Jinruiai's Profile - Reviews

Last OnlineFeb 1, 2019 5:54 AM
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BirthdayAug 14, 1981
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JoinedJun 14, 2009

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Dec 20, 2009

Summer Wars (Anime) add

Recommended

I think it's pretty safe to say that with this movie, director Mamoru Hosoda(The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) can officially be labeled as the next Hayao Miyazaki. The movie has all the aspects of a great Miyazaki movie while retaining it's own style. Madhouse is responsible for the beautiful animation while famed character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto(Evangelion) did what he does best. The core aspect of this movie is all about family and how when people work together, anything is possible. The world of OZ itself looks like a Takashi Murakami painting brought to life. It's a vibrant and colorful world populated by hundreds of ... millions of avatars that people have created. OZ is also where the majority of masterfully animated action scenes take place.

Since so much of the world is integrated with OZ, when Kenji inadvertently hacks OZ, it's ramifications are felt throughout reality as well as the virtual world. False emergency calls are received, traffic gets completely jammed everywhere, city utilities go haywire, etc. It's a chilling vision of what a modern day world would be like if the internet suddenly died. You don't know what you've got till it's gone, and when something as vital as that is taken away, chaos is bound to ensue.

The music was very fitting for the movie, it conveyed the appropriate emotions at the right moments. From pulse-pounding action scenes to emotional and touching moments it was very effective. The composer is relatively new to anime it seems but he's already off to an amazing start.

The fansub that's currently available is watchable, but not the greatest quality video. It must've been ripped off of a pay-per-view service of something. It's got korean subtitles throughout the entire movie with the english subs transposed over the top of them. In the beginning you hear a japanese and english narrator trying to talk over each other but you find out shortly that it's part of the movie. It's one of OZ's features, a universal translator program. As I said though, despite some minor annoyances, it's still very watchable.

I'd recommend Summer Wars to pretty much anyone, it's got something for everyone and I could easily see this as being a 'gateway anime' for future generations of otaku someday. A well paced story, gorgeous animation, fun characters, fast paced action, intense situations, and touching moments. Summer Wars has them all. This movie is definitely deserving of your shelf space and hard-earned money when it finally comes out here. As of this review it hasn't been licensed for the US but i'm sure that will change in the not-too-distant future. Considering Bandai licensed Hosoda's other movie, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, i'd say they're the likely contenders for bringing it to our shores. All there is to do now is to sit and wait with great anticipation of what Hosoda will give us next.

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Dec 20, 2009

One Outs (Anime) add

Recommended

*very minor spoilers within*

First off I should say I typically hate sports anime/manga. This is one of the few exceptions. One Outs is a sports anime for people who typically aren't fans of the genre. Whether you love or hate baseball really holds no bearing on this series. It focuses more on the psychological battles that take place between the players more than the actual game itself. The main star of the series, Toua Tokuchi, can be best summed up as the Gregory House of baseball. Each episode Toua is presented with a different problem and it's up to his genius level ability of figuring ... people out, to solve it.

Things start out relatively simple with Toua easily defeating every opponent with little effort put forth on his part. But once the regular play season starts, the teams start pulling out all the stops in their efforts to defeat Toua. Things such as recruiting a track star that can steal bases faster than the ball can be thrown to tag him out, to a stadium with wiretaps all over the place. Even the Lycaons owner tries to screw him over on a regular basis. This is mainly because the owner actually makes more money when his team loses, but also due to the special contract Toua created. The 'One Outs' contract. For every batter Toua strikes out he gets five million yen, but for every run scored against him, he pays the owner fifty million yen. Of course this totally backfires on the owner and becomes a running joke during the series as you get to see his yearly salary soar to ridiculous heights. Toua's got a lot on his plate. It's always fun watching Toua's reaction to things. If someone tries to fuck him over, he'll turn around and fuck them over threefold. I almost feel sorry for some of them.

With Madhouse on animation you know a series will look great. One Outs is no exception. Everything is very fluid when need be, and typically cheesy when applicable. It feels like they did a great job of bringing the manga to life. The opening animation is the only thing I have an issue with. Not because it's bad or anything, but because it's clearly designed to try and get girls to watch this show by showing a practically naked Toua floating around the screen. He's shirtless and is wearing his pants unbuttoned and unzipped. If a strong enough breeze came through, his di** would be out. I prefer taco to sausage thank you very much.

The only other issue I have is the fact that the series doesn't have a proper ending. It concludes at a good stopping point though, but things were clearly left open for a potential second season or OVA sequel. The manga is still running in japan I believe. Both the anime and manga have yet to be licensed for a U.S. release. While the manga has a chance, the anime probably doesn't. Sports anime never sells over here so it'd be a big risk for a company to pick up. It makes me sad because I would definitely buy it. But for now i'll just have to stick to the fansubs.

If this review got you interested in this series then I highly recommend checking it out. You won't be disappointed. It's a sports series that your average genre hater could actually get into. Don't let the near naked Toua in the opening scare you away. Take a gamble on 'One Outs', it's worth the risk.

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