Lion Tamers, I have a new review, of a great Anime: Mouretsu Pirates.
To begin, I wish to clarify a point other reviewers have made, that speaks to their ignorance of history. That term is 'Letter of Marque'
The following link on Wikipedia will make everyone much more cognizant of this term. Read folks, this is the way it really was:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque
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Now that I've cleared that up, let's get into a great anime. I fear that rehashing the basic plot will damage the show, so I'm going to try to stay away from plot spoilers, but folks that have read my reviews know that I just can't help
...
myself sometimes.
This show is basically a "girl makes good" adventure. The twists are numerous, but I'd like to list the higher pointed ones, just for openers;
1). Father dies, daughter takes over the family business.
2). Mother leaves to return to her own place in the same profession.
3). Daughter, subject of the entire show, is the outcome of both parents being spacers and pirates, after an enormous line of spacers and pirates in both parental family lines. Girl is born with excellent genes.
4). Girl enters into her profession as a candidate/trainee, only for the crew of the ship she inherited, to discover this girl has the 'right stuff', and proves a very able captain and high-grade strategist and tactician.
5). Girl proves over the course of several multi-episode threads (something I personally like) that she can face almost anything and win.
And now for some interesting show creations, that point to the authors really thinking about presenting something totally new;
1). This show is presented in a future time, so far in the future that the average Man never uses the word 'Earth'. Not even as a slang term, to mean dirt. This is extremely unusual, and nails a creative element so outrageous; that a totally unusual form of galactic life is required. And the authors do not disappoint.
What a wonderful world, where the culture on 'Sea of the Morningstar' is ebullient, charming, quirky; and the people, as a whole, have a positive attitude. This works well, for Marika Kato, because she finds her positive drive a real asset, at those times when creative problem solving is exactly what is needed.
2). The authors present a world where "starTrek' style technology is partially there, and partially missing; in a fashion that explains why ship crews are relatively small, and ships are fairly large and powerful. When you don't have replicators, you need to carry a lot of food cargo (explains why the cargo bay on the Bentenmaru, is quite large); and not just for commercial cargos. And also explains why, when there are no transporters, one is forced to use space-shuttles.
3). While many viewers might have a problem with the anime starting off, like so many others, from a high-school (gee how original), the authors gave us a fresh look at this launching pad, and created a tale where our protagonist (Marika Kato) actually ends up not only forced to use some of her high-school friends in one of the story arcs, but then creates an unusual situation where her original crew become strong believers in these teenagers. After all, no serious damage is done, and some become highly trusted on the bridge of the Bentenmaru.
While many viewers might not catch its significance, the adventure that requires Marika's friends, ends up the the most lucrative commercial enterprise in Bentenmaru history. This occurred because Marika and a friend name Jenny Doolittle create a service contract that brought about not only a multi-billion dollar deposit in the form of a 'Silent Whisper' spacecraft, but also 10% of the gross income in a business making 50-trillion credits per year, for the next 10-years. And would probably mean more, as the business expanded, the show pointing out that this business was in a fast growth mode. This event alone will create the richest, most profitable Pirate Captain and vessel in the whole quadrant at least.
4). While I partially agree the story has spots that could have been improved (a reason for replicators and transporters being absent would be nice), in the main, the adventure presented in Mouretsu Pirates is fresh, peopled, charming, funny, thrilling; and generally exactly what we should be getting in real-life drama on TV in the United States, and is totally absent.
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Is the show fanciful, and lacking reality? Surprisingly no. Lots of teenagers inherit companies and are thrown to the wolves. Sometimes they succeed, overcome problems, defeat true threats; and become successes. While we all tend to believe that will never happen to me; in a less astronautical way, the opposite is true, and happens every day in real life.
But like Marika Kato, luck has little to do with it. All the luck, is in realizing that one has this gifted person in our midst, and all we need to do is get out of the way. Some of these gifted people are us. Look in the mirror, people that can see a bright future and don't rest until they get it; are all around us. And some of us are these people.
I tend to like themes and memes that present a World where the best of us rise to the top, and defeat evil; building a better World, and dragging us all kicking and screaming, along for the ride.
Look at the work expended on producing this Anime.
The soundtrack is done by the excellent Elements Garden. The Opening and Closing Music (most of it) are done by Momoiro Clover Z (while these folks do J-Pop, something I generally despise; in this particular case, the stuff is so high quality that the opening theme actually sounds like pirate music). WOW! While the lyrics are very over the top, the fact is both of these main musicalities are exactly what the doctor ordered.
The artwork is stunning, although a little inconsistent. This is because while the peopled artwork is fairly ordinary, the technical and machine artwork is designed by the great technical artists: Suzuki, Masahisa, Washio, Naohiro, Kawamori, Shoji. Their collective artwork has been seen in shows like: Ariel Visual, Canaan, Chrno, Girls Bravo, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's, Asobi ni Iku yo!, Heroic Age, Mobile Suit Gundam 00; and dozens of others. You may not appreciate the anime listed, as a whole, but no one can doubt the technical artwork quality. While most shows might have one of these artists, this show used all three. And they were needed, because so much of this richly drawn and accurately actioned anime needed some inventive and skilled artists.
While some call the story line weak; I dispute that strenuously. The plot suggested in this anime is nothing less than epic. The epic nature is all developmental, and needs a second season we will probably never see; but epic this show is. All the makings are there. Marika Kato is one of the most pleasant, funny, creative, and optimistic characters in any anime, or any other art form. She is a heroic figure, who never lets upsets get her down, and always tries to find a solution for problems; never surrendering. She is a true positive role model for young people everywhere.
I realize that anime is a form of escape, for most young people today, but the garbage my generation has foisted off on the young people of today; should not be a symbol for your own surrender. You all should see it as a challenge, because there isn't very much farther for us all to descend. We can only go up hill. Because of the optimism and unstoppable sense of enterprise of all of us; that better world we want is epitomized in stories like this, and characterized in people like Marika Kato, and all of her friends.
I am 62 years old, and I never saw that promised "World of Tomorrow". But you have the right to it, and maybe you can win it for yourself; just like Marika Kato. I hope you all succeed.
I give Mouretsu Pirates a very strong 8.
May 24, 2015
Mouretsu Pirates
(Anime)
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Recommended
Lion Tamers, I have a new review, of a great Anime: Mouretsu Pirates.
To begin, I wish to clarify a point other reviewers have made, that speaks to their ignorance of history. That term is 'Letter of Marque' The following link on Wikipedia will make everyone much more cognizant of this term. Read folks, this is the way it really was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque ----------------------------------------------------- Now that I've cleared that up, let's get into a great anime. I fear that rehashing the basic plot will damage the show, so I'm going to try to stay away from plot spoilers, but folks that have read my reviews know that I just can't help ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 11, 2015 Mixed Feelings
Lion Tamers, why do I keep getting recommendations from friends, only to be disappointed?
