There was this show back in 2014 which managed to make waves due to one notable asset; a red and black gothic lolita wielding an oversized halberd claiming herself to be nearly a millennium old. Obviously with all the time I had back then and especially at the behest of a fellow anime fan, I rode the hype train. Two seasons later, I came back astounded at a different take on the 'other world' (isekai) genre. Then the dub came out recently... so naturally a rewatch is in order.
I'm normally not the rewatching type so I thought to myself, "Will I still get the
...
same satisfaction as the first time?" With the current oversaturation of isekai anime, we've seen everything from grade A waifus and high fantasy, to self-aware parodies and gritty deconstructions. Does GATE offer anything else on the table for the hungry anime enthusiast?
Four years later, my verdict as well as my fondness for GATE hasn't changed. It takes a tired premise and eagerly works with what it has, proving that 'serious' and 'fun' can be used in the same sentence.
STORY - 9
Usually when we go to another world, the trip only offers limited seats. Either you're the chosen one to six people temporarily (or permanently) whizzed off to Wonderland for an extended period of time with no way back. Many more can join the fray but ultimately the objective remains the same. How do I get back? How do I survive until then?
GATE gives us... well, an open gate between two worlds. Anyone can get in and out. So what plays out? Curiosity grows to expansion. Expansion explodes into war. And war makes way for attempts at peace. Pretty much human nature in a nutshell. Instead of supernatural hijinks or a grand fantasy adventure, GATE revolves around the interdimensional relations that ensue if a rift existed between Japan and a generic RPG world. For one thing, it isn't any prettier than what history taught us about colonization, showing us that the road to peace is paved with political, economic, and martial turmoil.
We view the whole gate phenomenon through the eyes of an otaku and closet army man, Youji Itami. And while the events are a dream come true for him, it soon gets real when the Japanese military is involved. What follows is a series of expeditions by the Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) led by Itami's squad to expand into this so-called "special region."
Before we drop the bomb and assume the show's going to be another dark ride on the edge of Angstville, it never goes there. Many people will criticize the glorification of the Japanese military, the ego-stroking that comes with an otaku protagonist, and completely forgettable characters compensated by gore, violence, and explosions. I beg to differ.
What makes the premise so interesting is the other world it portrays; a world of knights, princesses, elves, mages, and beastkin. How does such a fairytale setting wage war with the modern world? Scenarios like this often make our military appear obsolete with our clunky helicopers, sluggish tanks, and lackluster guns battling alien weaponry, mysterious powers, and fantastic beasts.
GATE turns this showdown on its head by portraying just how far we've gone in the science of war. While the fantasy world is stuck with shields and swords, bows and arrows, and horsemen and lances, our advances in technology seem to mirror the enigma of magic in their eyes. Imagine staffs that shoot metal with pinpoint accuracy at terrifying speeds from an untouchable distance. And that's just how they they view your basic rifle. Think about the fear our grenades, jets, and artillery strike into their hearts. If there's one thing GATE does well, it's making us feel the sheer shock and awe from the losing side. The juxtaposition just works.
Here we are, appearing like gods of war raining hell after coming from the other side of the gate, when we're really just defending ourselves on what seems like a simple scouting mission. Our fantastic counterparts, on the other hand, wage a full scale attack throwing men by the thousands on horseback flanked by orcs and wyverns despite wielding inefficient spells, arms, and tactics. Sure, it just so happens the Japanese military takes full jurisdiction with unrealistic competency, but it serves as a quirky reminder that we take our own strength as a species for granted. We are the very invaders we imagine others outside our world to be.
Besides the militarized twist on isekai and fantasy tropes overall, it delivers an action-heavy plot with wonderfully choreographed sequences. GATE excels in building up grandiose scenes. From depicting the amount of explosives it would take to slay a dragon to demonstrating how potent proper military training really is, GATE knows its premise enough to have fun with it.
Despite the characters taking a backseat in all this merrymaking, the show owes its substance to subtle world-building. For starters, the world beyond the gate itself seems like the average fantasy world. Looking into the history of the mysterious gate, we discover that it turns out to be a randomly occurring portal bridging numerous dimensions. Goblins, kobolds, and dragons coexist with elvenkind, knights, and our kind of humans because the gate has collected them into a pocket dimension. The medieval nature of humans residing here also means that at some point in time, we have wandered here, only to attack ourselves in the future. War never changes.
As for the generic otherworlders, their stereotypes are granted practical application. Most of their actions are even rooted in their species' respective social class. Beastkin (or furries), for instance, are often the bane of fanservice and twisted fetishes. Here, they are akin to marginalized tribesmen, relegated to prostitutes and slaves if not fortunate enough to serve as maids or servants under a royal house. Elves, on the other hand, are a peaceful kind relying on basic magic and hunting skills to survive outside the Empire walls. Meanwhile, Dark Elves, their tanner counterparts, behave more like warriors and templars who suffer discrimination from their intimidating appearance. The education system is also touched on where being a mage and its resulting occupations are also similar to pursuing a degree, given you can prove the sun is the center of our solar system without it sounding like a joke.
Sadly though, the anime adaptation is surpassed by its manga and light novel counterparts. Though we only get a brief mention of the aforementioned pantheon of gods and demigods, some lore on the gate's origins, and a glimpse of the fight against rebels of the Empire, we know enough about war and human nature to know where GATE is going. 24 episodes for me are just right before the action fantasy overstays its welcome.
ART - 8
With GATE's high stakes comes high contrast, high color, and high detail. Vivid is the best word for it. Traumatic shell-shock scenes, mass slaughter, political assassinations, and organized coups, all brought to you in warm technicolor. It's like the art is still stuck in its own fantasy despite the dire circumstances. Despite the clear irony with the lively visuals against the violent content, it makes sense given that GATE views war and politics as the daily grind. Nothing is new and dramatic about taking names and taking lives. The day job then becomes more colorful when there's a prospect of a new world ripe for the taking. So in this regard, the blissfully unaware art actually adds a layer of character by viewing it from the eyes of a geek in the army sent to the battlefront of his wildest dreams; enchanted yet unfazed by the fantastic expedition.
Continuing the clever applications of established anime design tropes, GATE applies this to its characters as well. For once we have straightforward designs for the human world. No excessive hair dye, no googly, multicolored eyes, no awesomely impractical costumes, and no gender and age ambiguity, just regular average people with appropriate builds sporting black or brown hair with some even looking slightly alike.
The exact opposite is then applied to the show's fantastic counterparts. Underappreciated genius right there. The logic behind all of the aforementioned anime tropes suddenly make sense given another dimension that still shares similarities to our own.
Lastly, GATE's art has a definite sense of scope. The world of GATE is huge. With thousands of participants in the entirety of the gate dispute, giving due attention to weapons, vehicles, and beasts alike is an outstanding feat. Instead of being mere props and setpieces, all these helicopters, jets, mortars, and tanks are given weight, size, and solid movement. Bigger objects on-screen are also animated in a detailed, cell-shaded look, making them stand out while still keeping to the bright, toony spirit of the show.
The only downside to GATE's smart application of familiar techniques is that they're too familiar. Though clear-cut, attractive, and brimming with life, it doesn't look any more different from your standard fantasy anime. It also doesn't evoke its own style enough to visually set itself apart from other isekai anime at face value... other than the glaring humvee and the JSDF uniforms, of course. I'd argue though that it's exactly because it appears banal which enhances the deconstruction it does on the "portal to a fantasy world" scenario.
There is also one clever bit of scene transition GATE is fond of. With most sequences building up to the real action consisting of setting, dialogue, and plotting, GATE transitions between different people and points of interest through quick scene cuts akin to comic book panels. Not only does it keep scenes brief and direct, but it also maintains movement and intensity during the slower paced scenes.
Whether it would be a cunning re-envisioning of its genre or to make it an accessible entry for today's anime standards, the art and animation of GATE is a prime example of how to establish an immersive world of size and diversity.
SOUND - 9
With how well the show is faring so far in this review, I won't be stopping anytime soon. GATE's sound sits just right; composed of awesome SFX, fitting BGM, and a stellar dub teetering between anime fun and Hollywood urgency.
Sound effects are abundant especially with the numerous distinct-sounding weapons in Japan's arsenal. Mortar fire, sidearm sounds, and minigun rattles to name a few, give everything that added level of dread and excitement.
Surprisingly, the BGM isn't too over the top to draw away from the show itself while still adding to the mood of any scene that demands it. Orchestras dominate the soundtrack that complement the faux-medieval, war-driven setting. It can sound tense one moment, grand in the next. While the OPs for both seasons scream 'mainstream hype' as do the more boppy EDs, they nevertheless do their job and fit the casual undertones of the show.
The English dub, being one of the main reasons why I picked up this show again, definitely did not disappoint. David Wald gives Youji Itami the right blend of gruff and dorky key to his character. There are also notable mentions in his squad. Stephanie Wittels transforms Kuribayashi into an aggressive warfreak as opposed to her genki girl persona. And there's Tomita played by Ty Mahany, coming out as the gentle giant foil to the former. Allison Sumrall grants Kurokawa a motherly touch while Tyler Galindo's Kurata has a spot-on rookie voice as opposed to Josh Morrison's Kuwahara acting as the seasoned veteran. All these performances working with the military-apt script changes in the dub culminates in a truly entertaining army-centric experience.
Let's not forget the leading ladies beyond the gate. Tuuka voiced by Juliet Simmons plays the daddy's girl very well with a voice that just cries innocence. Molly Searcy's Rori, on the other hand, gives an appropriate range for her appearance but with a delivery that completely smashes the illusion of her youth, not afraid to reach cougar levels of intimacy. Brittney Karbowski's Lelei balances out the two with an eerie calmness both warm and devoid of emotion; a job she does masterfully despite her usual ditzy roles. Lastly, Princess Pina Co Lada by Jessica Boone plays her role of forthright successor with such passion and grit that it draws away from her randomly comical name.
The only fault to be found is the clunky way of presenting language in the gateworld. With gateworlders already speaking our language for the viewer's convenience, we only get glimpses of their native tongue during initial efforts at establishing contact. It slightly detracts from the immersion a fully developed language system could achieve, but I digress. GATE's sound department is nonetheless a grand effort that consistently makes a scene.
CHARACTERS - 7
I admit GATE's characters aren't the most fleshed out bunch out there. But despite characterization giving in to more focus on the plot, each character isn't wasted.
I mentioned earlier that GATE is a show of scale. With a full-blown war on their hands, the cast is as large as it is functional. The main protagonists could be Itami's underdog squad with enough elements to make an A Team. It could also be the waifus on the other plane of existence with how main character-ish they look. But remember we're talking about a show of scale. With assaults, assassinations, courtroom decisions, negotiations, and peace talks happening left and right, there is no one person steering the plot. There's the Empire, the nomads, the military, the government, the media, China, and the US, trying their best to further their own goals. Even Japan is a fearsome and formidable character as demonstrated by their sheer might and edge on and off the battlefield.
But looking into the characters, as flat as their stereotypes make them out to be, there's still an underlying duality in all of them. Youji Itami, overglorified otaku yet a MacGuyver working a life-threatening job to fund his hobbies. Tuuka, most ladylike in appearance yet a traumatized war child searching for a father figure. Rori the Reaper, epitome of a cosplaying goth-loli gag yet a weary soul-searcher enjoying her last few years of existence. Lelei, quiet and stoic student yet a low-key ambitious prodigy and innovator. Pina Co Lada, a refreshing cocktail by name, yet a badass princess who would do anything for the glory and well-being of the Empire. And don't get me started with the dragons. These standard fantasy minibosses whose only gimmick was flight and fire become nothing short of superweapons in GATE; gigantic creatures that rival jets in maneuverability, tanks in armor, and guns with an endless supply of literal firepower, capable of incinerating fully-armed settlements as well as wiping out entire species off the map. Exactly what dragons are and what they deserve to be.
Bottom-line, with a show like GATE, action is character. It's about the collective actions these characters do in the greater scheme of things, communicating time spent on exposition, backstory and needless infodump into an efficient and enjoyable scene.
ENJOYMENT - 10
With all of my objective statements earlier, GATE is far from a masterpiece. It isn't that deep, reeks of stereotypes, oversimplifies foreign affairs, and doesn't give us the full story (yet). Despite these glaring shortcomings and its unwavering seriousness in what could've been another isekai, GATE manages to avert them simply by being fun.
