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Jul 30, 2015
With all the praise given to classic masterpieces and all the hate thrown around at whatever becomes more popular than it should, it's always fun to go back and take a look at an anime that literally no one gives a flying duck shit about.
Y'know? A series that's not atrocious enough to be called bad, but hardly has enough going for it to even consider it as being "good". Just straight up, no holds barred mediocre. After all, the golden rule of entertainment media is "Be great, or be really bad. Otherwise, no one cares."
There will be spoilers, though you shouldn't care.
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Really.
Blue Gender is one of those late 90's anime that you see floating around here and there and read a quick plot summary, maybe a brief wiki search, but then you realize that the only reason it caught your attention for even a fraction of a second is because the title is so jaw droppingly stupid that you just couldn't help yourself so you move on with your life. Unless your me, and like me not having a clue what you were doing when first getting into anime, so you watched whatever you thought looked cool at the time.
As my amateur self soon discovered, Blue Gender is a post apocalyptic series set many years into the future when our protagonist, Yuji, wakes up from cryo-sleep to find that the world has been taken over by carnivorous Beatles called The Blue, which is probably the least intimidating name for a race of insects resulting in the extinction of humanity that I've ever heard. Yuji comes across a group of resistance fighters piloting mechs (because why the hell not), who he joins with. And in what is literally the only interesting twist this anime has to offer, rather than Yuji simply grabbing himself a mech and going on many grand and wonderous adventures with his new resistance friends in an attempt to rid the world of the evil space Beatles, episode two has pretty much everyone die horribly except for Yuji and a couple other people.
This leads to some fairly decent next few episodes, as it focuses on the small group of survivors as they attempt to reach a space base to escape to a space station poetically called Second Earth.
So about these characters. Of the four that weren't killed off in the second episode, two of them were likable. Those two die within the next couple episodes. So, we're stuck with GenericMcLameFace Yuji, and AngstyMcMumbles Marlene.
Yuji is an ungrateful pair of ovaries. Scared of everything, and always complaining. Not that this isn't realistic for someone forced into his situation, but we the audience are forced to follow this idiot through the entire series. The only other important character, Marlene, is the exact polar opposite. She has no personality, and is stone cold in everything she says and does. Not the most entertaining lead duo, but thankfully these first twelve episodes are surprisingly well made, with some engaging plot lines and decent character development.
It's nothing special or original, but survival stories have always intrigued me. Blue Gender has a thing for the unexpected, introducing characters, getting you attached to them and then unapologetically killing them off in terribly violent ways. It's refreshing to have a story where you really don't know what's going to happen, where you can't call exactly where it's going to go from the beginning. However, it takes a bit too much pride in its unpredictability, and eventually you start to expect the obligatory tragedy. The enjoyment factor also takes a huge blow due to sub par animation and bland action scenes. The story elements still work though, and carries a good deal of emotional weight.
In those first twelve episodes.
Yes, if Blue Gender had ended with our characters reaching that space station and living happily ever after, I would be praising this show as a solid post apocalyptic action series. But no, of course not. Of course it has to continue. And after they get on that space station and the awfully forced transition to the second story arc is made, the writers ran out of ideas really, really fast.
The second half of the series is boring, generic, illogical, nonsensical, and an absolute mess in every aspect. The plot gets extremely confusing, and the characters become laughable. Remember the decent development from the first half? Well, by a few episodes into the second half, Yuji and Marlene's personalities have completely swapped. A brand new cast of supporting characters are introduced, and every one of them is annoying. The pace slows down to a painful crawl as it focuses on the humans fighting back against the Blue, which is a storyline the show avoided in the beginning and is the exact reason it didn't suck in the first place, and now that's what it's all about. It becomes a huge collection of sci-fi cliches, as well as some tropes thrown in from other genres for good measure. At one point, a horribly, horribly forced love triangle is brought into the mix for no reason whatsoever.
Pretty much everything that could go wrong with the script went wrong, and then worse. The inconsistent characters start throwing out betrayals left and right, a hilariously obvious evil council of shady political figures comes into play, a predictable and unsatisfying twist is revealed, and the ending is so unforgivably retarded that you won't even care to ask yourself what the actual fuk just happened.
On top of all this, there's a painfully obvious feeling that the show is trying it's very best to rip off many greater sci-fi works, in particular Evangelion. It's hard to explain in text, but it really shows when watching. While NGE knew what it was doing, Blue Gender was a sad attempt at trying to replicate the intricate psychological intrigue by throwing a whole lot of completely ridiculous and out of place moral messages at you all at once that seem to come out of nowhere. It's not even close to subtle, and really, really stupid.