We deal today with something that I think should be re-done, and done right this time. I mean to review "Ben-To". While I enjoy writing good reviews, and I really detest writing scathing reviews; I keep having to wade though the end products of a bunch of degenerates and downright stupid writers and authors of the noble craft of Anime. As of 9:00pm today, I have finished the twelfth episode of something that had every right to have been made into an Anime that could have pressed every one of my 'watchability buttons'. And failed ... miserably. 4.7 hours of wasted effort. After about the 5th episode I began to feel the sting of being cheated. I thereafter became increasingly certain, until the final curtain of this miserable piece of non-art, and finally surrendered into outright rage. I'm not even going to waste my time rating the parts of the Anime, that most people expect, because Ben-To and its' authors don't respect the public well enough to even do a decent job of their own product. School life done as a failure of everything civilized. Romance done completely wrong. Hatreds with sincere outcomes, failed. They couldn't even succeed at a decent form of hentai. Even that too, was botched. I'll only say this; the sound was adequate, the music at least was not J-PoP (something some of you know I despise), the artwork tolerable, and the story which had promise could have been okay. But the production team blew it, by going for what they thought would attract a younger demographic, which is foolish. It's the parents that have the money, and most of them will not tolerate their children watching this kind of silly, uneducated, and pointless tripe. Now that I've done my best to show the stuff I was not enraged by, I can discuss Ben-To with the outright rage that this 'product' deserves. ------------------------------------- The entire purpose of Ben-To was to encourage young teenagers to think that causing a riot within a grocery store for discount boxed-lunch, is tantamount to honorable samurai or Jedi conduct. Which it isn't. Let's look angrily at the facts; 1). The school these kids go to, and several others, supplies breakfast, but nothing else; as part of their dormitory functions. Students who have meager money therefore find the search for cheap rations a near necessity. Which leads many to get involved in a poker-game known as 'Wolf'ing; which means becoming a brawler in the context of multiple person bare-knuckle riots. This brings about the multiple injuries of several of the main characters, and many minor characters. That of course leaves the losers weaker than they started because they don't get enough to eat. Survival of the fittest, within the context of civilized high-school life. Does anybody really like this picture? But in the end, reality never reaches the consciousness of the authors, or the viewer. Hidden in all the Bushido (intentional rhyme with a mangled word that I never use in public), is the plain fact, that the only reason fresh food is discounted, is because it's fresh food. If the store doesn't do so, or waits until it is too late; the food will spoil and be thrown away as a health hazard. 'God of Discounts'? Really? Is that as good as the authors could do? School is supposed to be a place of quiet reflection, studious endeavor, and relaxed striving for academic excellence. One then makes their own challenges. Having to add the severe injuries of the previous night to this list of condensed milk makes Jimmy and Jane dull people; in class and outside of class. Not to mentioned the obvious bruises on the face, body and appendages. These points, lead us to a recognition of the voyeurism of a prize fight, in the wrong setting. 2). Considerations of threats. What does the viewer think is going to happen to the combatants when they get thrown or punched into a isle shelf, or a marketing display, or worse destroy a cooler full of high-priced meats; and of course, splatter it all over the store? Sweetness and light, from the store owner? Of course, we never see any outcome at all. What will happen, because of these riots, when the police show up? '... it's okay, we'll see you people tomorrow night? ...'. The police never show up. Making friends with fellow combatants, has a lot of personal problems for our hapless heros, doesn't it? Wanna bet some of the competing girls will feel like dating the guys that just broke every bone in their face? We never see the consequences of these brawls, because everything is sweetness and light. Besides, Samurai Nobility is at the heart of knocking the duck excrement out of your best friends, right? How could anybody hold that against anybody else? A female Student Body President (Shiraume Ume) that takes a severe dislike to our male hero (You Sato), because he has a way of talking her girlfriend (Hana Oshiroi) out of lesbian fun, to the extent of her getting hot and bothered by pictures of men, and writing about them; ends in our hero getting the crud kicked out of him by our President. Repeatedly. Mainly because nobody will touch her, oh I dunno, how about a good swift kick behind the knees and then proceeding to break every bone in her face seems only reasonable. After all, she leaves him in severe bruises and beatings, repeatedly, for no earned reason. This is what passes for the rare recurring humor in the show. There are some minor bits, involving Ayame Shaga and her attempts at seduction of You Sato, and the running gags involving the irrepressible Asebi Inoue, who always has a cold, and always has this ability to laugh about the spilt milk involving a permanent bad-luck spree. But waiting in the wings of this play, but never really allowed on stage, is the obvious romantic interest of Sen Yarizui for You Sato. Why not? The show is already botched, why not jump in with both feet and finish at least one thing in the huge list of unfinished disasters? But no, the producers wasted their time, and mine. Look folks, I wanted to like this show, but was just plain disenchanted by the constant non-retaliatory strikes against people nobody hated, or ever would. Why not? Some of the characters actually did deserve to get their mutton chopped. Cosmic Justice is sometimes the right thing to do. Several people should have had their stuffing punched into oblivion, and we never got to see that happen. It was all just good fun right? The following earned and needed severe beatings: Shiraume Ume, the Sawagi Sisters. The following should have earned bare-bottom spanking with a two-by-four: Ayame Shaga. The following should have gotten personal relationship training, nobody should have to put up with repeated forcible lesbian rape (after Shiraume Ume got put in the hospital): Hana Oshiroi. Virtually every one of our school student body's of several schools (involved in the nightly riots), and both sides of town; should be arrested, and be charged as an adult, convicted of serious rioting, and jailed for long prison sentences. That would have stood as reality. But this a very bad form of fantasy. So I finish a lousy review of a lousy show, that if this had never seen the light of day, would never have forced me to write such a lousy review. There is nothing here to grab onto and like. There is no heart, no soul, no joy, no laughter, no honor, no comedy, no tragedy, no sense of anything of importance lost, nothing of importance ever gained; and most of all no sense of real theatre. Satoshi Adachi, is the Executive Producer of this masterpiece of macabre garbage, and therefore needs a severe horse-whipping. I give this nonsense a weak 5.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 9, 2015 Recommended
Lion Tamers, here we go again.
This time I'm gonna be contrary, and purposely choose an anime everybody only moderately dislikes to outright hates. The chosen anime is "Isuca", and after watching the entire 10 episodes, I can confirm there are in fact some weak spots. But there are some strong showings in this anime as well; in fact they are so good at points, I have to wonder if other folks and myself were watching the same anime. But first, let's talk about the parts I had problems with, and I'll leave the good stuff for last. I know, I usually do it the other way around, but ... remember I'm being a bit contrary. ----------------------- Stuff that bothered me; 1). Because of excessive 'Fan Service', the first episode had a lot of problems getting started. I agree with others, there was a lot of it. This is especially true of the first episode. I'm not really bothered about it, because it's there. I'm aggravated because there was so much of it that it hammered the anime, in that the story just couldn't seem to get off the ground. While things did seem to fly after about the end of the second episode, the first episode was so distinctly outrageous that I almost gave up on Isuca right there. But settle down Isuca did, until the fan service dropped to a tolerable level, at least for me. First episode fan service content-11. After that, decreasing until it hit about a 5 level, and tolerable. But first a bit of history. And why I have a gripe against the producers of Isuca. I went to high-school in the 1960's. When I went to school, the notion of two young fellows sitting and looking out the window of class and ogling girls; was not unknown. The stuff that's unknown was the idea of talking about their breast size. It simply would not happen. Even the young members of clicks/gangs would almost never stoop to that kind of conversation. It was simply just too coarse and would have lacked dignity, both the girls, and the boys with the big mouths. I realize this is beginning to sound like the recollections of '... the good old days ...', but I'm actually quite serious. More over, this behavior was not something that was forced on us, by teachers or parents. It was just the way things were. Anybody that does that today, literally must stoop to such a level, that your neighbors' shoe would be impossible to see over. The only thing this kind of talk means, is that fellows doing it are so frightened of girls that they don't have the balls to speak like that in person. And they do it in small groups, as a means of doing something they think needs courage while being buttressed by their fellows. This kind of behavior is a clear indication of cowardice. Either say it in person, and suffer a slap across the mouth; or shut up and learn manners. There is no third way. And so I get to the producers of Isuca. They made this show with that kind of content, on the assumption that this kind treatment of young ladies was normal and ubiquitous. It not only isn't; but points to an outrageous rejection of all things civilized. This show requires the understanding of what is Right, to make the philosophical issues meaningful. Fighting for what's Right, has no meaning when the only thing important to life, is what color a girls' hair is. I agree with other reviewers, in that there is too much of a certain worthless form of teenage bravado. While it happens in many anime productions, it is here in spades. And was a needless exercise. If the producers had decreased the fan service, they would have had much more time to develop the story better. The producers should have known better. 