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To start things off, I can say is that it’s about damn time that a new anime installment of Hajime no Ippo came under way. Even though the first anime series was 70 plus episodes, I felt I didn’t get enough by the time I finished watching it. To me, Ippo vs Sendo 2 was actually the beginning!!! Since then, I decided to read the manga and currently up to date on it which is now nearly 90 volumes, and I’ll say I still haven’t gotten enough!!! But moving on, to a certain extent, New Challenger for what it covers is faithful to the manga about 85% of the time though a few things are omitted. For example in the Date/Martinez fight, Okita fought in the undercard in the manga, but for some reason they cut it out in the anime and yet, they dedicate half of an episode to recapping Ippo’s fight with Date in the first season when they could have done something more productive instead. And I can’t deny the cut of the Kamogawa and Nekota flashback story arc. I feel I can forgive that because I think it deserves it’s own OAV or TV movie, especially under Nishimura Satoshi’s direction (which I heard is now confirmed). But for those not familiar with the manga, the first season had some cuts as well such as Mike Tyson’s story inspiring Ippo to box and Aoki painting himself black to get Ippo ready for Jason Ozuma, so omissions in this version I find aren’t too surprising as well in retrospect, but I felt the omissions were still bad ideas since those scenes did contribute something to the establishment and progression of those sections of the stories.

Next, I felt at times the pacing was unbalanced. Sometimes things were too fast due to those omissions, sometimes things were too slow just to concentrate on certain dialogs, and there are times it was just right. But I think they did the story arcs of the Martinez and Date fight and Ippo’s fight with Hammer Nao justice. In the end, rather than cutting out some parts of the manga and having been a little reliant on some unnecessary recaps, I give the story and characters.

The resolution and the depths to the color are a step up from the first installment. The art isn’t as sketchy looking with the bodies, but the designs are captured wel. The fights are also faithful to the manga, but at times, I did feel it did cut some corners which I felt wasn’t as abused in the first season. I thought the corner cutting and still shots were abused in the final fight a bit more, but really didn’t overall negate my enjoyment of the fight (though I'll admit I've conjured better quality fights playing the games). I felt anime wise, the Hawk and Takamura fight didn’t live up to how Ippo vs Sendo 2 played out for those reason since Ippo vs Sendo 2 didn’t really abuse it, and brought it’s own distinction from the manga fight.

But the action in general is still pretty awesome and I felt the anime captured the fighting styles of some of the characters very well, especially with Itagaki and Miyata. I felt the Martinez and Date fight was breathtaking and used very excellent angles in portraying Martinez’s brutal power and crisp technique.

One of my main concerns is that I did not like the color schemes for some of the characters. I have played all of the Hajime no Ippo games on PS2, PSP, PSOne Wii, and DS (yeah, laugh and point and call me a fan boy) and I liked some of the color schemes given to the characters in the games. I thought the color schemes for some of the characters such as Arnie’s red and black trunks and Itagaki’s brownish-redish trunks were pretty cool, reflected their personalities, and overall just seemed to fit. While in New Challenger, they are both given blue color schemes and I feel blue as the color of trunks is kind of an abused and redundant color in Hajime no Ippo. I thought the red with Arnie really reflected his aggressive style and blue tends to be a cliché symbol that you’re level headed, I just thought it didn’t feel right.

Before I get into the best quality of this season, I’ll take about the most controversial and that is the music. In addition to a new director, this anime has a new composer for the background music, Deathnote’s very own Hirano Yoshihisa. With the omission of Imahori Tsuneo’s acoustics and techno, Hirano implements his more grand orchestrated and piano style though at times he will use electric guitars but I’ll get into that a little later. If I were to put the controversy of this situation in a nutshell I would say that I have seen the protests and objections to Hirano’s style and the wanting of Imahori to return gone near the levels of the Ryan Drummond fans amongst the Sonic base. I’ll admit I was taken by surprise by the new style of music. At times it works and at other times, it totally misses. I’ll agree that Hirano’s composition isn’t as good as Imahori’s nor does it live up to how he made the Deathnote soundtrack, but I always believed in the saying if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it and I felt the BGM as a whole in Hajime no Ippo was kind of done here.

The worst quality of the music was when Nekota and the Kamogawa crew were crying during the Takamura and Hawk fight and it was playing this lame piano music that felt really stupid. The best parts are his uses of electric guitar that sound more like something out of punch out. But yeah, I do want Imahori Tsuneo back, and this situation now makes me sympathize with the Ryan Drummond fan boys. However, Hekireki and 8AM, the respective opening and ending themes I really like a lot though not as good as 360, Inner Light, or Yuuzora no Kamihikouki, but I think they capture the spirit of Hajime no Ippo very well.

Now time to conclude this part with the voice acting which consists of Gundam and Metal Gear Solid alumnus alike. With the exception of Kobayashi Sanae reprising the role of Mashiba Kumi, the cast from the first season is back. And the voice actor who got me most was Sakaguchi Daisuke who debuted as Uso Evin in V Gundam as Hammer Nao. I felt without him, the character would fall apart. Despite how much his appearance changed from the last time we saw him, I always thought that he was still that insecure individual as portrayed in the original manga but thanks to Sakaguchi’s acting, it captures something beyond my expectations and made him more likable in comparison to how I saw him in the manga as more of an asshole. Now I want to talk about Kumi’s new voice actor Hirata Yuka. I thought she sounded too energetic and the pitch was too seductive for the character. I always thought of her as pretty much shy and her original seiyuu captured that. Hopefully they’ll bring her back in the next installment. Another actor I enjoyed was Sugahara Masashi as Martinez. Even though he doesn’t have many lines, he sounded very intimidating, charismatic and authoritive. In a way he felt like Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.

