- Last Online10 hours ago
- GenderMale
- BirthdayMay 29, 1985
- LocationNew York state, United States
- JoinedSep 22, 2008
Also Available at
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Sep 18, 2018
24 of 24 episodes seen
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6
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
This latest installment of the Lupin III franchise adds some new elements to Lupin's thieving adventures that helps freshen up the now 50 year old franchise. First, it explores Lupin dealing with the challenges of modern technology such as the Internet and smartphones. This adds some new challenges for Lupin to deal with as technological elements like hackers, webcams, drones, and social media serve to complicate Lupin's crimes in the modern era. Yet in spite of this and unlike his companions who feel overwhelmed by the changing times at points, Lupin is shown to be quite adaptable in changing technologies and gains a new companion
in the form of teen hacker Ami who aids him at a number of points throughout Lupin III: Part V.
The second element that helps make this series a unique one in the Lupin III franchise is that it actually takes time to exploring the relationship dynamics with the members of Lupin's gang. This is quite different from many past installments of Lupin III that mostly focused either on Lupin's thievery, dealing with a worst enemy threat, lusting for Fujiko, or evading Zenigata. With the challenges everyone faces from changing technologies, the members of the gang also come to question what sort of bonds they each have with one another in their connection with Lupin, this especially getting some interesting perspective with Lupin and Fujiko's neverending on and off relationship with one another. This new focus helps to add some new dimension to these characters since older anime fans would mostly identify them from the standard character types they exhibited from past installments of the Lupin III franchise.
In regards of plotting, Lupin Part V is mostly similar to Lupin Part IV in that it features ongoing plot developments throughout its entire series run. This series is divided up into several arcs where Lupin and his gang are challenged in some form with whatever big adventure they are involved in revolving the mentioned themes above, carrying a solid balance of serious and amusing moments throughout each arc. With the 24-episode run time, each character has enough time to get their own spotlight of focus throughout the series, this even including series character Ami who gets a fair amount of development throughout the series as she breaks out of her introverted shell. Outside of the series arcs, Lupin: Part V also has the occasional episodes serving as buffer between arcs that have the tone of the episode be similar to that from past Lupin III TV anime, serving as a homage of sorts to past Lupin III works as long-time fans of the franchise can pick up on what series is being portrayed through the color of Lupin's jacket.
Overall, I was quite entertained with what this latest addition to the Lupin III franchise had to offer. It added in some new story elements that helped freshen up the franchise's typical story formula, while retaining the ongoing story developments offered from Part IV and having the occasional episode serving as a homage to past Lupin anime. If you've been a longtime fan of the Lupin franchise, this is a definite recommendation I would suggest you try to watch at some point.
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Sep 15, 2018
1 of 1 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Big Fish and Begonia may have you drawing parallels to Studio Ghibli films and Avatar: The Last Airbender with its visuals and elements of its premise. But in spite of this, this Chinese animated film does quite a beautiful job at establishing its own identity in exploring a focus on love and sacrifice with the challenges faced by Chun to resurrect the soul of a young human man who saved her life during a venture into the human world.
The obvious thing that was a highlight for me with Big Fish and Begonia was the animation. Outside of the apparent drawing style being inspired by Ghibli
films, this film features highly detailed and beautiful scenic shots that are pleasing on the eyes and take place in a number of locales that include the spirit world that as Chun's home and the sea in which she meets Kun within the human world. In addition, it features an impressive merging of 2-D cel-shaded and 3-D computer-generated animation that blends seamlessly with one another during some of the film's more elaborate animation sequences, a feat that is hard to replicate in many animated films as the CG typically sticks out like a sore thumb when used. The film also maintains consistently fluid movement throughout its run, having many elaborate sequences that are able to maintain the elaborate visual details of its scenery and characters without any drop in quality or noticeable animation shortcuts.
