- Last Online2 hours ago
- GenderMale
- BirthdayMay 29, 1985
- LocationNew York State, USA.
- JoinedSep 22, 2008
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Mar 26, 2022
24 of 24 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
This latest installment of the Lupin III franchise appears to go back into the "green jacket" roots with its major characters. Mixing ongoing and episodic story developments, Lupin III: Part 6 dabbles into two ongoing story arcs with the first exploring Lupin and his gang crossing paths with the modern incarnation of Sherlock Holmes connecting him with the murder of his former assistant, Watson, and the second half featuring Lupin trying to gain possession of a diamond stolen from his family years earlier while crossing paths with a group of women thieves going after the same valuable item. Whether episodic or ongoing, all the episodes
go back to the roots of the "green jacket" style of Lupin III as the characters are more serious and Lupin's gang aren't afraid to take lives if things get serious.
As far as the storytelling goes, the ongoing story arcs have a good deal of plot development and foreshadowing that elude to elements of their situations as things build up. The Holmes arc has its fair share of layers to its plot with Watson's murder seemingly connected to a larger conspiracy that is unraveled as episodes progress and having some element of drama as his murder affected Watson's daughter, Lily, who has repressed memories of the incident. The Witch and Gentlemen arc attempts to add some fleshing out of Lupin's past as the group of women thieves are apparently connected to an old teacher Lupin had in his childhood named Tomoe, though this plot gets a bit convoluted to follow in later episodes as more about these connections get revealed.
The episodic plots in the series either attempt to get experimental exploring different heists or characters within Lupin's gang or providing humor to attempt balancing out the more serious direction of the ongoing story arcs. These stories are a bit hit and miss with their quality, as I tended to lean more favorably for the more comedic episodic plots for the series that include Lupin and his gang attempting a heist against an elaborate security system that longtime Lupin fans may be familiar with from past parts of the series and a young woman misunderstanding the interactions between Lupin and his gang as some sort of complicated romantic developments involving Fujiko.
In short, Lupin III: Part 6 largely offers more of the same in its storytelling structure offered from recent TV installments of the franchise mixing ongoing story arcs with episodic plots, but following more in the tone of "green jacket" installments of it. The quality of the story arcs and episodic plots have their fair share of highs and lows for me personally, making the quality of it overall be down a nudge compared to Part 4 and Part 5. But if you are a longtime Lupin III fan craving more of the "green jacket" tone, Part 6 may be worth a look.
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Mar 26, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
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0
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
My Dress-Up Darling is a romantic comedy focused on a introverted high school student named Wakana Gojo with an interest in crafting Hina dolls and is distant from other teens his age due to fearing he will be teased for his interests. A popular and attractive girl in Gojo's class named Marin Kitagawa takes notice of Gojo's proficiency in sewing and asks if he could help her create a cosplay for an adult visual novel game character she is interested in, revealing herself to be an otaku. Marin's acceptance of his interests and his interest in the idea of crafting a human-sized costume motivates Gojo
to help her with her request.
My Dress-Up Darling offers a unique direction for an anime series in that it focuses on two characters being accepted for interests that many were typically associate with specific genders, mainly Marin's interest in otaku fandom largely regarded as a male-aimed hobby and Gojo's interests in sewing and Hina dolls being regarded as a female-aimed hobby. Both are shown to naturally be passionate about their interests and are open-minded enough to support their personal interests, with Marin thinking there's no shame in being open about her interests in gaming and anime. This is actually quite believable to depict as in real life, one's personal hobbies are not always be reflective of traditional gender perceptions and having its lead characters be accepting of the other's personal interests shows that encouraging and accepting one's hobbies helps to foster more positive relationships for those who enjoy them.
As far as the cosplay element to the series goes, My Dress-Up Darling is also unique in the fact that it focuses on the work and challenges that go into preparing a costume. The series shows a number of elements that Gojo has to factor in for the work he does on costumes that include understanding elements to the character Marin wants to cosplay, gathering materials, factoring in the bodily proportions of the person's costume, and making sure the cosplayer faithfully depicts the personality of the characters as he takes photos. While I've seen a few anime that dabble into cosplay, said titles don't go into the great amount of detail that goes into preparing the costumes for the hobby as My Dress-Up Darling does.