And I’ll admit I was surprised that Ohtsuka Akio, the voice of Batou from Ghost in the Shell, Gato from Gundam 0083, as well as Solid Snake, Solidus, and Naked Snake in the Metal Gear Solid franchise as Brian Hawk who is the anti-thesis of those characters who are disciplined and formal while Hawk is pretty much an American version of Takamura. I wasn’t sure how he’d pull it off considering my familiarity with his performances as those characters so I was paying attention to how he’d do it. But after recently re-watching Rurouni Kenshin and seeing his performance as Jin-E, I felt he could do it. I think the performance that solidified him as Hawk was when he made his speech that he wanted to impregnate all the women in Japan. He was able to bring the charisma he had as those characters as Hawk in that scene, but in a comedic, disturbing, cynical and frightening fashion all at the same time. And in another scene I felt he had to define Hawk was when he meets his trainer in the flashback and asks for his license to kill and I thought he was able to bring Hawk’s qualities to life in that as well. Still, go on Anime News Network’s or this site's section on New Challenger and you’d be surprised how these voice actors have been in both Gundam and Metal Gear Solid franchises.

Thankfully they are making another installment according to Koyama Rikiya, the voice of Takamura. At first, I was pissed as fuck about the initial announcement of 26 episodes considering how much more manga material there is to cover, so I’m pretty excited since after this installment there are more of my personal favorite fights such as Ippo vs Sawamura and Miyata vs Medgoen Dachboy. In addition to pretty much seriously serialize the series, I want Nishimura and Imahori to come back.
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I have to say, ever since Naruto before the Shippuden arcs in the manga, I have come to hate flashbacks in the middle of an important segment of a story and does nothing to advance it, and this oav does nothing more than reinforce that. I am grateful they did include Enishi and has pretty much his foundational motivations down, but he wasn’t fleshed out and doesn’t really explore him in full depth such as his fighting style and the significance of his sword. I say you’re going to have to read the manga to fully understand his character and it also excludes Enishi’s comrades and the fights they have with Kenshin’s crew, and how Kaoru was able to stop Enishi from going crazy. I say if they dropped the flashbacks and did the Jinchu arc or part of it instead, they could have gotten a fraction of it down and I would have been satsified.

And another thing I personally didn’t like about this installment was that it was so damn depressing. I know the first oav was sad, but at least there was character development. And in further addition, not only did fans protest the bullshit ending to this oav, even Watsuki, the original manga author of all people disapproved of it. How the fuck can you have Kenshin die of a disease? I can understand dying from abusing the shit out of Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu, but a disease? Come fucking on here. At least give him a death as epic as Joe Yabuki from Ashita no Joe! Also, can’t we have at least a comedic moment? I want Sano to make me laugh his with idiocy, or Kenshin act like a klutz, or Yahiko have a brother-sister like argument. Where the hell was all that? Did a bunch of emos write this shit or something? And one last thing? Where the fuck was Saitou? He deserves his right to settle his score with Kenshin dammit!!! I know Saitou in the manga sort of buried the hatchet, but I still think we need a fight at least for the sake of some kind of closure to that rivalry whether or not the Kenshin that he is now wouldn’t give Saitou the fight he wants. If they managed to squeeze that, I would have forgiven this oav for it’s flaws.

The art style and character design is pretty much the same from the first oav, so nothing too much to add and it does make up for the bullshit story. I’ll also admit it also still suits the more serious mood. In the flash back scenes, I did like how they executed the Jin-E and Kenshin fight, and I liked how they made Sano’s hair look more realistic, but yet still feel true to the character, and I thought his Rambo look was pretty cool. There is action, but I felt it could have had more. I thought the Enishi and Kenshin fight didn’t live up to the manga and we really don’t see any of the other cast members such as Kenji, Yahiko, or Sano in action either.


Pretty much the voice acting cast from the TV series is back and still do their roles well and in conjunction to the tone of the TV series. And Enishi is played by Sasaki Nozomu most famous for playing Yusuke from Yuu Yuu Hakusho and Tetsuo from Akira, and I felt he brought those qualities to Enishi as well. The music presence in this oav is pretty much the same from the last so you can see my review on that in that oav as well.

All I can say is that the ending to this OAV is pretty much an insult to the franchise and its fans. They managed to do the origin story very well, and they had no excuse to fuck up with this one. You might as well end it with Kenshin meeting Tom Cruise in his last samurai character and deciding to convert to the church of scientology to atone for his sins. To me, the people who wrote this god awful story raped Kenshin in the same light that Lucas and Spielberg raped Indiana Jones. Just animate the whole fucking Jinchuu arc and you had what I would call an epic master piece, but instead, we get an epic piece of crap. read more

All I have to say is that this is a must see for fans of the series. Even though this serves as a prequel, I would not recommend this to people who have not yet seen the TV series because the tone and style is completely different and will probably give you the wrong set of expectations for the TV series which always implements humor. While in this OAV, it’s flat out drama and full of tragedy, and none of the comedic moments of what defined the TV series is present. But does it negate the quality of this OAV? Certainly not. The pacing is a little slow, but you get to learn more about Kenshin and what goes through his mind and will get to know the other characters.

Just like in the original TV series, this oav also implements events and characters from actual Japanese history. For example, Kenshin’s boss Katsura, the leader of the Choshu clan is one of them. And I heard that less than 30% of the Japanese public are not at all aware of his significance to Japanese history such as he had a role in restoring power to the Meiji emperor. And an event implemented in the story of this oav is the Ikeda-ya affair in which the Shinsengumi made their mark in Japanese history. So I thought it was an effective touch to progress the story and set the tone.

So if you’ve seen the TV series and haven’t read the manga, I say check this out. You’ll see a completely different take on Rurouni Kenshin in which it still fits in the continuity of the series and view Kenshin from a different stand point not just because he’s younger, but of what he’s struggling with and see what defined his character in the TV series. As for manga readers, it faithfully adapts this flashback from it so you’ll be able to appreciate it but with a different art style which I will not get into.