Moving onto storytelling, Big Fish and Begonia does a great job within its 100-minute runtime to offer solid world-building of the spirit world that Chun lives in and developing its themes of love and sacrifice that our heroine faces in protecting Kun's soul. The film's world is inspired through a number of ancient Chinese and Taoist legends and stories that dabble into supernatural and magical elements, this being apparent in some of the film's themes focusing around resurrection and reincarnation. As for the story of the film, it revolves around Chun's admiration of the human world leading her to make a large risk to save Kun that jeopardizes her world's stability due to Kun's presence and her place within it. Without spoiling too much, the journey leads Chun to reflect on what path she wishes to choose for herself in life and make a great number of sacrifices to ensure Kun's safety and return him to the human world. Outside of Chun, other characters are introduced in the film to aid or deter Chun's efforts to protect Kun, though all said characters have justifications in their actions more than simply existing as a story element in Chun's adventure.
Overall, I must admit I was quite impressed with what I seen from Big Fish and Begonia as I believe this is the first Chinese animated titles I've had a chance of seeing. While some may draw parallels to Ghibli films with it as mentioned, it still stands on its own two feet with creating an engaging adventure with Eastern supernatural elements and many sacrifices being made by Chun to fulfill her goal of ensuring Kun's resurrection. I would strongly recommend checking this film out if you happen to come across it.
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Aug 31, 2018
1 of 1 episodes seen
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4
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
Before I start my review, please be aware my review covers my thoughts for all six films of the Digimon Tri film series. That said, on with the review.
Digimon Tri serves as a continuation of the Digimon Adventure series featuring the Digidestined as teens where they reunite with their partner Digimon to combat a mysterious computer virus that is causing Digimon to go berserk and tearing portals between reality and the Digital World for the berserk Digimon to wreck havoc. Outside of the eight original Digidestined, they are joined by a new classmate named Meiko Mochizuki and her partner Digimon, Meicoomon.
Digimon Tri has its fair
share of ups and downs throughout its six-movie series run. The first three films of the series actually offer up the best quality of Tri's run serving to reconnect older fans to their favorite characters and Digimon from the Adventure TV series (minus the Adventure 02 children), while adding on some new developments faced by the Digidestined children as they deal with the challenges of growing up. At varying points in the film, Taichi and the other Digidestined have their own different challenge affecting them from the developments of their adventure or their high school lives that affect them to varying degrees. From dealing with personal flaws to overcoming self-conflict, the film does a solid job with devoting further development to them.
The new characters of Meiko and Meicoomon are a bit of a mixed bag with their addition to Tri. On the one hand, they play a rather significant role with driving the major plot of the film series that leads to some interesting developments in exploring the partner dynamics between the human Digidestined and their Digimon partners. On the other hand, their characters leave quite a bit to be desired as Mei is the archetypal shy and nervous glasses girl who doesn't really grow much out of the character type, and Meicoomon doesn't have much to work with as a character beyond her serious developments toward later in Tri that the film series tries playing up as tragic, yet had me feeling rather indifferent to her situation due to her lack of dimension as a character.
The major crux of Tri and the driving force behind its existence has to do with the mysterious virus and wormholes affecting reality and the Digital World. While I won't spoil too much, all I'll say is what is ultimately revealed behind the cause surrounding both developments and the reasons behind them are rather weak and felt lazily thought out in motivations and execution. Concepts from prior Digimon seasons are brought up, yet Tri haphazardly jumps around them and doesn't smoothly integrate them into the film in a coherent fashion as they felt tacked on just for the sake of making a nod to a long-time Digimon fan or to add padding for the runtime of any of the films. Worst of all, Tri leaves things unresolved for a certain villainous character's presence as he is still at large by the end of the film series, implying he may make a return in future installments of the Digimon franchise.
In regards of presentation, Digimon Tri is a mixed bag. Scenery is vivid with a decent amount of detail and character designs sport more polish and detail than the original Adventure TV seasons, especially in regards to the updated designs of the now teenage Digidestined. However, the animation quality is rather subpar as animation shortcuts are usually milked and character model quality often degrades during action scenes when the animators attempt to put more fluid movement into them.