In addition, Gojo and Marin make for a rather entertaining couple to see in their interactions with each other throughout the series. Their different personalities with Marin's outgoing and lively personality compared to Gojo's reserved and earnest character lead to a fair share of amusing and touching situations, these also contributing to character development with Gojo as he becomes more comfortable interacting with others outside his family and Marin gradually becoming romantically interested in Gojo. The series also bucks some of the common tropes found within romantic comedy titles in that with both our leads being hormone-driven teens usually getting in some compromising situations due to their cosplay work, Gojo isn't actively lusting for Marin as he attempts to keep himself under control around her and Marin doesn't verbally or physically lash out at Gojo when they get in said situations.
If there's one area of the series that may not be everyone's cup of tea, it would likely be the fair amount of ecchi content the series offers. While not too heavy on said content, My Dress-Up Darling still has a fair number of scenes where it shows off how attractive Marin is in some lingering camera shots and a number of scenes where she is in varying states of undress. This also occurs with a few female characters introduced around the middle of the series whom Gojo assists with preparing and modeling cosplay. Also as mentioned, it has some scenes where Marin and Gojo get into some compromising situations that make them visibly flustered and Marin usually getting joy out of teasing Gojo in showing off how attractive she is. If you are prudish about this type of content being shown within an anime series, you're likely not going to enjoy much of this series.
In short, I must admit that My Dress-Up Darling made for quite the entertaining romantic comedy with Gojo and Marin's growing relationship, as well as the good amount of focus it provides on the hobby of cosplay and the uniqueness of its story direction with exploring hobbies. Anyone into romantic comedies and/or elements of otaku fandom like cosplay are likely to get a good deal of entertainment out of this series.
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Mar 22, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
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0
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Please note this review covers both TV seasons of the Black Lagoon anime. The anime is set within the crime-infested harbor city of Ronapour in Thailand with the series mainly focused on the mercenary/ pirate group known as Lagoon Company, who are hired by the many criminal organizations of the city to smuggle, transport, and acquire items.
Black Lagoon strikes up a nice balance of gritty action, black comedy, and drama dabbling into the various missions and criminals that make up the crime-infested world of Ronapour. The series is divided up into a series of arcs lasting anywhere from 2-6 episodes that involve the members of
Lagoon Company taking up a job and getting into some sort of violent conflict with other criminals throughout said job. The story arcs either lean more heavily on black comedy and action or mix this up with drama in exploring the developments of how certain characters got caught up in the world of crime and adopted their world views with their professions.
Let’s focus first on the lighter elements of Black Lagoon with its comedy and action, though I wouldn’t necessarily say said lighter elements make this accessible for wider audiences. It looks like the series took inspiration from American crime-action films to depict the world of crime and action scenes portrayed throughout the series. Criminals of various professions and nationalities are depicted throughout the series, and the series occasionally has some fun with dark humor dabbling into said professions and crimes taking place. The series does get quite violent and sexually-charged at points throughout its run with morally-questionable characters, which won’t make this good viewing for younger or sensitive audiences as a fair warning. Plus while the animation to the series isn’t too high quality compared to more visually pleasing mid-2000s titles like Eureka 7 or Aria, it still has its moments of creative fight choreography with some of the more over-the-top action scenes such as Roberta’s weapon stash and feats or Ginji’s cutting of bullets.
For the drama piece of things, the series mostly makes use of Rock to explore how the residents of Ronapour and other characters encountered throughout Black Lagoon got involved in the world of crime and came to the rationales they carried with their experiences. He serves as sort of a moral center for many of the relevant characters in the series to balance out the more darker elements of the criminal underworld in Ronapour and brings some light to an otherwise apathetic world that the lifestyle brings. The series does have its effective moments with showing Rock’s influence on things with affecting Revy in subtle ways for later episodes compared to how their relationship’s portrayed in earlier episodes and the Fujiyama Gangsta’s Paradise arc offers some interesting developments with Rock’s character coming to grips with his life between Ronapour and Japan. Outside Rock, major characters in the series such as Balalaika and Revy do have their characters explored to show the dark pasts they experienced and what led them to their present life of crime within Ronapour. This does show that outside the show’s gritty action and black comedy, there is a good deal of depth put into exploring the pasts and mentalities of a number of the characters in how they regard their criminal activity.