As fans of the franchise can tell, the character design takes a totally different direction from the TV series and manga. While the manga and anime looked more generic Shounen in its own way, the quality of the art in this version is much more theatrical and realistic. The resolution, the clothing, the faces, eyes, and everything else felt more like an Oshii Mamoru movie than something based off of Shounen Jump, and it really fit the atmosphere and mood of the OAV excellently well. In further addition, since this is Kenshin in his killing days, you get to see more blood and violence. I wouldn’t say it’s to the level of Ichi the Killer, but it is pretty violent and intense. Though I praised the action for being technique-centric, that isn’t really at all present here. You won’t see Kenshin doing his Ryuu Tsui Sen, but you just see him hack and slash, but from what little knowledge I learned from a friend of mine who does Iaido and Kendo, it looks right and the quality feels more like a Kurosawa movie and I felt it goes with the aim of being realistic.

Unfortunately, the high profile bands and the techo, and acoustics and all the things that made the music kick ass in Kenshin isn’t really perfect here. If anything, music in general isn’t that centric or present. I felt the silence gave more an appropriate feel of ambiguity and unpredictability and brought a different style of drama. When watching this OAV, I do feel some music and be too much in your face at times, and I felt the lack of music in its own way was too much in its face. But I totally understand that this oav has a different kind of intention and direction, so it works in its own way. I just wish for the ending or opening themes, they could have used TM Revolution to contribute just to give Kenshin its unique identity in that sense of why I like Kenshin.

But moving on, Suzukaze Mayo resumes as Kenshin, Ikeda Shuuichi resumes his role as Hiko Seijuuro, and Hirotaka Suzuoki is back as Saitou. But enough about them, time to talk about the others. I thought Iwao Junko got the voice of Tomoe down though I think anybody could have played her. She’s reserve and secretivie, and that’s all you need. And Seki Tomokazu, another personal favorite of mine plays the role of Katsura. He’s charming, charismatic, and fair. And Nakao Ryuusei who is most famous as Freeza in DBZ and the multi-talented Takagi Wataru also known as GTO play a couple of Kenshin’s buds. Though they play practically almost nobodies, their well known voices (at least to me) stood out.

I have to say that this oav captured this part of the Jinchu arc excellently well. Even though this story arc was dark to begin with, I felt the art style and the different approach to be less reliant on music made it feel fresh and gives you a different kind of insight.
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I have to say that even though some elements of this series can be a bit predictable, it is still effectively cerebral. It’s one of those stories where it’s not about the destination, but about the journey. This anime is very methodical with its approach to further openly re-defining the classic good vs evil battle, and keeps other aspects at a certain ambiguity that opens up a lot of legitimate debate and discussion, such as the morality in relation to this anime, though the creators of the original manga have admitted that wasn’t a concern or intention of theirs. At times, the anime will go beyond good vs. evil, but I felt can be seen as a battle about whose right will prevail.

Everybody watching this anime, or maybe even reading the manga will naturally think that even though Lights intends to do the world away of criminals, does he have a right to take the life of another person regardless of the severity of their actions? Thinking about it, if you had the same kind of power, would you do the same? Do something different? Or try nothing at all? In addition to this, it’s not just Light that you will find yourself at odds with, but L will even stoop to some lows that will make him the poster boy for the Patriot Act. So even though L is on the side of the authorities, his methods at times doesn’t make him any better than Light when it comes to exceeding moral boundaries in the name of justice. While with Light being progressively preachy and power hungry, he will manipulate people and treat them as expendable that will make him detestable to viewers. At times, I felt the rivalry between Light and L went beyond who was right or wrong, but was more of a clash of who has the bigger ego, in which it has its own kind of entertaining value and really gets you immersed to the characters.

The relationships between the characters and how they interact and relate to each other is another trait I love about Death Note. Even though L and Light are mortal enemies, the series excellently presents that they are the only people that they can relate to. And I also enjoy the moments where Ryuk can be a foil to Light. Even though Ryuk only sees Light’s attempt at conquest as cheap entertainment, there are times he will question his motives and exhibits he is disturbed by his behavior. And it’s hard to really imagine a Shinigami of Ryuk’s laid back attitude to really have the moral high ground when he only sees it as fun, but you can’t help but see he has a point.

But moving on, the pacing is very fast and a lot happens throughout a majority of the show, but I think some things rush are a bit too much for the sake of convenience, especially approaching the end. But I’m pretty sure most people prefer fast over slow.

The designs are very faithful to the manga so I can’t really complain. First thing I really like to talk about is the use of colors: due to the nature of this anime; not only is the presentation dark, it still exhibits very excellent resolution where you can see a good majority of the surrounding environment, and it greatly emphasizes the atmosphere and mood. The quality of the coloring makes the experience very significant to environmental and character details in which they all fit, and yet still stand out at a point where you can see virtually everything. What I also enjoy from this series is when certain characters such as Light and L are high lighted in blue and red when they are internally thinking. It easily conveys who is the aggressor, and who is on the defensive, and also shows who is calm and collected, and who is hot headed. Granted these use of colors are obvious with the meaning, the way it’s highlighted around the hair and skin tones really brings the presentation more directly immersing and charismatic. I also love the scene with Near and Light when they are on the phone and it also shows the viewers of those characters in an imaginary elevator at a construction site. It did feel very random, but I thought it really added a sweet sense of the intensity to that moment in the series.

One thing I strongly believe is that bringing out a sense of intensity is what keeps people hooked on Death Note. I believe what further defines that trait in this series were the angles, movements and pacing when Light was writing in the death note in the initial episodes, and you just gotta love it when Mikami does it. The speed and angles along with the music appropriately emphasizes the divinity that the notebook has, and brings a cinematic feel to it in which only the magic of animation can pull off. Some(of those) scenes involving writing in the death note will be over the top, but I think it’s one of those moments where you have to accept the approach, even if over the top and exaggeration of certain scenes aren’t your thing. Especially in the episode where he opens up a bag of chips and eats it, and that scene alone since then has changed my outlook at potato chips for the rest of my life. I had no idea potato chips could be that dramatic and epic. I simultaneously found it humorous and entertaining, which makes that scene iconic.

