand" to a table, sulking in a closet, singing terrible songs, or laughing at her own awful puns, she never fails to entertain. The whole series, in fact, is crammed with great comedy, especially during the middle "filler" episodes that benefit from entirely dropping the rather thin plot. Towards the end it picks up the dangling threads and attempts to tie them up, wringing some angst from the characters in the process, but an amusing, fanservice-packed final OVA episode ensures the series ends on a comical note.
Usually I don't care much for animation quality in comedy anime, but here A-1's stellar work adds so much personality to the characters. I don't think it would have been quite as good a show in the hands of a lesser studio.
Karas - 9/10
Karas was once my longest-owned unwatched DVD. I bought the double pack when it was released in the US (2 or 3 years ago) and only made it through the first disc. It was pretty but the writers were reluctant to explain anything that was happening and I lost interest.
I should have stuck with it because everything becomes clear not long into the second disc. It's all a bit bonkers--in Karas, cities apparently have wills of their own--but if you can accept the rules the show establishes for its world, it's not hard to understand at all, and you can freely enjoy what is a dark, violent, and thrilling superhero story.
And it's still pretty. Prettier than ever, in fact. I don't remember being so taken aback by the quality of the art and animation, both 2D and 3D, first time around. Even though I'm not a huge fan of CG, in Karas it's integrated exceptionally well. It really is an incredible spectacle from start to finish, and the bombastic score (again not usually to my tastes) is just an epic cherry upon an epic cake.
Kite - 8/10
Given that the edited version of Kite has a running time of just 45 minutes, I found it surprisingly affecting. It's a somewhat depressing and disturbing story of an orphaned teenage girl named Sawa. When her parents are killed she's taken in by a corrupt detective who manipulates her into becoming an assassin for him. Kite's art is impressive, depiciting a dark, decaying urban environment; the animation is fluid when it needs to be; and the action scenes and level of violence on display are outrageous.
Kite Liberator - 4/10
Uh oh. The sequel has little in common with the original and concerns itself with a new female assassin, the bespectacled moe-bait Monaka, and --wait for it-- some ludicrous space monster b-movie bullcrap. Now this might have worked on some level had the show bothered to offer an explanation of, well, anything. But here I am, ten minutes after finishing it, and I'm trying to make sense of the absolute mess I just witnessed. Seriously, Umetsu, what the hell have you been smoking? If this is a joke, it's not funny. If that wasn't enough, the animation is of lesser quality than Kite, and let's not even talk about that "ending".
Positives? Um, well, Monaka is the most adorable killer ever and shows her pants a lot. If nothing else, Umetsu knows how to draw women.
Kurau: Phantom Memory - 8/10
Kurau is a remarkably consistent series from start to finish, both in terms on Bones' usual high quality visuals, and the theme of relationships, which remains strong all the way through to the somewhat bittersweet ending. But unlike some melodramatic anime (something I usually run a mile from), the emotional scenes in Kurau never feel forced; the writing makes me care about the characters and their interactions always come across as natural. Yet the show never really blew me away at any point and the story took an eye-rolling turn towards the end, then kind of fizzled out. Nevertheless, I think Kurau is pretty damn great.
Lupin The 3rd Episode 0: The First Contact - 8/10
Holy crap, a decent Lupin TV special. It's actually the first one I've seen that uses digital colouring, and it makes a big difference to the quality of the visuals. The older cell-based specials released by on DVD by Funimation look horribly washed-out and murky, but First Contact's visuals are clean and vibrant. It must have received a decent budget as the art and animation are better than I expected. Fujiko hasn't looked this hot since Mamo.
First Contact tells the entertaining story of how Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon first met. Given that I haven't read the manga nor seen the TV series, I don't know if the events portrayed here are consistent with those iterations; but as someone familiar only with the movies and OVAs, I appreciate having this film as a "starting point".
And a fun ride it is, too. Unlike many Lupin films which try to cram in as many exotic locations as possible, First Contact wisely confines itself to a well-realized New York. All the insane action sequences (my favourite being Lupin biking his way through a building under construction while being chased by Goemon) and implausible gadgetry are correct and present, so as always some suspension of disbelief is required.
Fun but sophisticated. That phrase sums the appeal of the best Lupin movies, and it applies here too.
Maison Ikkoku - The Final Movie - 7/10
I've no idea why I waited so long to watch this. The film is part of the manga canon, as it follows that version's timeline and features a character who never appeared in the TV series, and it takes place two days before Yusaku and Kyoko's wedding.
And it's basically an excuse to wheel out most of the cast for one last hurrah. It's disappointing that Yusaku and Kyoko's time alone was limited to five minutes at the end of the film, and only one other scene--a brief conversation between Kyoko and Ibuki--provided any further insight into the characters. Otherwise it was business as usual, with lots of drunkenness and tomfoolery. Didn't like Yuji Moriyama's character designs much.
NANA - 9/10
I didn't expect this show to affect me on such a personal level. Not only does NANA take place in 2001, easily the most memorably year of my life, but some of the dates on which important events in the show take place hold a personal significance for me. It really is quite astoundingly coincidental, and it helped draw me into the story in a way I couldn't have imagined.
Moreover, I found myself identifying, in a sense, with Nana Komatsu, a character I previously described as "impulsive, reckless, self-absorbed and overly dependent on others". At the start of the show she's preparing to embark on a new chapter in her life by joining her boyfriend in Tokyo, without giving too much thought to what she's going to do once she gets there. On the train there she meets Nana Osaki, a rebellious, independent, but emotionally fragile singer looking to carve out her own future in the big city. Underpinning almost everything that happens in the show is the relationship between these two characters, who seem to have nothing in common, and how they come to depend upon one another. It's not only about the two Nanas, of course; there's also a rich cast of supporting characters as interesting as you'd find anywhere.
NANA is just wonderful. It's dramatic, genuinely funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming, sometimes in the same episode. It's looks great as well, with elegant designs and costumes that replicate Ai Yazawa's art as well as could be expected on a TV budget. And unlike Beck, another show with music as a strong focus, NANA's songs are actually good, such that I can understand why they would be popular.
Negatives? Essentially NANA is little more than a soap opera, albeit one that truly understands the complex emotions that constitute the average person, and of course the ending leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
Ocean Waves - 7/10
A love-triangle between two boys and one girl. One of the boys appears only sporadically, while the girl and the other boy give absolutely no indication of having romantic feelings for one another. And she's a bitch and he's a doormat.
Perhaps the romance is less important than the film's theme, which is that of looking back and realizing things we didn't realize at the time--in this case, the main character's feelings towards a girl he never even knew he liked. But it doesn't quite work.
Orguss 02 - 9/10
One of those mecha anime that's more about the characters than the giant robots. And it's all the better for it.
Since it's only six episodes, the story moves at a cracking pace, and is full of twists and tension. Its dark, realistic (if you overlook the giant robots, of course) depiction of war reminds me of Gundam, and it's brought to life by similarly excellent characterization. I particularly enjoy the dynamic between the utterly brilliant Manning, who must rank as one of anime's greatest characters, and the young reluctant solider Lean. The characters change, but not in a way that it feels contrived or predictable.
The animation is good, but it's the gorgeous, intricately detailed character designs that really stood out for me. They were done by Haruhiko Mikimoto of Macross, Gunbuster, and Gundam 0080, so it's no wonder I love them.
Orguss 02 is an absolute classic. They really don't make them like this any more; today's mecha anime is seemingly all about packing in as many pretty boys and girls and whiny emo teenagers as possible.
Paradise Kiss - 9/10
The first thing that struck me upon watching the first episode (apart from the trippy pre-opening sequence in which strange animated creatures are wandering around photographic backdrops) was the cool as hell OP. Both the moody electro-pop song and accompanying visuals exude an irresistible sense of style. Nobuteru Yuki is one of my favourite character designers and in Paradise Kiss his designs are typically elegant and detailed. I became a fan of Osamu Kobayashi while watching Beck and his style, too, is very much evident here, especially with regards to scene composition and the gorgeous, detailed backgrounds. And the elaborate costume designs are dazzling. All this detail means that animation (that is, movement) is rather limited, but it looks so good that it doesn't matter. The whole thing is effortlessly cool.
I was drawn in by the story as well. At the outset, main character Yukari seems to live for little more than the approval of her mother, studying hard for college entrance exams because that's what's expected of her--regardless of what she wants for herself. But even she doesn't realize what that is until a chance encounter with the members of Paradise Kiss, a local after-school fashion club. They see in her an extraordinary beauty and want her to model for them. Over the course of the series Yukari changes into someone who can think for herself, though she makes plenty of mistakes and rash decisions along the way. Add one of the most realistic and non-idealized romances I've seen in anime and you have an incredibly enjoyable show all the way through to its bittersweet ending.
My only issue is with the final episode, which seemed to rush through events a little too quickly. The manga's only five volumes but I imagine it must have been a tight squeeze to fit everything into a half-season anime. Perhaps it could have done with another episode or two.
Paranoia Agent - 8/10
Paranoia Agent must be the most technically accomplished TV show Madhouse have ever animated. The character animation is often excellent, particular the faces, and some of the visual creativity is astounding. And the show is genuinely unsettling at times, more so than any "horror" anime I've ever seen. A great show, then, but also a frustrating one.
Project A-Ko
The weird thing about this film is how much of it I remember even though it's been at least 12 years since my last viewing. Certain scenes, BGM, and even the characters' facial expressions all brought the memories flooding back, so it's entirely possible that my appreciation of Project A-ko is coloured by nostalgia.
Not that it has no merit: the action sequences are superbly animated, and Yuji Moriyama was THE character designer/animation director of the 1980s (well, okay, along with Tsukasa Dokite and Atsuko Nakajima). And the songs - oh, the songs. It's funny, too, parodying various popular anime from the 1980s and generally being a riotous bunch of fun. In fact, I think "1980s" sums up Project A-ko perfectly; it's certainly not a film that would be made today.
REC - 7/10
Comprising just ten half-length episodes, REC is a charming little romantic comedy about the relationship between Aka, a young voice actress, and Matsumaru, an average salaryman who works in advertising. Through some contrivances they end up living together in Matsumaru's apartment, and get very close on the first night they meet.
But the course of love never runs smooth, and the rest of the series concerns itself with portraying the difficulties the two have in working out their feelings for one another, then how they deal with problems that arise from Aka's blossoming career and Matsumaru's discontent over the direction of his own. And, seeing as this is an anime romcom, there's some drama over Matsumaru's tendency to be a dumbass and pushover.
The short runtime is a mixed blessing. Issues are worked through quickly, perhaps too quickly in some cases, but nothing is dragged out and the show ends in a satisfying manner. The story does continue in the manga, but given some of the comments about it I'm not sure I'm up for reading it.
Red Garden - 8/10
Red Garden is an impressive teen drama/horror series set in a vividly realized New York. Thanks to some strong characterization and writing it does the drama a lot better, though the horror elements are by no means terrible.
The story requires some suspension of disbelief right off the bat: the body of a young girl named Lisa is found, the cause apparently suicide--the latest of many such cases. Four female friends of the dead girl, all with very different backgrounds and with nothing to connect them but Lisa and the school they attend, have no recollection whatsoever of the night she died. Shortly afterwards all four girls are compelled by an unknown force to gather at the same place, where they're told that their bodies aren't their own; they're actually dead and must fight monstrous creatures in order to regain their lives.
But it's all a bit goofy because those monstrous creatures are actually feral humans and not especially scary. Not to me, at least, but then I don't have to fight them. The girls, however, are left with little choice: fight and live, or don't and die (for reals this time). And thus the series becomes more about how they cope with the horror of their situation; initially they must overcome their reluctance to kill, and later deal with other ways in which their lives are affected--and not only are these problems easily relatable, the characters are believable and very human.
It's a throughly enjoyable ride, though not one without a few issues. Elements of the plot, especially those relating to the curse, are not as well explained as they should be, leaving the viewer to fill in some blanks. And the whole police investigation is entirely without consequence; it could have been removed completely without affecting the plot in any way. The worst offence, however, was how in the early part of the series the characters would act as though they were in a musical and start singing. Badly. Mercifully it seems someone on the creative staff realized this was a bad idea, and it stopped happening after episode 8 or thereabouts.
Without a doubt I wouldn't have enjoyed Red Garden so much if not for the visuals. Even though the show doesn't seem to have a very impressive budget, it doesn't matter because the cracks are papered over with some gorgeous design work. The characters remind me of something Homer Simpson said about David Schwimmer: they're attractive in an ugly sort of way. Striking and bold, they're like nothing else I've seen before, and the amount of elaborate costumes they get through is staggering. And it all takes place against a unique and, as far as I can tell, faithfully recreated backdrop of urban New York. I even liked the grain that everyone else complains about, FFS!