As a fan of the first Digimon Adventure series, I must admit that I'm rather disappointed in this film series. While offering up some solid developments with the human Digidestined and their Digimon partner dynamics, the main conflict of Tri felt rather sloppy in execution and development as events progressed in the film series. Plus for a movie, the production quality left much to be desired. Overall, Digimon Tri is a rather mixed package with what it offers up for older and newer generations of Digimon fans.
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Jul 20, 2018
1 of 1 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Ideon: Be Invoked serves as an alternate retelling to the final several episodes of the TV anime when it was abruptly cancelled the year prior before Sunrise could wrap up the anime's plot. The film serves to wrap up events in the escalating conflict between the human crew of the Ideon and the alien Buff Clan.
Be Invoked starts where the TV anime left off in depicting Karala's confrontation with her father before the Ideon's power surges upward in response to the hostility between both factions. From then on, the film doesn't let up in showing how these hostilities result in an all-out final conflict between
the Ideon crew and Buff Clan. The film is well regarded by mecha anime fans for being the high point of Tomino's "Kill Em All" moniker and it definitely shows with the high kill count seen throughout this film as not all characters are safe from suffering a violent death in the ensuing final conflict of this series. While I won't spoil how things ultimately conclude with Be Invoked, I will say that the ending is rather fitting considering how events had escalated and is a poignant showing of the ultimate consequences of war. The impact of the film is reduced somewhat in that the limited depth on the Buff Clan had me caring less for how things pan out with them. But I would at least say the film is a large improvement over how the TV series concluded.
Visually, Be Invoked is a considerable improvement over the TV anime with its more cleaner details and fluid animation. This helps make the action scenes more engaging to see in the conflict between the Ideon and the Buff Clan with action sequences including gun fights and mecha action with both sides. A number of the character designs are still a product of their time such as with Cosmo's afro and the attire of the Buff Clan, but I suppose this is to be expected from an early 80s anime.
Overall, I would say Be Invoked made for a more satisfying conclusion to Ideon than its TV anime, and I can certainly see where it served as inspiration for later mecha titles like Evangelion with the chaos that ensued throughout the film. If you seen the Ideon TV anime and are looking for a more proper conclusion to the series, Be Invoked is as fitting as you will get out of Ideon.
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Jul 19, 2018
39 of 39 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
Following his work on the famous Mobile Suit Gundam, director Yoshiyuki Tomino moved on to direct what is yet another one of his famous works in the mecha genre with Ideon, an entry in the super robot genre focused on humanity's clash with the alien Buff Clan by utilizing the titular mecha of the series.
Personally for me, Ideon felt like a step down with what Gundam contributed in being one of the grandfathers of the "real robot" anime genre, though has some glimmers of potential. Whereas Gundam took the time to explore its world and offered enough fleshing out of both the Federation and Zeon
factions to show both had their morally grey areas, the same can't really be said for Ideon to a good extent. While a number of the human characters do get some fleshing out like Cosmo and Bes, nearly all members of the Buff Clan remain as two-dimensional characters in conflict with the human crew of the Ideon. Also, the series mostly focuses on the Ideon crew's conflict with the Buff Clan, with the latter continually spawning "mecha of the day" plots to attempt getting the Ideon in their possession and killing its human crew. Not helping matters is that it does take the series nearly a dozen episodes to start picking up steam with offering up some story development.
And said story development does gradually start to deliver if you can survive past Ideon's earlier episodes. Later episodes of the series offer some interesting twists in the anime's story as the Ideon's crew start to learn more about the mecha's mysterious origins and question the very force that empowers it. Some solid character development is offered with the character of Karala, a Buff Clan member who defects from her race to join the human Ideon crew and develops a relationship with Bes. Also, the anime tosses in some twists to the "robot of the day" formula for later episodes when the Ideon crew also have to evade apprehension from human military forces who want to claim Ideon's power for themselves or assume the crew is in league with the Buff Clan. Still, this doesn't stop the formulaic plot setup and largely shallow members of the Buff Clan from rearing their heads throughout Ideon's run and the anime is also left abruptly unresolved during a major point in the anime's plot thanks to the series abruptly being cancelled during the time it aired. However, this issue would be resolved a year later with the release of Ideon's film sequel, Be Invoked.