2). 10 episodes, for a production this complex, is far too short. Isuca is not a broken or haphazard effort; as intimated by other reviewers. It is merely too short to get some of the heavy lifting done, as to background issues, and character development. Does that mean the story is a clear fail? No. But there was not enough room to complete this effort in a fashion that might have been more satisfying. 3). Music There was very little soundtrack, but that seemed tolerable. It was neither good nor bad. What was bad was the opening and closing musical songs. While they are cute and bouncy, and even the lyrics actually meant something in reference to the show (which I was astonished by), they are also J-PoP rubbish of the worst kind. I hate J-PoP with a passion bordering on vitriolic rage. I especially dislike J-PoP which is constructed by having the singers singing a song at normal speed, only to have technology enter the picture and speed them up to sound like chipmunks or squirrels. Even some of the instruments get this treatment, depending on what is required at the production company. It is an outrageous abuse of the artists involved, and it is so grating on my ears that I wanna throw things at my computer for uttering these noises. The J-PoP tunes in Isuca are no exception. I tended to skip the opening and ending title sequences, just to blank out the outrageously bad music. I realize that some of the readers herein, actually like this sort of thing. But for me, anything else is better, except outright grunge heavy-metal. If J-PoP is so popular by itself, let's have a good singer which is fat and ugly sing the songs, and then we'll see how they sell! 4). Voices, while all of the voice-actors did very well, the dialog they were asked to deal with had an issue I think could have had a work-around that improved the product. The Witch Isuca laughed so much, it actually got in the way of dialog, and the understanding of her character. Tone down the laughter, a little more in the ominous department would have solved all problems. The laughter only made the character appear so nuts that her actions looked out of place. Too nuts, is when a character can't possibly perform the activities we witness, in normal life. And that's where the Witch Isuca stands. 5). The artwork. There's only one item, but it annoys me. Many new anime are beginning to give everybody eyes that have metallic tints. These colors are not normal for Human-Beings. And in extreme cases, it makes people look like their dead. Isuca uses these metallic highlights. I wish the artists would stop that. ----------------------- Now I can do what I wanted in the beginning. And that is, discuss the parts of 'Isuca' I actually liked. That being said I want to start with the plot. Many people felt the plot was a little dated, or just plain a repeat of many they had watched. With that I want to make an aside comment. 'Visual Jaundice' can be a serious problem. Anyone that, over the last 5-years has managed to watch more than 500-anime and then read more than 250-manga; has now become a person with no life. Get out of the house, go watch a movie or a baseball game. Date someone, take a drive. But anime and manga, is not a substitute for life or understanding. And cannot possibly improve your understanding of either anime or manga! The only thing too much of this stuff will do is cause you to arrive at a point where almost nothing will please you, or provide entertainment. This is true of any form of overdone entertainment. Too much of anything brings about a jaded attitude towards all things related. We all need more variety in our lives, to keep our perspectives fresh and clean. The purpose of Isuca, and any other anime, is to entertain. If you are so jaded that the parts of Isuca leaves no impact, then get away from all of this for while. You owe it to yourself. Let's get to the good stuff, in characters and plot points. While much of this plot is very rushed, especially under the restrictions of having only 10-episodes; the fact is the story is nothing less than way above average. It is not perfect, and it has development flaws, but the story is quite good and very watchable. Parts of this story is fresh and original. 1). Did anyone notice the point about destroying all the churches in the city, to remove the basic spiritual protection of it; so that the large snake-monster could be brought in? Even the Witch Isuca confirmed this necessity. While there may be other anime that creates this idea; this is the only anime I've seen that has this plot point. After all, when ISIS goes into a country, what is one of the first things they attack? That's right. The churches and temples. Not just Christian churches, but all of them. 2). Did anybody get the significance of Suseri and Sakuya Shimizu's growth of character? While most viewers might see only pain in the ass difficult personalities (what strong anime fans would call a tsundere); I saw much more. Both these girls were tortured into the state we find them, at the beginning of the series. Suseri was tortured repeatedly by her mother, into a person who rarely speaks (because she could not talk back to her mother), frozen in water at her mother's order (one wonders if her mother had ever to do this in her life?), forced out of archery without sufficient training (because her mother wanted to make sure Suseri did something that would not align Suseri with Sakuya's art form); and several other points? Sakuya was tortured by the loss of her parents, and the reaction of her clan, both before and after their loss. Being the only representative of her own personal bloodline, in a clan that honored a pureblood history, is a tragic existence for a child growing up, and very painful. I know, boo-hoo. You live through that, and then tell me it has no significance. Both these girls are the product of their extreme and torturous upbringing, and somehow they find their way through all that; to grow wiser, stronger, more flexible to the changing winds of misfortune. And entirely thoughout the story. This is a story about unbridled courage in the face of terror most of us will never face; by young girls and a young man; who never give up and find a way to succeed. This kind of courage is the reason we live, or we fail at living by rejecting courage. 3). Did anybody notice how important Tomoka became? She is loyal, compliant without being a doormat, congenial, and affectionate. All of this, on the strength of basic kindnesses extended that you or I might find a slightly weak reason for all of that. Tomoka is almost unique in anime. Let's see if I can make this simple. Maybe not. Tomoka is not a new kind of character. She stands as a cat-human hybrid, and is a magical monster, in that she can morph into several ranges between outright human, to housecat to monster cat. But the real charm of Tomoka is that she isn't really human in her personality. Tomoka is a real cat, in the way she behaves. I have a 14-lb black female cat, with yellow eyes. And both my 'Inky' and Tomoka share all of the same traits. Anyone ever try to put a sweater on a full-grown cat? Not a great idea, you'll get clawed to death. Cats don't like to be clothed, as if they need it. It's wrong for cats, and Tomoka carries this trait. She will wear something, if it isn't too bulky, but she'd rather wear nothing at all. Which we see. While I'm aware most people see this as part of the fan service, it isn't. Tomoka is very cat-like in almost every way. Tomoka likes to eat food on her own schedule. Housecats behave the same way. Tomoka tries to avoid violence, and most housecats try to do the same thing. Tomoka is very affectionate to Shinichirou Asano. And well she should. Housecats that learn to like their owners are equally affectionate, kind-hearted, and generally friendly. Even to the point of being clingy. Mine certainly is. Tomoka has every right to carry on the way she does. All in all, Tomoka is so much like a real cat, that almost every other cat-human in other anime, pales in comparison. They tend to be for appearance only, taking on all normal human actions and responses. Tomoka is the real deal and I think she stands as a unique character. --------------------------- With all of the previous, I finish this review. This is certainly not an endorsement of the entire production; but I don't condemn it either. It stands as one of the fastest moving anime I've ever watched. 23.5-minutes per episode, and you get more than 40-minutes of information. Isuca is certainly not a ten rating, but the ratings from other reviewers in the one-or-two range is also not equitable. The story stands up, it has length and breadth, develops as the story travels from episode to episode; and in the end, sets itself up for the next set of episodes. My only fear is, Isuca will not return and clean up or finish what it has started. With such a wonderful start, it deserves another chance, and another set of episodes to create something really new in the fantasy school quasi-harem genre. I give Isuca a very strong 7!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 4, 2015
Akatsuki no Yona
(Anime)
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Lion Tamers Rejoice!
