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Jan 1, 2009
Ga-Rei Zero (directed by Ei Aoki of Kara no Kyoukai and Girls Bravo fame), is a prequel to Hajime Segawa's Ga-Rei, a manga in which two teenagers fight evil, may or may not fall in love, and mostly have a good time. Zero was obviously made to introduce more people to the series and get them to read the run-off-the-mill source material, but in the end, it entirely outclasses the manga itself.
Those are my thoughts on the entire Ga-Rei franchise in a nutshell. Like most viewers, I had never heard of the series before this animated prequel aired, but I tried reading some manga chapters
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afterwards to be able to put it all into perspective. Ga-Rei Zero starts off with two oddball episodes, designed to get the viewer hooked by means of suspense and gore. Those two didn’t turn out to be the show’s strongest points however. In the end, it was the for anime unusually convincing drama which makes it jump from the crowd. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and start with…
The story (Please note the story only starts come episode 3)
Zero takes place two years before the events of the manga. Here, Kagura Tsuchimiya is the heir to a powerful family of exorcists, who do battle with evil spirits and other such nasty supernatural things you don’t want to meet in a dark alley, or can’t because they wouldn’t fit in said alley. Why do they do this? Because it’s their duty! Moving on, Kagura moves in with another family of exorcists because her own father doesn’t have time to take care of his daughter and there she continues to grow as an exorcist (read: magical girl) with new-found sister Yomi by her side. But, evil has many forms! Dun-dun-duuun.
Yes, it’s thin, it’s standard, it’s not Jules Verne (in fact, I’d say it’s more like Shakespeare). But what Ga-Rei Zero does well is taking a simple premise which doesn’t need explaining (because it’s featured in at least 80% of the stories in this little industry) and run from there by covering subjects which the show’s biggest inspiration, Sailor Moon, leaves untouched. Zero is, besides a coming-of-age story, really about the bond between two specific characters, placed in an all too familiar (anime-)situation. The twist this show offers includes a lot of doubt, self-resentment and crying. Think of it as Evangelion if you will, though that might be a bit too extreme of an example.
The characters
Main cast – Kagura and Yomi, that’s what Ga-Rei Zero is about. I cannot stretch this enough. So, as one would expect, much time (of 12 episodes) is spent on the development of both main characters and it really, really pays off towards the end. Kagura fulfills the role of the empty shell (the Shinji) who has to deal with all sorts of stuff girls her age shouldn’t have to deal with, and though she finally makes some decisions near the end, she lets most of the show’s events wash over her completely. Which worked rather well, for me at least. One of the most vital aspects to Kagura’s personality is actually the extent to which she loves Yomi, and luckily, this is one of the things the creators got absolutely right. You will love Yomi, possibly more than Kagura herself. There’s just not a whole lot to hate about her; she’s a caring, endearing and beautiful older sister, who is strong in any conceivable way and will always think of her friends first without being a pushover. She’s the type of person the viewer can look up to, and that, again, is exactly how Kagura views her. As you can tell, it all comes together neatly. And because of that, it’s all the more painful when, well, certain things happen to our beloved duo near the end. Overall, character development on the two main characters is exceptionally well done and many key scenes are very well written. This is definitely the one part which carries the entire show.
Supporting cast – Good thing the focus is on Yomi and Kagura throughout the series then, because the supporting cast is absolutely laughable. There’s a half-naked guy here, with a white afro on his head ánd on his breast (think village elder from Hare + Guu) who speaks with an American accent and makes weapons out of teapots and refridgerators. There are twins here who both share the same name (Nabuu), have the vocabulary of a caveman, usually finish eachother’s sentences and present themselves in third person. It’s probably just me, but these are exactly the kind of characters I can’t stand, even if they’re voiced by Norio Wakamoto himself (the Nabuu brothers are, by the way). Other characters also seem to have been ripped entirely from a show with similar themes, Mai-HiME; a biker girl named Kasuga Natsuki and a certain mysterious, cynical, evil white-haired boy come to mind, but let’s not forget the magical girl squad team leader in a wheelchair and her female cohort either. It should be clear that this show doesn’t develop its minor characters, simply because it has only 12 episodes to fill. They’re a colourful bunch, I’ll give them that, but they’re absolutely not believable and I literally screamed in agony when the naked guy appeared in one of the most dramatic moments near the end.