Riding Bean - 7/10
I’d wanted to watch Riding Bean in English. It’s set in Chicago and it doesn‘t make a lot of sense for everyone to be speaking Japanese. But the dub is so unrelentingly terrible that I was left with no choice but to watch in the original language with subtitles. Whatever. Riding Bean is the story of Bean Bandit, a shit-hot getaway driver. One day he becomes embroiled in a kidnapping. There's some car chases. People die. The end.
So what do we have here? Outrageous action sequences that display a flagrant disregard for realism. Sporadic bursts of bloody violence. An indestructible hero. Random nudity. Some reasonably good hand-painted cel animation. Yes, Riding Bean is a 1980s OVA.
In truth, the score is as much for what Riding Bean represents as the show itself. It was made at a time when the industry would give people like Kenichi Sonoda the cash to do whatever crazy shit they wanted. Riding Bean is the kind of anime that wouldn't be made today, and I think that's quite sad (although I'm sure Aion doesn't).
Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne - 6/10
I'm not sure whether Mnemosyne wants to be the kind of violent, sleazy OVA series that were common in the 1980s and early 90s, or an intelligent and sophisticated thriller. In the end it does neither convincingly, and feels a bit half-baked. Some mild spoilers ahead.
Mnemosyne is the story of two immortal women--the elegant Rin and the loli Mimi--who run some kind of private dectective agency. In each of the first five episodes they become embroiled in a dangerous case, all of which have some connection to the overall plot. That comes to a rather hasty conclusion in the sixth and final episode, leaving me confused with a convoluted infodump in the last ten minutes. The series main twist, and it's an interesting one, is that it takes place over a long period of time, so we see the characters' world visibly change, while supporting characters age, bear children, and pass away.
Aside from the ending, I quite enjoyed the show, although some of the plots were needlessly complicated and I found the much-vaunted sexual content to be rather tame. Most of it seemed to be there for the sake of it, and it was never depicted frankly; it was all abstract angles, pulled punches. There's quite a lot of violence and some torture (if you've seen 3x3 Eyes, you'll have a good idea of how the show's writers treat their immortals) but, again, it hardly ever felt shocking to me--clearly I've been desensitized by the likes of Violence Jack and Urotsukidoji.
A bit of a missed opportunity, then.
Roujin Z - 9/10
I first saw this OVA back in 1995 and I think I appreciate it more now than I did then. Parts of it don't feel like anime at all. Roujin Z is film about an old man, the cute nurse who cares for him, her friends, old hacker dudes, and a computerized hospital bed that goes batshit insane and rampages through urban and rural Japan. It's a fun, amusing, clever movie that carries a serious but not overbearing message about the way in which Japan (and by extension much of the rest of the world) treats their elderly.
The fim is written by Katsuhiro Otomo (him what did Akira) who's also responsible for the absolutely crazy and inventive mechanical designs -- shades of Akira in the latter part of the movie. Looking at screenshots might give a misleading impression of the film's visual quality; at times the animation and level of detail is highly impressive.
It's just a shame about CPM's typically poor DVD release. I've just watched what is apparently the "remastered" edition, and my only question is "remastered from what"? The non-anamorphic transfer (borders ahoy) is taken from a composite source and it looks pretty awful. There does, however, exist a subtitled rip of the properly remastered R2J DVD, so if anyone wants to watch the film it might be worth tracking that down instead of trying to find a copy of the out-of-print R1 release.
Anyone looking for something a little different should check it out.
I''s Pure - 5/10
This 6-episode OVA is a heavily compressed adaptation of Masakazu Katsura's 15-volume manga. I'd read the first two books before watching the anime and one thing that became apparent is that much of the series' humour was deemed too frivolous to keep.
And that's a shame because most of what's left is, I assume, the story's pivitol dramatic moments--but that drama is not always good (rapeman ffs). The loss of the light-hearted moments of character interaction may not have much effect on the plot, but it certainly makes the cast less interesting and endearing to me. Not that the show is entirely without merit: the first two episodes are a faithful (if slightly truncated) retelling of the first two books, and episode 5 generates some compelling romantic tension. The rest is either forgettable or something I desperately want to forget, but I fear the ending will stay with me for all the wrong reasons.
Predictably enough, the visuals also lose out in the transition from manga to anime. I quite like the OVA designs but the series doesn't have the budget to animate them with any fluidity. It all looks a bit cheap. The music didn't leave any impression at all.
The problem is that OVA adaptations like this are meant to compliment the source material, not serve as a substitute for it. Thus the series has a "greatest hits" feel to it; months pass between episodes, characters come and go, things happen without much build up. It's fanservice, really, and not meant to stand alone. As its own entity it doesn't work very well.
Ikki Tousen - 4/10
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The High School Years. Or something. Not being familiar with the story on which Ikki Tousen is very loosely based, all I had to explain to me what the hell was going on were the portentous ramblings of the narrator.
Pro-tip: if you're going to make a fighting anime, at least spare some effort to animate the fights. There are only so many stills, speed lines, and other shortcuts I can take before I start to wonder what the point is.
Oh, wait, the fanservice. Ikki Tousen fares a bit better on that count, but the unrefined art and character designs undermine that as well.
As for the story, well, it didn't take me long to forget it. The tone of the show wavers between serious and downright silly, and I never quite knew what to make of what was happening. It earns an extra point for being so unashamedly proud of what it is, and for Carrie Savage's memorable performance as Hakufu. Really, the only reason I watched this series is because the sequel is supposedly much better, which leads me onto...
Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny - 7/10
And it really is much better. For one thing, Dragon Destiny seems to have a budget (and some talented staff): character designs are sleeker and sexier, the art is more refined, and the fights are much more dynamic and creatively staged. Director Koichi Ohata is responsible for some of anime's most horrendous travesties, so I wasn't expecting much when his name appeared during the opening credits... but this is easily the best work of his I've seen.
Not only does it look a hell of a lot better, the story benefits from a much darker tone (though the series isn't without its lighter moments). It's not going to win literary awards or anything, but it kept me vaguely interested through to the end.
A special mention must go to the OP and ED, especially the ending. Famed nipple-meisters Kinji Yoshimoto and Satoshi Urushihara turn out a beautifully designed and animated sequence with some of the most hilarious peanut smuggling I've ever seen. Bravo, gents.
Infinite Ryvius - 7/10
This one was difficult to rate and generally assess. The first half is slow and plodding; the second half often enthralling; and the whole thing is bogged down with incessant technobabble and an unclear plot.
An examination of how teenagers function in an isolated society, the ship Ryvius, it becomes fascinating to watch as time passes and characters change with increasingly desperate circumstances. We see a clash of egos and ideals between various groups and individuals, all of whom eager to impose their own will on the ship's crumbling society.
But, man, the battles are boring. Whenever the Ryvius was attacked, I just wanted it over with. Few of the characters are memorable and I did, at one point or another, want to punch just about every single one of them--but I guess that's the point. As might be expected from the director and studio that brought us Code Geass, the show often indulges in excessive melodrama. Some is justified by what the characters have gone through, and some of it could have used a more subtle approach.
On the plus side, the traditional cell-painted visuals look good. All the reviews on MAL mention that it looks "old" because--gasp--it doesn't have shiny digital paint, while somehow missing the often excellent character and battle animation. Tards. The ending wasn't as explosive as I'd hoped and is liable to infuriate, but it was consistent with the message the show was pushing.
Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA - 7/10
Despite the Tylor TV series being primarily a comedy show, it was set against the backdrop of war, one in which Tylor and his crew became increasingly involved. The OVAs, for better or worse, eliminate most of the comedy.
It's actually two series; the first two episodes are a follow-up of sorts to where the TV series left off, but unfortunately the reset button was pushed for both the Soyokaze crew and the enemy in how they regard Tylor. The second series of eight episodes was produced by a different animation studio, and takes place a bit later, during a cease-fire. It first covers the personal stories of various cast members, who are temporarily assigned to ground duty, then ties it all together as a larger plot emerges and war approaches again.
Sadly it ends with things only partially resolved. But thanks to Nozomi's on-disc liner notes I was able to find out what happened in the original novels, both in this story arc and beyond. The lack of comedy and character interaction that made the TV series so great hurts the OVA, but it was good to see the cast again.
Azalyn-chaaaaaan <3
Junkers Come Here - 9/10
I love this film, a thoroughly charming Ghibli-esque tale of a young girl and her talking dog. On paper it doesn't sound very interesting but the girl, Hiromi, is not only troubled by the impending divorce of her parents, whom she rarely sees because they're so busy with work, but has a crush on her engaged-to-be-married tutor. Despite this, she's doesn't let how she feels on the inside show on the outside. Her dog, Junkers, is the only one she can talk to about her problems, and as she struggles to cope, he tells her that he has the power to grant three wishes.
The film has beautiful background art and animation, with one scene in particular standing out as particularly impressive. Despite the subject matter, the film never gets too heavy, mainly due to Hiromi being such a likeable, believable character and the moments of subtle comedy throughout. It's very sweet but, like Ghibli's work, never schmaltzy--something I can't tolerate. Highly recommended.
Kannagi - 8/10
Takes the basic set-up of Ah! My Goddess, but Nagi is no Belldandy; she's selfish, demanding, bratty, and frequently hilarious. Whether it's gluing her "magic wand" to a table, sulking in a closet, singing terrible songs, or laughing at her own awful puns, she never fails to entertain. The whole series, in fact, is crammed with great comedy, especially during the middle "filler" episodes that benefit from entirely dropping the rather thin plot. Towards the end it picks up the dangling threads and attempts to tie them up, wringing some angst from the characters in the process, but an amusing, fanservice-packed final OVA episode ensures the series ends on a comical note.
Usually I don't care much for animation quality in comedy anime, but here A-1's stellar work adds so much personality to the characters. I don't think it would have been quite as good a show in the hands of a lesser studio.
Karas - 9/10
Karas was once my longest-owned unwatched DVD. I bought the double pack when it was released in the US (2 or 3 years ago) and only made it through the first disc. It was pretty but the writers were reluctant to explain anything that was happening and I lost interest.
I should have stuck with it because everything becomes clear not long into the second disc. It's all a bit bonkers--in Karas, cities apparently have wills of their own--but if you can accept the rules the show establishes for its world, it's not hard to understand at all, and you can freely enjoy what is a dark, violent, and thrilling superhero story.
And it's still pretty. Prettier than ever, in fact. I don't remember being so taken aback by the quality of the art and animation, both 2D and 3D, first time around. Even though I'm not a huge fan of CG, in Karas it's integrated exceptionally well. It really is an incredible spectacle from start to finish, and the bombastic score (again not usually to my tastes) is just an epic cherry upon an epic cake.
Kite - 8/10
Given that the edited version of Kite has a running time of just 45 minutes, I found it surprisingly affecting. It's a somewhat depressing and disturbing story of an orphaned teenage girl named Sawa. When her parents are killed she's taken in by a corrupt detective who manipulates her into becoming an assassin for him. Kite's art is impressive, depiciting a dark, decaying urban environment; the animation is fluid when it needs to be; and the action scenes and level of violence on display are outrageous.
Kite Liberator - 4/10
Uh oh. The sequel has little in common with the original and concerns itself with a new female assassin, the bespectacled moe-bait Monaka, and --wait for it-- some ludicrous space monster b-movie bullcrap. Now this might have worked on some level had the show bothered to offer an explanation of, well, anything. But here I am, ten minutes after finishing it, and I'm trying to make sense of the absolute mess I just witnessed. Seriously, Umetsu, what the hell have you been smoking? If this is a joke, it's not funny. If that wasn't enough, the animation is of lesser quality than Kite, and let's not even talk about that "ending".
Positives? Um, well, Monaka is the most adorable killer ever and shows her pants a lot. If nothing else, Umetsu knows how to draw women.
Kurau: Phantom Memory - 8/10
Kurau is a remarkably consistent series from start to finish, both in terms on Bones' usual high quality visuals, and the theme of relationships, which remains strong all the way through to the somewhat bittersweet ending. But unlike some melodramatic anime (something I usually run a mile from), the emotional scenes in Kurau never feel forced; the writing makes me care about the characters and their interactions always come across as natural. Yet the show never really blew me away at any point and the story took an eye-rolling turn towards the end, then kind of fizzled out. Nevertheless, I think Kurau is pretty damn great.