I have found a good one. "Akatsuki no Yona", a 24-episode masterpiece, with a flair for political entanglements, and the stress of personal loss; makes for a great watch in almost every category. First I wish to make some comments about this show, in the historical sense. While this anime, like many; places itself in an alternate universe, it still manages to stay fairly accurate to Feudal China. I find this quirk, very interesting in the light that the entire production is mainly Japanese origin. After all, all the weapons used are Chinese (straight swords versus the curve Katana Blade, etc), and the costumes might ... fool people, but most are truly Chinese. We see that mostly in the male apparel, but even the female dress is mostly Chinese. While I wanted to take points off for the very poor habit of Japanese artists drawing people who are supposed to be oriental, with almost entirely caucasian features; in the end I gave it a break, because in the end (like most anime I watch) story is everything. Story ----- The story is spectacular, and while I wish I had time do a long summary of it; I think I will just mention a few items that grabbed my interest, in the vein of waiting impatiently for Season-2! This story is of emotional loss, love unrequited, peace and the search for it, war and the difficulty of avoiding it, fear of friends, fear of enemies, class struggles, political usurpation; but most of all 'Akatsuki no Yona' is about finding a reason to believe in the future, when the past has destroyed what was intended. Including our faith in basic goodness, and in the trust we have in relatives. Wow, what a story. While on the surface, "Akatsuki no Yona' is a "I need to find an army" style struggle; in the interior is a struggle to relegate incongruities of one relative versus the same things from another. For example, Yona watches while the person she most loves and admires (Su-Won) takes a sword to her father (Il, the emperor of her country), while this same individual points out that her father murdered his. This point is only mentioned once, but it is the reason for most of the tension in Yona's mind; as she travels as a refugee, and if found will probably be murdered or worse; forced to support the new regime, to give it legitimacy. The other side of the coin is, Su-Won becomes King and is seen as a worthy successor by almost everyone. Even begrudgingly, Yona. The man actually seems to know what he is doing, trying to clean up the corrupt parts of the kingdoms' administration, keep good leaders in place, build up resistance to neighboring kingdoms which have designs on conquest. And a third side, Yona travels through the kingdom, only to find that her father is almost universally disliked by almost everyone. And for pretty good reasons. A moral and ethical weakling, Emperor Il has apparently allowed virtually every corrupt administrator to run hog-wild, the damage to the public incalculable; many injured physically, mentally, and financially. Some of these even stooping to create a slave-trade from places that are supposed to be lawfully run entities. In such cases, we see what some people would call "color of law", without actually having any. The parallels in comparison to our own world is obvious. Characters --------- Yona is so well developed, starting as a scatter-brained idiot, to an evolution of personality bordering on heroic; she is designed with intelligence by the authors, and evolved subtly and with great charm. There is even the notions that she forces herself to improve, even within the context of the interest of her friends to keep the more gruesome parts of true-life and conflict from her. The conflicts within her, dealing with her obvious misgivings surrounding Su-Won; are nothing less than tragic horror. How does she relegate her hatred for her fathers murderer, while also knowing that Su-Won acted in both revenge and statesmanship. Hak, is a tragic character all by himself. He keeps a promise to protect Yona (no matter what), even though he gave his word to a man who is now dead by the hand of his friend and rival for Yona's attention, Su-Won. Hating Su-Won, not knowing as much as Yona does about everything, fighting to preserve the last vestige of the old order; Yona. While trying not to think about how much he loves this tiny red-haired beauty. All the rest of the characters are either secondary characters, or tools of Yona's choosing (I don't mean this in a bad way). Sound & Music ------------- All the Japanese voices are outstanding. Understanding their characters on screen, emoting relative to each scene with easy grace, interacting via the dialog with correct timing and pacing. Excellent in almost every way. The music is something to rejoice, at least the soundtrack. OP1 and ED2 are excellent. The OP2 and ED1 are not relevant to the anime, and are an attempt to interject a more modern and therefore rhythmic musicality, to a production that is otherwise near perfection. Sorry about this but the latter half of the anime has non-relevant thematic music. Damages an otherwise outstanding production. Artwork -------- Nothing less than stunning. As good as period-piece anime ever get. Artwork is drawn with a clear intent to help move the story, and indicate nuances to the viewer that otherwise might be missed in all the dialog. This a good anime, drawn well. Is it as 3d as Unbreakable Machine Doll, or Girls-Und-Panzer? No, but it's subtle coloring and paint-ins, are excellent, and gives it a period look that is hard to put your finger on, but relevant just the same. I want to make a point about female artwork in anime. There are times when I begin to tire of girls being drawn with great big eyes. Believe me folks, a story can help me overlook this point very quickly. If the story is good, and the artist wants me to see a girl with very large eyes, as an attempt to show youthfulness, or apparent simplicity, then this becomes an artistic decision. And I can overlook it. But when there is too much of it, and it has little to do with story-content, then I cringe. This is not one of those times. Yona is drawn cute, very pretty, a bit simple-minded in the beginning, and with big eyes which tend to stare right through your face and see the working of the inner mind. She shares this gift with her friends, and all see its value. So do I. So no subtraction, in this case, because she is drawn almost oriental-big-eye. I have no criticism in this case. She is true to the character, and therefore the big-eye look actually has a constructive meaning for the story. With that I end my review of Akatsuki no Yona. It is an unfinished work, as it is the first part of a story I wish to see the end of. Season-2 is in production, and my wish is that it will continue an excellent first season. So hooray for Akatsuki no Yona, a first class introduction for a much larger story. I give this effort a solid 9!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 31, 2015
Kamisama Hajimemashita
(Anime)
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Recommended
Lion Tamers, Lion Tamers; gather round!
We take a look at "Kamisama Hajimemashita" As some of you, who've been reading my reviews know; I have for a long time, been attempting to understand the teenage mind. After all, I was one once, ummm ... around the late 1960's. That was another time. Those were the days when a college graduate could find the United States on a colored World Globe. These days, 48% of college grads can't; actual statistic. In a very real sense, most people of that stripe today; can't find their own butt with both hands. Which explains why some can't properly analyze anime very ... well. But I digress. Let's get to some themes in "Kamisama Hajimemashita" that please and annoy; sometimes both at the same time. Other times, I have to kind of cringe, as sometimes I need to horsewhip the authors of some anime, but I'm never informed as to their actual whereabouts. Or they are not within arms' reach. This leaves me frustrated. In any case, we need to actually look at this anime with clear eyes, and the mind of a really mean ol' man, and try to figure out exactly what the heck is going on; that has any relation to real life. Silly me, nothing in this show is real life. It's all about that 'wishful thinking' stuff. Or sometimes dumb luck. Yea, that's better. ------------------------ In any case, we dive in. Firstly, before anyone wants to yell at me for bad-mouthing this anime, there are things I like about this show. 1). The music is almost as cute as the show tries to be. 2). The artwork, while not standout, is good enough. 3). Tomoe is the only character that gets my interest; because he has actual real-life issues. Similarities abound, between this anime and another (which is much better, and the jokes are much funnier). I compare 'Kamisama Hajimemashita' with 'xxxHolic'. xxxHolic is much better, in virtually every way; even the educational value is much higher. 1). Does not each have a godlike figure which mentors our primary character? 2). Does not both godlike characters have issues with the primary character? 3). Are there not moments in both shows, where the primary character has severe issues with the godlike character? 4). Does not both primary characters go through dimensional rifts, and visit other world/times/places? These are just a short list, but I think you get the idea. I rarely compare anime, but these two really need to be looked at as having plot-points and character references that show clear problems with Kamisama Hajimemashita. ---------------- Now I get to talk about some of the characters. 