Visually, Ideon hasn't aged all that well. The character designs are a product of their time with the seemingly disco vibe that many characters sport with their appearance like Cosmo's afro and the Buff Clan's clothing looking like anything you may seen worn in retro sci-fi titles like The Jetsons and Flash Gordon. The animation quality can vary from looking terrible to decent during battle scenes, which are mostly not too spectacular to see for their choreography due to how slow and played out they are.
Overall, I suppose my reception to Ideon is mixed. While touches of Tomino's story direction are on display in later episodes to make the series somewhat engaging, its flaws still stick out like a sore thumb compared to other mecha titles of the time period he directed like Gundam and Aura Battle Dunbine. Still as I hear Be Invoked is what is Ideon's most memorable use of Tomino's "Kill Em All" moniker, I suppose I'll be continuing my viewing of Ideon by checking out the film.
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Jul 8, 2018
6 of 6 episodes seen
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7
people found this review helpful
Preliminary
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
Set an unknown number of years following FLCL, FLCL Progressive focuses on middle-school student Hidomi dealing with growing pains, while becoming entangled in a conflict between Haruko and a new alien named Jinyu as the two seek out the great power coming from Hidomi for their own differing reasons.
Being connected to the original FLCL, Progressive certainly had some big shoes to fill in trying to make as much of a strong impression as the classic series did in mixing up manic comedy with exploring coming-of-age themes. I was initially cautious hearing news of the series having new seasons made as I felt the original series
told all it needed to with Naota's story and was concerned if it could explore any further with the franchise, especially with the number of recent titles based on older properties that I've had an underwhelming response to. Fortunately, my concerns were expunged when I got a chance to watch through Progressive as it actually does quite a bit to establish its own identity over the original FLCL.
The coming-of-age focus found with FLCL is still retained in Progressive with its exploration on new character Hidomi. Being in middle school, Hidomi is at a different point in life compared to Naota as she copes with her own growing pains and her perspective is a bit more darker compared. She prefers to disconnect her from her surroundings by regularly wearing a pair of headphones and she has some rather dark dreams showing her feelings on reality due to some family troubles. Throughout the series, Hidomi is shown to gradually change her personality throughout the series thanks to the chaotic adventure she is roped into from Haruko and Jinyu's conflict with one another, demonstrating changes to her personality and becoming more active at engaging with others.
As for the trademark comedy of FLCL, it is still there albeit not as over-the-top and a little more subdued within Progressive. Haruko still displays her nuttier side as a front to mask her true motives and the show has its bizarre moments pop up, but it is nowhere as absurd as the original series where you have the infamous animated manga sequences or breaking of the fourth wall. I've seen some fans of the original FLCL criticize this quite a bit in Progressive considering the manic comedy of the original series was a trademark for it. But considering the somewhat more darker and serious feel of Progressive compared to the original series, I felt the more subdued humor worked appropriately for Progressive considering the show's focus being more on how overwhelming a teenager's mind can be coping with growing up, compared to approaching adolescence within the original FLCL.
As for the major plot, the crux of it involves Haruko and Jinyu's conflict over Atomsk's power, with the latter trying to prevent Haruko from using Hidomi as a means to lure the Pirate Lord out. In a unique instance for an anime, FLCL Progressive makes use of its ED sequence to show the rather unique connection that Haruko and Jinyu have with one another and I'd at least implore folks to watch it at least once since it offers some major fleshing out of what led to Jinyu being a relevant character within Progressive. Anyway, Progressive's plot is fairly straightforward with Hidomi's growing pains and Haruko and Jinyu's conflict, until the anime's second half when factions from the original series like Medical Mechanica and the Bureau of Interstellar Communication make their presence felt. This is where FLCL Progressive's comedy is at its most manic with the many events being played out with character and faction conflicts. While it may be a treat for fans of the original series, this can make the plot convoluted at points for newer fans of FLCL to approach since they may not be as familiar with events from the original series considering the 15-plus year divide between both titles debuting.