Lupin The 3rd Episode 0: The First Contact - 8/10
Holy crap, a decent Lupin TV special. It's actually the first one I've seen that uses digital colouring, and it makes a big difference to the quality of the visuals. The older cell-based specials released by on DVD by Funimation look horribly washed-out and murky, but First Contact's visuals are clean and vibrant. It must have received a decent budget as the art and animation are better than I expected. Fujiko hasn't looked this hot since Mamo.
First Contact tells the entertaining story of how Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, and Goemon first met. Given that I haven't read the manga nor seen the TV series, I don't know if the events portrayed here are consistent with those iterations; but as someone familiar only with the movies and OVAs, I appreciate having this film as a "starting point".
And a fun ride it is, too. Unlike many Lupin films which try to cram in as many exotic locations as possible, First Contact wisely confines itself to a well-realized New York. All the insane action sequences (my favourite being Lupin biking his way through a building under construction while being chased by Goemon) and implausible gadgetry are correct and present, so as always some suspension of disbelief is required.
Fun but sophisticated. That phrase sums the appeal of the best Lupin movies, and it applies here too.
Maison Ikkoku - The Final Movie - 7/10
I've no idea why I waited so long to watch this. The film is part of the manga canon, as it follows that version's timeline and features a character who never appeared in the TV series, and it takes place two days before Yusaku and Kyoko's wedding.
And it's basically an excuse to wheel out most of the cast for one last hurrah. It's disappointing that Yusaku and Kyoko's time alone was limited to five minutes at the end of the film, and only one other scene--a brief conversation between Kyoko and Ibuki--provided any further insight into the characters. Otherwise it was business as usual, with lots of drunkenness and tomfoolery. Didn't like Yuji Moriyama's character designs much.
NANA - 9/10
I didn't expect this show to affect me on such a personal level. Not only does NANA take place in 2001, easily the most memorably year of my life, but some of the dates on which important events in the show take place hold a personal significance for me. It really is quite astoundingly coincidental, and it helped draw me into the story in a way I couldn't have imagined.
Moreover, I found myself identifying, in a sense, with Nana Komatsu, a character I previously described as "impulsive, reckless, self-absorbed and overly dependent on others". At the start of the show she's preparing to embark on a new chapter in her life by joining her boyfriend in Tokyo, without giving too much thought to what she's going to do once she gets there. On the train there she meets Nana Osaki, a rebellious, independent, but emotionally fragile singer looking to carve out her own future in the big city. Underpinning almost everything that happens in the show is the relationship between these two characters, who seem to have nothing in common, and how they come to depend upon one another. It's not only about the two Nanas, of course; there's also a rich cast of supporting characters as interesting as you'd find anywhere.
NANA is just wonderful. It's dramatic, genuinely funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming, sometimes in the same episode. It's looks great as well, with elegant designs and costumes that replicate Ai Yazawa's art as well as could be expected on a TV budget. And unlike Beck, another show with music as a strong focus, NANA's songs are actually good, such that I can understand why they would be popular.
Negatives? Essentially NANA is little more than a soap opera, albeit one that truly understands the complex emotions that constitute the average person, and of course the ending leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
Ocean Waves - 7/10
A love-triangle between two boys and one girl. One of the boys appears only sporadically, while the girl and the other boy give absolutely no indication of having romantic feelings for one another. And she's a bitch and he's a doormat.
Perhaps the romance is less important than the film's theme, which is that of looking back and realizing things we didn't realize at the time--in this case, the main character's feelings towards a girl he never even knew he liked. But it doesn't quite work.
Orguss 02 - 9/10
One of those mecha anime that's more about the characters than the giant robots. And it's all the better for it.
Since it's only six episodes, the story moves at a cracking pace, and is full of twists and tension. Its dark, realistic (if you overlook the giant robots, of course) depiction of war reminds me of Gundam, and it's brought to life by similarly excellent characterization. I particularly enjoy the dynamic between the utterly brilliant Manning, who must rank as one of anime's greatest characters, and the young reluctant solider Lean. The characters change, but not in a way that it feels contrived or predictable.
The animation is good, but it's the gorgeous, intricately detailed character designs that really stood out for me. They were done by Haruhiko Mikimoto of Macross, Gunbuster, and Gundam 0080, so it's no wonder I love them.
Orguss 02 is an absolute classic. They really don't make them like this any more; today's mecha anime is seemingly all about packing in as many pretty boys and girls and whiny emo teenagers as possible.
Paradise Kiss - 9/10
The first thing that struck me upon watching the first episode (apart from the trippy pre-opening sequence in which strange animated creatures are wandering around photographic backdrops) was the cool as hell OP. Both the moody electro-pop song and accompanying visuals exude an irresistible sense of style. Nobuteru Yuki is one of my favourite character designers and in Paradise Kiss his designs are typically elegant and detailed. I became a fan of Osamu Kobayashi while watching Beck and his style, too, is very much evident here, especially with regards to scene composition and the gorgeous, detailed backgrounds. And the elaborate costume designs are dazzling. All this detail means that animation (that is, movement) is rather limited, but it looks so good that it doesn't matter. The whole thing is effortlessly cool.
I was drawn in by the story as well. At the outset, main character Yukari seems to live for little more than the approval of her mother, studying hard for college entrance exams because that's what's expected of her--regardless of what she wants for herself. But even she doesn't realize what that is until a chance encounter with the members of Paradise Kiss, a local after-school fashion club. They see in her an extraordinary beauty and want her to model for them. Over the course of the series Yukari changes into someone who can think for herself, though she makes plenty of mistakes and rash decisions along the way. Add one of the most realistic and non-idealized romances I've seen in anime and you have an incredibly enjoyable show all the way through to its bittersweet ending.
My only issue is with the final episode, which seemed to rush through events a little too quickly. The manga's only five volumes but I imagine it must have been a tight squeeze to fit everything into a half-season anime. Perhaps it could have done with another episode or two.
Paranoia Agent - 8/10
Paranoia Agent must be the most technically accomplished TV show Madhouse have ever animated. The character animation is often excellent, particular the faces, and some of the visual creativity is astounding. And the show is genuinely unsettling at times, more so than any "horror" anime I've ever seen. A great show, then, but also a frustrating one.
Project A-Ko
The weird thing about this film is how much of it I remember even though it's been at least 12 years since my last viewing. Certain scenes, BGM, and even the characters' facial expressions all brought the memories flooding back, so it's entirely possible that my appreciation of Project A-ko is coloured by nostalgia.
Not that it has no merit: the action sequences are superbly animated, and Yuji Moriyama was THE character designer/animation director of the 1980s (well, okay, along with Tsukasa Dokite and Atsuko Nakajima). And the songs - oh, the songs. It's funny, too, parodying various popular anime from the 1980s and generally being a riotous bunch of fun. In fact, I think "1980s" sums up Project A-ko perfectly; it's certainly not a film that would be made today.
REC - 7/10
Comprising just ten half-length episodes, REC is a charming little romantic comedy about the relationship between Aka, a young voice actress, and Matsumaru, an average salaryman who works in advertising. Through some contrivances they end up living together in Matsumaru's apartment, and get very close on the first night they meet.
But the course of love never runs smooth, and the rest of the series concerns itself with portraying the difficulties the two have in working out their feelings for one another, then how they deal with problems that arise from Aka's blossoming career and Matsumaru's discontent over the direction of his own. And, seeing as this is an anime romcom, there's some drama over Matsumaru's tendency to be a dumbass and pushover.
The short runtime is a mixed blessing. Issues are worked through quickly, perhaps too quickly in some cases, but nothing is dragged out and the show ends in a satisfying manner. The story does continue in the manga, but given some of the comments about it I'm not sure I'm up for reading it.
Red Garden - 8/10
Red Garden is an impressive teen drama/horror series set in a vividly realized New York. Thanks to some strong characterization and writing it does the drama a lot better, though the horror elements are by no means terrible.
The story requires some suspension of disbelief right off the bat: the body of a young girl named Lisa is found, the cause apparently suicide--the latest of many such cases. Four female friends of the dead girl, all with very different backgrounds and with nothing to connect them but Lisa and the school they attend, have no recollection whatsoever of the night she died. Shortly afterwards all four girls are compelled by an unknown force to gather at the same place, where they're told that their bodies aren't their own; they're actually dead and must fight monstrous creatures in order to regain their lives.
But it's all a bit goofy because those monstrous creatures are actually feral humans and not especially scary. Not to me, at least, but then I don't have to fight them. The girls, however, are left with little choice: fight and live, or don't and die (for reals this time). And thus the series becomes more about how they cope with the horror of their situation; initially they must overcome their reluctance to kill, and later deal with other ways in which their lives are affected--and not only are these problems easily relatable, the characters are believable and very human.
It's a throughly enjoyable ride, though not one without a few issues. Elements of the plot, especially those relating to the curse, are not as well explained as they should be, leaving the viewer to fill in some blanks. And the whole police investigation is entirely without consequence; it could have been removed completely without affecting the plot in any way. The worst offence, however, was how in the early part of the series the characters would act as though they were in a musical and start singing. Badly. Mercifully it seems someone on the creative staff realized this was a bad idea, and it stopped happening after episode 8 or thereabouts.
Without a doubt I wouldn't have enjoyed Red Garden so much if not for the visuals. Even though the show doesn't seem to have a very impressive budget, it doesn't matter because the cracks are papered over with some gorgeous design work. The characters remind me of something Homer Simpson said about David Schwimmer: they're attractive in an ugly sort of way. Striking and bold, they're like nothing else I've seen before, and the amount of elaborate costumes they get through is staggering. And it all takes place against a unique and, as far as I can tell, faithfully recreated backdrop of urban New York. I even liked the grain that everyone else complains about, FFS!
Riding Bean - 7/10
I’d wanted to watch Riding Bean in English. It’s set in Chicago and it doesn‘t make a lot of sense for everyone to be speaking Japanese. But the dub is so unrelentingly terrible that I was left with no choice but to watch in the original language with subtitles. Whatever. Riding Bean is the story of Bean Bandit, a shit-hot getaway driver. One day he becomes embroiled in a kidnapping. There's some car chases. People die. The end.
So what do we have here? Outrageous action sequences that display a flagrant disregard for realism. Sporadic bursts of bloody violence. An indestructible hero. Random nudity. Some reasonably good hand-painted cel animation. Yes, Riding Bean is a 1980s OVA.
In truth, the score is as much for what Riding Bean represents as the show itself. It was made at a time when the industry would give people like Kenichi Sonoda the cash to do whatever crazy shit they wanted. Riding Bean is the kind of anime that wouldn't be made today, and I think that's quite sad (although I'm sure Aion doesn't).
Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne - 6/10
I'm not sure whether Mnemosyne wants to be the kind of violent, sleazy OVA series that were common in the 1980s and early 90s, or an intelligent and sophisticated thriller. In the end it does neither convincingly, and feels a bit half-baked. Some mild spoilers ahead.
Mnemosyne is the story of two immortal women--the elegant Rin and the loli Mimi--who run some kind of private dectective agency. In each of the first five episodes they become embroiled in a dangerous case, all of which have some connection to the overall plot. That comes to a rather hasty conclusion in the sixth and final episode, leaving me confused with a convoluted infodump in the last ten minutes. The series main twist, and it's an interesting one, is that it takes place over a long period of time, so we see the characters' world visibly change, while supporting characters age, bear children, and pass away.
Aside from the ending, I quite enjoyed the show, although some of the plots were needlessly complicated and I found the much-vaunted sexual content to be rather tame. Most of it seemed to be there for the sake of it, and it was never depicted frankly; it was all abstract angles, pulled punches. There's quite a lot of violence and some torture (if you've seen 3x3 Eyes, you'll have a good idea of how the show's writers treat their immortals) but, again, it hardly ever felt shocking to me--clearly I've been desensitized by the likes of Violence Jack and Urotsukidoji.
A bit of a missed opportunity, then.
Roujin Z - 9/10
I first saw this OVA back in 1995 and I think I appreciate it more now than I did then. Parts of it don't feel like anime at all. Roujin Z is film about an old man, the cute nurse who cares for him, her friends, old hacker dudes, and a computerized hospital bed that goes batshit insane and rampages through urban and rural Japan. It's a fun, amusing, clever movie that carries a serious but not overbearing message about the way in which Japan (and by extension much of the rest of the world) treats their elderly.
The fim is written by Katsuhiro Otomo (him what did Akira) who's also responsible for the absolutely crazy and inventive mechanical designs -- shades of Akira in the latter part of the movie. Looking at screenshots might give a misleading impression of the film's visual quality; at times the animation and level of detail is highly impressive.