I would like to open this part of the review by saying I enjoy the dub, and think it’s great. I’ll admit I was skeptical about Brad Swaile playing Light at first. I’m used to hearing him playing generically nicer and regular characters like Youta from Video Girl Ai, Quatre from Gundam Wing, or Amuro from Gundam. And I’ll admit that he does a good job of playing cynical characters like Mousse from Ranma, but I wasn’t sure if he was going to make that work with Light. I came to accept him as Light, though I personally think he could have been better as L based on my previous exposure to the actor over my years of watching anime. But I’ll acknowledge he made that potato chip scene, while it felt wasn’t that emphatically dramatic in the Japanese version. I believe Allesandro Juliani was pretty good as L, but I think he sounded a bit too formal and not really childish enough to make the character feel complete. But with the intention that the character was raised in England, I feel the English portrayal brings it out in its own way where you can interpret the character in that way.

I’ll also say that I was taken by surprise that Yamaguchi Kappei, the voice of Ranma and Inuyasha, was L in the JPN version. Despite playing loud mouth and rowdy characters, he really did well coming across as calm, quiet and intellectual and I thought that the pitch of his voice gave him those child-like qualities he has, and it gives him a different kind of charisma to why his character is unique. Brian Drummond as Ryuk really had a voice that went well with the grin and really made him sound cool, but I think he kind of lacked this bizarre friendly charm that I felt he has in the Japanese version which I think makes him appealing.

I also think that both Japanese and English voices of Misa were perfect in their own way. Haruhi fans will rejoice that Hirano Aya plays her in the Japanese version - and she will sound pretty recognizable to you, and I think the voice does a great job of representing her bubbly personality, as does Shannon Chan-Kent’s portrayal. If anything, I think Shannon Chan-Kent could make a great Misa in a Hollywood live action Death Note movie, along with the actors who played Light, L, and Watari.

The last portrayal I want to get into is Mikami’s. In the Japanese version, he is played by Matsukaze Masaya, the voice of Hazuki Ryo, the main character from one of my favorite games of all time, Shenmue. While in the English version, he is played by Kirby Mirrow, the voice of Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing, Van from Escaflowne, Cyclops in X-Men Evolution, and Miroku from Inuyasha. I think they approached the characters stylistically different in their own ways, but I think the portrayals in both versions work that really do represent the character. If I were to define the portrayal of the character by his introduction alone by saying delete or sakujo, or whatever word you want to use - I say in the Japanese version, I get the impression that Mikami is more apathetic, while in the English, I though he sounded more aggressive, but I think that both portrayals bring out the sadist in him.

The music is accurately orchestrated to suit the dark and cerebral atmosphere of this series and is 110% in your face, and I get that impression with Hirano Yoshihisa's music all the time, especially in the current installment of the Hajime no Ippo anime series. It really immerses you into the scene and keeps your eyes glued to your screen. The tempo and instruments perfectly fits the imagery at the right moment. A lot of the songs used really made me think of Verdis Requiem, the opening to Battle Royale, so I had a very strong feeling that I was to be disturbed but yet amazed by what was going on in the anime. The opening theme called the World by Nightmare couldn’t have been a better choice. It’s dark, but yet extreme and energetic and perfectly flows with the presented imagery that really just grabs your attention by your balls and makes you curious about this anime, that’s how excellent it is.

At some capacity, I feel Death Note along with a huge majority of Madhouse’s and Shounen Jump’s products deserves a good portion of the praise it has gotten, and I’ll explain what I mean by “good portion,” and that relates to the ending. Death Note is one of the very few anime I’ve seen in which I already read the entire manga before hand. What has made the Death Note anime very controversial in some circles of the fan base is its ending. I can’t elaborate on it due to spoiler reasons, but if you’ve read the manga AND watched the anime, you know what I’m talking about, and I side with the manga readers on this issue, and that’s all I can say about it without getting into spoilers. And if it weren’t for this change in the ending, I would have probably given this series a perfect 10/10 overall. But anyway, that's my review of Death Note.
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Ryuji conquers the Jr. Japan circuits. But before he can go on the world stage, Black Shaft of the US challenges the Japenese to a tune up fight. It will be 5 on 5 between team Japan, consisting of Ryuji, and his rivals in the tournament such as Takeshi, Katori, Kazuki, and Jun against Shaft and fighters of his own choosing. Since the Japanese barely finished their tournament, they of course need time to recover and train. Jun’s arm has recovered but Ryuji is starting to have injury problems of his own from the tournament from repeatedly using his boomerang. Despite that, he endures it and takes the challenge.

Black Shaft on the other hand, does not even recruit boxers. He recruits adults and all types of weirdos telling team Japan he wants a street fight and thinks of them as a joke. Black Shaft, recruits Monster Jail, a death row inmate for multiple murders; the mysterious and charming Miss Charnel from Chicago; Mick, the leader of the New York branch of the infamous Hell’s Angels; and NB Forrest a leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who was renamed Mr. Whitey in the anime and portrayed as just an unserious womanizer. So now Team Japan must fight these thugs in the ring and will do all they can to maintain the honor of their country and their people and put down the motley crue of an American team.

OK, as if the fights themselves were weird enough, they got a weirder cast of characters in this season. I’m so glad that Kurumada recognizes America’s diversity here and uses it very creatively. To paraphrase Don King, “Only in Japan, can we have a manga, where a KKK Grand Wizard and a black man on the locker room.” I say it’s either stupid, or funny. I find it to be funny personally. I can’t believe Japan’s Jr. boxing commission or whoever sanctions the fights allowed these fights to happen.