In short, Black Lagoon offers up a nice mix of spectacle and storytelling with exploring how the members of Lagoon Company handle their criminal lifestyle and the baggage that comes with it within Ronapour. Fans of crime-action inspired from American crime films should be entertained with checking out this gritty title from studio Madhouse.
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Mar 22, 2022
13 of 13 episodes seen
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0
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino was made by Artland in 2008, adapting chapters from manga volumes 3-6. In this season of the series, the SWA come into conflict with a pair of bombers working for the Five Republics Faction and a skilled assassin within the organization named Pinocchio. The latter comes to be a problem for cyborg Triela, who loses to Pinocchio in an encounter and wishes to avenge said loss. There were also two additional OVA episodes made for the series adapting side-stories from the manga’s sixth volume that explore elements of the pasts of the Croce brothers, Jean and Jose, who serve as cyborg
handlers for the SWA for Rico and Henrietta respectively.
Before I offer my thoughts on plot and characters with Il Teatrino, I should address the controversial element of the series in regards of its visual presentation. Unlike Madhouse, Artland isn’t so memorable with high production quality for many of their titles and this shows with Il Teatrino. Details for characters and scenery are simplified and animation isn’t as smooth to see in action for combat scenes compared to the first series. I certainly recall this being a turn-off for many fans 14 years ago when the series originally premiered in Japan with the jarring difference in production quality, and I can’t really argue with the animation quality for Il Teatrino taking a big hit.
If you can look past the subpar visual presentation, Il Teatrino offers up perhaps the best developments within Gunslinger Girl as it features ongoing plot development with the SWA’s conflict with members of the Five Republics Faction. This series crosses into political thriller territory as it thoroughly explores the motives and actions of both the SWA and the Five Republics with the justifications members of both factions have. This not only shows that characters within both factions have their redeemable qualities to justify their actions, but also shows the societal ramifications that the actions of both organizations can have with government corruption and the damage that terrorist acts can have on major buildings and the populace.
Besides the political thriller, Il Teatrino also takes the time to explore the pasts of a number of characters throughout the series and explore how these developments shaped their views of Italian society and terrorism. For the SWA, there is a good deal of focus on exploring the pasts of the handlers in this season and how this effects their outlooks on the work they are doing, this getting unique focus with how one handler’s work effects a romantic relationship he has outside of it. The exploration of the origins of Triela and Pinocchio in this season also provide some interesting parallels with both their tragic pasts, how both each view their work, and the relationships each have with their parental figure within the organizations each represent in the show’s main conflict.
Putting aside its subpar presentation, Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino is still a strong continuation of Gunslinger Girl that offers some ongoing plot developments that push the series into political thriller territory and offers more exploration of the back stories and beliefs of a number of characters within both factions.
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Mar 22, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
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0
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Please note that this review covers my thoughts of both TV seasons of Emma. That said on with the review.
Set in Victorian-era England, the titular housemaid finds herself falling in love with a member of the wealthy class named William Jones, who is the elder son of a family of merchants. However, their relationship runs into complications due to the differences in social status between Emma and William, with the latter’s family disapproving of their relationship and attempting to push him toward an arranged marriage with another wealthy family.
When many think of maids for anime and manga, they may think of their use as a
fetish to pander to fans with cute or attractive female characters. Emma: Victorian Romance bucks this trend when exploring life in Victorian England in its focus on Emma and William’s budding romance, meant to believably depict a maid’s purpose as commoner women willingly serving a wealthy family to earn a living. Matter of fact, Emma is ridiculously accurate with believably portraying elements of Victorian-era England with everything such as clothing, locations, social norms, class differences, and conveniences. It’s thorough enough as such where some releases of the series come with a booklet that detail on specific elements of the era seen throughout the series that may be lost on those not familiar with its history. Kaoru Mori, the series creator, is known for being an obsessive Anglophile and this certainly shows with how meticulous she was with getting all the details right with portraying life in the Victorian era. The only gripe I have with this is that characters still address one another with Japanese honorifics throughout the Japanese version of the series, which does take away from the authenticity of depicting Victorian England some. But it is still impressive just how highly historically accurate Emma is.