While it shows no reprieve in hiding the atrocities of war, it does so in such a fantastic and epic scale, inciting more thrill than tragedy; making the awful awesome, and the terrible terrific. Almost like a sky of fireworks or the latest Marvel movie, serious fun is the name of the game.
Adult fears also pop up to keep things refreshing. Maintaining an otaku lifestyle into your 30s, career ethics, media manipulations, incompetent bosses, etc. Itami and company have the most action and screentime sure, but plot movement is ultimately decided by the upper brass, with the pacing purposefully being either too fast or decisively slow. You know that one glaringly obvious thing to do at work your boss just can't let you do until you show him a million reasons worth of paperwork on why it should be done? Get ready to feel that again in GATE.
But hey, you have an escort mission cleverly disguised as a hot spring episode, a volatile civil war quelled by a lolicon pairing, and a bunny girl tribe leader playing Mata Hari as her ultimate vengeance against the empire. The outlandish premises on paper just click in GATE giving generic tropes the extra layer it needs to enthrall viewers once again. With a potential war of the worlds plot acted out by your every-anime characters that blend political drama and battlefield strategy consistently, it strikes the perfect middle ground among analytical viewers, thrill-seekers, and popcorn-eaters. And with all try-hard attempts at being dark, recycled jabs at comedy, and half-baked efforts in fantasy world-building present in any given medium, there are shows like GATE. Shows that don't care about the expectations set by bigger players on the industry, but rather focus on milking every ounce of fun out of its material for what its worth. Yes it has guns, girls, dragons, and explosions... and it's proud of them. If Michael Bay ever made a fantasy anime, look no further.
OVERALL - 9
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Jun 20, 2018 Recommended
There was this show back in 2014 which managed to make waves due to one notable asset; a red and black gothic lolita wielding an oversized halberd claiming herself to be nearly a millennium old. Obviously with all the time I had back then and especially at the behest of a fellow anime fan, I rode the hype train. Two seasons later, I came back astounded at a different take on the 'other world' (isekai) genre. Then the dub came out recently... so naturally a rewatch is in order.
I'm normally not the rewatching type so I thought to myself, "Will I still get the ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 12, 2018
Boku dake ga Inai Machi
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It doesn't take much for an anime to be great. Great dubs, beautiful animation, addicting soundtracks, creative premises... all of those are just icing on the cake. All of which ERASED has in spades, mind you. So what's the point of this review other than the glaring 5 I've given this show? It's that there are shows that are bad, and then there are shows that are disappointments.
Ah ERASED. 2016's answer to the mystery thriller genre or another one of A-1 Pictures' additions to the trash heap? Find out as I try to resist the urge to say how much it betrays the high expectations ... it sets from the get-go. STORY - 3 ERASED is either the story of: a. Time travel and its consequences on the psyche. b. A kid detective's attempts to foil a local serial killer. c. A boy's re-coming-of-age when he is given the chance to redo his childhood. d. All and none of the above. 'A' would've worked if it weren't for zero attention given to the mechanics of our fortunate protagonist's power. Does it need some sort of gadget? No. Does he need to recite an incantation, bite his finger, or even pray? Maybe. Or does it work only when the author wants it to? Bingo. The logic works for the first few do-overs because it usually activates when something bad's about to happen. But after the massive time leap, that's when rules get broken to preserve the mystery and suspense. And as for his psyche, well, he certainly doesn't give up easily, recovers fairly quickly, and is pretty hell-bent on saving lives since his power gave him a hero complex. Though 'A' might have only been an excuse to introduce 'B' and 'C' since those were the bulk of the story, the results were not worth the buildup. Not only is our protagonist up against the most predictable of antagonists, he also wins by an ass-pull just because fate favors him more, as the story so literally puts it. 'C' would've been the show's saving grace. We're given a protagonist who's an aspiring manga artist, social recluse, and closet hero; good ingredients for a self-made late-bloomer. In giving him the uncanny scenario of redoing his childhood to clear his name, save lives and possibly even vanquish a greater evil, he learns to appreciate his mother's tireless love, a stranger's hidden life, and his friends' warm company. All of that juicy development, wasted. In the last quarter, ERASED manages to take back any semblance of morals it tries to impart in the beginning by making him the smug, angsty, plot-armored hero in the most jarring way possible. The not-so-subtle antagonist, seen episodes away from his big reveal, manages to one-up Satoru in his own game and even cripple him out of sheer spite. Despite the best A-game our bad guy played, Satoru still talks him to submission with a speech that could be summed up as "You can't kill me because you need me." ERASED's protagonist outright abuses his hero status and it feels like wish fulfillment more than anything. We have our heroes like Shirou from Fate Stay Night. Despite incessantly prattling on about his ideals on saving everyone but himself, he is hardly a role model. A self-destructive martyr who cannot see meaning in his own life is one of the many takes on a hero. And then you have heroes like Satoru, who burst out of an 18-year coma like nothing happened just to brag to the bad guy how pathetic he is because he doesn't have the cool powers, friends, and the balls to even finish his job. The only take of a hero you can get from this is that a hero makes his own story, literally. He is tasked with a power to beat the evil with help from his friends. Nothing, not even the plot can stop him. Because of this, the development during the childhood arc becomes nothing but shallow drama for a power of friendship boost come the show's sorry excuse for a climax. Heck, what's the purpose of him being a manga artist other than for wish fulfillment? Him wanting to be the hero he writes about seems the most logical reason for this, hence more fuel for misplaced narcissism instead of actual writing effort. ERASED is stuck on the 'D'. Every scenario is introduced and executed well, no doubt, but is given little to no afterthought. ERASED's story is like a pad of post-it notes, each idea covered up with another, all glued by intrigue. As time goes on and the glue wears off, all you're left with is a colorful mess. What about the cool time travel power? What about the omnipresent evil always one step ahead of him? What about the rest of the cast? It's a sci-fi supernatural mystery thriller drama sure, but why does it need to incorporate so much when it could've easily focused on any one of its subplots and fully fleshed them out? It's like putting your favorite food in a blender thinking the result is going to be better. ART - 9 I won't shy away from the hate, but I GOTTA SAY, it's gorgeous. Consistent high quality art and animation all series round. The introspective movie theatre opening was a real visual treat too. But the real winners here are the character designs, alongside color and shading. The designs are delicate and familiar which further enhances how the childhood arc plays out. Elementary school never looked so nostalgic. And for a high-stakes thriller, it's hard to wrap your head around how adorable the children in the cast are. The warm and cozy feel of the character designs beautifully juxtapose the cold and distant color tones they're bathed in, all the more with the bulk of the show taking place in winter. The high clarity of the outlines are given stark attention against faded hues and unsaturated color palettes like they were representing memorable events the characters were not fond of. With this visual discord, the show cleverly creates aural tension without relying on plot or exposition. The cinematography is also a marvel. Whether it's the bright and bustling blandness of the city or the dream-like quality of 1988, ERASED's rich setpieces are very clear framing devices: modern day urban Japan representing the reality of Satoru's situation as a job-hopping nobody and his rural neighborhood reflecting the person he wants to be, a more outgoing and dependable friend. The near-perfect marriage of subtle color hints and appealing designs all set on solid, expressive backgrounds show how much ERASED speaks without words. SOUND - 9 Despite the variable payoff the show ultimately delivers, one can both praise or blame the amount of immersion ERASED set since episode one. Largely benefitting from a spot-on soundtrack permeating tension and unease all throughout, ERASED is an experience. Ambience is given top priority with tracks just meshing with the distinct visuals, making one man's struggle against fate all the more riveting (than how it actually is). The opening's catchy yet nostalgic vibe by Indie Rock wonders, Kung Fu Generation, is also a delightful leftfield to the more somber tone of the series. Combined with the literal symbolism of being an audience to your life, it precedes the show's themes of taking action on your life instead of watching it pass you by (despite its failure to communicate this message effectively in the series). Lastly, what can I say about the dub? It made the show tolerable for starters. In fact, it singlehandedly carried the show through for me. When the plot let me down, the dub was there to let me know in the best way possible at least. Benjamin Diskin as Satoru made him such a relatable character with so much focus on his inner monologues as he solved the mystery back and forth in time. Michelle Ruff as his younger self does a remarkable job as well in keeping consistent with Satoru's character while sounding as natural as a grade schooler. Equal parts snarky, and equal parts serious, his character was as entertaining as the show can get. But what really knocked the show out of the park was his mother, Sachiko. Her voice by Sara Cravens flowed so well from being this detached woman with a tinge of playful immaturity to the most loving and badass mother in any anime I've ever seen. Period. Then there's Stephanie Sheh's Kayo who expresses waves of her character with how wary and distant she speaks. Satoru's friends also fit perfectly, as if they were an actual tight bunch of elementary school friends. While the teacher couldn't have been voiced better by David Collins, giving him a father-like yet an almost, too friendly feel to him, Cherami Leigh as Airi was a wasted opportunity. She nailed her voice as the easy-going girl next door but could've been more integral to the plot, not that it would've made it any less of a disaster. Both tender at its warmest and gripping at its core, ERASED boasts a soundscape I dare say it doesn't even deserve. A top-tier soundtrack, chilling atmosphere, earwormy opening, and well-directed English dub could probably be enough to save this show, right? Right? CHARACTERS - 4 Actually no. Bite me. Entertaining? Oh yeah. Intriguing? Most definitely. Fleshed-out? As much as mannequins. Everybody is a one-sided plot device carefully set in a stage full of bells and whistles to keep you from noticing. Yeah, we have the chosen one, Satoru, who is nothing more than a self-declared hero with an ego bigger than his denial of being a closet pedophile. Airi, pizza girl and damsel in distress number 1. Sachiko, best mom. Kayo, damsel in distress number 2 who has slowly become less... distressed, as she opens herself up to the warmth of her friends. And Gaku, the teacher who teaches Satoru a very important lesson in not using your power to meddle in other people's hobbies. Is the protagonist flawed? Do the damsels learn to help themselves out? Can we sympathize with the villain? Questions all answerable by a big fat NO on the surface. But there's a lot more going on with the inner workings of the story that effectively 'disable' our characters' opportunities for growth. The protagonist is flawed to be honest. He fails every time in trying to correct a wrong he started. Remember, everything that occurs in ERASED is due to the bad guy having the upper hand. The villain already knows what's going on in this game of clairvoyance and time travel, all because naive Satoru feels the need to play the hero every chance he gets. In fact, his own hero complex is his flaw, which catapults the story into taking place. But what makes him a weak protagonist in my eyes is how the plot straps training wheels on him the entire show. The time travel gimmick is a handy reset button, and apparently, his persuasion skill is maxed out to game-breaking proportions. Seriously, he did NOT encounter any meaningful conflict in the story. The plot always found a way to script him to salvation. He was just stuck on hero mode until the end with every event slowly filling his ego. Kayo and especially Airi could've been so much more than rescue objectives but because of time travel and a Satoru-centric tale, we get stagnant NPCs who are out of the loop, just waiting for their time of use. And the villain... OH GOD WHY did you have to be the villain? It was bad enough it was so painfully obvious that you were the bad guy and yet the show makes it feel like it pulled the biggest rug under you. We know the antagonist is there to challenge the protagonist's morals and actions with his own questionable methods. But all he really did was provide the mystery, and he wasn't even good at it. While the show made it look like he was proving Satoru's heroics were pointless; that some wannabe just can't bend the rules and change how things are, he was really just trying to get back at some guy screwing with his itinerary, like a griefer spazzing at some hacker barely worth his time. His vengeance against Satoru was hardly relatable with no background on how or why he became who he is. My only sympathies with the baddie is just him fighting an unfair fight, really. Anyone up against plot armor that thick is just asking for it. Because of an unreasonable inclusion of wonky time travel mechanics, ERASED's characters become pieces rather than players. And with an aimless plot moving them like an amateur chess player, it becomes poorly planned and needlessly complicated. The characters appear so much more than who they really are. But in the end, it's like opening a bag of chips. All you get is air and a snack to pass the time. ENJOYMENT: 1 To those who still feel on-the-fence about this show. Yes, you're not the only one. Now get off that fence. It doesn't take much for an anime to be great. Anyone can bash how the voices sound off, how cryptic the plot is, or how trashy the artstyle is, but no one can deny if a show is making the most out of its content. The most enjoyable shows to date have made it because of one core quality. They were unapologetic; genuinely confident in what they wanted to say without making excuses, cutting corners, or pretending to be something they're not. Of course, you can leave it to subjectivity in determining how honest an anime is to you. But with ERASED, it always holds itself back, donning a mask of a supernatural sci-fi thriller to hype people up with edginess when its real heart lies in being a coming-of-age drama. Its most sincere moments appear in brief character interactions such as Satoru's inner thoughts on his situation, his conversations with his mother, and especially those with his new yet old friends. The humanity which made this show visceral and immersive is diluted in favor of a "compelling plot" to solve a "complex mystery" against an "enigmatic enemy." It's a pretentious show. And you can feel it just from how weak its foundations are; prioritizing shock, intrigue, and urgency before plot, world, and characters. It wants to be like the cool kids but doesn't know how they operate. The age of Steins;Gates, Madoka Magicas, and Fate Zeros are coming to an end because edgy shows today made the darkness meaningless. People suffering in a cruel world are nothing without the fundamentals: proper character buildup and worldbuilding. If ERASED didn't deliver so many promises, it wouldn't have let me down this hard. A boring finish is one thing, but an ending that confirms just how shallow, undeveloped, and unlikable its features are nullifies the strongest of openings this show can offer. Except for you, Sachiko, you're still the best part of this show. OVERALL - 5 Here we have a prime example of a show that we can all learn from. ERASED teaches us how to fool an audience; how the combination of fast-paced thrills which appeal to the senses can blind people for only so long. Not only does ERASED do a fantastic job in first impressions and atmosphere, but it can also forcibly turn everything that it's worked so hard for into a sloppy showdown of deus ex machina-powered good vs. your garden variety evil. I've called this show so many things. So let me describe one more time what this show is to me. ERASED.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 20, 2016 Recommended
We can't get enough of vampires. Is it the scintillating sensation of fangs tapping the most intimate of areas? The brutal yet surgical method they use to selfishly extract our lifeforce? The way they command the night with bloodshot eyes and snow-white skin, teetering on a fine line between life and death? In all their hellish interpretations, it's no doubt vampires are sin given form, embodying the deliciously virile taboos coursing deep in our conscience. To put it simply, vampires are just nasty fun.