But other things that really bothered me were changes from the manga. Such as Katori and Kazuki easily beat their opponents in a matter of seconds. Probably not a page or 2. While in the anime, it went to DBZ anime street where they make the fights longer and Katori and Kazuki have a much harder time with their opponents to the point they may actually lose. Also, when Kazuki was fighting Mick in the anime, they added this filler story where the Hells Angels were raiding Kazuki’s family’s house which I thought was a waste when they could have easily gotten to the shadow story arc (which should be next season if they do make one). The shadow organization is briefly present in the anime, but it ends where the USA and Japan fights ends and I hope a new season is made soon.

Granted this season aired 2 years after the first one, there is really no distinctive improvement with the quality. Still the same. The character designs are still faithful to the manga and so on. If you saw my review of season 1, anything I said in that one can be applied here too. So I’ll talk about the fights again. Granted the fights are still based on super powered boxing, but some things I really liked about it were the angles and the shots. Especially when Kazuki does his final rolling thunder against Mick and when Jun uppercuts NB Forrest was awesome too. It really made it more dramatic and represents that it’s truly Shounen Action, and not necessarily boxing.

The previous opening theme was the same, but the changed the ending theme which is titled Shining Like Gold. The music isn’t hard rock or anything intense or adrenaline pumping. It’s more calm sounding and has a blues like sound with the harmonica. Instead, it emphasizes more on innocence and youth which I think helps brings more of a balance to the series than just being a juiced up version of Ashita no Joe.

The voice cast from the original season also comes back. Anything I said in the first review can mostly be applied here.

All I can say is, the casual or even hardcore anime fan that is not Japanese will still have trouble recognizing the significance this anime has culturally because it’s so old and even though the anime is new, retains the old school feel to it with the characterization, art, and story telling being all so simple. I feel the only non-Japanese fans that are going to like this anime are probably fans of Saint Seiya because the style of it is of course similar and some of the story arcs in the manga of Ringu ni Kakero would later influence Saint Seiya. Like they will have outside boxing fights with evil organizations. Like the fights after Team America, the Japanese team will fight an organization called the Shadow which use boxing as an assassination art and they will also fight another weird mystical organization known as Ashura.

And in the later half in the manga, each representive from each country will fight Team Greece and Greece’s members use the same name as the Gods. And the when they become pros, the World Champion is named Jesus Christ. And he’s from the Netherlands and does not at all look like the Jesus Christ we know. So yeah, on one hand, I can understand why most people will not like it. But no matter how much you may not like it, you can’t deny if it weren’t for Ringu ni Kakero, there would be no Dragon Ball Z; no Bleach; no Yuu Yuu Hakusho; no Naruto; no Slam Dunk; Shounen Jump would just simply not be where it is today. I guess the manga is entertaining when you try to see things in a Japanese perspective that it was something new. But in a western perspective, you’ll be freaked out and probably offended by how the nationalities are portrayed. But the manga in terms of story still has structure and organization and the characters are diverse. I say the premesis overall is of course screwed up both anime and manga wise, but still somehow iconic to the Japanese read more

All I can say is that if you have seen the newer TV series, the plot of this oav pretty much follows the same story line except some changes and being a 12 episode series, the pacing is more condensed and less material is covered. The beginning of the oav this time will be that the man on the run from Cronos is accidentally ran over by a truck as opposed to being stopped by two officers. But these events still lead up to the same result: Tetsuro and Sho go to a lake to hang out, and the man being chased causes an explosion and in front of them flies a special mechanical device in which Sho becomes the Guyver.

I won't go over the changes due to spoiler reasons, so I got really nothing to really say about the story that I already said about in the TV series. But some of the changes should make the viewing experience a little fresher, and I like how certain things were better kept under ambiguity such as the identity of the 3rd Guyver while I felt the TV series rushed and it came across more as a fan service move for fans of the original manga which I could understand. But I have yet to read the manga, so some ambiguity and unpredictable elements will help me at some aspect.

Well, the general design for the monsters and the uniforms of the Cronos soldiers are still the same from the TV series. Of course for being an older series, the quality will be more dated, and the coloring and resolution will look grainier, and the frame rate will not be as smooth. But moving on, a significant difference in this one is the design of Sho himself. His hair is much thinner, and he has these long side burns. His design came across as very feminine in comparison to his Heero Yuy design in the TV series and the old 1985 movie. I like how in the other anime installments (not sure what his design is in the manga) he looks more generic just so he won't stand out too much and I like how it kind of represented that the Guyver is an ordinary guy. While in this one, Sho just simply looks like a pussy. But that's just me, and I'll admit that his design doesn't overall negate the experience of the anime.

Another design I sort of had a problem with is Agito's and Tetsuro's. He looks way too old and didn't come across convincingly as a teenager. In the TV series, I liked how his wavy hair gave him more of a youthful look, and with the wider eyes and face, he could also still look dignified. The action is still violent and in your face so it should be exciting. But the execution will be stiffer. Another aspect I didn't like was in the later half, they used repetitive frames for emphasis and it was super choppy.

One thing I can say about the Guyver OAV that is better than the TV series is the music and the voice acting in Japanese. Before I go on, I want to say the dub flat out sucks. I tried watching it, but I couldn't bear 5 seconds of it. Fuck the dub, and just watch it in Japanese instead. The opening theme is incredible and feels pretty immersing with the presented imagery. It has pretty catchy beats, the percussion is excellently orchestrated, and the singing gives it a noir kind of feel to the series like the recent Skullman anime though Guyver itself doesn't really come across as Noir in the way Skullman does. I thought it also represented its high-octane action nature at the right moments as well. I could listen to the theme song over and over. The Japanese track also has a few all star names that are more recognizable from the TV series who I thought were also excellent but not in the leagues of who I am about to mention.