As far as plot goes, Emma: Victorian Romance does play out as a classic romance dabbling into tropes with Emma and William attempting to come to grips with what each want out of their relationship and trying to overcome the divide in their social status to come together. While the storytelling may be familiar territory for fans of romance titles, what sells the developments of the relationship throughout Emma is the strong character exploration that comes from their tribulations. Both William and Emma do find themselves dealing with conflicts that arise from their relationship with both having to choose between either their personal desires or maintaining the societal divide coming from both their social classes. The series does a great job with subtly dabbling into the thoughts and actions of both characters as they attempt to sort out their personal feelings on their relationship and the happiness of those around them. Each season of the series also offers up a strong supporting cast that help add to the developments of our two leads and the atmosphere of the series as a whole, in particular the retired Kelly Stownar, the Indian prince Hakim Atawari, and bold Dorothea Molders. As the series in both seasons is quite subdued and nuanced in mood compared to many anime titles on top of its familiar romance storytelling and Victorian era setting, Emma is likely to be an acquired taste for viewers.
If you are looking for something different for a romance anime and/or its depiction of maids, Emma: Victorian Romance offers a solid mix of both with its highly accurate depiction of Victorian-era England and exploring the developing relationship of Emma and William, as both attempt to work out their feelings through the social divide both face due to their different upbringings. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea due to how much of an acquired taste its premise is. But I’d still recommend it for fans of romance anime.
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Mar 21, 2022
1 of 1 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade is the third film made in Mamoru Oshii’s Kerberos Saga multimedia franchise set in an alternate 1950s Japan that is under German totalitarian rule following World War II with mass resistance from civilians due to the country’s high poverty rate and a special paramilitary force called Kerberos Corp created to counteract the resistance movement. The central character of focus in Jin-Roh is Kazuki Fuse, a fresh officer in the Kerberos Corp who hesitates to kill a young girl serving as a bomb courier for the resistance fighters before killing herself with a bomb she has on hand. Fuse is punished by
being sent back to the training barracks and comes to encounter the girl’s sister, Kei Amamiya. While Fuse comes to befriend Kei, both find themselves getting in the middle of a political conspiracy that aims to threaten the formation of the Kerberos Corp.
At its core, Jin-Roh is a political thriller exploring the life of Fuse within the ranks of the Kerberos Corp and the conspiracy being planned within the ranks of his city’s police department to sabotage the paramilitary force. I do want to tread carefully with what I dabble into with the film’s story and themes, as it would otherwise heavily spoil one’s viewing experience of this film. But basically, the film has some rather engaging twists in its developments concerning the conspiracy and how those involved and caught up in it play out their actions to have things swing in their favor. As far as Kei and Fuse’s involvement in this is concerned, I’ll just say that there is more going on with both of them than what one would initially assume when they first appear in the film and their growing bond adds some complicated developments with their actions later into the film. There is a good deal of subtlety and foreshadowing in the film’s story buildup with where things are going with the conspiracy’s developments, and the film carries a consistently dark, somber mood throughout its run to show where things are going with the film’s plot developments. Said developments give Jin-Roh some rather powerful and effective drama with how it affects Kei and Fuse.
Perhaps the only blemish with the film’s storytelling is its heavy use of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale to connect elements of its story to the political conspiracy Kei and Fuse are caught up in. Jin-Roh makes use of story elements from a version of the tale that predates the more well-known Charles Perrault and Brothers Grimm versions, with earlier versions of Red Riding Hood being a folk tale that have a more darker and disturbing ending. The use of the Red Riding Hood story for Jin-Roh does have its effective implementations with exploring Kei and Fuse’s bond, though the film tends to get a bit too liberal with expressing these parallels at points throughout its run, particularly with characters reading out passages from the tale during key points of Jin-Roh.
Visually, Jin-Roh opts to go for realism in the designs of its settings and characters. Characters are designed to be lifelike with believable bodily details and proportions and the film believably depicts elements of 1950s Japan with the design of its settings, vehicles, technology, and firearms used for the time period. The Protect Gear donned by Fuse and other Kerberos Corp officers while in action make for the visual highlight of the film with the menacing design it has with the heavy armor and machine gun donned by officers using it. While action isn’t the main focus of the film, Jin-Roh does still offer up fluid animation that is nicely shown during the film’s occasional action scenes during Fuse’s time back in training or while in action dealing with terrorists or officers.