And what does "Shiki" do? It shoves those twisted ideals back in our face with a mirror. Vampires are not alluring. Vampires ... are not powerful. Vampires are not right. And neither are we. In fact, this show... this heartless show, makes it a point to prove that hidden in every man is a monster, and underneath every monster is a man, both forsaken. So, what is Shiki? Aside from translating to "corpse demon," it's an anime that's had enough of vampires, and pretty much humanity in general. STORY - 9 Without giving too much away, Shiki is a story of coexistence. Could we ever learn to live with those cursed bloodsuckers if they existed? The answer is revealed as the plot takes its sweet time crawling through a downward spiral. We've heard it all before. An isolated village in the boonies, an epidemic, bizarre newcomers, painfully ignorant locals, and one of the most indifferent cast of characters I've ever had the pleasure of seeing suffer. After a rash string of illnesses and sudden deaths, one man who knows what's up, stands against the unknown threat along with a bunch of meddling kids. Though Shiki has a wealth of cliches straight from your classic backwater town horror story, it plays all these conventions exceptionally well due to the show's sense of urgency. People die left and right before anyone has time to react. Symptoms are varied and many factors interfere. Everyone is scared yet no one wants to act. Even mob psychology and mass paranoia are shown at its worst. Only after a massive death count does Shiki start slowly sinking in its fangs. The plot does take time to set up though. A lot of characters = a lot of subplots. An unrequited love between two city kids, a war of ideals between a junior monk and the town doctor, a woman's struggle to bring her family to the undead, and a vampire who searches for a place to call home, to name a few. Shiki juggles characters and locations like a veteran circus performer, especially in its somber and aimless first few episodes. It's very easy to lose track and concern considering the very limited screentimes for each person. Combine that with its slow pace and you have the possibility of having two big turn-offs for any piece of entertainment: boredom and confusion. Thankfully, this show doesn't waste time. Something's always happening and the writing makes sure of that, thoroughly establishing the town's web of relationships. It immerses you in this seemingly close-knit community that you just feel could crack anytime. By the time it does, the action is visceral, the suspense is killer, and the drama is painful. None of which is drawn out or overdone. Though it doesn't fully explore its vampire origins and lore (like the infamous hybrids known as Jin-Roh who lack all the limitations of a vampire), it succeeds in displaying the possibility if such a society exists. Shiki attends to its story like a torture specialist: with menacing patience and indiscriminate brutality. CHARACTERS - 7 At face-value, Shiki flaunts a bloated cast of side characters, with no clear person to root for or identify with. Not only that, some personalities are so cookie-cutter to the point of being laughable. I'm looking at you, Masao. But you have to give it to Shiki for putting together a variable cast. You have Dr. Toshio Oozaki, the grumpy town doctor with a flair for cigarettes and saving lives. Then there's Seishin Muroi, junior monk, all-around nice guy, even to the enemy. Over at the teens' section, there's ice-cold but closet shounen hero, Natsuno. And by the camp of the vamps, there's Sunako, homebodied token loli by day, soul-searching overseer of the damned by night, as if her eyes weren't already an indication. That's it for the main cast. 20+ characters later, you get the idea. It starts off with a thorough infodump as it unloads all these people as if they were just names on a list; complete with a documentary heading for each of the characters as they were first shown. Mr. X just died! Wasn't he with Mrs. Y's son, Z? Don't worry Ms. A, Officer B will check the scene. Might wanna call Dr. C to check up on your son because he isn't looking too chipper. How's the daughter-in-law, D, by the way? Albeit not as cocky as this, the initially grating exposition could use a bit more grace. And with many characters to address, building tension through many unresolved incidents for the span of nearly six episodes comes as a double-edged sword, feeling redundant and sluggish at times. Really, prepare to be treated by a smorgasbord of my above example. But a little perseverance peppered with growing intrigue kept me invested. As the show cycles all around its locale, it dawned on me that Sotoba village itself is a character. Its numerous and vastly diverse inhabitants reflect the general feeling we have about society as a whole: indifference and selective concern. We barely recall these people save for their very striking features and quirks and they get offed before we get to know them better. When the show starts pushing these unwilling participants off the edge, that's when characters get fleshed out in the most gripping of circumstances. They misbehave. They lose rationality. They don't hold back. And all of this clearly pains them. Each decision, conflict, and action these poor souls make will rattle and thrill you to no end. Every one of those trivial names get their shot in the limelight, each with their own memorable climaxes and closures. Though Shiki's characters are a shotgun spread, it hits all the right areas. It may flop in giving attention and attachment to its characters but justifies by exposing its variety cast in a self-made hell to see how they'll manage, forcing genuine character development in a collective scale. Sotoba village being this isolated microcosm, we ultimately witness how humanity eats itself from the inside out. ART - 8 Shiki's art is a very interesting case. While animation and cinematography are a brooding trip of film grain psychedelia and ominous shading, the character designs clash with obnoxious camp and excessive style. Clamp-y and mannequin-ish are the general body types featuring lanky statures and well-defined curves. It does fit the whole dollhouse, halloween town vibe, sure. But then we move on to the rest of the characters where the designers just run wild. Every. single. character. is designed different to the point where it feels like they came from different shows. Hairstyles and color palettes get so random, you'd swear Sotoba's stylists must've been even crazier than the locals. Imagine green hair on a nurse reaching all the way down to her ankles, blue hair on a mother in the shape of an ice cream swirl, and white hair on a town elder that makes Kiss look like a country band, and that's just three of them. Majority of the town just seems to have a serious case of bed head and bad barbers. Moving down to the rest of the features: head shapes, eyes, body types, even wardrobe choices, all feel like they were randomly drawn from a hat. From the usual wide-eyed anime look for younger people, to the more realistic facial designs for older folks, as well as some other grotesque mugs thrown in, the looks may detract from the overall experience. Considering the village-sized cast, it works in making everyone distinct. And with how tacky the setpieces can get despite the eerie mood, it works better as an artsy tragedy than a monster horror flick. Given how sad Shiki can get, it helps to have something occasionally silly to look at. But in the show's defense, when skin finally hits the fang, those dissonant designs can get very unsettling. Vampires here sport hollow eyes with bloodshot pupils, pale and lifeless skin, and malformed features with their already over-the-top costumes injecting charm and fear in equal doses. Icing on the already messed-up cake goes to the show's treatment of its demented facial expressions and mangled doll-like proportions, all contributing to a disturbingly dreary package. Even the backgrounds are not to be ignored. Lighting is beautiful, giving everything a soft glow that's especially haunting at night. Even predictably dull sceneries like the sewers, the town clinic, and the abandoned church are brimming with grim life, being dark yet constantly vivid. Detail and animation are surprisingly high with quality maintained in every shot and character. The colors are also a delicious treat, spilling gradients all over the more morose scenes, with wrinkles, bloodshed, and rotting flesh made even more festeringly graphic. Shiki may not be the scariest, but no doubt it's an eye-catching and eccentric experience overflowing with confidence in its own skin. SOUND - 10 Amazing English dub. Check. Immersive sound design. Check. Chilling ambient music. Check. Shiki is a sonic marvel. Starting with the dub, the show boasts a lot of new gen veterans bringing a mix of over-the-top ham, contemplative dialogue, and hair-raising mania. Highlights go to David Wald for doing justice to the short-fused and cynical badass, Dr. Oozaki, and Cherami Leigh for her pitifully adorable yet world-weary Sunako. In fact, everybody's well-cast; even Masao, the textbook definition of trash, with Todd Haberkorn's despicable whimpering. But the true testament to Shiki's dub quality is during the show's turning points. Not one death throe goes unnoticed as sunlight and stakes to the heart never felt so painfully agonizing. As for the sound design, it shines during the heavier moments of the show. Besides the ghoulish ambient voices, high-tension wood, steel, and soil give Shiki a really claustrophobic finish, notably during the slaughter when all those regular tools are put to horrid use. As weird and creepy as the town already is, making it feel suffocating and inescapable through effective use of foley deserves mention. And it further adds to the premise, given that Sotoba village is a far cry from the city and normal human contact. Lastly, Shiki's spine-tingling soundtrack holds it all together. Haunting choirs of children. Mystic harps, chimes, and guitars. Tense strings and percussion. Even ambient electronics and beats here and there. It's more than just cheap thrills to say the least. But what actually enraptured me with the overall OST was that it sounded more melancholic than unnerving. Like how the creepy kid constantly going la. la. la. in the key tracks sounded more pitiful than threatening, the music box melodies exuding more innocence than deception, and the orchestration being more grandiosely tragic than sparsely suspenseful. But in any case, that's just my five cents on how Shiki's sound department sucks you in a beautifully sad world. ENJOYMENT - 10 This is not to say I'm a sadomasochist, but Shiki is a downright downer. I said it before, it's a story of coexistence and its implication on vampires. News flash, you can't change the food chain. Vampires don't suck, they die. Humans don't kill, they die. There is no middle ground in a world of instinct and survival. It's disheartening because Shiki tells us that making peace is impossible. You're better off getting that hammer and stake ready for tonight. Despite the message being a pitch black hole with no way out, it isn't a snoozefest. It won't leave you an empty husk devoid of all feeling either. Shiki hits you like a brick wall. With impact. And that's why I love the show to death. It resonates with a more primal fear than things going bump in the night. It isn't just horror in genre. It's the horror of being endangered, being estranged, being alone. Ultimately, the horror of being the very monster you sought to destroy. It's scary because it's sad, and it's sad because it's true. OVERALL - 9 It isn't as bleak so much as tragic. And it isn't as hopeful either so much as wishful. Shiki is this massive gray area representing the slow decay of humanity consumed by self-preservation. It takes the body of The Rocky Horror Show, the heart of Dracula, and the mind of Heart of Darkness, and reanimates the tired corpse of conventional vampire stories into a shocking application rather than just another reiteration.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 18, 2015 Mixed Feelings Spoiler
Halloween just finished at some point and I just had to watch this. Ever since I was but an anime neophyte, my peers were using Hellsing to prove time and time again that anime isn’t just for kids. Starting off with some of the classics, I couldn’t escape the hype of some key characters that made the 90’s to early 2000’s memorable. One of them was Alucard; the very definition of an anti-hero who was more murderous than misunderstood. Only then upon purchasing a pair of Wilson Welding glasses-like shades for a company Christmas party did I remember how badass Victorian specs and a slasher
...
smile were.