Kusao Takashi, the voice of Trunks from Dragon Ball Z plays Sho. I think the portrayal of the future Trunks character, especially in the Trunks special where he's a confused teen with great power and ambition really works well with this role, and I loved it how he screams Guyver to transform. And Wakamoto Norio, the voice of Cell from DBZ plays Risker/Guyver II. And Tanaka Hideyuki, the voice of Woody from the original Gundam series, and Terryman from Kinnikuman plays Guyver III. I thought he brought a great commanding presence to the character.

In the end, I feel Guyver fans who already seen the TV series and have read the manga despite this being older will appreciate this oav more.
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If you're strongly familiar with Kamen Rider when watching this anime, you'll notice a lot of similarities with the plot elements. And it is not coincidence because the original manga-ka, Yoshiki Takaya, was influenced by Kamen Rider. But despite that, a lot of traits in Guyver are still distinctively unique, original, and engaging.

The beginning of this anime will be repetitive in some aspects, but I feel it is for the right reasons. At times, Cronos will try to kidnap Tetsuro and Mizuki to lure out Sho in almost the first 12 or so episodes, but like I said, the reasons are legitimate since it's the only way they can lure out Sho and eventually, they'll resort to other methods and the series itself develops to go beyond that aspect. I think the show was being realistic in that kind of way and I feel it does a great job of conveying that which is why I can forgive it being repetitive in that light.

What I love most about this installment of Guyver is how it uses a majority of their characters and how they develop individually, as well as their relationships with one another. It really surprises me how Mizuki develops and is used in this series. I say any average anime watcher will wonder how a character like her can be utilized, and I love how the anime really explores that and makes the story progress all at the same time.

As for where the anime ends, I heard it only covers roughly half of what the manga offers. It has an ending that does feel conclusive, but there is still a mountain of material and aspects left to explore, develop, and resolve. I know Chris Patton (who plays Sho) has expressed in the DVD commentary as well as the dub director that they want to do more Guyver. I hope in due time they make more Guyver anime.

Moving on, if you've seen the original OAV or read the manga, a majority of the character designs still have the same feel, but with new techniques have an upgrade that apply to faces, clothing, and hairstyles which makes them look more appropriate to their ages while I felt some of the character designs in the oav looked a little too mature and old, especially Tetsuro and Agito. Sho this time looks a lot like Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing as opposed to his more feminine design in the oav (I'm to assume that his design in the oav is more faithful to the manga's). Sho looks a little more generic with his design but he still comes across as unassuming with his slim build. I also like Murakami's design in this TV series. I felt his new fashion for the TV series is also appropriate for this day and age as he looked more like a Miami Vice character in the OAV, and I feel that design would be a little silly today, especially his aviator sunglasses in the oav (despite my love for old school.....and Miami Vice).

The coloring and detail to the Guyver suits still look appropriately organic, but the movement also makes it look more flexible and less stiff from the original OAV. The action is pretty violent on Berserk levels and its constant and exciting. My biggest problem is some of the background drawings, especially in the forest during the daytime. The detail and coloring look more like a children's coloring book. It really does stick out like a sore thumb. But the city designs on the other hand are very breath taking and the other character designs as the series goes on are pretty shiny and nifty.

I would like to open up this part of the review by saying I really enjoy the dub. It's of course not in the league of Cowboy Bebop's or Gundam 08th MS Team's, but it's a great dub and far superior to the old OAV dub which really sucked. I thought the actors did a very excellent job of portraying teenagers and yet still being true to the situation that lies around them. Despite how I feel that the seiyuu cast in this one doesn't hold up to the talent of the oav's cast, I felt it still does a great job and I feel the English equals it. So despite not having an all star cast in Japanese, I think the English and Japanese voice acting are still top notch.

The background music is also excellently orchestrated. It really creates this organic feel and it really comes across as sci-fi along with horror elements. I thought the OAV had more catchy music and I personally like it more, but as contradictory as it sounds, I think the music in this series captures the atmosphere of Guyver more appropriately.

All I can say is if you want a well-paced story with an excellently utilized cast of characters along with wicked action, then this is the anime for you. As for a new installment, I hope to count on it.
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Most casual and hardcore anime fans that I’ve met that aren’t really Macross fans tend to like this oav. Personally for me as a Macross fan, and keep in mind I’m not speaking for all Macross fans when I say this, is that even though this is fan friendly to non fans of the franchise, I feel it offers very little of what Macross is truly about. For the most part, it exclusively takes place on a planet similar to earth and the aliens are not really emphasized enough, so it’s value of being a space opera, especially taking place 30 years after the original doesn’t really feel all that present.

Also gone is that it isn’t really taking place during a war, but whatever action is present will mostly be between Isamu and Guld, but I’ll get into that a little later. But what’s still present in the tradition of Macross are of course the love triangles. But since the love triangle this time is between 3 former friends there’s a whole lot more directly involved in this one, while the love triangle between Hikaru, Minmei, and Misa in comparison to this feels more superficial which is the only thing I can say in which this installment is superior to the original. In this case, Myung is of course very hesitant who she loves, and seems to be more open to Guld, but still shows concern and care for Isamu. Guld is very more open about his feelings for Myung, while Isamu shows he does care, but seems to be more of a big brother figure to her and doesn’t seem to exhibit any romantic interest directly as much as Guld does.

The pacing overall is very balanced, though I think in the end with some of the twists needs more explanation rather than the convenience of speeding up to the ending. There’s really no explanation of some of the motivations of the guy who runs Sharon or anything and things get a little too convoluted at the end, and didn’t really feel necessary. But if you concentrated on the foundation of the love triangle, and the Top Gun competition in this oav, then this should be ok for you.