Presentation wise, FLCL Progressive retains the artwork style of the original OVA series albeit with a bit more polish and detail with Production I.G. at the helm of animating it. It still makes use of a number of different animation styles at points to hammer in the show's themes, this notably shown in Hidomi's dreams that can be quite dark and macabre due to reflecting the grim view Hidomi has on confronting reality. The Pillows return to provide music for FLCL Progressive's soundtrack as a mix of new and old songs are provided as insert tracks for the series that still work nicely to accompany the anime's key scenes and are still memorable to listen to over 15 years after the original FLCL.
Overall, I would say FLCL Progressive certainly defied whatever concerns I had going into it as a follow-up to an older anime title. The series is able to establish its own unique identity in exploring a teenager's perspective to growing up, while retaining the themes and comedy of the original FLCL and further exploring the franchise's world. If you were a fan of the original FLCL OVA series, I would strongly recommend giving this series a look.
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Jul 7, 2018
24 of 24 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
Darling in the Franxx is a mecha anime set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is fighting against a mysterious alien threat called the klaxosaurs using mecha called the Franxx that are piloted by a pair of boy-girl teenage pilots. The main focus of this conflict is on Hiro, a former mech pilot who finds himself struggling with being incapable of piloting any of the Franxx until he partners up with the aggressive Zero-Two to pilot the Franxx called Strelizia, which has acquired a bad rep for killing any male pilot who partners with Zero-Two in fighting with it.
There are quite a number of issues
that Darling in the Franxx suffers from throughout the span of its run that make it a fun mess to watch through. Suppose the first major issue I should focus on is the show's attempts at trying to seem more deep than it really is. Being set in a post-apocalyptic future, Darling's society is seemingly dystopian with its children pilots given life through genetic engineering and sexual reproduction being seemingly forgotten by humanity in spite of both genders still having reproduction organs. The series is rather blatant in attempting to try conveying sexual themes such as the value of human relationships and the creation of life through intercourse, this being especially notable with the names of the male and female pilots of the Franxx being the plant reproductive parts of stamen and pistil respectively. Rather than come across as an insightful look on valuing human relationships, Darling in the Franxx's efforts of portraying these themes come off feeling more pretentious, especially with the other issues surrounding the series.
Another major issue with Darling is originality. Granted, this may seem a bit unfair as many anime have story elements and character types they have pulled from past titles. But for quality ones that do such, they are capable of creating their own unique spin on these tropes that can make them memorable and engaging to watch. But in the case of Darling, it doesn't really add anything new to the storytelling tropes it pulls from other anime titles as it merely copies the concepts and plot twists of specific titles without doing anything new to break the mold with them. While I won't spoil too much of what specifically it blatantly copies, all I will say that two popular and well-known Gainax mecha titles are the major titles of note that Darling rips off its story twists and elements from.
The other major issue of note comes in how rather shallow much of its storytelling and characters are. Outside of the mentioned lack of originality, Darling is mostly a typical affair in the mecha genre with "monster of the day/ arc" threats that the Franxx pilots have to deal with and attempts at trying to come off as deep with exploring the issues of the teen pilots. But other than Hiro and Zero-Two, the majority of Darling's cast are mostly two-dimensional archetypes who get little in the way of fleshing out and development. The one silver lining I give to Darling's storytelling is that it does do okay to a point in handling developments on Hiro and Zero-Two's characters as the both of them do get a solid amount of focus and gradually change throughout the span of the series, with the middle episodes making for the show's best material to explore the connection the two have with one another. This solid focus on the two does gradually tank in later episodes due to the ridiculous revelations told in Darling's final five episodes, but it's as good as you can get out of it.
Presentation-wise, Darling in the Franxx sports Trigger's typical stylish visual flair with a rich amount of color, beautiful scenic shots, slick-looking Franxx and klaxosaur designs, and some engaging Franxx/ klaxosaur fights. The show's soundtrack is probably it's best feature, filled with a mix of somber, melancholic, and energetic tracks that are mostly engaging to listen to in spite of the questionable attempts by Trigger to utilized them in trying to make Darling seem better than it really is.