1). Nanami Momozona I realize most of you like this girl. And she's a nice enough girl, even to me. But let's see. She is tossed from her home, and lands on a park bench; with no idea what she's gonna do. A land-God gives his job to her, for no explained reason, ever. Nanami has never held any job, has no idea how to carry out a normal job, let alone this new mission. Then, arriving at the temple, containing the people that help her carry out her mission; she goofs up how it operates, alienates her temple demon (for lot's of true-life reasons), botches relations with the few followers left; and then attempts to play catch-up on all this stuff. Only to botch it all again. If not for the few servants and temple demon, she would have destroyed the temple, and these assistants, and hanger, would have been out of a job; and forced to return to the dimension from which they came. Most of them probably much happier. The only real problem I have with Nanami, is that she is thrown into deep water without a paddle, or even the knowledge of what to do with the paddle once handed to her. And she never really learns. While she does learn the lessons given to her, she never develops a flair to repackage these new lessons, and re-use them to solve other problems. She always faces each problem with the same wide-eyed ignorance, and has to find each solution the hard way. She always needs Tomoe to help her. Sometimes the entire issue gets handed to his competent hands. 2). Tomoe What a great character he is! This is a guy that initially wanted nothing whatever to do with Nanami, and had given good riddens to Mikage (after Mikage got himself separated from the temple some 20 years before our story begins). When Nanami first arrives, Tomoe is quite happy managing things at the temple, and manages his underlings with efficiency and dispatch. Nanami happens. Moves into the temple, screws up the well oil'd schedule that Tomoe has been tireless in designing. Forcing him eventually to teach her the rudiments of God-hood, tries to teach Nanami to keep schedules, that she finds impossible to keep (even schedules that deal in real-world things, which prove important). Frustrates every attempt to repair the temples' reputation with the public, which Nanami uses her lack of skills to pull the rug out of most of his attempts. And then we wonder why Tomoe is so constantly dismayed by his new God-head of the temple. While he eventually becomes charmed by Nanami's simple charm, and quiet acceptance of troubles; the truth is, Tomoe never real becomes satisfied with her progress. Because there is so little of it. Nanami does improve, by small increments and spurts. While Tomoe finds she can dully learn a new idea, truly insightful "ah ha" moments are few and far between. Even he knows, no matter how much he ever learns to like his Temple-God, she is mentally incompetent, and will never really fulfill the promise he so dreams of. 3). Mikage You cowardly worm. 4). Mizuki I realize the girls in the audience just love this guy. But let's please use some common sense. First he tries to destroy the land-God Temple, tries to replace the Land-God as a God of a Water-Temple. Failing that he then decides working for the Land-God, in his mind is just as good as replacing the God of his own Temple. I'm sorry, but this guy is a two-faced demon that cannot be relied on in the clutch. Things got tough, and he traitor'd and joined in at Nanami's digs. Any old port in the storm. ------------------------------ Now I want to talk about the more mundane production items in the story. Firstly, I want to talk about Nanami Momozono's artwork. I like parts of this characters' personality, but the artwork has lots of problems. She is virtually the only character drawn with the 'big-eyed' look. And the artists went overboard. In most artwork of this kind, big-eyed artwork is supplied with an enlarged head to allow for the spacial displacement of the brain. But in Nanami's case, these eye's are at least 2-inches in circumference. Now while viewers who actually like this touch might be dismayed by my attempts at 'pickiness', let's get a little bit real. In this case, they are so large, with no corresponding extra room provided, that I'm afraid that Nanami is not going have much of a frontal lobe. The eyes will intrude on it. On the other hand, it explains her lack of concentration, poor memory for times, dates, places; lack of learning skills. She has all of these talents, but they all function in a subpar way. In other words, Nanami is cute, pleasant; and stupid as a fence post. The best drawn character has got to be Tomoe. He is slender, powerful (both physically and mentally), a bit mean, sly, and outright clever. He gets more than 100% more attention to his graphic details, than does Nanami. And it's a good thing too; or there would have been nothing in the show to complement for artwork. Most of the artwork is adequate, sometimes even attractive. But very little in the way of stuff that should stand out. Does this mean the story is bad because of the artwork? No. But the artwork, helped very little. Stick figures would have told the story with equal grace. Except for Tomoe. Even his expressions are done perfectly. Sound and music needs improvement. While the music is cute and lively, even airy and pleasant; it does nothing to inform the viewer of the very strong Japanese religious references and cultural icons that should have been signal'd by it. This young lady becomes a God, a minor one, but a God nonetheless; with all the importance that should have been revolved around. The music failed to indicate anything of importance. Just some cute sentiments about love and friendship, which is true, but pales in importance to the over-arching theme inside the story. The story. While I realize this story is made to take a tongue-in-cheek look at friendship and romance, the vast majority of the story deals with the events that back-story for the supernatural characters in the show. In other words, the authors placed all the important material in the supernatural, and made the fun, light-friendship, and love-story; the minor theme. Is this hypocritical? No, but it strongly leads us to a cart-before-the-horse presentation of information, THAT FAILS TO TELL THE STORY. While I liked, very much, the supernatural back stories; they are in fact the secondary plot. The main story is the increasing, over much time; romance developed between Nanami and Tomoe. All of that, the romantic elements; while cute and very romantic, are in fact , wrong headed in that they try to force something into place that would never happen in real life. Tomoe is a prisoner of the temple, and slave to his Land-God. He never could, in real life, ever find a way to resolve this. There is not a single theme in his own mind that would allow for friendship and affection. Even after the back-story proves a possible relationship in the offing; he could never settle into a romantic entanglement that imprisons him; not once but twice, by the intentional actions of Nanami. He has a right to be viciously angry. Forced to help his God, forced to be the house-servant, forced to be polite at all times, forced to keep the temple from ruin, force to protect the very person that has made him the slave he is. While Nanami never confronts this moral dilemma. Both of them trapped in this non-sequitur, for all time. And young people think this is a proper and cute love-story for the ages? I give "Kamisama Hajimemashita" a 7.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Mar 28, 2015
Tenkuu Danzai Skelter+Heaven
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
Lion Tamers, I'ma gonna try again!
We are looking today at, "Tenkuu Danzai Skelter+Heaven" It will be a fairly short review. I'm afraid the average reviewer did not get this show very well. Not because it was a good show or bad show; but that this show was not ready to be issued to the public. While the dialog was read fairly well, by the voice artists (notice I refuse to use 'seiyu'), the story was spotty. This is because there were definite production BREAKS in the film, that are editing errors. They were left in, because the production staff rushed this thing out the door before the cutting ... and finish was completed. The artwork suffered from the same problems. In fact, some of the film sequences are still in 'animatic' mode; and were never re-drawn in the finish artwork. We see this when the monster protagonist moves its tentacles, and the artwork is gray in one shot, and mild yellow in others. This is not an attempt at clever lighting. It's the early pre-production artwork, which was left in. The story itself is very broken, and there are many connecting scenes that deserved to be present, but were completely missing; which were needed to bridge the fight scenes to some of the more emotional moments. Moreover, this project is not finished as a story publication. there is at least another 20-minutes of film required to get to the finale of this pre-production anime. As you can guess, we will never see the finished product. And believe me, I don't really wish it to be finished. The story plot is a bunch of junk without any back story. Anyone who will/or has seen/ this anime can answer this question properly; The monster protagonist landed and hovered over Tokyo and then proceeded to do nothing. At this point the Tokyo Defense Forces moved in and promptly attacked. How come? It was bothering nobody. Attacked nobody, harmed nobody. Only after being attacked, did the monster alien begin to fight back, and very efficiently too! And so we have a review of an unfinished product, that should never have been foisted upon the public. The story is broken and the parts that are present are illogical. The dialog is whiny, by almost everybody. The aggressive scenes are forced to the point of inept handling. And the artwork is very unfinished, broken, poorly edited. In other words, this anime is a total failure. Not because it is a bad anime or a good anime; but because the producers never finished it. How did they have the nerve to put this on Japanese TV? I give what there is of this anime, a weak 4.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 28, 2015 Not Recommended
Lion Tamers; I'm about to get ugly.