In short, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade makes for an engaging and powerful political thriller film focused on Kei and Fuse’s growing bond being complicated by their entanglement in the political conspiracy both have a role in. The Red Riding Hood symbolism can usually get a bit too heavily applied at points in the film. But beyond that blemish, Jin-Roh is still one of the more memorable titles I’ve seen under Mamoru Oshii’s direction.
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Mar 21, 2022
26 of 24 episodes seen
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
Outlaw Star is a sci-fi/ space adventure series set in the far future and focused on Gene Starwind, a young man living on the planet Sentinel III who runs a jack-of-all-trades business with 11-year old computer engineer Jim Hawking. The two find themselves caught up in a conflict between the space outlaw, “Hot Ice” Hilda, and a magic-wielding pirate guild called the Kei Pirates who are trying to gain possession of the bio-android, Melfina, programmed to serve as the navigation unit of an advanced spaceship called the XGP15A-II.
Outlaw Star is a well-known gateway drug for many Western anime fans in that it was perhaps one
of the first anime titles that fans may have seen during the early 2000s via Cartoon Network’s Toonami block in a heavily edited version. I’ll be the first to admit that I was within that generation of first-time anime fans to get exposure to the series and be entertained by the action and comedy offered up with the series mixed with its sci-fi and magic elements. But taking off the nostalgia goggles and being able to see the series nearly 20 years later, I sadly have to admit that the show does have its issues that I took notice of seeing this as an adult.
But before I get into what I think weighs Outlaw Star down, I’ll at least get into what I enjoyed with the series. As far as what it dabbles into for style, the series isn’t afraid to mash things up with elements of its setting with the presence of magic coming from the Kei Pirates and samurai with Suzuka clashing with the otherwise sci-fi setting offered up with Outlaw Star. At its best, the series has effective comedic timing in its lighter moments, particularly with spats between Gene and Jim and the antics of Aisha. The series also has a solid foundation of world building for the variety of aliens, planets, and technologies shown within its futuristic world, notable of which being the Ctarl Ctarl with Aisha’s presence and the use of grappler spaceships. It does also feature Gene undergoing gradual character development throughout the series as he realizes how serious the threat from the Kei Pirates is and getting over his fear of venturing in space. It also doesn’t hurt that the series has one of the more memorable soundtracks for anime in the 90s I’ve listened to having its equal share of energetic and gritty rock tracks, mixed with some tense and dramatic tracks that are appropriately placed in key scenes of the series they accompany.
But in terms of the main storytelling of Outlaw Star with Gene’s conflict with the Kei Pirates, the series has its fair deal of stumbling blocks with this. The development of this plot does usually grind to a halt with the series focusing on episodic plots involving Gene and his group taking on jobs unrelated to the main conflict of the series. While said episodes do have their amusing and suspenseful moments, they contribute little to the main story of the series as a whole. The series tries making a big deal out of Melfina’s attempts to learn more about her origins, but this becomes well-known to the audience rather quickly and this attempt at fleshing out Melfina’s character largely goes nowhere throughout the series. Plus, the final conflict between Gene’s group and the Kei Pirates does wind up feeling a wee bit rushed, seeming like it was slapped together with the attempts at being completely serious in its climax while lacking the necessary story depth to be worth such a change in tone.
In short, Outlaw Star’s more worth checking out if you are going into the series for its mix of aesthetic elements and mixture of comedy and action offered with Gene and his group, which make up for the more memorable elements of the series. It doesn’t have the depth to its story and characters that you’d find with other titles of the era like Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. But if you’re just looking for a stylish sci-fi action-comedy to get into without thinking too much about the plot’s developments, I’d still recommend looking into the series.
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Feb 10, 2022
6 of 6 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Set in the near-future, Orbital Children focuses on a trio of Earth children brought upon a commercial space station to meet Touya Sagami, a young boy who is the first of a number of children born in space undergoing physical therapy on the space colony to adapt to Earth's gravity. However, a collision with a comet leads the computer systems on the space station to malfunction, leaving the children having to figure out a means on their own how to survive without adult assistance.