Overall as I said, Darling in the Franxx felt mostly like a hot mess to me. Its attempts to come off as deep are mostly pretentious, it borrows a little too heavily from past anime titles for its story elements, and its story and characters felt mostly lazy and shallow. It's not the worst anime I've seen from Trigger, but it's certainly an underwhelming entry from the studio.
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Jul 6, 2018
12 of 12 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Kiznaiver centers around Agata and several teenagers getting roped into a secret experiment utilizing a linked system called the Kizuna System that allows everyone in the group to experience the pain and emotions of one another. Agata's situation, in particular, is a unique one as he suffers from a lack of apathy and an inability to feel pain.
On paper, Kiznaiver seemed like it wanted to offer a stylish, yet interesting, commentary regarding personal communication between others with the Kizuna System being the means in which this theme is explored. The exploration of this is a bit hit-or-miss throughout Kiznaiver's run, but the positives of this
are still strong enough to prominently stick out and I will highlight these before covering the rather significant flaws of the series. A major positive for the series is the character exploration it offers up to several of its characters. A recurring theme with the major characters in Kiznaiver is how each one has dealt with loneliness. Kiznaiver takes some time to explore the personal dilemmas affecting several of the show's teenage cast to show how each have dealt with their issues before becoming involving with the Kizuna System project. This exploration led to some genuinely engaging plot developments with a couple characters, particularly Agata's unique situation and a personal trauma affecting Maki. The Kizuna System as a concept also has its effective moments to highlight the flaws of attempting an inter-linked system for people to know the thoughts and emotions of one another that shows that in spite of the potential barriers that direct communication offers for mutual understanding, it's still a better alternative than compromising your personal thoughts and pains through directly connecting them to others.
In spite of these strong positives though, Kiznaiver's very premise does carry with it some major issues. The premise it attempts is a bit too grand to effectively pull off for a 12-episode series. This is quite noticeable in the anime's second half when its storytelling starts to take a hit quality-wise as it rushed with attempting more heavily dramatic and grand storytelling compared to the more grounded and mundane developments of the anime's first half. Some story elements in the second half explored have their moments they shone through such as more fleshing out of Noriko's character, but it still doesn't make up for the sloppy and rushed execution of the anime's second half. Another consequence of this issue is that a number of characters that make up part of the Kizuna System testing do get shafted in focus and depth due to the anime's limited episode count, thus limiting how much connection the audience could potentially develop with them. Perhaps if Kiznaiver were given a higher episode count or devoted another season to allow itself more time to develop its cast and premise, the series could have been a more cohesive package as a whole.
As it is, Kiznaiver's high moments with its character focus and premise exploration shine through enough to make it an above-average offering as an anime in spite of its very premise being too grand to effectively explore in its 12-episode run. I would still at least recommend checking it out once as it what moments are effectively conveyed still make it a worthwhile watch.
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Jun 26, 2018
12 of 12 episodes seen
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3
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Golden Kamuy follows the journey of Japanese soldier Sugimoto and the Ainu girl, Aspira, partner up to track down the whereabouts of stolen Ainu gold with the map of it being tattooed in portions to the bodies of escaped convicts. Also in the search for the convicts are a couple rival parties consisting of a criminal alliance and Japanese imperial officers who are seeking out the gold for their own ends.
Golden Kamuy sticks out particularly for its historically accurate depiction of the Ainu indigenous people. Through Aspira and other members of her tribe, the series offers a look at the indigenous customs, appearance, language, and
beliefs of the Ainu. The Ainu trends focused on in Golden Kamuy included their belief in animism, following specific hunting trends depending on the season, and having their own unique language different from the Japanese. The series also took time to explore some of the historical challenges faced by the tribe at the early part of the 20th century. The Ainu were finding their lands and culture marginalized by the Japanese government as the Ainu were being assimilated with Japanese culture due to the country's efforts to try modernizing its culture to fit the Western style and wishing to claim the abundant natural resources found within Ainu territories. This is seen with some imperial Japanese soldiers trying to lay claim to animals and resources within Ainu lands at a number of points throughout the series, as well as Sugimoto occasionally having to stand up for Aspira when she is discriminated against by Japanese folk.