"Madobe Nanami no Windows 7 de PC Jisaku Ouen Commercial!!" To begin, I want to talk about advertising. While we all know that advertising can often exaggerate beyond the bounds of propriety, we try to assume the publishers of the advertisement in question, won't outright lie. Not so with "Madobe Nanami no Windows 7 de PC Jisaku Ouen Commercial!!" But first, let's get to the parts that were good. ... 1). The sound is passible, and the little tune, is cute. 2). The artwork is very good, but not to the standards of some of the high-art anime pieces. But what can we expect of a 1-minute commercial? It's very passible. 3). The story is, as we can assume from it being an advertisement, a bubbly piece with little relation to reality. Just like other pleasant and easy to watch anime. 4). Was the anime worthy of praise? Perhaps by genuine Windows Fans, but made me cringe. Okay, now that I've gotten past the parts I liked, now I can talk about the stuff I don't. Which is, I absolutely hate Windows, and refuse to use it for meaningful computing. I own a lot of computers. None of them run Windows. I have become so disenchanted with it, that when I buy a Windows computer, I purchase it with the full knowledge that I'm gonna put something else on it. Windows is THAT BAD. Let's describe Windows 7 another way. Let's concede that Windows 7 is probably as good as Windows will ever get. Keep in mind, everything following Win7 (Win8, Win10), are all based on the NT2 modules (Microsoft says so); which means all future systems will have all the problems we associate with Windows. That is, slow system updates, a really poor search engine, illogical software install procedures, drivers that don't work, games that install and work, until we load another one, and many other quirks. Even so, it is so poorly constructed (like all other versions of Windows) that all other systems; 15+ versions of Linux, 6+ versions of UNIX, MacOSX; and a few scattered alternate versions; WOULD HAVE BEEN ASHAMED TO PUBLISH IT! Let's look at a few examples (all of which are well known by system managers and all of which create an embarrassing situation for all things Microsoft): 1). Re-entrancy Let's try an example. A bank office uses an application server, and feeds many thin clients. This is a very common scenario. 17 users want to operate MS-Word. How many copies are in memory? There are now 17 copies in memory. One each for each user-call. In any UNIX-like system, there will only be one copy in memory. But how can this be? Re-entrancy. This means that many calls from many users can be piped though the same application, and the data doesn't get mixed up. This is a clear example of why Windows users need much more memory hardware, that any other system on the market. 2). Unified-I/O Let's say we want to send data between our program and the System. We do this via the 'Shared-Memory-Page'. This memory is placed on top of any app entering memory, and is an exact copy, for all apps that are running. This is a component of the multi-tasking schema in the system. Does it work? Yes. But since the stability of this methodology is now dependent on the reliability of each separate task, any task can corrupt the Shared-Memory-Page, and this always causes an instantaneous memory-based 'Blue-Screen-Of-Death'. Many of you have probably seen this. The system will recover from a restart in about 85% of cases. Other cases will find a re-install of Windows is required (all versions). UNIX-like systems do this kind of communications by opening a port between programs, in the same way as Windows does to communicate with the Internet. Even if the port communication fails, which never happens (for lots of good reasons), the programs and the System task will not crash. A person can forcibly crash the Graphical-User-Interface and the System will still run. 3). The Dynamic Linking Tool This tool is a Windows requirement for Windows Updates. But why? To understand this, we need to understand something of the internals of what makes Windows tick. Windows is what we used-to call, in the old days, a 'named system'. That means that all parts, know all the other parts. It also means that Windows does not tolerate extensions of applications or linked-libraries (DLL). The only way to do this properly in Windows, is to use the Dynamic Linking Tool, especially useful for adding parts to a DLL, but also very useful for making sure a new part of the operating system makes proper connections with all of its' dependancies. If this isn't done correctly, you might obsolete another app, and orphan it. This would be embarrassing. Let's look further. Windows Update sends you 14 new security patches and app-modifications. This many updates would normally take maybe 3-hours to install. We all know this. This is because, there is no quick way to install changes, or even new applications, without doing all of this dependency checking first. That takes a lot of time. It has all of the charm of repairing a knitted sweater. But then, why do new applications install so fast? This is because most software publishers have no desire to use the Dynamic Linking Tool, to install their software. In some case, stuff like AutoCad, and some of the more serious game products, might take more than a day to install. This might piss-off a lot of Windows users. So they bypass the Dynamic Linking Tool, and install everything cold. But how can they do this, if a given DLL needs new calls to run the program? Very simple. They have already constructed a direct replacement DLL. All they need to do is replace the old one of the same name, making sure it has the proper revision data; and voila! A fast install, including the proper DLL, which will include the new calls for their application. Wanna guess what happens if another application wants to install, and has to use the same library as the previous example? That's right. It gets replaced again, but here's the rub, the calls needed to run the previous application won't be available. This is what causes the "... hey, the other program was working, what the heck happened? ..." syndrome. UNIX-like systems can extend anything, anywhere. This is because every program and linked library contains hooks for inclusion of the extension. This means that the core OS files can be stored in one place, and the extensions can be installed in many other places. One other benefit of this idea is, that when you 'Safe-Boot' a UNIX-like system, it's for real. It only boots the core modules, the extensions are ignored. With Windows, since all modules are part of a 'named-system', nothing is actually dropped in the startup, during a 'safe-boot. All that happens is that part of the exec-batch file is ignored (if there is one) normally involving some of the networking stuff. If there isn't one (like most Windows systems), tough luck, everything gets booted as always, and the networking becomes a single-stepper for diagnostic purpose. That's all. Even worse, Windows Users are totally dependent on what Microsoft supplies, and then the user has to tolerate all the extras that come in from Windows-Update, and then have to tolerate everything that comes in by the grace of applications authors you've actually paid for; and you can begin to understand the witches brew that results. The damn things gets buggier and buggier and buggier ... No amount of playing with the system, or cleanup, or repair tools can fix a system that has been extended almost to death. Windows literally corrupts itself over time. There used to be a webpage on the Microsoft website that pointed out that Windows systems should be restarted at least once a day, but that screen was eventually removed. Gee, I wonder why? It's interesting in that light, because if you think about your own usage of Windows, you will begin to remember that Windows gets more and more cobbled over time, and does not survive overtime well. A restart clears most of the cobbling, and all is well; for a while. These irritations are not present in any other system. And if anyone wants to bet on the applications available for Windows, let's keep a cool head. 90% of the Windows library is junk, and nobody uses it. Most of the rest, was invented originally for Macintosh. Those are clear facts. This includes the entire Adobe Library and MS-Word and MS-Excel. That is a long story in itself, but even Microsofts' Macintosh Business Unit used-to brag about these facts for years. But since Mrs. Cho left that unit, you don't hear it much anymore. I make this long post because I think this advertisement needs a rebuttal. This is only a partial rebuttal, there is much more. All factual, all correct; and all an indictment of virtually everything about Windows. Get away from Windows. Use something else. Virtually all versions of UNIX and Linux are free, and install on more that 80% of all Wintel hardware. I like to install UBUNTU-Linux on my Wintel hardware. Even MacOSX is built on top of FreeBSD-UNIX. If you want to have a computer with a great software library, buy a Macintosh. I'd rather run a 5-year-old Macintosh than a brand-new Windows system. Maybe they are a bit more expensive, from the outside looking in; just remember, nobody's Windows hardware sits on a display at the Museum of Modern Art. Macintosh has two that I know of. And Apple gets kudos for industrial design every year. They work hard to produce the Cadillac of computers. UNIX Systems, including Macs, are everywhere. Remember, there isn't a single Windows server used as a stock-market transaction system on Wallstreet. Period. Technical service approval ratings. Apple routinely measures that at more than 75% year after year. The nearest competitor is HP at 49% Still want to use a Wintel box? Apple is the only company in the World, that produces a consumer product that contains 12-cores of XEON chips ()yea I know about the Windows Servers with 24-cores and larger. But that's not a consumer product). There is much more, but this is already a windy piece, because Windows is a windy product. Full of holes, instabilities, poor programming practices, functions that alienate, service plans that serve Microsoft and little else, patches that fix nothing and create problems that require more patches, performance problems which are legion and cannot be fixed because they are inherent in the Windows. Etc, etc, etc .... I've done public lectures, and they go on for more than 3-hours, just talking about the absolute garbage that is contained in any version of Windows you wish to name. Get away from Windows. Just leave it behind and walk away. It's the only hope you have. Or, just stick with Windows so that you can say; "... yea I have that problem too ..." Heaven forbid some of you might escape that little club (grin).
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 24, 2015 Recommended
Lion tamers, Lion tamers; come one, come all!