The animation style and story focus on children and technology for Orbital Children may look familiar to those who have seen or
heard about the 2007 anime, Dennou Coil. This is because both are directed by Mitsuo Iso, who is well known for his unique style of animation that emphasizes dense motion while working with simplistic-looking character designs. The animation style works effectively to convey the complicated movement of drones, gravity, and orbital vehicles aboard the space station that Touya and others deal with throughout the series, though the look of the character and mechanical designs may take getting used to for some folks looking for visuals that are a bit more detailed or elaborate considering this is a sci-fi title set within in a near-futuristic setting.
For the technological adventure with children in this series, Orbital Children explores interactions with artificial intelligence as the space station staff rely on AI within drones to aid in their operations. AI within the series have restrictions in place with their capabilities to prevent them from becoming too smart and potentially becoming a threat to humanity, a story element that becomes relevant in later episodes of the ONA as far as the issues facing the children and adult space station crew go. The series shows the different paths that can occur when AIs come to different conclusions about the humans they serve as they acquire different levels of understanding on the complexities of humanity.
The adventure in the series has its equal share of engaging story and character developments that drive the children and adults aboard the space station. While attempting to find the means to survive in space, the characters also come to learn more about the mysterious comet that collided with the space station and some shocking facts revealed about some major characters aboard. The series does a convincing job creating genuine and believable suspense out of the ordeals faced by the children as they deal with risky situations in their adventure, including showing how each of the children react differently to their situation. Touya's character does undergo a good deal of character development throughout the series as he learns to get over his prejudice toward humans from Earth and grasping the reality of what his thoughts on Earth have for him.
In short, Orbital Children carries the same engaging qualities that got me to enjoy Dennou Coil with their focus on interactions children have with technologies and getting into an adventure involving them to some capacity. The story here does have some bigger stakes compared to Dennou Coil as the children here are in more risky, life-threatening situations. But the mix of adventure, exploration of its near-futuristic world, and character development still make it an engaging title I'd recommend sci-fi anime fans to check out.
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Dec 22, 2021
20 of 20 episodes seen
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0
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
To Your Eternity is a supernatural adventure-drama focused on a mysterious entity creating an orb that he casts onto the Earth, having the ability to take on the form of anything inanimate or living it comes into contact with. The orb eventually takes on the form of a wolf that is the pet of a young boy seeking to be reunited with his fellow villagers. However, the boy dies after succumbing to a fever from his attempted journeying and the orb takes on the boy’s form. Traveling to different lands and interacting with other people, the being who becomes known as Fushi comes to experience
the joys and pains of living as a human.
The main focus of To Your Eternity is Fushi’s growth as he comes to take on different forms and gains the physical forms of some of the human companions he encounters on his journey. The strongest element in the anime’s storytelling is the development of Fushi’s character throughout its 20-episode run. At first, Fushi behaves in an animalistic state due to his lack of understanding human behavior and is utterly clueless about basic things of living such as eating, drinking, or talking. But as his interactions with humans and other living beings continues throughout the series, Fushi becomes more human in his interactions with others shown through his actions and how he communicates with others. His more human understanding of things also leads him to question things about his abnormal nature, especially as more facts about his purpose become clear in later episodes of the series.
For the most part, other characters within To Your Eternity are also explored in the story arcs that the series dabbles into throughout Fushi’s journey. Two of the story arcs in the anime’s first half devote enough time to explore the developments of major characters that Fushi bonds with and the characters undergo some sort of growth with Fushi’s presence in their lives. The series also isn’t afraid to toss in tragic consequences for some of these characters that Fushi encounters, contributing to his character’s growth in experiencing the joys and pains of being human.
Unfortunately, To Your Eternity also comes with its fair share of setbacks. The anime can usually gets into emotional extremes with the reactions some characters have in some dramatic scenes, which make them lose some of their emotional impact. It does have some inconvenient timing at points with attempting to add in humorous scenes during some serious moments. In addition, the series ends inconclusively as its manga source material is still ongoing as of the time I make this review, though a second season of the anime is in the works and set to premiere late next year.
But perhaps the major issue I have with To Your Eternity is the Jananda Island arc. Limiting spoilers, the story arc is meant to be a more darker one compared to others at this point of the story as Fushi experiences first hand the more darker side of humanity. While having some effective moments of story development, a good amount of it is rather sloppy with the handling of supporting character developments within the story arc and Fushi seems to forgive and connect with the inhabitants of the island a bit too easily considering the manipulations and misery he is put through in the early episodes of the story arc.