I didn't like Blue Gender. I can't recommend Blue Gender. It's too busy putting it's head up it's own rectal corridor to expand on the potential it gives its first half, but then again, those first few episodes are legitimately engaging at times. It's the very definition of mediocre: Not good, not bad, and not worth it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 27, 2015
When I first started watching Gurren Lagann, I never thought that in a thousand universes this would eventually become one of my personal favorite anime of all time. But here I am, and I can proudly say that Lagann is probably the most well written, well thought out, and just plain enjoyable thing I've watched since Cowboy Bebop so many years back.
STORY AND CHARACTERS
Where so many anime fail is managing to have a great story and ALSO a great cast (see Attack on Titan). It seems like it's always one or the other, which is unfortunate. However, Gurren Lagann blows it's way into the
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anime medium with a cool and exciting premise, as well as one of the best and most varied cast of characters I've seen. What makes these characters special in my opinion is how they change over the course of the series, Simon in particular. Gurren Lagann is a story about moving forward, evolving, doing what you never thought possible the moment before, and this is reflected perfectly by the fantastic character development. Every scenario Team Gurren faces helps to shape Simon's character, and change him away from the shy coward he is it at first, into more and more of a bad ass. It's simply amazing to watch as the show and its characters change so much over the course of its 27 episode run. Many dislike the changes made in the second half, as things get a lot more serious then they were before, (and arguably more boring) but I personally found GL to be 100% pure entertainment from beginning to end.
The enjoyment levels of this show is off the charts. That is, if you find huge and ridiculous looking robots beating the crap out of each other in the most creative and crazy ways possible entertaining. If you don't, you might want to try to avoid Gurren Lagann. Yes, at the heart of all this great character development and awesome story, is a whole lot of dumb. A WHOLE lot of dumb. That's only if you want to call it dumb though (I personally prefer the term "Crazy Awesome"). There is very little about GL that doesn't have some other significant point. This makes it rather hard for me to find a flaw in this series. Every time I think I've found one, I realize that the creators seem to have done it on purpose just to prove a point, and I can't fault them for that.
For example, I could complain about the rampant fan-service in the early bits of the series, but it's so blatant that it almost seems like the creators were parodying other shows for there ridiculous fan-service, especially since it fades to a point of barley being noticeable rather quickly. I could also say that the more serious bits of the series later on were not as enjoyable as the
earlier episodes. But yet again, it's as if they intentionally made these episodes slower so that they could come back later and show how much more entertaining crazy epic action is then the political drama (and my God, they do.).
SOUND
If there was one thing about GL that wasn't amazing, it would probably be the soundtrack. That's not saying much though, as the music is far from bad. There are a few tracks that really do stand out, but as a whole the soundtrack wasn't too much to talk about. The english dub on the other hand, was excellent. Every character was portrayed perfectly, and they really bring life into these rather deep and likable characters. If you prefer to watched dubbed, this one has my absolute recommendation.
ART
It also goes without saying that Gurren Lagann looks fantastic. The large scale mech battles are the core of the series, and the only fault I can find in the animation is the entirety of episode 4 (you'll know why when you see it) Other than that, I can't think of any place in particular where it seemed Gainax cheaped out of making it look absolutely extraordinary. What I like about the action side of GL is how it takes the mech genre and does something new with it. Yes, Gurren Lagann is a mech show, but it's so much more than just boring looking robots shooting each other. Most of the battles actually involve melee combat more than ranged weaponry, which keeps a personal feel to the encounters. And boy, are there some crazy encounters.
OVERALL
Gurren Lagann is a difficult show give a proper recommendation, due to how drastically things change as the series goes on. If you don't like the ridiculous over the top stupidness of the first half, you still may enjoy the more serious and emotional second half, or vice versa. All I can say is watch it, you will either love it, or hate it. I don't think there can be an in-between for Gurren Lagann. But as for me? I loved the hell out of it.
9.5 out of 10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 29, 2014
Baccano is one of those shows you just have to watch. It's difficult explaining in words all the awesome and win it contains, but as soon as you start watching, you'll instantly see it.
One of the most interesting things about Baccano is how it manages to tell its 3 stories of mafias, detectives and immortals all at once, all taking place in different times of the 20's and 30's, and all separate from each other, but also connected. No story is more interesting than the other, and the huge cast of fantastic characters keep things fresh and exciting all the way through. It's a
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bit hard to follow at first, but once you get used to the unique style of story telling, your in for one amazing ride. A lot of this stuff you just don't see in anime, or, for that matter, any other medium.
Combine the unique story(s) with fantastic animation, an excellent soundtrack, and one of the best english dubs out there, and you've really got something special. What is there to complain about? Pretty much nothing.
It's a real shame the series was as short as it was, as there were many other stories to be told in this world. A lot of the characters didn't get the development they deserved, and the ending left a lot open. But while it lasts, it's truly fantastic.
I've never seen anything quite like Baccano. The style, the crazy mixing of genres, it's just
plain cool. It's a must watch for any anime fan. Somewhere in these 16 episodes, you're sure to find something to enjoy about it.
Baccano is an absolute must watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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