It's just a shame about CPM's typically poor DVD release. I've just watched what is apparently the "remastered" edition, and my only question is "remastered from what"? The non-anamorphic transfer (borders ahoy) is taken from a composite source and it looks pretty awful. There does, however, exist a subtitled rip of the properly remastered R2J DVD, so if anyone wants to watch the film it might be worth tracking that down instead of trying to find a copy of the out-of-print R1 release.
Anyone looking for something a little different should check it out.
Posted by alteredcourse | Aug 20, 2010 9:34 AM | 0 comments
August 18th, 2010
Mini reviews A-H
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.
AD Police Files - 5/10
A dark 3-episode OVA set in the Bubblegum Crisis universe. The show explores what it means to be human in a time when AI androids and artificial body parts are commonplace. Not exactly new ground, then, but interesting enough. Unfortunately the stories feel the constraits of both their 25-minute running time and low budget, and this significantly lessens their impact.
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie - 5/10
Almost intolerably sappy romance between two of the most intolerably bland characters in anime. So cheesy I expected to see "Sponsored by Edam" ads flashing up on screen at any moment. I can't believe I actually loved the Ah! My Goddess OVAs at one point, and don't dare to rewatch them lest I discover that nostalgia has betrayed me. Again.
What else do we have? A bad guy who wants to destroy the world because it's rotten (so he's not really bad), random dream sequences, and lots of magical technobabble. The usual anime fantasy bollocks, then. The soundtrack opts for overblown Disney-esque bombast over the more subtle, understated approach of the OVA score, and the animation is good if rarely spectacular. Urd and Skuld once again prove to be far more entertaining than the main couple, and they're the only reason I'm not rating this film lower.
Akira - 9/10
I had dropped the rating to 8/10 after reading the superior manga, but having seen the film in high definition I had to change it back. As a story it's not always successful, with some aspects not explained too well, but as spectacle it's still unrivalled. The sheer amount of detail packed into many of the film's scenes is just outstanding, and it boggles ze mind to imagine how much work went into animating them. The soundtrack is as fresh and haunting as ever.
Any shortcomings the story has are made up for by the breathless action and the palpable atmosphere of corruption and imminent social collapse. There really is hardly ever a dull moment in Akira and its two hour run time just flew by
Asatte no Houkou (Living for the Day After Tomorrow) - 8/10
Touching drama about a 12 year-old girl, Karada, who desperately wants to grow up, and a 24 year-old woman, Shoko, who longs to relive her lost childhood. When they make their wishes at a magic stone shine, together, somehow they end up with their ages reversed.
While the premise seems a bit gimmicky, in reality it allows the writers to develop the characters in interesting ways. The common thread of Karada and Shoko's relationship is Hiro, who is Karada's brother and Shoko's ex-boyfriend. Karada feels as though she is burden on Hiro because he became her guardian when their parents died in a car accident some years earlier. This entailed returning from the United States where he had been studying and living with Shoko, who is angry that Hiro left her and resentful towards Karada.
But it plays out in rather low-key way, the show never becoming overly sentimental or dramatic. It could have been unbearably angsty but it's kept from being too heavy by the lightly comic scenes revolving around Karada and Shoko's struggle to adapt to their new bodies and lives. Shoko's straight-talking and slightly cynical world view take on a humourous dimension when the words are coming from what appears to be a cute young girl, and Karada's bumbling about as a result of having little clue about the real world is very sweet.
The only real negative point is that the extent to which the plot is driven by coincidence; after a while it starts to become ridiculous. It's a bit of lazy writing in an otherwise wonderfully written show that even managed to draw a few tears from my manly self.
The visuals are impressive, with attractive character designs, a lovely pastel colour palette, and backgrounds that look like watercolour paintings. Gentle, evocative piano music accompanies the show's more pensive and powerful moments. Not much to complain about here.
It's moving, funny, and sweet and the lunatic recommends to all.
Baccano & OVAs - 10/10
I don't know where to begin in describing Baccano. To say it's part gangster tale and part heist movie only tells half the story; it's something you have to experience for yourself. I'm glad I went along for the ride, even if it took me a while to get around to it.
While the first few episodes are a little confusing because of the non-linear narrative structure, watching this show's interweaving stories gradually come together is a hugely rewarding experience. But it's the effortless panache with which it's all pulled off that really makes the show what it is.
Though it's nothing like Cowboy Bebop in terms of story content, it has a lot of the same qualities: a strong cast of characters, excellent animation and direction, dark humour, a similar sense of style, and sophisticated writing. Like Bebop it feels like a proper adult show even though there's plenty of (hilarious) goofing around that somehow doesn't feel out of place alongside the frequent bursts of bloody violence.
The OVAs take place after the series, tying up the many loose ends, though have the same non-linear storytelling that takes the viewer back to events that occurred during and even before the main story.
Bamboo Blade - 6/10
Two thirds of Bamboo Blade is good fun. I'm not a fan of sports anime, and while Bamboo Blade shares some of the things that annoy me about the genre, I didn't mind because it's primarily a comedy. In fact the sidelines commentary that to me is usually like nails on a chalkboard actually proved useful because I don't know the first thing about kendo. The show has a cast of lively, attractively designed characters with distinct personalities, and even though there's not much more to them than a few quirks it's enjoyable to watch them play off one another, though it wears a bit thin as the show progresses.
Towards the end the show becomes more dramatic, an issue because a) I like Bamboo Blade more when it's not taking itself seriously, and b) the characters don't have the depth to pull off drama. Two stupid rival characters are introduced in consecutive episodes and it's they, along with a couple of peripheral characters dragged back into the spotlight, who act as the catalyst for the Kendo-related crises of several cast members. Worst of all, their problems are resolved in horrendously cliché fashion within an episode. By the final disc it was a struggle to keep watching.
Bamboo Blade would have been better as a 13-episode show. That way the anime staff wouldn't have needed to concoct their own drama-filled ending, and I wouldn't have grown weary of the characters' antics.
Banner of the Stars II - 7/10
Thar be some light spoilers ahead. Since this is an old-ish series in which there's little interest I won't bother tagging it.
Banner of the Stars bored me after a few episodes so I jumped straight into the sequel. In this series the two lead characters -- Lafiel, an Abh princess, and Jinto, her human bitch/friend/soulmate -- become territorial ambassadors for a planet in a newly-conquered system. They're not best pleased to discover that it's actually a prison planet housing a million criminals, and trouble is brewing between four factions, all of which put forward a representative claiming to be in charge.
It's a strange set up. On the east of there's the male prisoners. On the west is the female prisoners. Between them is are the largest group: a voluntarily sterilised mixed population. To the south is where the prison guards and staff reside, and it's their representative who Lafiel and Jinto recognise as having authority. Turns out the male prisoners want kids for some reason will stop at nothing to get to the fertile women, who want the Ahb to help them emigrate before the men reach them - but it's a race against time because enemy ships are approaching.
And it all plays out in quite a thrilling fashion. But something that bothers me, aside from the few things that don't quite ring true, is that the representative of the female prisoners is heavily sexualized, and subjected to numerous leering close ups of her heaving chest and hot pants-clad posterior. Given that it's implied that many of the female prisoners turned to crime after suffering sexual violence, and given their fate if the men reach them, her depiction seems wholly distasteful.
What this series does miss, and why Crest is still my favourite of the three series, is the lack of interaction between Lafiel, who stays on the ship, and Jinto, who liaises with the prison guards on the surface. Still, the characters and their dialogue continues to be exceptionally well written.
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad - 8/10
The story of Yukio, a bored 14-year-old middle school student. He doesn't have any hobbies or many friends, and he lacks self-confidence. One day, while walking home from school, he chases away a bunch of kids bullying an odd-looking dog. The dog's owner is Ryusuke, a talented and charismatic young guitarist who used to play with a member a hugely popular American band called Dying Breed. Ryusuke thanks Yukio for helping his dog, Beck, and they go their separate ways. After a second chance encounter a few days later they become friends and Yukio is gradually drawn into the exciting world of this magnetic character. When he receives a guitar from Ryusuke, he soon discovers a love of rock music and a natural talent for the instrument, as well as singing. Eventually Ryusuke decides to take a chance on Yukio and invites him to play with his new band.
Beck shares a lot in common with shounen sports anime: it's about an ordinary young boy with extraordinary talent who must overcome adversity to realize his dream and what have you. Now, I don't like sports anime but I do like Beck. There are a couple of reasons for this: firstly, I like music and therefore I find it easy relate to the characters' passion for listening to, creating, and peforming music. I love the way that Beck neatly juxtaposes the mundanity of everyday life with the energy and glamour of live performance, even when the band are playing in front of no more than a couple of dozen people.
Secondly, Beck avoids the usual cheesy melodrama associated with this kind of show. Yukio and the band have to deal with problems on their way to where they want to be, and sometimes they're serious problems, but director Osamu Kobayashi never overdoes it. There's a grittiness and realism to the characters and setting.
The only negatives, aside from the anime only covering what must be less than half of the manga, are the often terrible Engrish and inconsistent animation. There are actually some really impressive sequences scattered throughout the show, and the performances are usually fairly well animated, but some of the episodes look awful. The detailed backgrounds, however, are excellent.
Birdy the Mighty: Decode 01 - 5/10
The main problem with Birdy is that it does nothing to distinguish itself. The story is straightforward and unoriginal, the characters are uninteresting, and the central conceit of two characters sharing the same body is not exploited at all. I didn't want a show dripping with angst, but the lack of any emotional response from either Birdy or Tsutomu as they seamlessly adjusted to their new lives was disconcerting. Not only that, but it rarely served any purpose for the plot, as the generally useless Tsutomu never had much to contribute.
It has other problems too, though, such as a smarmy antagonist who pops in and out of the show, doing not much other than be make cryptic comments. It's not until the last few episodes that his true intentions become known, and it's those few episodes that salvage the show to some degree, mainly thanks to a cliché but nonetheless sweet romance between Tsutomu and school friend Nagasuki. Those last few episodes were the only time I had any emotional investment in the show whatsoever, and I thought the ending was handled quite well.
The main selling point of Birdy is its kinetic action scenes, but the truth is there isn't that many of them. It's a slow series, derailed by filler and episodes where not enough happens, and it's clear that this is where the budget takes a big hit. Rarely have I seen faces as deformed as those in the dreadful episode 6. The music, on the other hand, is more understated; in fact I can honestly claim that most of the time I never even noticed it.
Blassreiter - 7/10 (first half 8/10, second half 6/10)
Gah, it was going so well at the half-way point. Until then Blassreiter is a fairly compelling story about a contagious disease that causes humans to transform into mindless bio-mechanical creatures, and about the members of the organisation charged with eliminating them. Aside from some forced plot developments and an over-reliance on flashbacks, some of which recall events that happened mere minutes earlier, there's not much to complain about. As character drama goes, it's good stuff.
One other thing worth mentioning is that Blassretier is not subtle. Given the pedigree (Nitro+, Gonzo, Itano) I wasn't expecting subtlety, and I got none.
It's the second half where the lack of subtlety is most pronounced, and because of it the wheels come off a bit. First up, the motivation of the chief bad guy (a smug, self-righteous arsehole of an antagonist) is revealed, and it's neither original nor particularly convincing. Both he and the rest of the cast love nothing more than a good speech, so much so that I started to desperately hope they'd all just shut up. And with more focus on the plot in the show's latter half, the previously neglected secondary cast are given token sob story pasts, tossed off during brief flashbacks, in order to make them more sympathetic. That didn't impress me either.
But none of that could have prepared me for the ending, and indeed the whole final battle sequence, the cheese factor of which is almost unprecedented. A theme of Blassreiter is loss of faith, and after witnessing the final episode I now truly believe that there is no God.
Despite my negativity, I did enjoy Blassreiter overall, but I did find the first half much more interesting. It's one of the most consistently well animated Gonzo shows I've seen, with no obvious dips in quality and characters remaining on-model throughout, and the CGI was impressive if not always well integrated with the 2D animation. And I have to applaud Gonzo's effort to write a dark, mature story with an almost entirely adult cast, even if it misses the mark in some areas.
Burn Up - 1/10
"THIS IS IT, THE ANIME CLASSIC THAT STARTED IT ALL, BURN UP!"
This 40 minute one-shot OVA from 1991 might be the first anime I've watched without a single redeeming factor. The plot, as far as I was able to discern between the naps I took every five minutes, is that three bimbo policewomen are on the trail of a white slave trader named Samuel McCoy (he has to be foreign, see, 'cause no Japanese person could ever be that evil) who masquerades as a legitimate businessman. So, following a lead, they go undercover at a club and the dumbest of the three gets herself kidnapped. The other two launch a siege on the trader's mansion and that's about it.