STORY – 4 Her Majesty's top-secret Hellsing organization attempts to rid the world of vampires alongside the Church’s infamous Iscariot squadron while keeping the action under wraps from the public. MI5, the Vatican, Knights of the Round Table, ghouls, terrorists, a vampire-slaying organization, oversized weapons, bullets made from smelted silver crosses, badass men and women alike; Hellsing had all the ingredients to bring the classic blood-curdling vampire back to its unholy prime, leaving its modern and romanticized counterparts biting the dust instead of everyone’s necks. But then it does something more heretical than inscribing “Jesus Christ is in Heaven” on a priest’s glove. The anime adaptation ditches the source material’s plot in favor of a monster-of-the week approach that boils down to an abrupt antagonist from the darkest pits of cop-out hell. It dealt with a fairly interesting premise at first, involving artificially-made vampires through implanted “freak chips” but never got back to it after getting lost in trying to flesh-out the Hellsing organization in 13 episodes. It even manages to end with a head-scratching “And the search continues…” thinking the overused “The End?” can redeem a multitude of unanswered questions. Action and horror, which should’ve been the show’s core, is disjointed; most of the time being one-sided massacres that only serve to increase badass points. Another point of interest is the struggle of turning into a vampire which was never fully discovered through the second chance given to a dying policewoman, Seras Victoria. And do I need to mention the complete irrelevance of all the opposition to the show’s ultimate goal which wasn’t even part of the original story? Hellsing eschews its plot’s monstrous potential for failed originality and independence from the manga; poorly narrating a tried-and true tale of humans vs. inhumanity which could’ve been a brazen effort owing to Spaghetti westerns, monster horror, and military fiction. ART - 4 And so Hellsing continues to dig its own grave deeper than it should have. Gonzo comes up short in its 50/50 animation, bringing us an utter nightmare for Hellsing’s art. I don’t know where to start. Don’t let the promising opening and ending sequences fool you, because that’s where the consistencies end. The main problem of Hellsing lies in its inability to maintain decent and recognizable character models which already sets the bar for what’s to come. Alucard and Integra, the show’s most iconic duo, often get their proportions in disarray; sometimes feeling like they want to be somebody else at every other frame. Only the seldom featured characters appear more stable. Then there are the frighteningly obvious animation flops, such as one scene where Seras was told to take down a vampire but ended up looking like she tripped. But at least the key action sequences are given priority; never failing to deliver gore and dismemberment with a warm gun (for its time). And lastly we have attempts at damage control in the form of very drawn out still shots and frequently recycled frames. Putting that behind us, Hellsing still does some things right. For the handful of times when character designs stabilize, they’re undoubtedly the cheapest and coolest trick in the book of ominous badassery. Seras’ demure charm is juxtaposed by a throng of menacingly stern figures donning devious sneers and occasional circular eyewear. Combine that with a predominantly nocturnal setting and solid lighting that hits all the right spots on anyone’s profile, and you have the rule of cool manifested in glorious noir and macabre. The long camera shots even aid the effect at times; going full Western showdown and giving the viewer time to take in the scenery before it fades back to an eye-cringing mess. Delivering straightforward violence, striking light and shadows, and quintessentially sinister designs are what save Hellsing from being a total visual fiasco. SOUND – 10 This. If you need a good reason to pick up Hellsing, here it is. This is probably why everything else the adaptation has to offer has been thrown out of the window. I am both relieved and gobsmacked that this show in particular has been graced with such a sublime soundscape. The seiyuus. The English dub. The soundtrack. Stripping the series down to its bare mp3s would actually do more justice than the anime itself. It’s just that good. And it’s a shame the rating system doesn’t go beyond 10. Both audio channels have an exemplary cast with Alucard and Integra delivering all the awesome you need. Whether it’s Jouji Nakata’s or Crispin Freeman’s Alucard, both give our handsome devil the smoothest voice straight out of hell; escalating to ungodly proportions when the gloves (and his entire body) are coming off. Then we have Yoshiko Sakakibara and Victoria Harwood nailing Integra’s commanding bravado with the latter even adding a most fitting British accent. The same can be said with the entire English dub cast loaded to the brim with proper-sounding Europeans adding to the atmosphere such as Steven Brand’s gruff, Scottish Anderson fully embodying pious savagery. Only K. T. Gray is a weak point with her shaky portrayal of the rookie, Seras, but is fortunately overshadowed by the amazing main cast. And for the last star of the show... Yasushi Ishii. Remember the name of the man who singlehandedly made Hellsing one of the most sonically entertaining projects of its time. Other than Hellsing's spiritual successor, Drifters and the second season of Darker Than Black, this was his only other project. And what he lacks in portfolio, he makes up with quality, ambience, and standalone listenability. The OST is primarily a garage rock odyssey, evident in the shrill and crunchy guitars, dry and blocky basslines, and spontaneously thrashing drums. Don’t let the crude exterior fool you into thinking that it’s nothing but hot air. As if the vibes aren’t as badass as they already are with the head-banging hooks and razor-sharp riffs; the soundtrack boasts amazing variety and detail. The tracks shift from smoky acid jazz and lone wolf instrumentals to anthemic funk-rock and soul-driven power ballads. It also doesn’t shy away from his experimental ambient works. Aside from the jam-oriented rock band setup, Ishii’s manic, gritty, and abrasive sonic palette is littered with harps and harpsichords, grand pianos and synthesizers, church bells and cowboy whistling, full brass and string sections, and pipe and jazz organs. The textures are further enriched with a cast of interesting sounds: creepy background noises, heavily processed samples, vinyl scratching, eerie chanting, demonic wails, and distorted vocals to name a few. Unleashing unadulterated, dark fun is what the soundtrack is all about; making you feel so good to be bad. Contrary to the expectations of a more brooding and classical arrangement, the soundtrack is surprisingly on point for dirty business as usual in the London underworld. Most of the songs are medleys in structure, usually having at least three different sections covering a wide array of scenarios, tempos, themes, and genres. The OST comes in two volumes, 90% of which are featured in the show to compensate for the lack of visual activity. In a way, the anime made a needless sacrifice in all other aspects to yield a god-tier dub and soundtrack for striding like a madman into the starless night; being the coolest and craziest playlist to hit this side of the Big Ben. CHARACTERS - 5 Let’s be honest here. After a dismal plot, the characters are as dead as vampires should’ve been. Sure, they all have strong identities with defining designs. But in Hellsing, you’re either a badass or you’re not badass enough. Alucard, the Hellsing organization's bloodhound and servant, is just plain inhuman and everyone loves him for it. Alexander Anderson, a paladin of the Vatican’s Iscariot division, is a bayonet-throwing Scottish priest with an insane bloodlust for heretics and everyone loves him for it. Rinse and repeat for everyone. The main problem is that despite their clear-cut personalities, they have scant presence because of terrible pacing issues that seem to drive the story nowhere. All the more for main baddie, Incognito, who looks like a reject from a sci-fi B-movie. As you can tell by his name, he doesn’t matter nor is his identity even worth revealing. He may be evil with a cool voice but that doesn't save him from being a nobody. The exceptions go to the leading ladies, Seras and Integra; especially their relationship with Alucard. Their straightforward transition from not-badass to badass gives us a break from all the guys trying to show off how cool they are. But in all seriousness, the shattered innocence and the way both characters hardened themselves to face the reality in front of them through the introduction of Alucard in their lives is a saving grace for the characters. Seras grew from being a rookie policewoman to a red-eyed ace gunman of the undead armed with uranium shells and incendiary explosive rounds. Meanwhile, Integra starts off as a bespectacled heiress and ends up as Hellsing’s head and iron fist armed with mercury-infused bullets and her token Victorian glasses and suit. Alucard, who we thought was a Jack the Ripper-like vigilante/bounty hunter, was actually a soup of mind-rape dressed as 666 beasts and eyes. MAJOR SPOILER: Though we all know by now who Alucard really is just by spelling his name backwards. I never would’ve known. ENJOYMENT – 7 Hellsing is the epitome of a mixed bag that thrives on the rule of cool with nothing else to show for it. You either love it or hate it because of its very obvious faults and merits. But no matter what anyone says, Hellsing will always be cooler than how it actually is. Though watching it for substance is a fruitless chore, it will be remembered as a stellar piece of sound and voice acting; rivaled only by its two contenders in the faux-Western category: Cowboy Bebop and Trigun. When you think of Hellsing, you don’t think of Incognito, the freak chips, and the aimless vampire chase. You think of Alucard inching closer to his prey with an unsettling smile on his face as bullets tear him apart to a backdrop of hammy guitars, only for him to revive and obliterate every fiber of their existence. It’s a 1 with the sound off, an 11 with your eyes closed, and a 6 if you watch it normally. It doesn’t take Dracula himself to tell you that the show sucks, but the original anime does well to remind you to get a new playlist for the evening walk and to watch the more refined and loyal adaptation, Hellsing Ultimate. OVERALL - 6 In the name of God, impure adaptations of existing source materials shall be remembered for technical infamy. Amen.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 19, 2015 Recommended
They're in the desert. With rumors of a fearsome demon roaming the sands. Turns out he's just a punk. Just some sex-depraved, control-hungry punk. Did I mention they're in the desert?