We try to make sense of something that is all too rare. A anime with some true meaning. I speak of course, of "009-1" This anime is a product of 2006, and as such; creates very little that people under the age of 20 will actually 'get'. In other words, there will be complaints that the artwork is sub-par, or the soundtrack is a little simple. In other words, production values are not good enough to suit them. If everyone who ever said that, tried to do an anime before modern production software was available, then they'd have more appreciation for ... the art and science of making anime. After all, Japanese anime began in the 1910's, and did not become 'mainstream' until the 1980's (check out the very good article on the 'history of anime', in Wikipedia). That being said, most of us, over the age of 30, can appreciate even lousy production values; as long as the story holds water. This is because, putting everything else aside, the purpose of anime is to tell a story. While it cannot be denied that artwork and music can enhance a story, 'production values' are, by their definition, not a story based notion. These are often extras, that do not enhance the actual telling of a story. This now lead us all to '009-1'. This show is a misnomer. It is not about a war, exactly. It's real message is about war, generally. And its consequences. While the plot is based in an alternate reality, the consequences of parts of the story are lasting, and has an effect that weighs on, not only the characters; but the viewer as well. Our primary character, Mylene Hoffman; is the product of a war, that left her a refuge; eventually ending up in the Western Free World. With the aid of a government agency, she is not only hired, but bionically modified to enhance her survivability as an espionage agent. Her brother was abandoned, in a fashion that Mylene always regretted. Later she runs into him, now named Loki, working for the Eastern Bloc; and eventually both of them find out who each other is. And they find themselves still fighting the age-old struggles, against each other. Much regret from both individuals, and both try to give each other breaks from time to time. But in the end, neither one will quit their job, to find peace between themselves. This is a kind of sadness that is real, palpable, and happens every day; in real life. The flames of bonds of friendship or family, are often something that cannot be publicly recognized any longer. And yet we feel these regrets, that travel though our nightmares, like shadows of things seeming almost real, yet can no longer be touched. And we awake from the dream, knowing we touched that regret, but can't remember exactly what the cause was. And so dear readers, we have a story within a story. The primary story is the continuing struggle for dominance by the World Factions. The secondary story, stands much taller, and has more impact; for those of us with a strong enough soul to see the point intended by it. This secondary story is the story of many of us, who leave people behind; either voluntarily or by force. And regrets, for which there are many causes; and most of the time, leave us all scarred beyond the recognition of the people we left behind. 009-1, cannot be enjoyed; but the effort to discuss regrets brought about by conflicts; can be satisfying for those of us with the wit to see and feel. 009-1 is a very rare anime, and is courageously made; regardless of whether it was hoped to be a financial or artistic success or not. Because the authors had something to say, they felt the viewer should know. For the viewer that has the courage to see within himself, and find corollaries to their own personal history's, 009-1 might just be your anime. I give "009-1" a very strong 8.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 15, 2015
To LOVE-Ru
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
Lion Tamers, it's time to talk about "To LOVE-Ru".
Before I go any further, I want to point out, this show is utterly moronic, in almost every category. But there is no voting category for imbecilic anime creation. So I'm forced to put that on the table, up front and center. Does this mean I intend to rip this show a new hole in its' posterior? Not necessarily. It just means that this show is intended to be liked by folks that have appreciation for things that equate to unreal expectations. And there are times when that is appropriate behavior. For example, if you notice a multi-mile long ... asteroid approaching the planet you live on, and understand the consequences of this approaching doom-stone, you may just wish for a nice breezy day on the beach .... of another planet. That is clearly a good reason to put your mind in the 'make-a-wish' zone. To LOVE-Ru, is not mainly concerned with that kind of apocalyptic event, and so the wishful thinking now runs into the kind of thinking of; "... these folks are doing ... what, ... why? ..." So let's now move into the characters, almost all of which need some discussion (I'm going to deal only with some of the primaries, the secondary characters will take too much time): Rito Yuuki- I realize this kind of fellow turns a lot of teenage boys cold, but let's look at this kid with a little more sincerity. Rito is loyal, decent, polite, not excessively aggressive, and he's bashful around girls. He is in fact, exactly like the young fellows who often review this show and rip it a new one because of Rito; because they have all the same characteristics. They have them, but don't really want them. In other words, they want the girls to be attracted to boys that are abusive, obscene, non-intuitive, crass, rude, overly aggressive, pushy, loud and generally mean-spirited. I'm sorry to make this absolutely plain, but in real life, Rito will get the girl every time; in comparison to an abusive bastard every time. It's just too bad for you young folks that want things to be otherwise. Deal with real life, and try to extend that knowledge into your appreciation for anime. In other words, To LOVE-Ru got this part of its' story right. Rito is exactly like every other boy his age, in the real world, and just as shockingly non-adult. So he gets flustered around real girls, especially when a pretty girl is in very close proximity. Haruna Sairenji- Haruna is everything most of the critics of this show don't really like. Because she is the female version of Rito. She is: loyal, decent, polite, not excessively aggressive, and she's bashful around boys. Wow, there's a strange thing. And oh, I forgot; she's also cute as a bug in springtime. Strangely enough, girls have also been bashful and self-embarrassed around boys; for a very long time. Again, I realize boys don't like this kind of girl. They want to think that the more mature view is of a girl who will drag them behind a tree and do sexual favors on demand. This is because the boy is almost always to bashful to ask for that. Boys of this age group believe they are much more manly if they wait for the girl to suggest it for them, ... because the boy is already too much of a coward. As well he should be, at Rito's age. But in the end, we are all stuck with real life. Most girls don't behave that way. And strangely enough, when one finds a girl of that persuasion, the girl doesn't get the boy either. At least not for long. Again, To LOVE-Ru got this part right as well. The good girl, in real life; normally wins her hearts' desire, and ends up with a nice boyfriend, and even a fine husband. I know, I'm speaking sacrilege, but the truth is; the purpose of dating, meeting friends of the opposite sex, and socializing with them; is to to get married and start a family that will raise children that are worth having in society. The over-sexed girl gets that abusive fellow already described; and never, ever, produces anything worth having. Both die non-contributive to society, and almost never makes anything worthwhile in their own lives. These are the facts of real life. Lala Satalin Deviluke- Lala is a character designed in lala-land. She is pretty, slender and shapely, and she has a tail, and her bat wings stick out from the sides of her hat. She is in fact a 2-dimensional character with an equally simple personality. And for some very good reasons. Lala is a princess of a planetary empire, her father being an abusive bastard that can destroy pretty much whatever he wants, and uses that fact to his personal advantage. A clear case of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Her father is such a bastard, that the whole last set of episodes of To LOVE-Ru are all about a challenge designed to destroy the suitor to his daughter, Rito. Does he play fair? No, breaks even his own rules in order to win. In other words, Mister Deviluke lies, cheats and steals, even when he can win without doing so. What a piece of pond scum! One wonders why, in his infinite display of disreputable conduct, he doesn't just lay it on the line, and create a new family by sexually assaulting his daughter (collaborative pun intended). It is not outside his own personality. Lala however, is a fairly nice little girl (I can't figure out why she should be) that is quite intelligent, in an intellectual set of disciplines that leads to the creation of inventions that are never developed sufficiently to work the way they were designed. In other words, she's a dilettante, who never, ever; finishes anything she ever starts. Which leads us all to a really important question. And that is; "When she's finally gotten to the point where she would normally drop an invention, as it regards Rito; will she operate as she has in the past, or will she stick to something important, for once?" After all, she got involved with Rito because she didn't want daddy to pick her husband. She said as much in the show. Does this make her a bad person? No, far from it. It means she chafes on the abusive and domineering behavior of her father. She would like to strike out into real life on her own, and make choices for her future, by herself. She is, however, a product of her own life. She is a very rich, spoiled brat, who expects everything to work out nicely; and when it doesn't, either she builds her way out of it, or appoints someone responsible. Leaving the whole mess in something or someone else's lap. Like Zastin, as a true to life character in which this sort of thing actually happens, in To LOVE-Ru. The only reason Lala gets away with stuff on Earth, is because she is dealing with a whole school full of boys who are too bashful to say NO, and also full of girls who raise their own game because of Lala being a threat to the social structure that they had expected, and is now in jeopardy. Most of the student body are NOT the offspring of the idle rich, and Lala IS. It creates an artificially difficult struggle for everybody concerned. If she were to understand honorable conduct, and all that implies; Lala would go home to Deviluke, and fight it out with her father, take the throne away from him and rule the place as the reasonable and at least polite individual she is capable of. Instead, she runs away from home, hopes her father is too busy blowing up planets to bother about her absence (which of course, makes Lala an accessory to mass-genocide), gets involved with a boy that is almost reaching the point where he can confess his appreciation for a girl in his class; as happens in real life. Totally screws that up, invades another persons' household, creates extra duties and work for Rito's sister, blows up several relationships in school, that at the bottom of all is none of her business, involves her 'true love' in events containing aliens of no-ones' choosing, endangers Earth with the arrival of some of these ne'er-do-wells, and even endangers the alien doctor, that Mister Deviluke should marry. She's his kind of girl. In all of these events and scenarios, Lala Satalin Deviluke walks through her life with charm and great cheer, while leaving destruction in her wake. Everybody else has to clean up the messes Lala creates. But Lala is fine, although totally oblivious to almost everything else around her. The only good word that describes Lala is IRRESPONSIBLE, beyond any kind of redemption. The Audio/Music- While the music is cute, it is also mindless J-POP of the worst type. Having no meaning, in the sense that it might have meaning to the anime. I'm one of those people that think the music should say something about the anime. It doesn't. The inter-stigial music is adequate, but continues on the theme of "What theme might that be?" The dialog is read well, and the mindless commentaries by Lala are appropriate for the situations. This goes for most of the other characters. The Artwork- Actually not bad at all. It describes the actions well, and helps tell the story. Do we get some really fresh background parallax art? No, but it is otherwise adequate. The Story- The basic story plot is excellent, and it had a lot in the way of comedy potential. Potential is what it had. Only a fraction of the comedy potential was ever realized. Would have been much better if Lala's father was not quite as much pond scum. Lala should have had a little more intellect (oh I dunno, maybe like real human girls?). But I keep forgetting, this show is to please teenage boys with very little appreciation for 'the thinking stuff', while providing a female heroin that girls can feel 'speaks to them'. Yea, right. Really? Is that all Mankind has to look forward to? If so, Mister Deviluke will have little trouble destroying Earth. We'll be too busy looking up his daughters' cute little ass, to notice our cities being blown up for his personal amusement. I'm done with this review. I'm done with To LOVE-Ru. I actually sat through all the episodes. God what a trial! The show is entertaining in a certain mindless way, but I'm sorry if I'm one of those people that can't shut my brain off. I gave this colorful and entertaining piece of mindless pond scum a generous 4.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Feb 12, 2015
Rosario to Vampire
(Anime)
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Lion Tamers, gather round.