Beyond its focus on Ainu culture, Golden Kamuy offers a solid mix of gritty adventure, action, and comedy exploring Sugimoto and Aspira's adventures to claim more of the tattoo skins from the escaped convicts. Our two leads offer some solid and fun chemistry with one another throughout the series as both delight in the company of one another, fight against animal and human threats together, and will tease one another during the anime's more lighter scenes. In addition, Golden Kamuy also takes the time to flesh out both characters to depict their moral beliefs and motives for committing to their journey. The series offers solid exploration of the different factions in the Ainu gold hunt as more is revealed about the motives of each faction and more details on the tattoos are revealed in regards to locating the Ainu gold.
The show does have some imperfections. For an action anime, the visuals to Golden Kamuy are a bit on the subpar side for a 2018 anime as character designs looked a little rough with visual details, the animation okay though nothing remarkable, and some bad use of CGI animation (notably with the rendering of some of the animals confronted). While I enjoyed Aspira and Sugimoto's interactions together, the comical banter between them was a bit hit-or-miss for me. Also, the series does end inconclusively as Sugimoto's group and others are still seeking out the whereabouts of the Ainu gold. But with news of a second season of Golden Kamuy coming out for the Fall 2018 season, the third issue would be a minor one compared to the rest.
Minor gripes aside, Golden Kamuy offers an engaging, gritty, and solid mix of action, adventure and comedy in the search for the lost Ainu gold as well as being unique for its believable exploration of the Ainu culture during the turn of the 20th century in Japan. With the news of a second season coming along in the near future, I look forward to seeing more of what this series can offer up.
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May 22, 2018
25 of 25 episodes seen
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3
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
5 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
On the surface, I could have mistook this as a shounen-based title with the focus on magical action against demons where the majority of its run is set at a church. But researching on it, I found out 07-Ghost's source material is josei-based, which does make some sense considering nearly all relevant cast members in this series are attractive boys and men.
Nonetheless, the series is focused on former slave and soldier Teito Klien trying to seek out answers regarding his origins and evade capture by the merciless military captain, Ayanami, and his forces. 07-Ghost attempts to make Teito's struggles a dramatic one as he tries
comprehending his past and what sort of direction he wants in life for himself while seeking asylum at Barsburg Church. Unfortunately, Teito doesn't make for the most compelling lead character to connect with due to mostly being angry and angsty with his emotions, and not seeming to have a consistent direction in what he wants for himself throughout the majority of 07-Ghost's run.
Other elements of the anime's direction are hit-or-miss with their storytelling. 07 Ghost does offer a decent amount of world-building to explore the influence that the Barsburg Empire has and the various magical and supernatural elements that make up its world. The characters are a bit mixed in their treatment since many of them follow typical anime character types you may have seen in one form or another from other titles. Some like Frau and Hakuren do get some fleshing out of their characters and are tolerable to witness in their actions and developments, while others like those among Ayanami's Black Panthers brigade are left quite underdeveloped.
The plotting to the show is also quite a mixed bag as the plot does drag for a majority of its run with Teito's angsting and the Seven Ghosts thwarting efforts by Ayanami to apprehend Teito while in the Barsburg Church. While things do eventually pick up in the anime's final episodes, the show is unfortunately left open-ended due to its manga source material still being ongoing at the time the show came out.
The visuals to the series are decent, though nothing extraordinary for a 2009 TV anime. Character designs and scenery shots have a decent amount of visual detail, with the attractive male character designs likely to swoon the anime's female fanbase. Animation, on the other hand, is not as impressive with shortcuts being a frequent site throughout the anime's run and the use of the Zaiphon power that empowers many of the anime's cast members not being so great to see in action from a visual standpoint.
Overall, 07-Ghost felt like an underwhelming and forgettable action-drama anime for me. The issues with the series hampered it for me more than whatever positives it did have, and its plot is nothing remarkable as enough anime have milked Christian religious elements in attempts to appear symbolic or enhance the show's aesthetics. I'm in no rush to rewatch the series anytime soon.
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