The character designs are simple, but still very stylistic with the costume designs and the resolution. All human races are well represented whether black, white, Hispanic or Asian, but I felt the series needed more Zentradis to expose newbies to the wonderful world culture of Macross. The pilot suit is more reminiscent to the style used in the old movie, Do You Remember Love with the shoulder pads, the color scheme, and the helmets. It still works pretty well and doesn’t at all look dated despite a 10-year age difference between the two. The design of the Valkyrie’s are more or less the same and still contain the same engineering features. The action is well coordinated, explosive, fun, and easy to follow. At some capacity, it’s what you could ask for in mech anime. Both Isamu and Guld are equally excellent pilots in their own way with their respective mechs which keeps the battles going. But despite their good skills, they got nothing on Max or Roy. Compared to them, Isamu and Guld are simply breakfast. But anyway just like in some AMVs out there, you’ll certainly have the Top Gun soundtrack playing in your mind when watching the high flying battles.

What also stands out in this anime being made in the mid-1990s is the use of cgi in certain scenes, especially in light speed mode. Granted they do look a little primitive and a little trippy, but I think it adds some novelty to this oav. It is appropriately used and it’s not really much to complain about rather than the superficial qualities of it.

And to conclude this part of the review, I’ll talk about the design of Sharon Apple. I’ll admit she’s quite original and quite exotic. It’s like somebody was playing too much Idolmaster and all of a sudden, he beat the game and makes big money off his idol. Her concept really takes advantage of how Macross always had a stand out soundtrack, which I will now transition to.

The music done by the great Yoko Kanno isn’t as uppity or as energetic as the original Macross, but it’s quieter and softer music is more invoking and more appropriate to the darker and emotional atmosphere this installment will have throughout. A certain song will also sound a lot like the opening theme of the first Ghost in the Shell movie and really suits the cerebral mood in which it stands out.

The voice acting is also appropriate to the characters and captures their personalities very well. Yamazaki Takumi, who I only remember as the voice of Ferrio from Rayearth plays Isamu. He can make him sound arrogant and passionate when appropriate. And also casted is Unshou Ishizuka, the voice of Jet from Cowboy Bebop comes across pretty well as Guld. He makes him sound more mature and serious, but knows how to express his anger when appropriate. And one last name I like to highlight is Fukami Rica, the voice of Sailor Venus as Myung. She really makes you feel for her character and can make you react to her both positively and negatively in relation to her situation and I thought the voice acting really highlighted on that.

Like I said before, this is probably the most friendly to non Macross fans because it’s a short OAV and covers a descent amount. Even though I do give this anime a high score which I’ll give soon, but compared to other Macross installments, I don’t think this is the best Macross has to offer. It sort of falls apart at the end and I can’t elaborate why because they would be spoilers. But it’s other qualities are still an eye catcher.
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This movie is a direct continuation of where the first TV series leaves off and it’s STRONGLY suggested you watch the TV series first in order to understand this movie, and to see this movie as a complete closure to it as well. A good portion charms I feel of what defines the TV series are still present, and the returning characters do have presence, but not to their fullest use in my opinion. Mustang does his thing, but I think in some way they could have still developed his character. But for general character development with Ed and Al as well as their relationship, it really does the job which I feel you have to see for yourself on how that pans out.

Yes, it does give closure, but some of the movie does have some unsolved questions. Such as it doesn’t explain why Noah has the power to see somebody’s life just by touching them. And outside of that, she really has no use to the story though her presence does symbolize that gypsies were scorned by the Germans just to make emphasize the history going on in Germany at that point. Another factor I didn’t like was how little significance the opening becomes after that. It’s supposed to be something important and you get an idea of what it’s supposed to be (based on your knowledge of science and history), but after that, it really has no overall contribution of the story, nor did I felt it really established anything.

Take what I said about the TV series and times it by 2, and you perfectly get the quality of the art and animation of this movie. The moment that Ed’s mechanical arm first appears, it’s so detailed and rendered and yet syncs perfectly with the 2D art. The designs of the characters are simply for the sake of theatrical quality, but of course shows maturity to the features as well. Specifically, not just Ed by growing taller, but by placing his pony tail closer to the crown of his head to symbolize that he’s an adult and to make him more scholarly looking. And my thoughts on the environments and action sequences still remain the same and the qualities are still there, but obviously better.

Pretty much what I can say about music and voice acting has already been said in my review of the TV series. The voice acting in both English and Japanese is still a quality that I consider a standard to look up to. In addition to new characters, we got new seiyuus. Noah is played by Sawai Miyuu, who actually happens to play Sailor Moon in the live action version. She does a great job of being scared, isolated, and yet curious, as well as her actress in English. Alphonse is played by Oguri Shun, who was also in the live action versions of GTO and Gokusen, and also played the voice of Asakura Akio in the anime version of Wangan Midnight, an anime that I also previously reviewed. I thought he had a good chemistry with Park Romi, the voice of Ed in bringing a new kind of sibling relationship between the two characters.

The music is just incredible. The opening and ending themes, Link and Lost Heaven are both sung by L’Arc~En~Ciel, the 2nd best J-Rock band of all time (behind X-Japan), and if you recall, they also sang the 2nd opening theme of the TV series. Their style for these songs are more in tradition of being hard, but yet still captures the franchise’s romanticism.

If you’ve already seen the first TV series, then it’s a highly likely possibility you’ve watched this already. But if you haven’t the TV series and have been meaning to watch it or currently watching it, then naturally you’re going to watch this anyway. In the extras, it is revealed the original first draft was going to be between 2 to 3 hours long and I felt that a 95 minute movie was really too short to really give this installment of Fullmetal Alchemist a little too small of a conclusion. Personally, I think maybe an OAV series based on the initial script could have worked, or maybe just made the movie based on that script in the first place. There are anime movies out there that are over 2 hours long, so why give this the shortening treatment? It adds some confusion to some things, but the big picture is….forget it….it’d be a spoiler if I got into that, but I got about around a good portion of what I wanted out of it.
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The very first thing I can say about this anime is that its strongest foundation is its cast of characters that exhibit its multiple themes in relation to the concepts behind the story whether basic ones such as brotherly bond, or bigger issues such as ethnic cleansing, or crazy cults that make scientology look good. I feel that the bond that Ed and Al share is something that everybody can connect and relate to, especially if you have your own sibling(s). I felt their relationship does more than enough to exhibit a majority of its distinguishing qualities, as well as the other supporting cast members and their motivations and relationship to Ed and Al.