Animation and sound
Animation – Definitely above average. The overall style is a little dark, but so is the story, so no problem there. The scenery is average, some CG won’t blend with the surroundings completely and stillscreens are being used a lot near the end, but the animation is almost flawless and everything looks consistent. As for character designs there’s once again a huge gap between the main cast and supporting cast; Kagura and Yomi’s appearances fit their characters spot-on while some other characters could’ve looked a little less silly. Then again, because of that, this is definitely not the sort of show where you have trouble telling the characters apart. Monster designs are a little uninspired at times, but the show doesn’t go into great depth as to what drives these enemies and where they come from anyway; they’re exorcist fodder and their appearance tells us the same thing. Overall though, Ga-Rei Zero is certainly pleasing to the eye.
Sound – Not really omnipresent, but the show definitely contains some carefully constructed tunes to amplify the many moments of both action and drama. Especially in the first two episodes the creators had some fun playing with sound effects and so these are also well done. I wouldn’t listen to the OP and ED songs on my iPod, but they’re definitely solid and go well with the show, not only because they’re sung by Kagura and Yomi’s voice actors. As mentioned before, Emperor Wakamoto is in this show and so I will have to give “sound” at least an 8, but the voice-acting overall is pretty solid. The only gripe I have with this aspect of the show may be Kagura’s voice, but then again there’s not a lot of teenage girls in anime whose voice I do like. Yomi on the other hand is really well done and so is her boyfriend, Noriyuki.
Enjoyment
Pure, old-fashioned enjoyment in this show comes from battle choreography. The fighting in Ga-Rei Zero looks absolutely spectacular; it’s fast, it’s clever, but also a little… underdeveloped. Most action anime spend a lot of time talking about strategies, specific moves, they discuss their enemies’ strengths and weaknesses, they get new moves, etcetera. Zero doesn’t have all that. Fights never take too long, either, as opposed to in many a shounen title (let me remind you again Zero only runs for 12 episodes). While some may be glad to hear this, it really has its downsides in that you never know what a character is thinking or trying to do. There are no rules. You just wait until one of two sides has been beaten to a bloody pulp, because before that, nothing is certain. If certain characters from this show would play Counter-Strike, they’d be kicked for hacking all the damn time.
So to sum it all up
Ga-Rei Zero suffers of two things. Firstly, it’s made as an advertising prequel to a pretty underwhelming manga series. Why that is a problem will be made painfully obvious to the viewer in episode 12, but I can already you that you shouldn’t expect to get satisfactory closure, as the producers want you to read the manga sequel as well. Second, the show only has time to fully develop two characters, which it does a great job at, but there’s a whole lot more to the Ga-Rei universe than Zero has a chance of presenting to the viewer (I mentioned the 12 episode limit several times before). The creators shouldn’t have had any problem filling up 26 episodes with Kagura and Yomi’s tale and in case they did, it probably would’ve have been one of my favourites of all time.
But hey, tough luck. Even if its drawbacks scare you, Ga-Rei Zero is still one of the best anime all year (2008) and I think despite its heavy focus on human drama, there’s still plenty to like here for viewers with varying tastes. Of course, there’s only one way to find out if the show suits your tastes and that’s just watching it yourself. I hope this wall of text has informed you well, I’m giving Zero a rare 9 out of 10 because I’m sure these 12 episodes of animation will stay with me for far longer than most.
If there's anything you did not like about this review, anything you did like, or anything that just caught your attention for no particular reason, I welcome all feedback on my profile.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 23, 2008
Kure-nai is one of the more peculiar shows of the 2008 spring anime season. It's not Kaiba in all its glorious artfaggotry but it's definitely not Soul Eater either. Most viewers can already gather from the first episode that over-the-top shounen battles are not what this show is about. Basically, Kure-nai is a story about two characters growing up, while discovering which kind of power is the kind that really matters. The kind that really matter accroding to Kure-nai is not a Kamehameha or a Rasengan, but the ability to make your own decisions, finding your place in society on your own and upholding your
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values at any time. You know the deal.
