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- BirthdayOct 3, 2012
- LocationOlympia, Washington USA
- JoinedMar 25, 2009
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Jan 16, 2011
This is more a statement, observation, and suggestion than an actual review because I am still watching the series.
Super Robot Taisen OG: The Inspector is a great choice if you are suffering mecha withdrawal and need a new hit. There are lots of pretty characters, action, and mecha but it lacks something its predecessors had, and that was “heart.” By heart, I guess I mean meaningful character development, interaction and compelling story line. In fact, it really doesn’t hang together too well unless you are familiar with Cybuster and Super Robot Wars OG: Divine Wars. I have
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put SRWOG: TI on hold until I can finish its predecessors. I’m now about half way through Cybuster and have to say, despite it’s aged appearance, I can hardly stop watching it. On the other hand despite it’s slick, bright, updated appearance, I found SRWOG: TI disjointed and, well, “lifeless.” I actually dosed off during SRWOG: TI.
If you are a mecha addict or if you are a fan of Cybuster and Super Robot Wars OG: Divine Wars you will likely find your time with SRWOG: TI well spent. If not, you will likely end up confused and disappointed. At 14 episodes, I can only give it a 6. I hope that will change after I complete Cybuster and SRWOG: DW.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 6, 2010
Mamoru Oshii's hour and 11 min movie Angel's Egg takes place in a surreal, dark, and quiet post apocalypse world and moves along like a dream. Visual metaphors and archetypes quietly mesmerize as the enigma unfolds.
A soldier. A girl protecting an egg. Shadow fish. Men who chase shadow fish. Sacred spaces inside giant fossilized remains. A world tree. Glass bottles that count the days. Lost memories. The great flood. The familiarity of isolation and the comfort of human contact. Hope. Is the bed an alter or the alter a bed? Long, long silences mark passing hours. The egg is broken. Water rises. Who is
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the soldier? Hope shatters. Reason D'Etre shatters. Suicide. Rebirth.
Released in 1985, this surreal masterpiece it is still beautiful to look at, making me think of Salvador Dali and HR Giger at the same time. Its dark and somber palate, seems to be the forerunner of Gilgamesh, but otherwise they are disimilar.
People have strong feelings about Angle's Egg. The better they understand art, psychology, philosophy, and theology, the better they seem to like it. Those with a narrower view of the world aren't interested in it at all. It is about art, message, and enlightenment. It does make you think but doesn't offer suggestions as to what you should think. What you take away from it is up to you. If you were turned off by the philosophical ambiguity of Evengalion, Angel's Egg is not for you. If you liked Mushishi, you might enjoy Angle's Egg.
It is perhaps a touch pretentious but still excellent.
Other works by Oshii, Mamoru I like: Blood: The Last Vampire, Ghost In the Shell, Halo Legends, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Patlabor, The Sky Crawlers.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 2, 2010
I ignored Chi’s Sweet Home for years because a) it looked very childish and b) there are 104 episodes. Turns out that it is more child-like than childish and that the episodes are only 3 minuets long. My usual fare is Deep, Dark, Psychological, Seinen but I found that I really enjoyed kwaiiness (something I generally avoid at all costs) of Chi, which in Japanese means Pee.
Chi will appeal to two kinds of people; young children and crazy, cat loving fanatics of which I am one. The art is simple and stylized. Honestly, I don't really like the way Chi looks but, because the
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Japanese know cats and love them, she still manages to capture the very essence of “catness” and the way people fall under their spell. I laughed out loud more than once as Chi brought to mind various cats who have run my life over the years.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 21, 2010
In the beginning I wondered if the star car was going to be possessed ala Stephen King's Christine, and although that question was never exactly answered, that is not the direction the story took. Wangan is a heartfelt look at street, rather freeway, racing, the people caught in the lifestyle and the cars that obsess them. At times it is almost a tutorial on how to rebuild an engine.
For one reason and another, I've not finished Initial D so I'm not going to make any kind of cross comparison other than saying Initial D didn't capture me the way Wangan Midnight did.