This was obviously AIC's attempt to cash in on the popularity of Bubblegum Crisis by producing their own girls-with-guns crime fighting show. Only they forgot a few things, like the awesome design and music and action scenes. Burn Up has none of that. Instead it takes place in a soulless world, has hideous character designs, awful music (by Kenji Kawai, of all people), and some of the most yawnworthy action sequences I've ever seen. It even lacks the fanservice that made Burn Up W and Excess just about watchable if you were drunk enough. What a tragic waste of paint.
The Castle of Cagliostro - 10/10
The story is simple enough: Lupin tracks down a counterfeit racket to principality of Cagliostro, suspecting the involvement of the dastardly Count. Not long after arriving he assists a damsel in distress, who it turns out has some connection to Lupin's past, but he's unable to prevent her from being kidnapped by her pursuers. When it transpires that she was taken to the castle, rescuing her from the clutches of the count becomes Lupin's top priority.
The Lupin movies I most enjoy tend to confine themselves to a single location, and Castle of Cagliostro exemplifies this. Cagliostro itself is a vivid, memorable place, characterized by its small town, the huge lake, the palace ruins, and of course the imposing castle. Miyazaki includes numerous beautifully framed shots that capture Cagliostro in all its picturesque glory, and you get a wonderful sense of place. He was able to pull off something similar in Kiki's Delivery Service, and no doubt it contributes towards my love of that film too.
It's a brilliantly paced and beautifully illustrated hundred minutes of pure unfettered joy.
Clannad - 4/10
Lots of contrived melodrama, lots of crying, badly paced, wholly predictable. Funny at times, though, which makes me wish it'd been a comedy and not bothered with the tragedy porn crap. Doesn't, as far as I'm concerned, hold a candle to Kanon.
(Clannad) Another World: Tomoyo Chapter - 8/10
This is lovely. The main series lacks romantic content, and in any case the main love interest, Nagisa, is anathema to me. Tomoyo, on the other hand, is a much stronger, more self-sufficient character. The episode starts with her and Tomoya already dating, and goes on to accomplish more in 24 minutes than Cannad managed in 22 episodes. Maybe's it's because Tomoyo is one of the more interesting characters in the show. Maybe it's because there's actual romance here. Or maybe it's because I can relate to Tomoya's situation. Whatever the reason, this episode had me fighting back tears at the end while the main series, with its drawn out multiple episode arcs, left me completely cold (and bored). It even has time for some humour, which Clannad does very well.
Claymore - 6/10
Moderately entertaining fantasy fare that carries a little too much shounen fighting show baggage for my liking. But while the fights and frequent expository monologues tend to be longer than my attention span, I can't deny that the show has some genuinely excellent moments. Those, along with the uncompromising violence and menacing tone, staved off the tedium of its more generic aspects.
And it's a great looking show... until it starts moving. Then it's a rapid descent into shortcut hell. Most episodes were outsourced in their entirety to Korea, and it shows. A disappointing effort from Madhouse.
Darker Than Black + OVA 8/10
Because I enjoyed this show so much I considered rating it 9, but owing to a couple of relatively weaker stories and an ending that leaves much unexplained, I thought 8 was fair.
Mostly comprising two-part stories, Darker Than Black is, in essence, about humans with extraordinary powers. An anime superhero show, if you will. It has an adult tone, interesting characters (particularly the chameleon-like Hei), entertaining stories, and a good sense of humour. Bones' animation rarely astounds but it's of a consistently good quality.
Somehow, though, it doesn't quite reach its potential. There's a lot of mystery regarding the world in which the characters inhabit, mystery that the series is reluctant to reveal, but it's really just a backdrop against which those characters' stories are told.
Desert Punk - 7/10
Gonzo couldn't have made this show any easier to dislike: the protagonist is a genuinely despicable character, the comedy is juvenile, some of the stories are weak, and the production values are nothing special -- even for Gonzo.
And yet I did like Desert Punk. As with Gun X Sword, I found it refreshing to watch a main character motivated by nothing more than his own interests, as opposed than the usual heroic "good guy" who acts as a moral compass for the viewer. I appreciate anime that isn't preachy, and Desert Punk delights in its moral ambiguity. The ending, which exemplifies this ambiguity, took me somewhat by surprise, even though I should perhaps have expected it.
I also enjoy puerile humour when it pushes boundaries of good taste as far as Desert Punk does, and the fantastic dub ratchets up the crassness another few notches. Even the low budget animation seems to work in the show's favour, matching its lowbrow mood and general trashiness.
So, yeah, it's unique and definitely worth watching. Had some of the stories been more interesting I would have rated it higher.
Devil Lady - 7/10
The premise is simple: humans who possess a specific gene are evolving into twisted creatures called devilbeasts. But not everyone with the gene evolves completely. Protagonist Jun, an elegant but melancholy model, is a Devilman -- a half evolved devilbeast who retains her human consciousness.
Though the series soon settles into a fairly predictable monster-of-the-week format, Jun's adversaries being a physical manifestation of a particular sin, the real focus is on the psychology of Jun as she struggles to come to terms with what she's become and how it affects the lives of the people around her.
But it's not free of problems. Devil Lady was animated in 1998 but thanks to a tiny budget it looks a few years older than that. The flat designs, drab colours, stiff animation, and frequently off-model characters manage to diffuse much of the tension built by the good writing and music. And the dub, recorded at ADV's Monster Island studio (basically where the low profile titles went), is not impressive. Neither is the Japanese track, to be honest, but Junko Iwao's superb performance as Jun is a highlight.
And by the end, in typical anime fashion, they introduce a bizarre supernatural element and mess it all up. Sort of. I understand that this is similar to how the original Devil Man manga went, but Devil Lady seemed to be leading somewhere else before taking a detour through WTFville. At some point it ceased to make much sense.
But overall it was a good show with an adult tone, impressive character development, lots and lots of lesbianism (both implied and not-so-implied and handled more maturely than fanboy wankfodder like Kannazuki no Miko), and some highly disturbing scenes.
Durarara + DVD specials - 8/10
Durarara, like the same author's Baccano, mixes an ostensibly normal urban environment, in this case Ikebukuro, with the fantastical (I had to check this was a real word btw) in a way that doesn't seem awkward at all. Alongside a bunch of typical high school students there's a mythical Irish fairy, cursed metallic objects, a couple of guys with superhuman strength, and various unusual happenings.
The show is split into three distinct arcs, which presents a small issue in that mysteries you expect to remain mysterious until the end are revealed at the conclusion of these arcs. The structure is not entirely different to Baccano: events are presented out of chronology, often referred back to once the plot "catches up". It's not as chaotic and confusing as Baccano, though, with a clear "present day" where most of the story takes place.
A highlight for me was Durarara's characters and sense of fun, so it was a bit disappointing that the show became increasingly angsty as it went along, focusing more on the school kids than the eccentric weird and wonderful adults who make Ikebukuro such a colourful place.
VIsually the show is a bit inconsistent, with characters often sloppily rendered, but I can't complain about Brain's Base's gloriously detailed backgrounds, nor the animation which is fluid when it needs to be and functional at other times. The soundtrack is more impressive, featuring a number of memorable tunes to suit whatever mood the show is going for, and I loved all the OPs and EDs.
Some confusing things aside -- the whole second arc, for example, and what exactly it is that Kadota and his gang actually do -- Durarara is a fun ride. Just nowhere near as good as Baccano :)
The Familiar of Zero - 6/10
Fantasy adventure romantic comedy that does the romantic comedy bit much better than the fantasty adventure bit. The show has an identity crisis and never quite works out what it wants to be. Some of the characters who annoyed me at first had grown on me by the end (including that bitch Louise), though none really break out of their mould, and I enjoyed the fanservice/raunchy humour.
I can't, however, say the same about the underdeveloped plot, which was more a peksy distraction from the amusing japery than anything else. There was one twist near the end that totally took me by surprise, but otherwise it was all fairly predictable.
Familiar of Zero is a fun watch overall, but should have aimed low from the start.
Fantastic Children - 8/10
A triumph of good storytelling over flashy visuals and loudness -- which probably explains why so few people have watched it. Fantastic Children is a subdued, atmospheric tale of reincarnation that has a bit of everything: science fiction, fantasy, drama, mystery, tragedy, and a little action.
A group of white-haired children have been wandering around Europe for centuries. Tired and rootless, they are looking for something that has remained elusive, and their mystery is gradually revealed over the course of the series. Other characters who play a part in this tale include Thoma, a young martial artist who one day finds a young girl asleep on the small island where he lives with his parents. A quiet, sad girl, her name is Helga and she's continually drawing a scene of a strange place she doesn't know but to which she is inexorably drawn. More characters enter the picture later, and each is tied into the mystery, which is satisfyingly resolved by the end.
At times, Fantastic Children looks amazing. The beautifully rendered backgrounds possess a Ghibli-esque quality, not surprising considering that art director Nizo Yamamoto has contributed his talent to many Ghibli works and other high budget anime movies. Animation fares less well, however, with even the show's few actions scenes lacking fluidity and dynamism. The character designs have retro appearance, and this is doubtless one of the main reasons the show remains unappreciated. They're just not cookie-cutter enough for today's fans. The sweeping orchestral soundtrack is suitably epic and melancholy.
But there are a few problems. Most notably is that the pacing is very slow and deliberate, and it's not helped by the many, many extended shots of characters gasping and trembling in anguish, shock, or fear. Presumably a way of increasing the drama while keeping the cel count down, after a while it becomes plain annoying. And as good as the story is, the characterization is somewhat weaker. Even though I found myself caught up in their epic story, I can't say I ever really cared much about any of the characters. Thoma in particular would occasionally irritate me with his abundant energy and incessant screechiness.
Overall, though, Fantastic Children is a wonderful adventure anime that puts its story before anything else. And it's a really great story.
Fist of the North Star movie - 8/10
This is the manliest anime ever made. Brothers and best friends fighting to the death, heads and bodies exploding in showers of viscera, most female characters reduced to damsels in distress... and, er, a little girl growing a flower. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic settings, revenge, and ultraviolence, so this is a film really hits the spot for me.
Fist was one of the first anime I watched, and I've always remembered it as looking dark and murky and grim, but the remastered DVD is absolutely stunning. Seriously, I can't believe how good this film looks all cleaned up; the level of detail and the vibrancy of colour is amazing. The image just pops off the screen.
It's a shame, then, about the variety of censorship techniques used obscure some of the film's goriest moments, as those parts look utterly dreadful in comparison to everything else. I'm not sure an entirely uncensored print exists anywhere, though, so it's something one just has to deal with.
Ga-Rei Zero - 6/10
I don't have too much to say about this. It looks great and has some quality action set-pieces, but there isn't quite enough to the characters to make the tragedy effective. A shift in tone towards the light-hearted during the early/middle episodes seeks to endear the characters to the viewer and make the inevitable more devastating, but it's only partly successful. Ga-Rei Zero is okay but not especially memorable. (Except perhaps the girl/girl pocky kiss :nosebleed:)
Though the story is wrapped up fairly conclusively during the final episode, one particular loose end annoyed me. I'm guessing that more about that is explained in the manga, to which the anime is a prequel, but it's supposed to be not very good.
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo - 10/10
Every once in a while I watch an anime that reminds me why I spend so much of my time and money on these silly cartoons.
I'm not a big fan of studio Gonzo. While they're capable of amazing visuals, they don't seem to understand the concept of budget and tend to blow their load on the first couple of episodes. This is true for other studios as well, but I find that the disparity between good and bad is most pronounced with Gonzo. Not only that, but their stories tend to fizzle out not long afterwards.
But that's not the case with Gankutsuou, one of the most lavishly designed anime I've ever seen, TV or otherwise. A sci-fi re-imagining of the original novel, the story takes place in 5053. Interplanetary travel is a reality, and giant robots are used in war, though otherwise this could be late 19th century France. But while the sci-fi elements have no real bearing on the story, they don't feel out of place. They do serve a purpose, however, and that's to give Gonzo and director Mahiro Maeda (who did the amazing Second Renaissance segment of the Animatrix) license to show off their innovative GCI, the use of which is extensive and, really, nothing short of astonishing. I've never seen anything like the techniqued used for the character's clothes and I was continually dazzled by the colour and extravagance and creativity. The music is fabulous as well.