Because that's what all the commotion is about; a desert formerly known as Japan and the enigmatic titular character who is anything but. It's shallow, hedonistic, and immature. But in doing so, subtly reflects how low people can go in the most casual way possible. STORY - 8 Japan, once a sprawling mecca of quirky culture and steadfast ethics, has been reduced to the Kantou desert; an unforgiving wasteland of extreme temperature changes, scarce resources, and roaming ... guns-for-hire. Resulting from years of deterioration after a presumed nuclear holocaust, only scattered villages, a government stronghold and buried ruins of yesterday's civilization remain. Pre-war technology is steadily recovered and reverse engineered as the current standard for firearms and armor. All the more for mercenaries and marauders, who don special environmental suits with built-in air conditioning units and targeting systems to combat both the intense heat and competition. Starting to sound familiar? The premise falls so close to the Fallout series with the inclusion of mutants, splinter factions, and mercenary companies offering jobs from simple waste disposal to high-priority escort missions. The only thing missing is a Pip-Boy. And along the lines of an open-world survival, anything can go wrong for anyone. Guns jam, equipment fails, water is a godsend, terrain is unpredictable, and everyone is racking up on karma. Story-wise, Desert Punk is episodic with the main plot centered on the various jobs of the punk and his companions. Oftentimes, the show pulls off a schmuck-ton of bitching and bickering, which it exercises to great effect to create an accessibly immoral atmosphere. With a show dealing with acts from human trade, arson, and mass murder to masturbation, crap-slinging, and bare bottom stripping, I appreciate Desert Punk for being so playful in its delivery. Combined with an obnoxious sense of high-school and toilet humor, the show's execution proves that the post-apocalypse isn't necessarily filled with hardened badasses. In fact, most of them are garden-variety thugs and scroungers with enough experience invested in endurance, charisma, and especially luck. When they aren't shoving sh*t, piss, and boobs down our senses, sparse interludes of action and sci-fi intrigue get our minds out of the gutter and back into the fray. When the plot gets down to it, there is no great mastermind to face. No big adventure awaits. Nothing but the monotonous desert and its effects on the populace are explored until it comes full circle on how life pretty much sucks yet goes on in a dog-eat-dog world. ART - 7 Character designs are honestly nothing special. The punk's unmasked face is reminiscent of your typical delinquent's and the same goes for 80% of the cast. Everyone is a plain jane, save for Kosuna and Stryker who look more like main characters than the punk himself. Kosuna's all-out moe cuteness and Stryker's heart-of-gold shounen persona contrasts the desert pigsty in such a way that they feel like they starred in the wrong show; adding to the humor. But if there's one thing the design team should be proud of, it's the environmental suits that draw influences from oriental, Middle Eastern, and military apparel. The famous getup of the punk consists of an Asian conical flap hat, a fatigue jacket with matching cargo pants, combat boots, a tan cape and a gasmask-like apparatus for speaking and breathing. Since most people are in their suits or masks, that lessens the burden for mouth movement. Add a hefty amount of panning shots and the result is animation you can get away with. I don't mind because the detail and consistency compensates. Action is smooth and clear where it needs to be. Smart placement of motion blurs as well as mirage effects are a plus. Even the set pieces are always changing to achieve a sense of world despite how desolate the premise appears on paper. The occasional towns and weathered rock formations have a lot of texture going on and the same can be said with the drab indoor scenes. Attention to shadows also follow suit with the amount of lighting the desert sun poses. Neither exemplary, nor pitiful, just being one of Gonzo's more consistent releases in animation quality is a cause for celebration. SOUND - 7 The music, like the show, doesn’t take itself seriously. Openings and endings are intentionally tacky and cliche superhero themes sounding completely indifferent to the premise. The BGM is varied but for the purpose of fitting the mood, all right. The voice acting though… I was recommended the dub. And now I recommend it to you because of the more tangible sense of immature vulgarity and the Westernized approach to the series despite its Japanese setting. The script is dirty and cheap, yet liberal and fun. It's nuckin' futs. And at rare moments, even manages to grip you, especially the punk's monologues about desert survival. Then the narrator reminds you time and time again how pathetic everyone is for your entertainment. While everybody is appropriately casted, I cannot properly express my love for Eric Vale and Luci Christian breathing crazy life to the show's main duo. You just know the voice actors had a hell of a time with their roles and Vale's script. That's right, Desert Punk (Eric Vale) wrote the script for his own anime. So you see, HE IS THE BALLS. CHARACTERS - 8 Who knew the biggest, baddest demon of the now-called Kanto desert was just some punk? Nevertheless, the iconic shrimp in the desert suit wielding an array of traps and an outdated buckshot handed down by his old man is an unexpected core to the show. He's the guy everyone loves to hate and for good reasons. Being annoying, reckless, rude, selfish, manipulative, and ridiculously horny, even his own friends are willing to gun him down should he get out of line. But underneath that stereotypically chauvinist exterior, lies a seasoned, persistent, and down-to-earth byproduct of the fallout who knows how to get real; doing anything to turn a situation to his favor despite the repercussions (even if it means killing himself just to do the deed). His apprentice, Kosuna, serves as an excellent foil with her cheerful and spunky disposition. Under the tutelage of the punk (regardless of his perverse ulterior motives), she receives the most development; starting from a stubborn idealist to an independent realist who is every bit as capable as her peers. The chemistry the unlikely pair share shines in their hilarious back-and-forth, unorthodox teamwork, and deep-seated respect they have for one another. The recurring characters that join the arid frenzy are mostly supplementary but nonetheless memorable just by getting screwed up in the punk's plans. The highlights are Junko as the fickle femme fatale, Rain Spider as the seemingly menacing yet cowardly troll, the Machine Gun brothers as the rowdy comic relief, and Stryker as the token paragon of justice who, in a cruel twist of fate, was even sold to a homosexual at some point just because the show can. ENJOYMENT - 9 Desert Punk is a self-indulgent but self-aware sci-fi gag with hints of the human condition presented in a toony light. In an action-filled premise, we'd feel excited because the anime would show something flashy or fast-paced to suck us in. Desert Punk presents itself as crude and banal because survival isn't anything new and desirable in the show's perspective. Desperation devoids man of rationality and ethics so survival actually brings more contempt than relief. The light execution is just the show making the best out of a worst case scenario because even a mushroom cloud can have a sliver of silver somewhere. Neither overglorifying violence nor downplaying morals, the series plays like a messed up Saturday morning cartoon that makes the profane watchable to portray that there is no good or evil; only people choosing the side that pays more. You can also see it as a crass course of blatant fun where the joke is on the hopeless bunch stranded in the Kantou desert. Watch it for the sh*ts and giggles. And maybe you might feel something oddly real about it as you go on. OVERALL - 8 Whimsical animation and music come together with an unrestrained dub and bipolar plot to make a show that wallows in mediocrity to give us a f*cking good time and to prove a good point. “It’s a vicious cycle but… oh well. That’s the way it goes, I guess. And these people sure aren’t changing. Dumbasses…” - Narrator
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 22, 2015
Natsu no Arashi! Akinaichuu
(Anime)
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We were young once; wishing that summer would last forever, getting worried over the most trivial matters, falling in love with the wrong people, and thinking we knew everything. And then comes that certain age when we are confronted by the ghosts of our past to remind us that it was that rose-colored youth which shaped who we are today. Caught in the crossroads of growing up, reminiscence is a therapy session we all could use every now and then. So grab the nearest ghost of the past, and jump straight into two seasons of Natsu no Arashi’s unconventional ride of history-redefining proportions.
STORY - 6 Hajime ... Yasaka, spunky 13-year-old, moves in with his grandfather in the countryside and experiences a summer he will never forget. Taking place as a distant memory from Hajime’s youth he meets the most unlikely bunch who changed his life. Along with a tomboyish model, World War II ghosts, a ripped detective, and a foxy con artist, they run a vintage cafe with occasional time traveling during their free time. Combine that with the growing man’s search for love and we have ourselves a supernatural, slice-of-life, historical, coming-of-age romcom about a 13-year-old’s journey through time and self. As intriguing and loaded the premise is, the main hook of the series lies in its puzzling time travel mechanic. Instead of the usual objective of do-overs and clairvoyance, Natsu no Arashi bypasses the time travel paradox by treating the very act of time travel as part of the natural timeline. Time travel here is not an intervention but a phenomenon that triggers inevitable events we took for granted. Simply put, destiny factored in time traveling, making for some interesting retrospective story progression. Whether it’s for playing a prank, disposing spoiled food, saving air raid victims or uncovering past secrets, time travel is an entertaining constant in Natsu no Arashi. But how does the plot actually fare? The first season was an origins story for the people Hajime encounters while the second attempted to develop character relationships. Though the first had more impact and direction due to the second being too distracted by gags, both suffer the same problem of lacking plot movement. It could’ve used more episodes since some of the development seemed erratic. But for how everything's been presented, the gaps and irregular flow gives it the feel of a scrapbook. You get a peek of the fun and memorable bits adding to the show’s episodic nature, in exchange for some plot investment. This doesn’t mean Natsu no Arashi fails to grip its viewers. It has its share of powerful moments to the effect of historical dramas, unrequited love, and themes of fleeting youth. At its most relaxed, it plays around with time travel and the cafe setting; often employing slapstick to reference and trope humor. The School Rumble cameos for Jin Kobayashi writing both mangas were also an awesome touch. Bottom line is, while Natsu no Arashi can flaunt a fun and creative premise with unpredictable execution, it falls short with aimless pacing and sluggish plot development come the second season. ART - 9 Shaft? I’m in. That being said, I expected the usual sleek designs, exaggerated movements, barrages of text, and random color filters spilled on every scene. Upon finishing the first season, I had one question in mind. “What year was this made?” 2009. From the slightly dated color palette and wishy-washy ambient lighting down to the clunky character designs bearing yesterday’s eye style, I could’ve sworn I was watching a show from the early 2000’s. To put things into perspective, Natsu no Arashi was aired in the same year as Bakemonogatari. I guess we know where most of the animation budget went. Second season was up just four months after the first, with more refined production values as shown by increased clarity and smoother movements. Despite that, it still stuck to the classic feel of the first. Setting technicalities aside, did Shaft just deliberately retrograde their own show? Even for them, that’s reaching a whole new level of creativity. That doesn’t mean Natsu no Arashi lacks any visual highlights. Animation is deceivingly smooth. Further aided by Shaft’s frequent scene cuts, this produces the illusion of a continuous flow of actions which gives the impression of something always happening on-screen. Character designs are also a plus; pronounced in gender, personality and social class. General appearances are bold and brash for men while slender and meticulous for women. Personality is captured by each character’s unique face while the eyes have it for social standing. Take Arashi’s and Kaya’s features vs. Kanako’s and Yayoi’s features for instance. As a whole, Arashi and Kaya, being the elites, have more elegant designs with vivid eyes. Arashi, having the more cheery and liberal disposition, has the livelier face of the two. Kaya, her polar opposite, sports blue reserved eyes, and delicate white skin and hair; suggesting a more conservative and ladylike attitude. On the other hand, Kanako and Yayoi of the working class have more basic features with duller eyes. Kanako’s freckles and braids with small eyes resembles her uptight and unrefined nature while Yayoi’s wide, pupilless eyes and hair let down make her come off as loyal yet frail. And of course, don’t forget all the other details that have Shaft written all over it: artstyle shifts, random camera angles. DIY live-action takes, cryptic segments about summaries of popular manga, a surprising amount of belly button shots for the lack of head tilts, and even accentuated magazine-cover poses with awkward dancing mid-conversation. Though watered down than their other more dynamic works, Natsu no Arashi still stylistically succeeds. It’s amazing how the art perfectly blends with the historical atmosphere to visualize what the good old days felt like. Technical resourcefulness and proper theming had me giving near-perfect marks for the art; overall quality being the only hindrance to a 10. SOUND - 9 Natsu no Arashi’s art isn’t the only thing that decided to backtrack. For one thing, the BGM is divided into the cafe jukebox tracks and the instrumentals. Actual tracks were used as ambient music in the cafe which mostly consist of yesterday’s hits of pop and rock. The jukebox plays a different song almost every episode in the background, it’s ridiculous. As for the instrumentals, occasional action scenes get the upbeat, brass- and synth-filled sentai showdown songs. Meanwhile, touching moments are graced with serene tracks of gentle piano, evocative strings, hushed chimes, and solemn woodwinds. Don’t even get me started on the openings and endings that just scream retro. For the first opening, what seems like the cheesiest opening ever with the groovy vocals and brass melody comes out as an ingenious shout-out to 70’s Japanese cover girls and album sleeves. Live-action time lapse shots of walkways against old-fashioned espionage-esque pop music with suave guitars and showtune horns make up the first ending. The second season starts with black and white storyboard-themed fanservice shown along catwalk-worthy synthpop. And lastly, the second ending uses chiptune and 8-bit art against trippy live-action takes. Voices are also surprisingly good for a low-key anime adaptation. Hajime goes all-out as a hot-blooded roughneck with the shounen heart. Jun’s pre-pubescent voice still enters androgynous territory with her seldom squeals sounding absolutely adorable. The detective gets all the gruff while the con artist attempts seductive but comes out as mischievous control freak. Arashi bears the girl-next-door voice contrary to Kaya’s pure and well-mannered shrinking violet while Kanako gets a sharp tongue with Yayoi pulling off the innocent ditz very well. All of them have their key moments and man, do they deliver; especially Arashi, Kaya, Jun, and Hajime. Even in this department, Natsu no Arashi doesn’t fall short in style and subtle quality. Very good seiyuu performances and the most fitting soundtrack selection seal the deal for the hidden genius at work here. CHARACTERS - 6 Let me just say it right now. Character development is stunted and interactions get formulaic. The redeeming factors are their striking personalities and the clash of ideals resulting from the generation gap between the characters. We have the youngsters (Hajime and Jun), the old-fashioned adolescents (Arashi, Kaya, Kanako and Yayoi), and the modern adults (the detective and the con artist). Hajime is the little rascal. Part-skeptic and all-bro, the dude’s the epitome of the uncouth hero who fights his own battles and saves the weak and downtrodden; all while keeping his eyes out for the ladies. Carefree genki girl, Arashi, is noble but more outgoing than Hajime. Kaya nails her role as the traditional damsel who would perish the thought of showing skin and wasting true love’s kiss. Kanako lives by the sweat of her own brow; representing the bitter working class who envy all the privileged few. And Yayoi remains the vulnerable sweetheart. The budding romance centered on Hajime, the historical immersion from subtle hints in characters and setting, and the “what ifs” that never happened with the ghosts’ lives are definitely the show’s high points. The ghosts have it rough; saving bombing victims who would never predict their demise, making sense of the social divide and strict policies during the ongoing war, and going back in time only to constantly replay a love confession that will never happen. Natsu no Arashi gets pretty serious and it’s compelling moments like these that make the best out of the distinct characters; enough to pardon the amount of faffing they do most of the time. ENJOYMENT - 7 The story felt inadequate, relationships were unresolved, the characters could have done so much more and the WWII setting was just asking for more explanations. But for what it is, I have no regrets watching it. Comedy can get stale. The drama creeps up on you. And the romance is a fresh take between modern and traditional views. The weak development was never really the reason to get into this show. Natsu no Arashi is a humble effort at making a love letter to the past by conveying how much we’re still connected to it. It’s a nostalgia trip that stands as a testament to the zeitgeist of the 70’s; clever on all fronts of production but a casual watch at best that hits home on seldom occasions. It proves that the past was once real. And that we’re fools for living like it never happened. So love the past. It’s the only illusion we know that existed. Because by the time we forget, we start growing up. “No matter how special it is, unrealistic experiences like this are going to be overwhelmed by real ones later. And you’ll stop believing in them.” - Arashiyama Sayoko OVERALL - 7
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Feb 7, 2015 Recommended
Slice-of-life is all about making the ordinary special. In effect, the success of every slice-of-life anime rides on execution and character attachment. Stories are simple, characters aren't over-the-top, and the sense of friends and family is almost integral. Excessive tea-drinking and cake-eating aside, it's not about engaging in a compelling plot and a powerful message. It's about enjoying the view and savoring every moment that transpires.