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I dated car guys, handed them tools and torqued down timing chain covers . . . .until I broke a bolt or two . . . I drove fast cars and owned them myself. Occasionally, I pretend my sedate Subaru Forester is really a WRX. Consequently, Wangan Midnight spoke to me in a way that may not reach the typical anime fan.
Some folk feel the series is a little slow to reach take off. I didn't notice. I found plenty character development and white knuckle racing action. I also liked the characters who came into the story for an episode or two and, as with the actual racing community, for one reason or another, went a different direction. Some satisfied a need, others chose not to let the obsession rule their life, others devoted their life to the obsession, some with a positive out come, some not so much.
Interestingly, the primary protagonist, is given a James Dean style look, complete with a Rebel Without a Cause white t-shirt and red jacket. The bad luck 240Z is also a reference to the Porsche 1950's actor Dean died in. It is said that his Porsche is cursed. Anyone trying to rebuild it our use its parts got into accidents of their own. And so it is with the Devil Z in Wangan Midnight.
I loved everything about the art except the facial designs of the characters, the females in particular. Apparently, the choice was in deference to the manga it is based on, a manga that goes back to '92, hence the dated look. Soundtrack wise, the music is o.k. but the car sounds are great.
Ultimately, Wangan is about relationships; relationships between people and specific cars, between people who love cars, and between people who love the people who love the cars. If you are even just a little bit of a car geek, make time for Wangan Midnight.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 14, 2010
Gonzo spent a lot of money on Yukikaze. As a result it isn't just eye candy, it is one lush, decadent seven course feast. The meld between hand drawn and cg is near seamless and the characters are both beautiful and realistic. Afterburners generate realistic heat waves and jet fighters leave misty contrails in alien skys. The palette is somber and a bit dream like. Technical drawings are beyond reproach and much of the sound is taken from real aircraft and well matched to the action.
The OAV is based on a novel, Sentou Yousei Yukikaze (Good Luck Yukikaze) by science fiction author Chohei Kambayashi.
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It is a mature and introspective, blurring the edges between the sane and insane. Between amazing flight sequences, the story muses about what happens to those who, in fighting to protect everyone else, distance themselves from the very thing they face death to protect. There is also a 2001: Space Odyssey like look at the relationship between a pilot and his seemingly sentient aircraft. It does feel like a lot of back story and character development was left in the novel or on the cutting room floor. Prepare to think hard and still not be quite sure what is going on especially in the middle episodes.
The ending wasn't as strong as it could have been but it did deliver closure. I'm wondering if perhaps they spent so much money they had to cut production short. One wonders just what level of masterpiece this could have been had there been enough episodes to fill in the blanks.
One reviewer calls it, "A mix of military aircraft fanatic extravaganza, spectacular computer-animated aerial combat sequences, melancholy antisocial relationships, multi-layered allegory, and surreal imagery, Yukikaze is almost as strange and scattered as it is gorgeous. As interesting as it is, the plot seems to be missing key pieces and I'd call it something of an acquired taste." I would agree. I loved it but not everyone will.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 13, 2010
What if the police could look at the memories of dead victims and criminals? It would certainly provide clues for solving crimes but what other secrets would it reveal? What would be the consequences of seeing things never meant to be seen? And, of course, who would try to take advantage of the technology to serve their own ends?
Himitsu - Top Secret is episodic with an overarching plot line. Nice animation, good character development that could have gone deeper had the series been longer. There is a touch of romance and hints that the director is gay but neither is the focus.; There issome
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action but HTS is primarily a mystery thriller that asks some pretty profound questions about morality and privacy.
This series is vastly underrated and highly under viewed.
If you enjoyed Monster, you will find the 26 episodes of Himitsu - Top Secret well worth your time. Those who liked Death Note might also find HTS satisfying.