Main character Shinkurou Kurenai could definitely use some of this "power" as he is an orphan, having lost both of his parents in a terrorist attack. He's currently employed by a woman by the name of Benika Juuzawa, working as a so-called "dispute mediator". Which is a dangerous job; Shinkurou's activities include beating up Yakuza and protecting various people from harm and even though he's only 16 years old, he does a great job of it. In hand-to-hand combat, you do not want to face Shinkurou since he's been trained in a secret, clan-specific type of martial arts and has some type of special weapon in his body to boot. One day he asks Benika to assign him a more complex mission, hoping to impress her and get some extra money out of it while he's at it. Benika then wants Shinkurou to protect a little girl who appears to be the heir to a traditional family called the Kuhouins. Only later Shinkurou finds out about the cruel ways of the Kuhouins and why exactly he was chosen to protect the girl.
Now the one thing which carries this story is the bond between its various characters, most notably between Shinkurou and Murasaki Kuhouin, the seven-year-old girl. This relationship is so touching it really leads you to believe this is a romance anime about these two characters, but as one is only 7 and the other is 16, you can see this is not the case. It is really hard to describe how these characters exactly relate, but it is a very interesting bond they share nonetheless. Both characters possess loveable personalities, Murasaki being the cheeky preschooler with an extraordinary take on modern society and Shinkurou being the caring and somewhat indecisive pushover who slowly takes the form of an strong and admirable parental figure. Kure-nai is a story about its characters and the characters are great. Not to say the rest of the show is bad, but this aspect really saves it from mediocrity.
The first half of the story is decidedly lighthearted as we see Shinkurou and Murasaki interact with their environment in a slice-of-life sort of fashion. This is where the 8 for "enjoyment" comes in. While even these early episodes aren't particularly humorous I found them very enjoyable, once again thanks to lively characters such as Shinkurou's roommates Tamaki and Yamie. After a while though, the happy-go-lucky atmosphere grows old and especially episode 6 felt particularly forced. From that episode on however, the story turns gritty, new information regarding Murasaki's family comes to light and the family itself shows up as well, in their attempts to take Murasaki back at all costs. Shinkurou's situation becomes pressured and he starts to question his own strength after realizing how this job was probably more than he could handle. After seeing Shinkurou has grown in his determination to finish what he started and protect the ones he cares for most, Benika also finally starts to show her human side. By the end of the story the viewer will also find out a little about what exactly drives her, though it's really kind of an afterthought compared to Shinkurou's story.
The final episodes however, are undeniably silly at times. At some point there is a carchase in the snow which in my opinion was entirely unnecessary to the plot and really was there just to entertain action-fans who stuck with the show until the very end for some unknown reason. The ending itself was pretty powerful in my opinion because it was unexpected and it made me think if the characters had really made the right decisions, however at the same time it was very unrealistic and it would've been much better once again, if Brain's Base would've just toned down on the violence and ever-apparent murderous intent everywhere in the final episode. There was much more hand-to-hand action than usual near the end, which wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't for two things:
Firstly, it was important to the story the combat was done unarmed, to really see the link between one's physical strength and ones inner strength. This has been done really well overall, but when you really look at just the story and not all the themes woven into it, it really begs the question why not a single person opted for a firearm throughout the show. One 9mm handgun could've easily turned the tables on Shinkurou.
Secondly, this show is not Gurren Lagann. Art-wise, Kure-nai looks excellent, but the animation quality was rather inconsistent. As mentioned before, there weren't a lot of challenges for animators to overcome as the show mainly revolves around its dialogues, but when things heated up, the animation disappointed me greatly. It always caught my attention at the moments that really mattered, and that's never a good thing. At first I was really impressed by Kure-nai's visuals but the aforementioned issues turned my rating down to a low 7.