In the slew of Kyoto Animation's more stand-out productions lies an overlooked title that takes the style of Lucky Star and injects it with enough steroids to make fried mackerel a touchy subject between friends. Expect talking animals, Daruma dolls, ... Buddha statues, Malaysian greetings, teenage robots, armories worth of weapons, goat rides to school, kingdoms in airships, child professors, and go-soccer... At the same time, expect all of these interfering with what's supposed to be yet another school anime depicting the everyday lives of three high school girls. STORY - 8 Though the show presents a goal in which teenage robot, Nano, tries to fit into society by having a comically obvious wind-up key sticking out her back removed by said child professor, the plot revolves around everyone's trivial and outlandish experiences. It can be as simple as lending your homework for a lazy friend to copy it. And it can be as random as lending a small comic series about a kid late for school eventually riding a tiger across town to an altered version of Paul Desmond’s ‘Take Five’ in place of lending your homework. Every episode is organized into snippets focusing on a selected set of characters and schticks, proceeding in chronological order at a lax pace as typical slice-of-life dictates. Setting structure aside, Nichijou’s story presentation is an interesting case. On one hand, every moment, no matter how normal or unnecessary, is shown. On the other, it completely blows each supposedly usual moment out of proportion. What could’ve been a forgettable scene about losing your friend’s wallet in an amusement park becomes a hilariously agonizing sepia montage about how anyone who lost a wallet could feel so dead inside. What would be laid off as a 10-second glimpse of a bad day is accentuated into minutes of silence, hard rain, and illogical misfortunes that hardly faze the characters. Besides being absurdly comical, it proves how every succeeding incident in a bad day gets more and more pointless after you reach a threshold of not giving a damn. Every situation gets revamped by the characters’ emotions to achieve this exaggerated intensity that makes even the most ordinary of scenes refreshing and exciting. Nichijou makes it a point to illustrate how experiences have a totally different context when taken from the participant’s perspective. It’s not all a rush of blood to the head though. Nichijou has its share of serene and sweet moments, and it often comes during the simplest of scenes; such as the “Like Love” segments about showing others some love or the daily struggles of the Shinonome Institute. This show may not be for everyone with its leisurely progression and scatterbrained attitude, but it caters to every kind of mood with its relatable topics and awkward dynamism. As the fun times pass, the show concludes beautifully by reaffirming that one day, we will all miss our everyday lives when the time for change comes. ART - 10 “Anything worth doing, is worth overdoing.” - Mick Jagger This defines the art in all its wonderfully overplayed glory. Whatever the profits for K-On! were, Kyoto Animation sure splurged big time for Nichijou. The lack of any noticeable animation hiccups and drops in quality is already a merit in itself. Nichijou’s artstyle is an ingenious mix of children’s storybooks and action-packed comic books. For one thing, the insane attention to lines and detail for its humble premise and design is amazing. Everything looks so crisp and well-defined despite the unrefined look. Every gesture, breath, and drop of sweat is accounted for, along with lines of emphasis for every single point of interest. Even most background pieces are outlined to make each frame cohesive with the characters. The colors are solid yet easy on the eyes, with effective use of shadows at key moments to bring the show to life. The additional effort in creating depth can be clearly seen during sunset, rain, and blazing sunshine when impressive lighting, reflections, and blur come into play. The best example of which are the Adult Swim-esque bumps between segments featuring animated and realistically rendered still shots of various locations around the locale. Other stylish bumps include random pictures and animations against a white background and the prominently defocused logo for Nichijou along with the author’s name, Keiichi Arawi. The immature yet bold motif not only resonates well with the manga source, but also provides a workable baseline for consistent quality. The simplicity of the character designs allows the art more room for freedom and improvement. And by freedom and improvement, I mean extreme overhaul when Nichijou demands it. It’s sudden. It’s totally uncalled for. But it’s awesome. Creatively illogical as hell, but it works. The art shifts are the glue holding all the randomness together. From reducing characters to their outlines to illustrate shock, to reducing an entire scene to its bare sketches with stunning camera angles just to depict students running down the hallway, Nichijou doesn’t hold back. A simple scream of pain is enough reason to fund a particle beam coming out of a character’s mouth that’s strong enough to skewer the solar system. The mind-blowing part is that no artstyle is recycled so every transition is unique. The same can be said about the animation. It skyrockets at the most unexpected times; going so far as to slow down or even speed up with equally exceptional fluidity and clarity per frame. Even the regular scenes move as fluid as possible with occasional comic-like jerks to keep with the spirit of the artstyle. The animators didn’t cheat; allocating a lot of frames and sufficient detail to animate every string of actions with quality. Extra commendations go to the artstyle references to other shows, Helvetica Standard’s hyper-cartoonized style to remind you that the aforementioned is a manga within a manga, the masterfully done opening and ending sequences, and tons of priceless facial expressions (special mention to the iconic “I don’t care anymore.” face) that almost always stole the show. Art for Nichijou combines modest designs, animation spikes, unexpected detail, and lifelike ambience to craft an entertainingly wishful world that still manages to feel familiar. SOUND - 10 The accolades just keep coming. Nichijou’s sound; the OPs and EDs, the BGM, the seiyuus themselves… All of it warrants praise. The openings and endings are two sides of the same show. Besides featuring a fast-paced barrage of the show’s content, lineless animation, and a cool aerial pan of the neighborhood which convinced me to spot all the characters, all of the songs are anthemic to the show’s theme. Hyadain, as the two openings’ composer, producer, and vocalist (even for the female voices), nailed it with his zany and chaotic j-pop novelty romps that combine fanfares, guitar solos, autotune, chiptune, double-time drums, and catchy synthesizer hooks. Meanwhile, the endings counter the openings’ uncontainable excitement with a more gentle approach. The appropriately titled first ending, Zzz by Sayaka Sasaki, shines in its utterly sweet vocals and endearing music box melody to resemble a lullaby bidding farewell to yet another day. It comes in three adorable versions to boot: the original (which, at 19 seconds in, sounds like a program crashing), a capella, and bossa nova. The second series of endings are a selection of ballads and folk song numbers sung by children’s choirs and solo female vocalists accompanied only by piano and guitar. Every episode starts off all over the place and manages to find its way back home in the end. Then come the seiyuus who give the show a serious case of ADHD. Nichijou’s voice appeal works in the concept of stark contrast. WHEN SOMEONE ISN’T SCREAMING THEIR HEAD OFF, somebody speaks in an extremely hushed tone. Yuuko and Mio deliver a performance that far overpowers everyone else’s decibels combined, not to mention Yuuko’s flexible range and Mio’s constantly cute tone even while straining her throat to kingdom come. Meanwhile, Mai hogs the spotlight with her nonchalant voice, aloof one-liners, and blank gestures that are enough to set them both off. The fact that the previews at the end of each episode feature a celebrity lineup of seiyuus voicing inanimate objects seals the deal for the talent at work here. Other notable voices that join the bedlam include Annaka’s trademark EEEEEH!! and her scenes with Teacher Manabu, Misato and her lovey-dovey fits with the overly formal Koujirou, Tamamura and Teacher Sakurai’s perpetually hesitant speech pattern, and the principal’s rare but hysterical exhalations of fear. The Shinonome Institute is a separate identity; making up for the lack of cuteness by overflowing their segments with moe coming from Nano’s anxiety and the Professor’s literal childishness. The rest of the characters voices remain neutral; contributing to the gags purely because of their physical conditions such as Nakanojou and Tanaka’s hairdo, Sakamoto being a cat while bearing an Osakan man’s voice and Sekiguchi’s eyes of little importance to name a few. Surprisingly, the BGM doesn’t go so far as to incorporate just about anything like the seiyuus and the animation do. Instead, it makes a smart move by sticking to an orchestra to ride with the mood. Pianos, woodwinds, strings, and brass are the main players with a few grand choral bits thrown in for the show’s handful of epic moments. This setup makes the scenes feel more ironically normal than mind-numbingly bonkers. The BGM did well to complement and limit the show’s tendency to go off the rails. It also has a keen sense of timing. Majority of the implied punchlines in Nichijou occur when the BGM stops playing to shift the audience’s attention to the seiyuus, ambient noises, and most especially, the animation. On rare occasions, the BGM takes the reins while the entire scene plays out like a silent film. Execution of the BGM could not have been any better. CHARACTERS - 8 This show has a lot of characters to juggle. But then again, the focus dials down to the three main schoolgirls and the odd bunch at the Shinonome Institute. Other characters, being segment-exclusive, rarely bump into the main cast; thus putting a damper on any development of relationships. As far as a slice-of-life comedy goes, everyone’s distinct but not exactly well-rounded. You only catch characters in select situations so most opportunities for growth are few and far between, especially when the show’s forte lies in is its uncanny gags. Yuuko, Mio, and Mai deserve center stage with the majority of the show’s energy emanating from their chemistry. When you put a loud mouth, a short fuse, and a troll in the same space, you’ve got the oxygen, heat, and fuel just asking for a fire. If the three girls represent the friends, the Shinonomes are the family. Underneath the child labor laws, animal rights, and roboethics, the Shinonome Institute can be seen as the show’s take on family relationships. The Professor, who should be technically considered as the creator of both a talking cat (Sakamoto), and a robot (Nano) is still a child like any other member of her age group. Sakamoto, certainly sounds the most mature and experienced, except that he still possesses feline instincts and mannerisms. Nano, on the other hand, is built as the Professor’s caretaker as well as a teenager. And just like any teenager, she constantly tries to get through social norms and achieve independence from her maker; shown by her desire to break free from the shackles of being a robot. The catch is that she’s only a year old; severely lacking in any form of social experience. Anyone of the three can be the child or the parent, making the relationship dynamic. But in the end, it doesn’t matter who they are, as long as they support each other just like how any family would. In the mess of all the quirky skits, Nichijou still manages to make room for understated character development. Key characters slowly learn to accept change and open their hearts to other people; gradually learning to embrace change and move on with the help of their friends and family. Amid the seemingly aimless amusement, the characters always go back to the show’s slice-of-life roots. The development made sense of the characters' insecurities, which was a welcome change from the way the series poked fun at them. ENJOYMENT - 9 Looking at the bigger picture, what you get is a series of mundane instances representing the various facets of highschool life; a fight between friends, sibling rivalry, family dynamics, club formations, puppy love, secret hobbies, and the like. However, watching each event unfold individually brings the show to a whole new level of hysteria and randomness. A fight between friends turns into an extended barrage of idiotic banter and hilarious smack talk, eventually subsiding with heartwarming apologies through subtle compliments. Sibling rivalry escalates into pranks involving shogi pieces, cat heads, and salt-cured fish jam. Family dynamics are there… between a talking cat as the dad, a teenage robot as the mom, and an eight-year old genius as the kid. Club formation revolves around the conception of a ridiculous hybrid of two sports. Puppy love turns into a battlefield featuring Michael Bay’s reinterpretation of a tsundere. And even keeping hobbies a secret can mean bribing a cop and wrestling three bystanders, including a goat. This added layer of comedy ranges from sudden, hot-blooded outbursts and non-sequiturs, to deadpan, farce humor with the brunt of the laughs largely attributed to the astounding voices, soundtrack, and animation. Plot-wise, events are as simple as trying to study for an exam or returning a lost handkerchief to a crush. In terms of execution however, Nichijou throws everything it has to make the scene as far from the matter as possible. Think of it as a well-rehearsed screenplay where all the actors decide to ditch the script mid-sequence. Let’s put it this way. Nichijou isn’t everything but ordinary. It’s everything AND ordinary; presenting everyday life as a collection of uniquely special moments that are supposed to be experienced, instead of described. As wild, sweet, and weird as it can get, every second of this show undoubtedly has heart. Nichijou’s wacky exploits are just another side of slice-of-life, in that the best way to experience life is to live in the moment, break the routine, and make life interesting yourself. Mio's concluding statement says it all: “Our everyday lives may, in fact, be a series of miracles.” OVERALL - 9
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 3, 2015 Recommended
We all have our share of light shows to take a break from the deeper recesses of the anime world. There are times when memorable characters, fountains of gore, bizarre interpretations, thought-provoking themes, and eyegasmic animation leave a certain impact that burn our watching mojos out. So when I was warned by my friend about a cancer-inducing show involving a crossdressing zombie, I just told myself, “Why the hell not?”