We take another look at "Rosario To Vampire". I will not be watching the second season, and I absolutely detest the manga of everything ever written. So for those of you who have an opinion about the second season, or manga in general; none of that will have any bearing on what I use as the source material for my review. Wie will be examining the anime of "Rosario To Vampire", and nothing else. The only reason I decided to initially start watching this anime was because it was on the list of anime published by 'Gonzo', the publishers of anime I like, such as ... "WitchBlade", and several that are pretty well rated by people that watch a lot of anime, like 'Gantz' and 'Full Metal Panic'. But publishing doesn't tell us the whole story does it? Curious however, for me; is the outright hatred, many of the reviewers, have for "Rosario to Vampire". And for that reason, I think a little balance is a very good thing. I am really beginning to detest comments like 'episodic', for one. This term is too often used as an attempt at a mild insult, as if it were a bad thing. Does no one seem to "Get" television? Some of the finest television, made in the U.S., were episodic. "Twilight Zone", "Outer Limits", "StarTrek (the entire television universe of series)", "Battlestar Galactica (both series)", "Babylon 5"; and dozens of others were, and still are entirely episodic. While many of these shows had story arcs within them, sometimes for a dozen episodes, at their base was still episode after episode. Some of which, if watched by themselves, were entirely awful. Not because it was an 'episode', but because at the end of that particular story, the episode itself didn't pass muster and should never have been made. Each one of the great television shows, had something in common. The sum-total of the product held up, even when they contained a few bad episodes. The stories held the attention of the viewer, over the seasons it was broadcast. The characters were consistent and true to themselves. And the music became the stuff of television history. But the largest mistake we make, as watchers of Japanese anime (other than those that actually watch anime in Japan on Japanese Television [because they're the only ones that actually will get this point]), is that we make a judgement about anime after we have marathon'd the whole 24+ episodes or so of a show, and then we have the audacity to get all huffy ... because it seems 'episodic'? I hate to burst everyone's bubble; but these shows were all meant, in the main, to be shown one at time on a weekly basis. Not continuously. And so, we get to the reviewers who have the nerve to use 'episodic', so they can sound like they know from where they speak. In other words, too many of us use this term as a crutch, as a trading coin on your belief system. Another term, that really gets me upset; then I'll quit on this topic. That term is "fan service". Look folks, most anime (including the genuine art-pieces), are done for one reason, and one only. And that's so a bunch of guys/gals can make a living at drawing pictures. Something they love. But an artist has to eat. So they choose material they think will attract a large enough demographic to make a living. So they tease a bit, and sometimes more than a bit, with a little view of skin; or the implication that we might see some. And the gender doesn't seem to matter (even when the targets are predominantly female, the point remains). If a person really has a problem with "fan service" and then he goes on to watch all of the episodes of an anime; one then has a legitimate right to question how strong the moral outrage really is. Even I'm guilty of being somewhat critical of "fan service", but only when there is the intention to harm a character by that contribution to the anime. In other words, did the 'fan service' lead to a strong beating, or rape, or a loss of reputation; or related ideas. If not, it's just good old advertising. When the TV advertisers stop using pretty girls to sell car oil, or car insurance, then we can start on issues like fan service. After all, does anybody really believe the short skirts used on the original "StarTrek" were a legitimate uniform? Does anybody really believe that 'Seven of Nine' looked like that because she was a Borg? Does anybody believe the girl in the red dress in "Battlestar Galactica" was wearing that because she was a Cylon? Moral outrage has its' place among the reviewers. No one should deny that. But moral outrage about something this minor; being blown out to something that requires condemnation, is beginning to appear a bit trite. Shakespeare had it right "... The reviewer doth protest too much, methinks ...". The real point of any anime, for the reviewer is; "Did I enjoy the show?" "Was I entertained?" "Was the music contributive to my enjoyment?" Did the voice actors contribute properly to that enjoyment? Did the artwork move the story along? These questions are relevant for everything from art-piece anime to straight out hentai pornography. And so, dear readers; I come back to "Rosario to Vampire". As is most of the "Gonzo" products, the artwork is and was , more than adequate. It moved the story along, and properly described every one of the main and secondary characters. Some of the female characters were drawn so well, that the fact that some of the characters were really sweet persons came through via that artwork. Did the voice actors do a good job capturing the audible essence of the character each was trying to portray? The answer is a resounding YES. I watched the dub version, and I have watched the sub version. I can report that the voicing of all the actors were excellent. Was the music good enough? The answer is yes and no. The interior music and soundtrack was quite good. This was especially entertaining, when using music to describe events dealing with the interior Vampire inside the person of Moka. However, I absolutely hated the opening theme music, and all of the end-title tracks. While they were light and airy musical pieces, they were totally not appropriate to the show. This anime had some really ghoulish elements, and the OP and ED music failed to lead the viewer to the appropriate conclusions. Was the story entertaining? While some parts of the show were a bit simplistic, or (wait for it, I'm gonna use a fancy word) hackneyed; in the main the story was quit good. Unlike many anime of this variety, this story actually does travel from a beginning, a middle and an end. And each part lends itself to an understanding that leads us to an understanding of the rationales that allow the actions in the next episode. Most episodes contain a lot of humor, and comedy. In fact most of the anime is a sitcom. And in the main, I like a well done sitcom. Like this one. I even liked the fact that as the show transpires, Mr. Aono's character matures, becomes more courageous, and so liked (for all the right reasons), that almost a half-dozen girls become a friendship harem. Okay, so there's a harem. So tell me a political candidate doesn't trot out a harem of girls to make a male candidate look good? Tell me a rock band at a concert doesn't hire a bevy of female beauties to stand in the front row? I especially enjoyed the 'crucifixion of Tsukune "Tsukki" Aono'. The cross used, was an historical artifact. Roman records clearly show that Jesus Christ was the first person ever crucified on a 'T' cross. All previous crucifixions were carried out on an 'X' frame. 'Rosario to Vampire' got it right, especially the symbolism that made this the first crucifixion of a Human in the monster schools' midst. And, as in history, for exactly the wrong reasons. In the end, we have a story that amplifies on notions like friendship, affection for your associates, trust and the reclamation of trust; for the people you love. Defense of people who are standing up for the Right, even at personal risk; and most of all; true love. From quarters, even Tsukki Aono did not see coming. Who knew that 'Red-Eyed Moka' would go to the mat for the very person she originally despised for being weak and useless? All of the previous, you will miss, if you never see (with an un-jaundiced eye) "Rosario to Vampire". I give this anime a strong 7.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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