At times, I did question what defines Ed’s idealistic views beyond just brotherly love. Despite his status in this anime as a teenage military officer, there are many times you can admire his stance on certain moral issues some people can think are simple and/or complicated, but during those moments, you do wonder what does motivate him to feel that way. Is it because of his age that gives him that kind of way to view things? Or is it because of his experience? Sometimes I felt it couldn’t have been a combination of both. To give some elaboration, I just thought that his mentality at times, even at the most idealistic of moments was just him being a naïve kid who has yet to fully grow up, or was it really because how he has faced so much adversity to give him that much hope. I felt Al despite being Ed’s primary motivation also serves as an excellent foil to Ed whenever he got out of hand. In a way, I feel those who are the younger sibling can relate to him. A lot of us know how bossy older siblings can be just because they’re older, and I think Al and his relationship with Ed does a great job of portraying this relationship in a realistic way, and yet so comedic at times.

Before I give some conclusion to what I felt about the story and characters, by the laws of equivalent exchange, I feel I do need to point out a flaw in conjunction to my praise until now, and which I will give again at the conclusion of the story and character part of this review. And that of course is that it at some point it loses track from the original manga source material which has inspired the April 2009 installment. Upon buying the DVDs, I started reading the manga with it. If there was one thing that upset me between the differences between the two mediums, it was definitely the handling of Barry the Butcher in the anime. This will be a spoiler, so skim to the next paragraph. What I liked in the original manga is that he was simply that sadistic soul in the crazy armor acting stupid. In the anime, he is given a different, but elaborate back-story in which he kidnaps Winry and Ed. I mean, the guy freaks Ed out to the point that he seemed to pee his pants and I felt it kind of cheapened that moment that Ed was scared for his life during their initial encounter in the anime. When Barry was reduced to being a comic relief character, I felt those moments in the anime were kind of ruined for me, and I felt it was the only time the comedy didn't feel right. I guess this is what happens when you adapt an anime from a manga in which there was limited material at the time.

Now that I mentioned the comedy aspect, what I also found unique about this anime was how it combines a dark story with some lighthearted comedy, especially with Armstrong who reminds me of Gai-sensei from Naruto, and the never ending jokes about Ed’s height. Despite my criticism of the anime handling of Barry the Butcher, it’s very rare to see this combination pulled off so effectively by still keeping a consistent tone in any medium whether American or Japanese animation, or even live action. I feel it does a great job that it can appeal to just about anybody who is either new or strongly familiar with anime.

The character design, specifically the faces, I’ll just call very fan art friendly. It’s basic and simple, but yet very distinct. What helps define that distinction first is the costume and clothing designs. I felt they were very appropriate for the time period it takes place in and compliments the frame of the characters. I really thought the design of Al was quite original, especially in use. It appropriately makes him unassuming and I like how the beads in his eyes convey that he’s an innocent soul thanks to the support of the voice acting (in both English AND Japanese) which I will elaborate later. The special effects are top notch, and the action sequences are timed and coordinated excellently. It’s easy to follow, and still elaborate. I like how it combines martial arts and the alchemy attacks. I like how this anime redefines the shounen energy action sequences to something more directly scientific and not over the top such as FF7: AC, or as technical as Rurouni Kenshin. The city designs are breath taking and I like how all kinds of environments are portrayed. In addition to old cities, you also got rural villages, forests, deserts, ghetto slums in which our heroes will explore.

The Japanese and English tracks are equally excellent. I feel this is one of those animes where you can watch it in Japanese for one episode, and watch it in English, or you can simply exclusively watch it in one language or another. I feel the English and Japanese respective actors for Ed and Al had perfect chemistry, and really brought out the qualities of them as individuals. I felt that Paku Romi and Vic Mignona did an excellent job of making Ed sound mature, idealistic, and appropriately childish and stubborn. While Kugimiya Rie and Aaron Dismuke accurately capture Al by being that eternal and yet mature child who always shows concern for Ed. It’s hard to believe that he played the role at 12 years of age, the same age as Al. He’s far more talented than a majority of dubs I’ve ever seen in my lifetime of watching anime. The anime in both Japanese and English overall share an all star cast of the best talent you can find.

The soundtrack is also an undeniable quality. The first two opening themes are performed by Porno Graffiti and L’arc~en~ciel, who also did the two opening themes to GTO. But their style to the songs they contributed to this anime brings a much different flavor from what those two bands contributed to GTO. For Melissa performed by Porno Graffiti, in comparison to Hitori no Yoru, the 2nd opening theme of GTO, it feels much more relaxing and laid back, but yet the imagery along with the song gives an adventurous and mysterious feel to it. I also somewhat feel the same about Ready Steady Go, the 2nd opening theme by L’Arc at some capacity as well. The last opening theme is Rewrite by Asian Kung Fu Generation, in which many of you may know as the singers of Haruka Kanata in Naruto. They also bring that hard and loud style to this song and reflects more on the action orientated nature. The background music is more generally grand and orchestrated and accurately reflects the mood and atmosphere of the moment.

Like I said before, I feel this anime can be watched by just about anybody whether you’re not just new or familiar with anime, maybe you don’t have to be an anime fan to appreciate its universal qualities and themes. I feel that the characters are people we can relate to for pretty much every reason possible.I feel by watching this anime, by the laws of equivalent exchange, you'll get something inspiring out of it.

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