What I got was a hysterical regurgitation of cliches, genre executions, and typical anime scenarios seamlessly smashed into one show, with an amazing dub if I may add. I can guarantee ‘Is This a Zombie?’ ... and its redundant companion, ‘Is This a Zombie? of the Dead’, are a buttload of gut-busting fun, if you pardon the lack of anything substantial. STORY - 6 After being murdered by an unknown serial killer, Ayumu Aikawa, lackadaisical high-schooler, is soon resurrected and turned into a zombie by necromancer, Eucliwood Hellscythe. While Season 1 tells about the pursuit of his assassin and the mastermind behind the murders, Season 2 scales it up by showing glimpses of all factions and impending threats that foreshadow possible sequels. Bottom line, Season 2 is such a tease. But let’s face it. The plot in this show comes and goes. We have serious moments interspersed with happy fun times. The plot felt more supplementary, in that it gave the show direction as well as provide more room for scenarios and genres to play out. The real appeal of Is This a Zombie? comes from its amassed referential content that either pays homage or pokes fun at the familiar tropes we've all watched before. It’s not everyday you get to see a perverted harem protagonist-turned-zombie moonlighting as a magical girl while living with an ex-magical girl, necromancer and a vampire ninja as they fend off against demonic animals of the underworld. And that’s only the premise. Joining the mix are zombies, demons, magical girls, vampires, ninjas, excessive bloodshed, crossdressing, blatant fan-service (and disservice), transformation scenes, manga artists, gender bender, some yuri and yaoi, gunpla, awkward product placement, classical music performances, maid cafes, karuta, school competitions and festivals, amusement parks, idols and rock stars, pool/beach/hot spring sequences, slime and tentacles, and attack call-outs to name a few; not to mention the abundance of shout-outs and running gags that spice everything up. It amazes me how many scenarios they can streamline into one show while still carrying out a plot. As for the genre, the show is primarily a supernatural harem school comedy sugarcoated with slice-of-life and infused with elements of horror, mystery, action, and drama. Despite all of the above, it manages to pull off each respective genre decently. Though 80% of the time you’ll be seeing the main cast faffing around when nothing urgent is taking place, the 20% dedicated to the more gripping parts of the show actually take you for a ride, albeit a rather short one. ART - 7 I would just like to point out that Studio Deen made this. There's a noticeable blur reminiscent of their previous works as well as a slight nod to a particular show of theirs with crying cicadas evident in some eerily similar character designs and facial contortions. Setting that aside… Is This a Zombie? makes use of a lot of shine, shade, and haze when scenery demands it. But when it doesn't, the scenes come out really flat and half-baked, only to be slightly bleached in light with ample shadows. This appearance can be attributed to the lethal combination of blur, choppy movements, single-toned colors, and awkwardly visible outlines. Normally, the flat look complements most of the comic relief when designs start getting goofy. Taken another way, it feels as if the show is strewn with budget cuts by putting the detail down on some frames. Come dusk to night however, these detriments surprisingly work. Light and shadow are given more attention. The blur adds depth of field while the sheen and slight murk combined with the crisp outlines and softer dark colors make the characters stand out from the grim and fuzzy backdrop. In a sense, the art behaves just like the characters. It comes to life at night and whiles away the day. The same goes for the action sequences whether dire or wacky, except with added sparks, shimmer, smoke, and gore to elevate the energy from the usual slice-of-life going on. The character designs fully accentuate each character’s archetype. From the dullness of Ayumu’s design to the various hairstyles, outfits, eye colors, and body types of the leading ladies, the designs evoke as much personality as their individual actions and words. The factions are also made distinct as seen by the underworlders sporting more garb and medieval flair, the magical girls having more childlike physiques and frilly clothing, and the vampire ninjas being both classy and sexy while possessing more angular features. SOUND - 9 The J-rock openings served their purpose in pumping me up for the next episode while the endings were cute to remind me that I’m here to have fun. Who doesn't enjoy an ending sequence where every girl of said harem puckers up in front of you? BGM isn't memorable but does its part in achieving the intended atmosphere for each mood. But that’s not why the sound is rated pretty high. Is This a Dub for Is This a Zombie? I haven’t watched it subbed and frankly I don’t need to. Funimation’s dub of Is This a Zombie? reaches “godly” in my books. It can easily contend with the sub not only in voice compatibility and performance, but also in script and lip-syncing, as well as honoring the original’s running gag of Eucliwood’s multiple voice actresses to resemble Ayumu’s perverted fantasies. These funny tidbits also feature an all-star cast of dub veterans such as Colleen Clinkenbeard, Luci Christian, Brina Palencia, Jamie Marchi, Alexis Tipton, and Emily Neves among others. Even the in-episode singing is dubbed right. Ayumu gets his lax and easy-going nature thanks to Austin Tindle. Anthony Bowling’s Orito gives the pervy best friend a flexible vocal range; high when he’s spazzing out and low when he’s being sincere or calculating. Jad Saxton nails the lovably annoying magical girl Haruna and her immature smack talk. Fresh talent Morgan Garrett as vampire ninja Seraphim condescends her way into our hearts with her frigid and seductive tone coupled with the dub script’s hefty load of sophisticatedly blunt insults. Dominatrix, rump-lover, part-time idol and fellow vampire ninja Sarasvati gets a more fiery and sadistic rendition of Seraphim’s tone with veteran Caitlin Glass. Brittney Karbowski pulls out all the stops in delivering the cutest and ditziest girl-next-door voice for other vampire ninja, Maelstrom. Eucliwood’s main VA, Cherami Leigh, shines in her sparse lines; granting the faux-mute necromancer a troubled yet endearingly hushed personality with an ethereal voice that wouldn't hurt a fly. Monica Rial carries the role of magical girl teacher Ariel with playful yet well-mannered inflections. Stephanie Sheh achieves the identical shrill pitch for antagonist, Chris; with special mention to her childishly adorable drunk ramblings. On the other end of the spectrum, Eric Vale breaks the the silly monotony with an intimidatingly serious King of the Night; providing the grit and bravado the undead villain deserves. Lastly, Lindsay Seidel is bloody good as deranged Kyoko, Erica Harte does Taeko’s shrinking violet and wife-material persona justice, and Megan Miller’s Kanami stands out among the other girls and their wacky antics with a notch of indifference and maturity. Everyone else is well-cast and would probably lengthen this paragraph too much. As for the script, the lines are chock-full of risque euphemisms and Western slang. Funimation took full liberty in translation and though the interpretation is different, the energy and spirit of the original are kept. This makes the dub more enjoyable and less forced while giving space for equal appreciation of both languages. You cannot go wrong either way and neither will hamper the fun, feels, laughs, horror, and action the show has to offer. As solid as the sub will always be for most anime, I could not ask for a better dub done by Funimation. CHARACTERS - 6 In a show that just screams archetypes and references, it’s no surprise that the characters are static and one-dimensional. What captures my fancy though is the chemistry the main gang has; i.e. Ayumu being the punching bag of everyone’s verbal and literal fists. When plot isn’t in the way, the characters are simply placed in random and awkward situations which always end up beating the snot (and innards) out of our sorry protagonist. As the episodes proceed, all those comedic gestures, sarcastic abuse, and pandering become endearing in a weird way. Gradually, the harem treatment transitions to a family dynamic between the characters. Though there will be inevitable moments of attraction from female characters, the protagonist can own up to them, not because he can take a lot of punishment, but because he’s a ballsy guy when push comes to shove. He may be able to endure the humiliation and physical tortures of being a zombie every day but you resonate with his unwavering need to reintegrate back into society. In the end, all he wants is to be at home despite his newfound immortality and lo and behold, he forms a network with various people he can call home; some assurance that the eternity he is doomed or blessed to live will be a bit less lonely. ENJOYMENT - 10 If you’re up for a variety show with easy characters and a lot of service, help yourself. From the title, it's as if even the show doesn't know what it is. It’s everything and nothing at the same time; culminating so many conventions that it becomes something hilariously unconventional. Is This a Zombie? is a hodgepodge of everything we love about anime at face value. It may be a feast… but it’s a feast of leftovers. What it boasts in blatantly obvious cliches, awesome dub-work, and fun and accessible content, it lacks in focus, substance and some production qualities. Take the protagonist’s advice: “I've learned that it's best to just go with it no matter how ridiculous the premise might sound.” - Ayumu Aikawa OVERALL - 8 Is There a Season 3?
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 29, 2014
White Album 2nd Season
(Anime)
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Sometimes, men are at the mercy of goddesses. Just as the lost are at the mercy of their memories.