And rarely have I been so absorbed by a story. It's a testament to the quality of the writing that even though there are only a couple of action scenes in the entire show, I was not once bored. The story of a young aristocrat named Albert who meets and befriends the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo had me drawn in from the very beginning, not least because the Count is one of anime's most charismatic and magnetic characters. Over the course of the series his elaborate plot for revenge against those who destroyed his life gathers momentum, and details about his past are gradually revealed. It's a masterful piece of writing that culminates in a stunning conclusion.
But that's not all the series has. I have seldom watched a series with so many memorable, well-developed characters. Even Albert, who spends most of the series a spoilt, naive brat is redeemed by the end. And, unlike the book (or so I hear), this story is really about Albert and how his experiences change him as a person. It feels like a genuinely adult show, sophisticated and not prone to the usual anime melodrama (well, not often).
Giant Robo: Ginrei Special - 6/10
3 short OVAs produced to keep the fans satisfied during the tortuously long wait between some episodes of Giant Robo. And, I guess, as an opportunity to show Ginrei in various states of undress without having to cheapen the series proper. I'd seen the first episode--a 20-minute piece of fanservice fluff in which my favourite character, Alberto, features prominently--on Manga's VHS release of episode 7, but it's the first time I've seen the other two.
And they're a mixed bag. The second episode is a frequently hilarious parody, while the third is a more serious (and, frankly, dull) affair. I can't see myself rewatching the disc very often, if at all, but it was well worth the few quid I spent just for that second episode and to see those characters in, um, a somewhat different light. Non-fans need not apply.
Gokusen - 6/10
A fiery Yakuza family heiress, Kumiko, wants to be a teacher so that she right the wrongs of the system. She ends up at a school for delinquents, determined to set the students on the right path by showing that someone cares about and respects them. You know how it goes.
Kumiko is easily the best thing about the show, and pretty much the only reason it's worth watching. The funniest moments involve her efforts to hide her Yakuza identity from everyone at school--not easy when the students keep lighting her perilously short fuse. While I obviously miss the nuance of the change in her speech patterns, the subtitles and tone of her voice effectively convey the shift from polite, naive rookie teacher to a tough woman not used to taking shit from anyone.
Otherwise there's not much else of note here. One student aside, the supporting cast is weak--I honestly can't even remember any of their names. This is a problem because the episodic stories tend to revolve around one or more of them getting into some kind of trouble before Kumiko comes to the rescue, and I couldn't find much reason to care. Nor could Madhouse, it seems, judging by their way, way below par effort with the animation. It's an ugly show, partly by design and partly through lack of budget. And I still have no idea what the point of the dog is.
But overall I'd say it was just about worth watching for Kumiko and her Yakuza-related japery.
Gun Frontier - 6/10
Damn. This show is difficult to explain, but I will try.
So basically Gun Frontier is about midget samurai Tochiro and hotshot gunslinger Captain bleedin' Harlock wandering through an Old West filtered through the clearly insane mind of Leiji Matsumoto. Tochiro is searching for a lost clan of samurai, and Harlock is tagging along because Tochiro saved his life. Joining them is wanton hussy Sinonora who, voluntarily or not, ends up naked in just about every episode.
The whole thing has a kind of surreal, Kino's Journey-esque vibe to it. Each town the three visit has some weird rule or custom of which, in one way or another, Tochiro or Harlock are invariably in contravention. This leads to them being captured or beaten or strung up or a combination thereof, which gets tiring after a while. It's a harsh, brutal (though bloodless), and thoroughly MANLY portrayal of life in the Old West, with a high body count and ruthlessly exploited female flesh aplenty--yet the humour and wacky character designs are often at odds with the serious tone. Very odd but strangely compelling in spite (or perhaps because) of that.
Another problem is that identity of the main villain is not revealed until late in the series, and he doesn't actually make an appearance until the last episode. It's a bit rushed and leads to an unsatisfactory conclusion. Also, Darkmeister? LOL.
What's most disappointing are the visuals. I mentioned the striking character designs, but unfortunately the art and animation aren't up to the job. Even the action sequences look cheap, with stiff, limited movement and speedlines in abundance. It's one ugly mofo.
High School of the Dead - 8/10
H.O.T.D. is why I love anime. If it was a live action show it'd be a low-budget and badly acted slice of B-movie cheese. Instead it's irresistibly cool and stylish.
9/10 was nailed on until the final three episodes. Once the characters reached Saya's hou... er, estate the action and plot (what little there was) ground to a halt for two-and-a-half episodes. Things finally picked up in the last half of episode 12, and then... the show ended.
The director of Death Note puts his overblown style to much better use here, delivering outrageous action scene after outrageous action scene jam-packed with commendably blatant fanservice. Rarely have I seen the female form exposed and exploited so creatively. Sexist? Possibly, but IT'S JUST A CARTOON!
Honey & Clover (S1) - 9/10
I think I went into this series with the wrong expectations. Having watched the second half, the first half, with which I was mildly disappointed, makes a lot more sense. This is not a show with a solid, contrived dramatic structure; it's a slice-of-life story about some art school students that ebbs and flows as, I guess, life itself does.
A lot of fans have said that it's easier to relate to Honey & Clover if you've been to university, as the show manages to capture the experience of being there exceptionally well. I haven't been to university, and I sometimes have trouble understanding the characters, but there's still a lot here that I and others who haven't can relate to: unrequited love, aimlessness and fear of an uncertain future, anxiety over the relentless march of time.
It's the way that everything's moving on except the characters, who are trying to figure out who they are and where they're going, that reminds me of Maison Ikkoku. Like that story, Honey & Clover takes place over a number of years, though takes far fewer episodes to get there, and is able to evoke a similarly strong sense of nostalgia. It's almost painful at times. And though it can be dramatic, it never resorts to cheap melodrama, and the frequent shifts into insane (occasionally grating) comedy prevent it from becoming too heavy.
Special mention must go to the visuals. JC Staff did a tremendous job with Honey & Clover. The muted pastel colour palette, lighting, and character designs are simply beaufiul. That, along with the numerous time/movement motifs and melancholy songs and music, serves to heighten the sense of nostalgia. This is show I can see myself rewatching over and over.
Hyper Police - 7/10
Anthropomorphic bounty hunters in a futuristic Japan chase criminals and cause massive amounts of destruction in the process. But it's the slice-of-life elements that I enjoyed the most because the antics of the characters are so much fun to watch. It reminded me of Patlabor TV in that regard, although the characterization is nowhere near as strong. Add a hefty dose of visual humour and you have a show that's practically impossible not to like. Uh, what else? It has a catgirl. And a foxgirl. And, er, a three eyed, three boobed anthropomorphic hooker.
AD Police Files - 5/10
A dark 3-episode OVA set in the Bubblegum Crisis universe. The show explores what it means to be human in a time when AI androids and artificial body parts are commonplace. Not exactly new ground, then, but interesting enough. Unfortunately the stories feel the constraits of both their 25-minute running time and low budget, and this significantly lessens their impact.
Ah! My Goddess: The Movie - 5/10
Almost intolerably sappy romance between two of the most intolerably bland characters in anime. So cheesy I expected to see "Sponsored by Edam" ads flashing up on screen at any moment. I can't believe I actually loved the Ah! My Goddess OVAs at one point, and don't dare to rewatch them lest I discover that nostalgia has betrayed me. Again.
What else do we have? A bad guy who wants to destroy the world because it's rotten (so he's not really bad), random dream sequences, and lots of magical technobabble. The usual anime fantasy bollocks, then. The soundtrack opts for overblown Disney-esque bombast over the more subtle, understated approach of the OVA score, and the animation is good if rarely spectacular. Urd and Skuld once again prove to be far more entertaining than the main couple, and they're the only reason I'm not rating this film lower.
Akira - 9/10
I had dropped the rating to 8/10 after reading the superior manga, but having seen the film in high definition I had to change it back. As a story it's not always successful, with some aspects not explained too well, but as spectacle it's still unrivalled. The sheer amount of detail packed into many of the film's scenes is just outstanding, and it boggles ze mind to imagine how much work went into animating them. The soundtrack is as fresh and haunting as ever.
Any shortcomings the story has are made up for by the breathless action and the palpable atmosphere of corruption and imminent social collapse. There really is hardly ever a dull moment in Akira and its two hour run time just flew by
Asatte no Houkou (Living for the Day After Tomorrow) - 8/10
Touching drama about a 12 year-old girl, Karada, who desperately wants to grow up, and a 24 year-old woman, Shoko, who longs to relive her lost childhood. When they make their wishes at a magic stone shine, together, somehow they end up with their ages reversed.
While the premise seems a bit gimmicky, in reality it allows the writers to develop the characters in interesting ways. The common thread of Karada and Shoko's relationship is Hiro, who is Karada's brother and Shoko's ex-boyfriend. Karada feels as though she is burden on Hiro because he became her guardian when their parents died in a car accident some years earlier. This entailed returning from the United States where he had been studying and living with Shoko, who is angry that Hiro left her and resentful towards Karada.
But it plays out in rather low-key way, the show never becoming overly sentimental or dramatic. It could have been unbearably angsty but it's kept from being too heavy by the lightly comic scenes revolving around Karada and Shoko's struggle to adapt to their new bodies and lives. Shoko's straight-talking and slightly cynical world view take on a humourous dimension when the words are coming from what appears to be a cute young girl, and Karada's bumbling about as a result of having little clue about the real world is very sweet.
The only real negative point is that the extent to which the plot is driven by coincidence; after a while it starts to become ridiculous. It's a bit of lazy writing in an otherwise wonderfully written show that even managed to draw a few tears from my manly self.
The visuals are impressive, with attractive character designs, a lovely pastel colour palette, and backgrounds that look like watercolour paintings. Gentle, evocative piano music accompanies the show's more pensive and powerful moments. Not much to complain about here.
It's moving, funny, and sweet and the lunatic recommends to all.
Baccano & OVAs - 10/10
I don't know where to begin in describing Baccano. To say it's part gangster tale and part heist movie only tells half the story; it's something you have to experience for yourself. I'm glad I went along for the ride, even if it took me a while to get around to it.
While the first few episodes are a little confusing because of the non-linear narrative structure, watching this show's interweaving stories gradually come together is a hugely rewarding experience. But it's the effortless panache with which it's all pulled off that really makes the show what it is.
Though it's nothing like Cowboy Bebop in terms of story content, it has a lot of the same qualities: a strong cast of characters, excellent animation and direction, dark humour, a similar sense of style, and sophisticated writing. Like Bebop it feels like a proper adult show even though there's plenty of (hilarious) goofing around that somehow doesn't feel out of place alongside the frequent bursts of bloody violence.
The OVAs take place after the series, tying up the many loose ends, though have the same non-linear storytelling that takes the viewer back to events that occurred during and even before the main story.
Bamboo Blade - 6/10
Two thirds of Bamboo Blade is good fun. I'm not a fan of sports anime, and while Bamboo Blade shares some of the things that annoy me about the genre, I didn't mind because it's primarily a comedy. In fact the sidelines commentary that to me is usually like nails on a chalkboard actually proved useful because I don't know the first thing about kendo. The show has a cast of lively, attractively designed characters with distinct personalities, and even though there's not much more to them than a few quirks it's enjoyable to watch them play off one another, though it wears a bit thin as the show progresses.
Towards the end the show becomes more dramatic, an issue because a) I like Bamboo Blade more when it's not taking itself seriously, and b) the characters don't have the depth to pull off drama. Two stupid rival characters are introduced in consecutive episodes and it's they, along with a couple of peripheral characters dragged back into the spotlight, who act as the catalyst for the Kendo-related crises of several cast members. Worst of all, their problems are resolved in horrendously cliché fashion within an episode. By the final disc it was a struggle to keep watching.
Bamboo Blade would have been better as a 13-episode show. That way the anime staff wouldn't have needed to concoct their own drama-filled ending, and I wouldn't have grown weary of the characters' antics.
Banner of the Stars II - 7/10
Thar be some light spoilers ahead. Since this is an old-ish series in which there's little interest I won't bother tagging it.
Banner of the Stars bored me after a few episodes so I jumped straight into the sequel. In this series the two lead characters -- Lafiel, an Abh princess, and Jinto, her human bitch/friend/soulmate -- become territorial ambassadors for a planet in a newly-conquered system. They're not best pleased to discover that it's actually a prison planet housing a million criminals, and trouble is brewing between four factions, all of which put forward a representative claiming to be in charge.