In short, To Your Eternity is kind of a mixed bag for me. While having some hiccups, the anime’s earlier story arcs feature solid story and character development, especially with the gradual developments Fushi undergoes in becoming more humanlike and learning to utilize his abilities. But Jananda Island arc was a bit of a disappointment in the attempt it tries to make with having Fushi confront the darker elements of humanity which comes off looking rather sloppy in a good amount of its plot and character developments. I’d at least consider the series decent coming off the strength of its earlier story arcs and season finale. But I’m iffy if I’d want to continue delving into the series with its upcoming second season.
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Dec 19, 2021
12 of 12 episodes seen
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0
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Set in a world similar to Cold War era Soviet Union in 1960, Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut is set during the space race between the Zimitra Republic and United Kingdom of Arnak to attempt launching the first person into space. Lev Laps is part of a cosmonaut candidate training program, who was demoted to a backup candidate due to insubordination against a superior officer. Needing to test how the conditions of space would affect human candidates, Lev is tasked by the Zimitran government to train a teenage vampire named Irina Luminesk to be used as a guinea pig for testing out how humans would fare
in a space expedition. As Lev becomes acquainted with Irina through their time together, the two come to confront their prejudices toward one another and become closer as the series progresses.
As commented on in my opening paragraph, Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut is meant to be a sort of historical fiction anime as the two major world powers in the space race within the series are obviously made to represent the real-life Soviet Union and United States, the former being given prominent focus through the Zimitra Republic. For the most part, the series is fairly accurate to depicting the historical times within 1960 Soviet Union with the government's oppression, purging, and censorship of anything that makes its country look weak to the world at large, is critical of the government, or threatens said government's authority and influence. Other elements of the country like naming, food, technology, and environmental conditions are also pretty accurate to the time period as well. There are some inaccuracies with elements to the anime's depiction of the Soviet Union through Zimitra that are mostly minor, but one glaring inaccuracy that stuck out was Zimitra having a female cosmonaut candidate with Rosa when this did not occur until 1961 with the Soviet Union months following Yuri Gargarin's launch into space. But whether or not you fret over such minor changes will depend on how fickle you are with the details of Irina's historical accuracy.
Setting aside the details of historical accuracy, Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut is largely focused on its main pair of Lev and Irina, and the series is largely pretty typical fare with how their chemistry plays out with Lev the "nice guy" and Irina acting largely like a tsundere. The series devotes a good amount of exploration on their characters with how both got to their present situations and how both overcome their personal prejudices for their different kinds and has its amusing moments with the chemistry between the two as Lev works to break through Irina's seemingly cold personality. The two become closer as they come to care for the well being of each other, with the series implying things are getting to a romantic point yet the series ends inconclusively before getting to such a point with their relationship developments. While the chemistry developments with the two are nothing new as far as anime titles go, the series still devotes enough focus and fleshing out of the pair to have you come to care for Lev and Irina.
As far as other characters go within the series, they are kind of hit and miss. Many exist to fulfill roles to aid in or deter the efforts of Irina and Lev in their training as test subject and cosmonaut candidate respectively. Some like Anya and Rosa do have development or fleshing out with their characters in regards to how they view their relationships with our two lead characters. Anya's developments come off genuine with the chemistry she has with the two characters and the effort she goes through to aid them. But Rosa's focus in a later episode comes off feeling kind of sudden as her character didn't have much in the way of fleshing out throughout the series beyond being antagonistic toward Lev and Irina in her occasional interactions with them.
In short, Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut comes off feeling like a mostly solid series with the largely faithful historical accuracy of the space race between the Sovi... er, Zimitrans and Arnaks. Lev and Irina are pretty typical as far as characters go, but there's enough fleshed out in their chemistry and developments to have you care for them. Supporting characters, for the most part, don't have much to them beyond largely fulfilling some sort of role to aid or deter the two lead characters. While not breaking new ground to a good degree as far as plot and character developments go, I was still entertained with Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut for the most part and have interest in seeing a potential second season, as the title's light novel source material has yet to be fully adapted and recently wrapped things up with its story from what I gather.
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