The harem genre is a tricky topic to discuss. The concept of numerous women flocking over a single man labels it as men’s wish fulfillment. And when you get down to it, it’s true. Harem animes are fun to watch because of the selection of girls tailor-fit for every man and the possibilities with each one (if the show’s plot direction and runtime allows it). But with all the testosterone-induced enjoyment, most harem shows lack substance, use too many cliches that sell, and allow little room for ... developed relationships with other characters. As fidelity and modern cultural practices dictate, the guy can only choose one. But what if the guy already made a choice, yet felt a need to continue his search... White Album is a cold and somber take on the reality of romance and career as well as how the past can delude the present. It’s definitely one of the harder shows to watch because of the sheer amount of infidelity, indecisiveness, and emotional restraint among the characters. It hit me on multiple occasions, but I bit the bullet and kept going. In the end, I was far from disappointed. It manages not only to resolve the plot and characters but also to justify actions and intents given the show’s genre and framework. This review covers the entirety of White Album. And other than its name, this show draws no references from The Beatles’ White Album. It’s a cool shout-out nonetheless. STORY - 10 Touya Fujii, a humble man of unrefined tastes, has been dating rising star, Yuki Morikawa since high school ended. From then on, everything stands in the way between the two. No shipping. No wish fulfillment. No mercy. The main character unknowingly starts a harem, but this time the plot turns it on its head and he ends up going for all the prospects while still maintaining attachment to the first girl. With this in mind, there are three key things which the story has going for it. Setting, natural uncertainty, and an ending that makes sense. The setting says a lot in White Album. For one thing, the show takes place AFTER high school for a change. With the way Touya and Yuki finally got together after their high school years, White Album shows what happens after that. ‘I have the girl, now what?’ It’s a scenario often overlooked by most romance animes out there. What makes matters more difficult is the nature of Yuki’s profession as an idol singer. Idols have fans, connections, managers, and a production studio with a tight schedule to boot. The balance between career and relationship plays out. Knowing that we always want the best for our significant other, giving each other space and time to follow their passions is easier said than done. The distance may be a common problem relationships today face but White Album takes it up a notch with its time frame. Welcome back to 1986: a time when the Internet was unnecessary, radios were the only gateway to music, cellphones were rare, phone booths were abundant, and letters and answering machines were the closest thing to text messages. Not only is White Album’s time frame detailed, it also complements the show’s storyline to a tee. The resulting social dynamic is amazing; giving communication and face-to-face contact more value and meaning. Every successful phone call and meeting becomes a blessing, while every answering machine message is tinged with undertones of doubt, worry, and paranoia. Anyone can do anything behind people’s backs without letting them know; in the same way an unanswered phone call or letter can give anyone a reason to be more suspicious. Factor in everyone’s independent activities and schedules, and we have a setting that reinforces the unfaithful tendencies of the characters. In terms of plot progression, the show is really streamlined. Though the main focus is Touya, White Album’s narrative goes through the motions of everyone’s usual business. Some people are in the idol industry, some attend university, some go through various odd jobs, some are still in high school, and some have their own hobbies to pass the time. Character actions are as natural as wanting to go out with anyone during your own free time and convenience. Anything can happen and everyone is a catalyst. That’s what kept me glued to the show besides how the relationships work. The amount of uncertainty with the characters’ freedom and independence from the plot made White Album more refreshing and spontaneous. The pacing is relaxed to the point of slice-of-life’s standards, albeit more drab and lonely as life past 20 can get, with childhood recollections and the ending credits after every episode being the show’s brighter and more ephemeral moments. I don’t have to explain how a good ending affects a show. But in White Album’s case, it ties everything in a neat, little bow. By the end, I just had to applaud the story for resolving everything and everybody in the best and most coherent way possible while making sense of all the controversial acts done in the course of the show. I had no qualms. I had no questions. And I felt great after. ART - 8 White Album’s animation is of above average quality with seldom fluid motion since stage performances and action sequences are few and far between. Characters stand out with clear outlines, splotches of light and shadow adding depth. Other than that, colors of the characters are generally flat to supplement the simple palette of the background. One glaring factor with the art for White Album is its creative use of varying degrees of watercolor in its background design to depict suburban melancholia fitting the adolescent look of the cast, giving a more mature tone to the series. Add in the noticeable shifts in animation style during the more powerful scenes and flashbacks and the show really looks like an album or gallery. During these transitions, the watercolor treatment is intensified; modifying character designs and at most, reducing the entire scene to a flurry of brush strokes with choppy animation. On one hand, it could be a cop-out for the animators, but on the other, it adds artistic flair to contrast the dreariness of the show's reality with the influx of the characters’ emotions. SOUND - 8 The OP and ED for both seasons fit the show lyrically and thematically, but just don’t leave a lasting impression for me. And then I heard this show had idols which slightly raised my doubts about how I’ll perceive the sound for this show. I ended up downloading “White Album” and “Sound of Destiny” which are the signature songs of the main idol heroines, Yuki and Rina, respectively. It’s the seiyuus, BGM composers and the idols who are the stars of the sound department. Aya Hirano (Yuki) and Nana Mizuki (Rina) along with the other seiyuus did an astounding job in illustrating a disillusioned cast of individuals trying to get by during the late 80’s. The BGM composers took hint of character themes in White Album and made a solid effort in translating these to music. We have some double-bass driven slow jazz representing Frank Nagase and his swanky equipment, electric guitar wails coming from Eiji’s misunderstood rock background, classical piano and string pieces for Misaki and Akira’s classical literature and theater prowess, and dissonant piano editing for the mysterious Yayoi, to name some. As for the idol’s songs, I’m glad the composers and producers made it suitable for the given time frame. They still have the usual J-pop approach but with a more funky and R&B-ish inflection with 80’s style synths and guitar-work as well as the trademark saxophone of the show’s self-titled song. Live renditions of the songs during performances with added instrumentation and acoustics are also thrown in to further enhance the sonic experience of the show. The tracklist overall (besides the OP and ED) is a catchy and passionate nod to the previous generation of pop music. CHARACTER - 10 Let’s get archetypes out of the way first. We have the dense five-timer Touya, the all-too-sweet shrinking violet Yuki, Ms. Independent Rina, weird and sporty Haruka, tsundere loli Mana, motherly and capable Misaki, best bud Akira, cold and empty Yayoi, control freak big bro Eiji, uptight tiger mother Kanzaki, carefree bad girl Menou, and quiet shopkeeper Frank. With that said, plot happens and all these random individuals gain a new side to them, supported by later developments and intertwining backstories that logically influence who they are now. Nobody’s good. Nobody’s bad. Nobody’s perfect. And everyone’s misguided in one way or another. It’s these kinds of developments which flesh out the cast as people co-existing in an interesting web of relationships, instead of categorizing them to play a fixed role. Sometimes the best bud gets jealous, other times he’s cool. Sometimes Ms. Independent could be more dependent than you realize. Sometimes the shrinking violet can’t hold in her anxiety. And sometimes you can't help pity the cold and empty. As with the natural uncertainty of the plot, there’s a lot of gray area with the characters. You feel like rooting for everyone to cope with what the plot throws at them. And when they finally get through, you can confidently say they changed for the better. There are no open ends and everybody exits the stage in an orderly fashion. White Album has an abundance of relatable and well-rounded characters that change, develop, and find resolve when the curtains close. It doesn't feel like they’re in a story. It feels like we’re in their story. ENJOYMENT - 9 Initially the star couple, Touya and Yuki, caught my attention and I thought it was going to be their love story. And in the course of White Album until it ended, I was reminded that it was never about their love story. It was about their relationship. It was about everybody’s relationships. Never have I seen the social aspect portrayed so well in an anime before. I enjoyed how everything played out and how personal it felt to watch them deal with it. Infidelity can be seen as a show of weakness; filling the void left by someone who means more to you than everyone you try to replace her with. You give in to anyone who shows compassion when all you wish for is the best for others and yourself. You keep yourself sane while she’s busy with her priorities, better off not knowing. Lying and hiding suddenly seem like the right thing to do. And then she starts to wonder why you don’t miss her as much as she does. What do you feel? Alienated by the very person you felt the most comfortable with. You forgot why you loved each other in the first place; to be reminded time and time again by your memories together. Before I get any more sentimental... OVERALL - 9 Painful but rewarding, White Album is a harem gone wrong in the best way possible that describes the struggles any relationship goes through and the different ways we cope with those struggles, no matter how counter-intuitive they seem. It offers an unpredictable cast of characters, shaky relationships, an authentic blast from the past, a darker side of the idol industry, slightly unconventional animation techniques, an anthem of a heartfelt pop song, and a story that ends right.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 1, 2014 Recommended
“But you guys make me want to root for you for some reason.” - Yukiho Kousaka
Note that this review will cover the two inseparable seasons of Love Live! School Idol Project. I don’t get idols. A bunch of adorable girls sing and dance their heart out on stage and everyone loves it. And that’s exactly what Love Live is. The only difference is that I actually get it. I had the honor of picking up Love Live as my very first idol anime due to a friend’s humble (and passionately incessant) request. It’s nothing amazing but it’s something special; simple in its message yet powerful in its ... elocution. It’s a refreshing wake-up call for everyone who wants to… *sighs* … follow their dreams. And unexpectedly, I fell in love with that message in all its starry-eyed wonder. STORY - 8 A school is on the verge of closing. A second-year high school girl notices the idol hype. And just like that she assembles two of her closest friends and forms a ragtag idol group in a noble attempt to save the school. Little by little that idol group grows in number; catching the attention of freshmen and juniors alike while touching the hearts of many. Love Live is a story about the nine-girl idol sensation later known as μ’s (Muse); their humble beginnings, their struggles, and their rise to fame. It’s a pretty straightforward and linear plot with some slice-of-life breaks in between. But if there’s one thing Love Live does well, it’s the execution and pacing that delivers unwavering enthusiasm in the midst of constantly growing challenges the group faces. The show doesn't pander much with its fanservice-prone premise (considering the costumes, performances, and character designs and archetypes are fanservice enough). It goes right into the ideal idol experience; from formation and training to national participation and recognition. Love Live has a clear goal with a plot actively working towards it. The two seasons, each composed of 12 episodes, have a systematic format in progressing the story. Presentation and resolution. The first season introduced the members and established each of their conflicts while the second resolved those conflicts to fully flesh-out the true potential of μ’s as an idol group and a solid circle of friends. Streamlining the series this way made it feel more dynamic and continuous. There’s hardly a dull moment since the show didn't needlessly drag the story. The energy never dies, the stakes keep getting higher, and fillers function more as a breather with added character focus before the plot kicks right back in. Though the barriers of entry for μ’s from small-time idol group are a challenge in itself, the spirit of competition isn't really present with only one main contender given mention, UTX high school’s A-rise, who are ranked top in the idol group charts. To compensate, time is given to focus more on the inner workings of μ’s as well as their impact on the school and more importantly, themselves. The story, though lacking depth, promises a lot of heart (and sweat… and tears) which grips the viewer in the same way idols earn fans. ART - 8 When you hear the words “Love Live,” you expect something bright and cheerful. Sunrise caught the message and multiplied “bright and cheerful” by 9 in the form of high school girls along with the rest of the cast. The results are freakin’ adorable; a cross between trademark schoolgirl and childlike dreamer. This might go for most shows of the same market but hear me out. The eyes are the window to the soul. Eyes here are more round than wide and convey even the most minute shifts in expressions especially during parts when the show isn't so bright. Not only are Love Live’s eyes a window, they’re a magnet; attractive both literally and figuratively. They’re fresh and innocent; full of youthful wonder, passion, and determination. Those eyes look at you and won’t let you look at anyone else. You want to hear what they have to say and see what they have to prove and that immensely aids in character attachment. Enough about eyes. Colors are strong and vivid with soft edges, evoking the utopian rose-colored high school everyone in the anime world is after. Animation is of average caliber since not much motion is involved… outside the performances and more powerful scenes. Everything scales up for their live shows; from the stage and costumes down to the individual choreography. Bottom line, the art is cute and I always have room for cute. SOUND - 7 I would’ve given this a 6. Funny to give this a rather fair rating when the show’s mostly centered around sound. In a series densely populated with standard upbeat j-pop, which mind you is one of my less preferred genres, I find myself never skipping all the openings and endings and soaking in all the live shows. Head-bobbing, appreciative lyric/subtitle-reading, and attentive musical listening aside, music is relatively standard. The seiyuus, who are also the singers, did an amazing job in making each character distinct and familiar. Voices not only fit each respective personality type but also convert well in performances. Based on listening, voices in live shows are categorized in 3 pitch levels (sensual deep, powerful midtone, and cutesy high pitch). Objectively, sound is just above average. Subjectivity however, bumped up the score for me. I’ll go more into that later. CHARACTER - 8 At first glance, the characters really do start off as stereotypes. We have Honoka, the optimist prime with ditzy tendencies, Kotori, the supportive moe bait, Umi, the straight man + shrinking violet, Hanayo, the glasses girl who’s also a closet Stan, Maki, the rich tsundere loner, Rin, the tomboyish genki ‘cat’ girl, Eli, the partly-Russian virtuoso bitch, Nozomi, the motherly (well-endowed) weird girl, and Nico, the childish, superficial devil who’s the butt of everyone’s jokes. They have their verbal tics, quirky mannerisms, and own up to who they are. They’re fun, direct, and accessible. You don’t need to think too hard on them because what you see is what you get. As the show progresses, the show eases in shifts in character that are largely attributed to the effect of μ’s on their personality. It’s a lighthearted process of each character warming up to the group while settling their own personal scores. And in the course of events, some magic happens. ENJOYMENT - 10 You start to feel like a part of μ’s. You realize the passion behind the songs, the costumes, and the dance moves. You start to cheer them on in every endeavor. You feel their pain and relief in every challenge. And you enjoy every bit of it; the way μ’s intended it. Everything in Love Live was designed for enjoyment. Not in the sense of taking pleasure in our own preferences, but in the general spirit of being caught up in the moment, letting go of our worries, and pursuing our own unreachable fantasies in the same way μ’s did. All that enjoyment can be attributed to something innate in all our social investments; sentimental attachment. It’s that state of getting attuned to the story, characters, the music and the lyrics, and the certain inflections in animation when you start feeling for each of the group's triumphs and hesitations. For instance, Honoka’s innocent optimism is a sweet reminder of that child in you who thought he/she could do anything; carefree yet admirable. She passively commands μ’s with sheer determination and directs the same message down to their songs with visible signs of pent-up anxiety and exhilaration. Seeing that same force break down to reality hurts. On a side-note, this show does a great job in visualizing pent-up feelings. You just know a character’s gonna lose it, but they don’t. It’s strangely bittersweet. The show at its core is a heartfelt shout-out to the last time you truly shared your enjoyment with others. OVERALL - 8 Infectiously optimistic with a sweet dose of innocent ambition, Love Live is a celebration of the overflowing passion within us, demonstrating a good balance of character chemistry and plot buildup that creates immense character attachment. Sunrise is a genius for capitalizing on adorable character designs, idol pop groups, and a plethora of catchy songs to impart a message we've all heard before, but need to be reminded of every once in a while.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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