It's a strange set up. On the east of there's the male prisoners. On the west is the female prisoners. Between them is are the largest group: a voluntarily sterilised mixed population. To the south is where the prison guards and staff reside, and it's their representative who Lafiel and Jinto recognise as having authority. Turns out the male prisoners want kids for some reason will stop at nothing to get to the fertile women, who want the Ahb to help them emigrate before the men reach them - but it's a race against time because enemy ships are approaching.
And it all plays out in quite a thrilling fashion. But something that bothers me, aside from the few things that don't quite ring true, is that the representative of the female prisoners is heavily sexualized, and subjected to numerous leering close ups of her heaving chest and hot pants-clad posterior. Given that it's implied that many of the female prisoners turned to crime after suffering sexual violence, and given their fate if the men reach them, her depiction seems wholly distasteful.
What this series does miss, and why Crest is still my favourite of the three series, is the lack of interaction between Lafiel, who stays on the ship, and Jinto, who liaises with the prison guards on the surface. Still, the characters and their dialogue continues to be exceptionally well written.
Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad - 8/10
The story of Yukio, a bored 14-year-old middle school student. He doesn't have any hobbies or many friends, and he lacks self-confidence. One day, while walking home from school, he chases away a bunch of kids bullying an odd-looking dog. The dog's owner is Ryusuke, a talented and charismatic young guitarist who used to play with a member a hugely popular American band called Dying Breed. Ryusuke thanks Yukio for helping his dog, Beck, and they go their separate ways. After a second chance encounter a few days later they become friends and Yukio is gradually drawn into the exciting world of this magnetic character. When he receives a guitar from Ryusuke, he soon discovers a love of rock music and a natural talent for the instrument, as well as singing. Eventually Ryusuke decides to take a chance on Yukio and invites him to play with his new band.
Beck shares a lot in common with shounen sports anime: it's about an ordinary young boy with extraordinary talent who must overcome adversity to realize his dream and what have you. Now, I don't like sports anime but I do like Beck. There are a couple of reasons for this: firstly, I like music and therefore I find it easy relate to the characters' passion for listening to, creating, and peforming music. I love the way that Beck neatly juxtaposes the mundanity of everyday life with the energy and glamour of live performance, even when the band are playing in front of no more than a couple of dozen people.
Secondly, Beck avoids the usual cheesy melodrama associated with this kind of show. Yukio and the band have to deal with problems on their way to where they want to be, and sometimes they're serious problems, but director Osamu Kobayashi never overdoes it. There's a grittiness and realism to the characters and setting.
The only negatives, aside from the anime only covering what must be less than half of the manga, are the often terrible Engrish and inconsistent animation. There are actually some really impressive sequences scattered throughout the show, and the performances are usually fairly well animated, but some of the episodes look awful. The detailed backgrounds, however, are excellent.
Birdy the Mighty: Decode 01 - 5/10
The main problem with Birdy is that it does nothing to distinguish itself. The story is straightforward and unoriginal, the characters are uninteresting, and the central conceit of two characters sharing the same body is not exploited at all. I didn't want a show dripping with angst, but the lack of any emotional response from either Birdy or Tsutomu as they seamlessly adjusted to their new lives was disconcerting. Not only that, but it rarely served any purpose for the plot, as the generally useless Tsutomu never had much to contribute.
It has other problems too, though, such as a smarmy antagonist who pops in and out of the show, doing not much other than be make cryptic comments. It's not until the last few episodes that his true intentions become known, and it's those few episodes that salvage the show to some degree, mainly thanks to a cliché but nonetheless sweet romance between Tsutomu and school friend Nagasuki. Those last few episodes were the only time I had any emotional investment in the show whatsoever, and I thought the ending was handled quite well.
The main selling point of Birdy is its kinetic action scenes, but the truth is there isn't that many of them. It's a slow series, derailed by filler and episodes where not enough happens, and it's clear that this is where the budget takes a big hit. Rarely have I seen faces as deformed as those in the dreadful episode 6. The music, on the other hand, is more understated; in fact I can honestly claim that most of the time I never even noticed it.
Blassreiter - 7/10 (first half 8/10, second half 6/10)
Gah, it was going so well at the half-way point. Until then Blassreiter is a fairly compelling story about a contagious disease that causes humans to transform into mindless bio-mechanical creatures, and about the members of the organisation charged with eliminating them. Aside from some forced plot developments and an over-reliance on flashbacks, some of which recall events that happened mere minutes earlier, there's not much to complain about. As character drama goes, it's good stuff.
One other thing worth mentioning is that Blassretier is not subtle. Given the pedigree (Nitro+, Gonzo, Itano) I wasn't expecting subtlety, and I got none.
It's the second half where the lack of subtlety is most pronounced, and because of it the wheels come off a bit. First up, the motivation of the chief bad guy (a smug, self-righteous arsehole of an antagonist) is revealed, and it's neither original nor particularly convincing. Both he and the rest of the cast love nothing more than a good speech, so much so that I started to desperately hope they'd all just shut up. And with more focus on the plot in the show's latter half, the previously neglected secondary cast are given token sob story pasts, tossed off during brief flashbacks, in order to make them more sympathetic. That didn't impress me either.
But none of that could have prepared me for the ending, and indeed the whole final battle sequence, the cheese factor of which is almost unprecedented. A theme of Blassreiter is loss of faith, and after witnessing the final episode I now truly believe that there is no God.
Despite my negativity, I did enjoy Blassreiter overall, but I did find the first half much more interesting. It's one of the most consistently well animated Gonzo shows I've seen, with no obvious dips in quality and characters remaining on-model throughout, and the CGI was impressive if not always well integrated with the 2D animation. And I have to applaud Gonzo's effort to write a dark, mature story with an almost entirely adult cast, even if it misses the mark in some areas.
Burn Up - 1/10
"THIS IS IT, THE ANIME CLASSIC THAT STARTED IT ALL, BURN UP!"
This 40 minute one-shot OVA from 1991 might be the first anime I've watched without a single redeeming factor. The plot, as far as I was able to discern between the naps I took every five minutes, is that three bimbo policewomen are on the trail of a white slave trader named Samuel McCoy (he has to be foreign, see, 'cause no Japanese person could ever be that evil) who masquerades as a legitimate businessman. So, following a lead, they go undercover at a club and the dumbest of the three gets herself kidnapped. The other two launch a siege on the trader's mansion and that's about it.
This was obviously AIC's attempt to cash in on the popularity of Bubblegum Crisis by producing their own girls-with-guns crime fighting show. Only they forgot a few things, like the awesome design and music and action scenes. Burn Up has none of that. Instead it takes place in a soulless world, has hideous character designs, awful music (by Kenji Kawai, of all people), and some of the most yawnworthy action sequences I've ever seen. It even lacks the fanservice that made Burn Up W and Excess just about watchable if you were drunk enough. What a tragic waste of paint.
The Castle of Cagliostro - 10/10
The story is simple enough: Lupin tracks down a counterfeit racket to principality of Cagliostro, suspecting the involvement of the dastardly Count. Not long after arriving he assists a damsel in distress, who it turns out has some connection to Lupin's past, but he's unable to prevent her from being kidnapped by her pursuers. When it transpires that she was taken to the castle, rescuing her from the clutches of the count becomes Lupin's top priority.
The Lupin movies I most enjoy tend to confine themselves to a single location, and Castle of Cagliostro exemplifies this. Cagliostro itself is a vivid, memorable place, characterized by its small town, the huge lake, the palace ruins, and of course the imposing castle. Miyazaki includes numerous beautifully framed shots that capture Cagliostro in all its picturesque glory, and you get a wonderful sense of place. He was able to pull off something similar in Kiki's Delivery Service, and no doubt it contributes towards my love of that film too.
It's a brilliantly paced and beautifully illustrated hundred minutes of pure unfettered joy.
Clannad - 4/10
Lots of contrived melodrama, lots of crying, badly paced, wholly predictable. Funny at times, though, which makes me wish it'd been a comedy and not bothered with the tragedy porn crap. Doesn't, as far as I'm concerned, hold a candle to Kanon.
(Clannad) Another World: Tomoyo Chapter - 8/10
This is lovely. The main series lacks romantic content, and in any case the main love interest, Nagisa, is anathema to me. Tomoyo, on the other hand, is a much stronger, more self-sufficient character. The episode starts with her and Tomoya already dating, and goes on to accomplish more in 24 minutes than Cannad managed in 22 episodes. Maybe's it's because Tomoyo is one of the more interesting characters in the show. Maybe it's because there's actual romance here. Or maybe it's because I can relate to Tomoya's situation. Whatever the reason, this episode had me fighting back tears at the end while the main series, with its drawn out multiple episode arcs, left me completely cold (and bored). It even has time for some humour, which Clannad does very well.
Claymore - 6/10
Moderately entertaining fantasy fare that carries a little too much shounen fighting show baggage for my liking. But while the fights and frequent expository monologues tend to be longer than my attention span, I can't deny that the show has some genuinely excellent moments. Those, along with the uncompromising violence and menacing tone, staved off the tedium of its more generic aspects.
And it's a great looking show... until it starts moving. Then it's a rapid descent into shortcut hell. Most episodes were outsourced in their entirety to Korea, and it shows. A disappointing effort from Madhouse.
Darker Than Black + OVA 8/10
Because I enjoyed this show so much I considered rating it 9, but owing to a couple of relatively weaker stories and an ending that leaves much unexplained, I thought 8 was fair.
Mostly comprising two-part stories, Darker Than Black is, in essence, about humans with extraordinary powers. An anime superhero show, if you will. It has an adult tone, interesting characters (particularly the chameleon-like Hei), entertaining stories, and a good sense of humour. Bones' animation rarely astounds but it's of a consistently good quality.
Somehow, though, it doesn't quite reach its potential. There's a lot of mystery regarding the world in which the characters inhabit, mystery that the series is reluctant to reveal, but it's really just a backdrop against which those characters' stories are told.
Desert Punk - 7/10
Gonzo couldn't have made this show any easier to dislike: the protagonist is a genuinely despicable character, the comedy is juvenile, some of the stories are weak, and the production values are nothing special -- even for Gonzo.
And yet I did like Desert Punk. As with Gun X Sword, I found it refreshing to watch a main character motivated by nothing more than his own interests, as opposed than the usual heroic "good guy" who acts as a moral compass for the viewer. I appreciate anime that isn't preachy, and Desert Punk delights in its moral ambiguity. The ending, which exemplifies this ambiguity, took me somewhat by surprise, even though I should perhaps have expected it.
I also enjoy puerile humour when it pushes boundaries of good taste as far as Desert Punk does, and the fantastic dub ratchets up the crassness another few notches. Even the low budget animation seems to work in the show's favour, matching its lowbrow mood and general trashiness.
So, yeah, it's unique and definitely worth watching. Had some of the stories been more interesting I would have rated it higher.
Devil Lady - 7/10
The premise is simple: humans who possess a specific gene are evolving into twisted creatures called devilbeasts. But not everyone with the gene evolves completely. Protagonist Jun, an elegant but melancholy model, is a Devilman -- a half evolved devilbeast who retains her human consciousness.
Though the series soon settles into a fairly predictable monster-of-the-week format, Jun's adversaries being a physical manifestation of a particular sin, the real focus is on the psychology of Jun as she struggles to come to terms with what she's become and how it affects the lives of the people around her.
But it's not free of problems. Devil Lady was animated in 1998 but thanks to a tiny budget it looks a few years older than that. The flat designs, drab colours, stiff animation, and frequently off-model characters manage to diffuse much of the tension built by the good writing and music. And the dub, recorded at ADV's Monster Island studio (basically where the low profile titles went), is not impressive. Neither is the Japanese track, to be honest, but Junko Iwao's superb performance as Jun is a highlight.
And by the end, in typical anime fashion, they introduce a bizarre supernatural element and mess it all up. Sort of. I understand that this is similar to how the original Devil Man manga went, but Devil Lady seemed to be leading somewhere else before taking a detour through WTFville. At some point it ceased to make much sense.
But overall it was a good show with an adult tone, impressive character development, lots and lots of lesbianism (both implied and not-so-implied and handled more maturely than fanboy wankfodder like Kannazuki no Miko), and some highly disturbing scenes.
Durarara + DVD specials - 8/10
Durarara, like the same author's Baccano, mixes an ostensibly normal urban environment, in this case Ikebukuro, with the fantastical (I had to check this was a real word btw) in a way that doesn't seem awkward at all. Alongside a bunch of typical high school students there's a mythical Irish fairy, cursed metallic objects, a couple of guys with superhuman strength, and various unusual happenings.