Lastly, let's discuss sound. The first thing that will definitely catch the viewer's attention in Kure-nai is the OP. Not because of the music, but because of the visual style. If you want to know what I'm talking about you really have to go and see it for yourself. My problem with this OP is that while it's certainly not generic (which is almost always a good thing), it doesn't suit the show's feel. At all. The ED is a little better but far from a reason to watch the show in itself. It seems Brain's Base realized this after a while and they decided to fix this. How? By completely removing the OP and ED. That's right. From around episode 7 on, this show has no OP or ED. Which is sort of lazy. The last time I can remember watching an anime with no OP was FLCL.
However, FLCL still has its excellent ED and overall J-rocky soundtrack going for it. Kure-nai only has some instrumental tracks which are hard to notice while watching, but most of the time there's just silence. Which also works. In that regard, Kure-nai's "sound" isn't all that bad, but the Kure-nai OST is definitely not a must-have.
Overall, Kure-nai didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it to. With this show, Brain's Base does some things not many studios have, but the the themes and morales that encompass the entire show sometimes really cause its credibility and plot to suffer. At some point, Kure-nai turns almost Shakespearian in its approach, with long, complex dialogue, even from seven-year-old Murasaki. I'd say these are things that are good to know beforehand, and that is also the reason I write this review. I hope that after reading this review, you will have an idea of what to expect from Kure-nai and perhaps you will be able to enjoy it even more than I did, because I had to figure all this out along the way.
Kure-nai's a great change of pace from the more generic shounen and high-school series, but in the end one's opinion of this show is really something personal. Shinkurou and Murasaki's story was touching enough to me, but there's no saying if this goes for all viewers out there. Still, if this sounds like your kind of show, don't miss out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 21, 2008
Mai-HiME, from animation studio Sunrise, is a moderately successful anime series which spawned multiple sequel series and manga adaptations and has assembled a pretty dedicated fanbase over the years. In Mai-HiME the viewer follows the daily activities of a girl named Tokiha Mai, who just recently entered a particularly wealthy private high school (despite being an orphan and having to financially support her younger brother who is terminally ill). One day Mai finds out she possesses extraordinary powers and she comes into contact with other "HiMEs", girls who wield the same power she does. As you can already see, the story is surprisingly reminiscent of
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Sailor Moon's, though Sunrise definitely tried to make Mai-HiME more than a generic Magical Girl anime. At this point however, I am still in doubt as to whether they succeeded. From my own experiences I tend to say "no", but then why would so many reviewers rate Mai-HiME a 10?
Mai-HiME is a peculiar show in that it consists of two distinct halves: thirteen episodes of slice-of-life, followed by thirteen episodes of more serious business and some pretty heavy drama. A mediocre first half and an supposedly "amazing" second half. Let's start off with the first thirteen episodes.
Easily the most enjoyable episode in the first half of the series is the very first. Everything about the show is still fresh, new and spectacular, though a bit ridiculous. Though not particulary promising, I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the fist episode.
The bad thing is: the twelve episodes that follow are much, much worse. You'd think that after getting to know the characters and some of the lore, you'd grow to understand more of what exactly is going on and you'd be much more upset if a character, for example, died. Well surprisingly, that's not the case. The first half of Mai-HiME is so incredibly uninspired and, most of all, boring, you'd wish some of the characters would just die to move the plot along. But they don't. They keep on being the same generic anime character they were the episode before, they keep showing off their panties, making wordjokes and being generally unfunny, to a point where I dropped the show. I couldn't go on. A friend of mine recommended the show to me and he told me that come episode 13, things would have a turn for the better. I was at episode 12 and yet I could not reach the second half. In the end, I skipped episode 12 entirely, hoping I hadn't missed out on anything. Looking back now, I don't think I have either.
Now don't get me wrong. I use the word "slice-of-life" as if it's something satanic, but that's not my point. I've been through 100 episodes of Naruto filler and Azumanga Daioh and Minami-ke are still some of my favourite shows. Slice-of-life (the genre we've all been referring to for half of our anime since Wikipedia told us this is the correct word) is fine with me. It's just that the first 13 episodes of Mai-HiME were worse than probably any anime I'd ever seen. I was annoyed by the characters (I'm looking at you, Mikotoy), annoyed by the generic and predictable plot, annoyed to a point where I was screaming in front of my PC. Torture is the word. Yet, I rate the show a 5 ("average"). I've think I've kind of gotten my point across for the first half of the show, so now let's move on to the better stuff, shall we?