It was based on a manga so if you want to go deeper into the story you can.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 27, 2010
A modern naval destryoer from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force is sent back in time via some sort of quantum anomaly to the battle of Midway. For 26 episodes they struggle with where their loyalty lies, do their best to protect themselves without killing anyone and without doing anything that would change history.
The contrast between modern Japan and that of the 1940's is stunning. It is a critical look Japan's militaristic government at the time, at war in general, and at hard moral questions.
Although I feel the facial character designs could have been a little more realistic, they were refreshing
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in that they didn't try to make everyone beautiful. The technical drawings of the ships, planes, uniforms, and weaponry is extraordinary. There were have bound to have been errors, but I didn't notice anything glaring.
Its thoughtfulness and realism isn't for everyone but it is one of my all time favorites. One word of warning, the final episode does not tie things up with a bow but leaves you wondering. There is a manga but I haven't taken the time to track it down.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 5, 2010
Although mecha figures greatly in Soukou no Strain, it is not the focus and that is a good thing because I found them generally lack luster. That aside, with the exception of a throw away ecchi episode, the rest of the show is first rate. It takes off at a good clip and continues to pickup speed. There is plenty action, drama, romance, tension, as well as the mystery of why Sara's beloved hero brother turned trator. A couple of times it was even more than a little sexy.
Strain racks up a body count equal to most Gundam's but
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sadly, no pun intended (the good ones never are intentional), but the series is too short to build the kind of emotional attachment that brings one to tears, although at one point I was saying, "Awww, no, don't kill HIM!"
The science part of the fiction isn't too bad; light speed and space-time relativity, etc., . . . except for the part when a hole gets punched in the side of a ship and people don't instantly find themselves dead . . . but then, I guess I'm just picky about such things.
Artwise, it is a good looking anime even if I didn't care all that much for the CG mecha. I've seen a lot worse. There was nothing exceptional about the music but the sound effects were excellent. Listen on decent speakers if at all possible.
At 13 episodes it was Very Good, actually a bit better than that but I can't give it an 8.75. The plot progressed without confusion but kept you wondering what would happen next. Imagine what it could have been had it been spread over 26 episodes! We might even know why the two sides were fighting. This one is well worth your time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 31, 2010
Wow. I marathoned Ghost Hound in a single Saturday because I couldn't stop. I'm totally blown away. It manages to be fun and profound at the same time.
It touched on so many things of the I base my own spiritual philosophy on: The Apparent World, the Unseen World(s), that we are spiritual beings first and physical beings second, that everything is part of SPIRIT and has a level of consciousness, our "mind" is more than our brain, that the emotions we attach to events/things mold our lives and frequently need clearing, that intense negative emotions attract even more
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negative energy from this world and from beyond, the quantum concept of the matrix that is SPIRIT, and more. They even talked about energy clearing techniques like eye movement and tapping, energy meridians, and such.
And on top of all that, it was a well crafted story with simple, yet effective character designs and lush landscapes. Its rural setting was also a welcome change from the usual urban crush.
The sound track is amazing. If at all possible, watch this one with a good sound system. Other than the awesome opening theme, I am not talking about a lot of music, but rather sound effects, tension building asian flutes and drums, static, breathing, heart beats, and low level frequencies you don't hear but feel. Ghost Hound is the first Masterpiece I've seen in a long, long time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 1, 2010
Gin-iro no Olynssiss has nothing to do with Sunrise, Bandai, or the Gundam franchise but at first glance, you'd think so. Character designs are very, very similar to Gundam Seed and the story bears great similarity to After War Gundam X: humanity salvaging scraps of the past on a wrecked earth, extraordinary mecha, accidental teenage pilot, romance, jealousy, a nasty satellite system on the moon, sacrificial characters, slightly uncertain ending . . . . . I think they even tossed in a little Blue Gender for good measure. Character designs and animation is a little lacking, but not bad. It starts off a little
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slow but ends up being a very satisfying 12 episodes if not a masterpiece. If you are a fan of the genre, it is worth the time. It's probably a 7.5 but I can't make the numbers do that.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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