The show is split into three distinct arcs, which presents a small issue in that mysteries you expect to remain mysterious until the end are revealed at the conclusion of these arcs. The structure is not entirely different to Baccano: events are presented out of chronology, often referred back to once the plot "catches up". It's not as chaotic and confusing as Baccano, though, with a clear "present day" where most of the story takes place.
A highlight for me was Durarara's characters and sense of fun, so it was a bit disappointing that the show became increasingly angsty as it went along, focusing more on the school kids than the eccentric weird and wonderful adults who make Ikebukuro such a colourful place.
VIsually the show is a bit inconsistent, with characters often sloppily rendered, but I can't complain about Brain's Base's gloriously detailed backgrounds, nor the animation which is fluid when it needs to be and functional at other times. The soundtrack is more impressive, featuring a number of memorable tunes to suit whatever mood the show is going for, and I loved all the OPs and EDs.
Some confusing things aside -- the whole second arc, for example, and what exactly it is that Kadota and his gang actually do -- Durarara is a fun ride. Just nowhere near as good as Baccano :)
The Familiar of Zero - 6/10
Fantasy adventure romantic comedy that does the romantic comedy bit much better than the fantasty adventure bit. The show has an identity crisis and never quite works out what it wants to be. Some of the characters who annoyed me at first had grown on me by the end (including that bitch Louise), though none really break out of their mould, and I enjoyed the fanservice/raunchy humour.
I can't, however, say the same about the underdeveloped plot, which was more a peksy distraction from the amusing japery than anything else. There was one twist near the end that totally took me by surprise, but otherwise it was all fairly predictable.
Familiar of Zero is a fun watch overall, but should have aimed low from the start.
Fantastic Children - 8/10
A triumph of good storytelling over flashy visuals and loudness -- which probably explains why so few people have watched it. Fantastic Children is a subdued, atmospheric tale of reincarnation that has a bit of everything: science fiction, fantasy, drama, mystery, tragedy, and a little action.
A group of white-haired children have been wandering around Europe for centuries. Tired and rootless, they are looking for something that has remained elusive, and their mystery is gradually revealed over the course of the series. Other characters who play a part in this tale include Thoma, a young martial artist who one day finds a young girl asleep on the small island where he lives with his parents. A quiet, sad girl, her name is Helga and she's continually drawing a scene of a strange place she doesn't know but to which she is inexorably drawn. More characters enter the picture later, and each is tied into the mystery, which is satisfyingly resolved by the end.
At times, Fantastic Children looks amazing. The beautifully rendered backgrounds possess a Ghibli-esque quality, not surprising considering that art director Nizo Yamamoto has contributed his talent to many Ghibli works and other high budget anime movies. Animation fares less well, however, with even the show's few actions scenes lacking fluidity and dynamism. The character designs have retro appearance, and this is doubtless one of the main reasons the show remains unappreciated. They're just not cookie-cutter enough for today's fans. The sweeping orchestral soundtrack is suitably epic and melancholy.
But there are a few problems. Most notably is that the pacing is very slow and deliberate, and it's not helped by the many, many extended shots of characters gasping and trembling in anguish, shock, or fear. Presumably a way of increasing the drama while keeping the cel count down, after a while it becomes plain annoying. And as good as the story is, the characterization is somewhat weaker. Even though I found myself caught up in their epic story, I can't say I ever really cared much about any of the characters. Thoma in particular would occasionally irritate me with his abundant energy and incessant screechiness.
Overall, though, Fantastic Children is a wonderful adventure anime that puts its story before anything else. And it's a really great story.
Fist of the North Star movie - 8/10
This is the manliest anime ever made. Brothers and best friends fighting to the death, heads and bodies exploding in showers of viscera, most female characters reduced to damsels in distress... and, er, a little girl growing a flower. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic settings, revenge, and ultraviolence, so this is a film really hits the spot for me.
Fist was one of the first anime I watched, and I've always remembered it as looking dark and murky and grim, but the remastered DVD is absolutely stunning. Seriously, I can't believe how good this film looks all cleaned up; the level of detail and the vibrancy of colour is amazing. The image just pops off the screen.
It's a shame, then, about the variety of censorship techniques used obscure some of the film's goriest moments, as those parts look utterly dreadful in comparison to everything else. I'm not sure an entirely uncensored print exists anywhere, though, so it's something one just has to deal with.
Ga-Rei Zero - 6/10
I don't have too much to say about this. It looks great and has some quality action set-pieces, but there isn't quite enough to the characters to make the tragedy effective. A shift in tone towards the light-hearted during the early/middle episodes seeks to endear the characters to the viewer and make the inevitable more devastating, but it's only partly successful. Ga-Rei Zero is okay but not especially memorable. (Except perhaps the girl/girl pocky kiss :nosebleed:)
Though the story is wrapped up fairly conclusively during the final episode, one particular loose end annoyed me. I'm guessing that more about that is explained in the manga, to which the anime is a prequel, but it's supposed to be not very good.
Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo - 10/10
Every once in a while I watch an anime that reminds me why I spend so much of my time and money on these silly cartoons.
I'm not a big fan of studio Gonzo. While they're capable of amazing visuals, they don't seem to understand the concept of budget and tend to blow their load on the first couple of episodes. This is true for other studios as well, but I find that the disparity between good and bad is most pronounced with Gonzo. Not only that, but their stories tend to fizzle out not long afterwards.
But that's not the case with Gankutsuou, one of the most lavishly designed anime I've ever seen, TV or otherwise. A sci-fi re-imagining of the original novel, the story takes place in 5053. Interplanetary travel is a reality, and giant robots are used in war, though otherwise this could be late 19th century France. But while the sci-fi elements have no real bearing on the story, they don't feel out of place. They do serve a purpose, however, and that's to give Gonzo and director Mahiro Maeda (who did the amazing Second Renaissance segment of the Animatrix) license to show off their innovative GCI, the use of which is extensive and, really, nothing short of astonishing. I've never seen anything like the techniqued used for the character's clothes and I was continually dazzled by the colour and extravagance and creativity. The music is fabulous as well.
And rarely have I been so absorbed by a story. It's a testament to the quality of the writing that even though there are only a couple of action scenes in the entire show, I was not once bored. The story of a young aristocrat named Albert who meets and befriends the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo had me drawn in from the very beginning, not least because the Count is one of anime's most charismatic and magnetic characters. Over the course of the series his elaborate plot for revenge against those who destroyed his life gathers momentum, and details about his past are gradually revealed. It's a masterful piece of writing that culminates in a stunning conclusion.
But that's not all the series has. I have seldom watched a series with so many memorable, well-developed characters. Even Albert, who spends most of the series a spoilt, naive brat is redeemed by the end. And, unlike the book (or so I hear), this story is really about Albert and how his experiences change him as a person. It feels like a genuinely adult show, sophisticated and not prone to the usual anime melodrama (well, not often).
Giant Robo: Ginrei Special - 6/10
3 short OVAs produced to keep the fans satisfied during the tortuously long wait between some episodes of Giant Robo. And, I guess, as an opportunity to show Ginrei in various states of undress without having to cheapen the series proper. I'd seen the first episode--a 20-minute piece of fanservice fluff in which my favourite character, Alberto, features prominently--on Manga's VHS release of episode 7, but it's the first time I've seen the other two.
And they're a mixed bag. The second episode is a frequently hilarious parody, while the third is a more serious (and, frankly, dull) affair. I can't see myself rewatching the disc very often, if at all, but it was well worth the few quid I spent just for that second episode and to see those characters in, um, a somewhat different light. Non-fans need not apply.
Gokusen - 6/10
A fiery Yakuza family heiress, Kumiko, wants to be a teacher so that she right the wrongs of the system. She ends up at a school for delinquents, determined to set the students on the right path by showing that someone cares about and respects them. You know how it goes.
Kumiko is easily the best thing about the show, and pretty much the only reason it's worth watching. The funniest moments involve her efforts to hide her Yakuza identity from everyone at school--not easy when the students keep lighting her perilously short fuse. While I obviously miss the nuance of the change in her speech patterns, the subtitles and tone of her voice effectively convey the shift from polite, naive rookie teacher to a tough woman not used to taking shit from anyone.
Otherwise there's not much else of note here. One student aside, the supporting cast is weak--I honestly can't even remember any of their names. This is a problem because the episodic stories tend to revolve around one or more of them getting into some kind of trouble before Kumiko comes to the rescue, and I couldn't find much reason to care. Nor could Madhouse, it seems, judging by their way, way below par effort with the animation. It's an ugly show, partly by design and partly through lack of budget. And I still have no idea what the point of the dog is.
But overall I'd say it was just about worth watching for Kumiko and her Yakuza-related japery.
Gun Frontier - 6/10
Damn. This show is difficult to explain, but I will try.
So basically Gun Frontier is about midget samurai Tochiro and hotshot gunslinger Captain bleedin' Harlock wandering through an Old West filtered through the clearly insane mind of Leiji Matsumoto. Tochiro is searching for a lost clan of samurai, and Harlock is tagging along because Tochiro saved his life. Joining them is wanton hussy Sinonora who, voluntarily or not, ends up naked in just about every episode.
The whole thing has a kind of surreal, Kino's Journey-esque vibe to it. Each town the three visit has some weird rule or custom of which, in one way or another, Tochiro or Harlock are invariably in contravention. This leads to them being captured or beaten or strung up or a combination thereof, which gets tiring after a while. It's a harsh, brutal (though bloodless), and thoroughly MANLY portrayal of life in the Old West, with a high body count and ruthlessly exploited female flesh aplenty--yet the humour and wacky character designs are often at odds with the serious tone. Very odd but strangely compelling in spite (or perhaps because) of that.
Another problem is that identity of the main villain is not revealed until late in the series, and he doesn't actually make an appearance until the last episode. It's a bit rushed and leads to an unsatisfactory conclusion. Also, Darkmeister? LOL.
What's most disappointing are the visuals. I mentioned the striking character designs, but unfortunately the art and animation aren't up to the job. Even the action sequences look cheap, with stiff, limited movement and speedlines in abundance. It's one ugly mofo.
High School of the Dead - 8/10
H.O.T.D. is why I love anime. If it was a live action show it'd be a low-budget and badly acted slice of B-movie cheese. Instead it's irresistibly cool and stylish.
9/10 was nailed on until the final three episodes. Once the characters reached Saya's hou... er, estate the action and plot (what little there was) ground to a halt for two-and-a-half episodes. Things finally picked up in the last half of episode 12, and then... the show ended.
The director of Death Note puts his overblown style to much better use here, delivering outrageous action scene after outrageous action scene jam-packed with commendably blatant fanservice. Rarely have I seen the female form exposed and exploited so creatively. Sexist? Possibly, but IT'S JUST A CARTOON!
Honey & Clover (S1) - 9/10
I think I went into this series with the wrong expectations. Having watched the second half, the first half, with which I was mildly disappointed, makes a lot more sense. This is not a show with a solid, contrived dramatic structure; it's a slice-of-life story about some art school students that ebbs and flows as, I guess, life itself does.
A lot of fans have said that it's easier to relate to Honey & Clover if you've been to university, as the show manages to capture the experience of being there exceptionally well. I haven't been to university, and I sometimes have trouble understanding the characters, but there's still a lot here that I and others who haven't can relate to: unrequited love, aimlessness and fear of an uncertain future, anxiety over the relentless march of time.
It's the way that everything's moving on except the characters, who are trying to figure out who they are and where they're going, that reminds me of Maison Ikkoku. Like that story, Honey & Clover takes place over a number of years, though takes far fewer episodes to get there, and is able to evoke a similarly strong sense of nostalgia. It's almost painful at times. And though it can be dramatic, it never resorts to cheap melodrama, and the frequent shifts into insane (occasionally grating) comedy prevent it from becoming too heavy.
Special mention must go to the visuals. JC Staff did a tremendous job with Honey & Clover. The muted pastel colour palette, lighting, and character designs are simply beaufiul. That, along with the numerous time/movement motifs and melancholy songs and music, serves to heighten the sense of nostalgia. This is show I can see myself rewatching over and over.
Hyper Police - 7/10
Anthropomorphic bounty hunters in a futuristic Japan chase criminals and cause massive amounts of destruction in the process. But it's the slice-of-life elements that I enjoyed the most because the antics of the characters are so much fun to watch. It reminded me of Patlabor TV in that regard, although the characterization is nowhere near as strong. Add a hefty dose of visual humour and you have a show that's practically impossible not to like. Uh, what else? It has a catgirl. And a foxgirl. And, er, a three eyed, three boobed anthropomorphic hooker.
Posted by alteredcourse | Aug 18, 2010 1:19 PM | 0 comments