In episode 13, something happened indeed. What exactly happened I'm not willing to spoil, but the show took a turn for the better. For the first time in the series I saw some characters evolve, interact like human beings. The characters are what is supposed to carry Mai-HiME as a whole, and had so far really disappointed me, so I was really glad to see this happen. The most enjoyable aspect of the episodes that followed were still the battles which took place, the action scenes, but come episode 19 the show reached a new high. In this episode, Mai had finally evolved into something which could be considered a "strong" character. She finally made me feel her pain, even if just a little, and at that point I thought: this has potential.
What I also thought was: what took them so long!? Was all the slice-of-life bogus really necessary? Did Sunrise think I'd grow to love the characters more after seeing Mikoto bitch about food for the gazillionth time? Imagine this: In a second season of Azumanga Daioh/Minami-ke/Love Hina, all the girls gain special powers to fight off random monsters. And then the directors expect you to feel bad when Osaka/Kana/Naru dies after an overly dramatic battle sequence. Mai-HiME is kinda like that.
Still, for some reason, by episode 19, I cared for (some of) the characters, I wanted to know where they came from, what they'd been through to get here, I was interested in their story. That's right, I was psyched to further discover the world this anime took place in. I kept searching for answers in the 7 episodes that were left, I wanted to know what drove these characters, what their motives actually were. And by Steven Seagall, did those episode leave a lot to be desired.
It's as if Sunrise said: "Motives? Motives are for losers."
Allright, so Mai had a motive. Sort of. Natsuki Kuga had a motive, too. But that's it. The aforementioned Mikoto for example, didn't really seem to have a history at all. She just acted like a preschooler and so her motive was: "I'm a preschooler, this is how preschoolers act." A character perhaps even worse than Mikoto was Shiho-chan, a psycho loli with special powers who wanted Mai dead for supposedly falling in love with her "Nii-san." Apparently she thought this matter was more important than the fate of humanity. I guess there are sometimes characters like that, but from my point of view it just didn't make sense at all. As for another character (naming her would be a spoiler), Sunrise didn't even bother. This character turned out to be an absolute psycho with no values or reason whatsoever. Motives? "I'm a psycho. Now I will kill you."
Never have I seen a show with so many cheap, unrealistic characters who just fight because the story asks for it. And hey, that's fine. Same goes for Dragonball Z. But if the characters don't carry the show, what's left? You can't count on the story here, either. Enjoyment? The only thing I got out of the show was utter frustration.
As for the last episode: kill me. Compared to this, the End of Evangelion made perfect sense and Akagi's ending was particularly satisfying. It was all the more proof Sunrise themselves never had any idea where they were taking this story to begin with and thus it all ended in a horrible fashion.
So, let's discuss the technical aspects of the show. The art in Mai-HiME was so-so, the animation had no noticeable flaws but really didn't really break any new ground. The music is supposed to be one of the high points of the show, but I can't say I agree. The only background music I can still remember was rather annoying and the OP is just laughable. On the other hand, sometimes when the drama sets in, I do remember the music setting the tone pretty nicely and I admit I have the ED stored on my harddrive. Finally, the voice-acting here is pretty much standard fare. Though a bit too typical for my tastes at times, it really did suit the show. In the end, the best things about Mai-HiME are its sound and visuals.
Long story short: Mai-HiME can do nothing but disappoint the viewer. If you don't have really low standards or someone forcing you to watch, there's no saying if you'll even make it through the first half of the show. When you do arrive at episode 19 and finally get drawn into the story, the ending will definitely disappoint you once again, leaving you with hundreds of questions which are never answered, not even in the following seasons. After having read this, you should already know that I'm being nice by rating Mai-HiME a 5. Then again, maybe it's just me. There are definitely people who enjoyed this show. As a hater, all I can say is that even if you'd be the person who could enjoy Mai-HiME, there is still an endless list of anime you'd enjoy even more. I really do advise you not to waste your time.
P.S.: Do not, under any circumstance, watch Mai-Otome. Even fans agree. It's a disgrace to a disgrace.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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