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Oct 5, 2023
Having seen every other Steel Angel Kurumi, I don't think this OVA could have finished things off in any worse a way. If you have enjoyed the rest and are thinking of finishing things off with this, save yourself the disappointment; the series should have ended with Steel Angel Kurumi 2.
Zero is essentially a completely different style and tone to every other episode. From what I can tell it's more oriented to the background lore of the manga which is glossed over alot in the other anime adaptations. It's basically an attempt at a futuristic romance which sounds like a fun concept, but it just
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fails to be interesting in any way.
The artstyle is emphatically bland. Characters move from one grey, vaguely sci-fi room of their apartment to another, repeat. Very seldom is there anything actually interesting going on, the only thing i can remember is the characters' hair because that was the only colourful thing about this drab mess of a world. The originals had lots of colour, shounen-style action scenes, chibi cutaway gags; all of this had to be scrapped for Zero and replaced with characters just emoting on a set.
I can also barely remember the story since it was equally bland. The description is accurate because that's all that happens. There's some weird subplot where Excelia is showing something happening to Kurumi that resolves itself anyway, I think? By the time I got to the 3rd episode I was so bored I think I just started to disassociate and try to escape to any other not-horribly-apathetic anime. Even SAK 2, which was a parody of the original had more going on than this. Hell, even single standalone episodes of Encore had more interesting and memorable plots.
Characters are similar to the original anime, but since the tone of the anime has gone from 'piledriving mechs in Taisho-era Japan' to 'Kurumi and her gal pals get into very minor drama', the dramatic traits those characters have can't shine through. This affects Karinka in particular, who was probably my favourite character because of the chaos she brought to the quasi-yuri dynamic Kurumi and Saki have, but is now bland and uninteresting. Excelia in particular was interesting but the anime gives her so little time to develop it felt like she was barely there, I'll have to read the manga to find out more because there's just nothing here. It probably doesn't help that this is the only SAK that didn't get an (unintentionally hilarious as always) ADV dub.
It's hard not to compare this to the originals, and maybe if you are a religious fan of the manga this is absolutely your thing. But for anyone else, I can't find any good reason to watch this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Sep 18, 2023
I watched this completely blind with no knowledge of Redline or really anything about it. This anime frustrates me because while alot of aspects aren't that great, it is *just* slightly away from being 'so bad it's good', ending up in this weird void between 'What the hell did I just watch?' and 'What the hell was the point?'
I really struggled to find any cohesive story or plot while watching, it's a complete mess of criss-crossing plotlines that just don't go anywhere or feel at all compelling. I can acknowledge that OVAs often have to cut back plot but this one just spews lore at
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you like a machine gun, with most of it only ever being explained at the end. Alot of it is cliche at best, and at the end there doesn't feel like any sort of resolution because nothing's been established properly. It feels like an attempt to imitate the style of FLCL or Project A-Ko, but without understanding why those work.
The audio just isn't anything really. I can't remember a single piece of music after watching and the voice actors seem to either emote in an apathetic mumble or while screaming at the top of their lungs which just makes them annoying. Characters also seem to cut eachother off constantly which while funny a few times, just completely breaks the flow of conversations making them feel awkward.
The only real reason I carried on was the animation, which really is superb though not surprising considered it's Madhouse. All of the environments are hand-drawn which makes them look retro but still very detailed. The smoothness of movement transitions is really strong and clearly alot of work went into them. While I appreciated the dramatic use of foreshortening and strange character designs, in alot of cuts they just end up looking awkward or hard to interpret. The princess character's pelvis in particular just makes her look aesthetically unappealing when viewed at any angle other than straight-on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Aug 29, 2023
If you're a fan of Indiana Jones like I am, you will absolutely love this weird little OVA.
The plot is essentially the same as Raiders of the Lost Ark and alot of the sequences and music are copyright-infringingly similar, Ray goes around chasing an conspicuously evil German and treasure while being followed by 2 twins. There's a good amount of action scenes, but the start is definitely the highlight. Ray sortof takes a back-seat at first but we start to get there later on. Both episodes of the OVA take place in different places and feel a bit more serialised, but the plot does
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resolve itself.
Animation wise it's solid. The faces are a bit more 90s than what you typically get of OVAs from this time period, and the fact it was made by AIC really helps it stand out a bit more in terms of quality. One thing I especially have to commend is the animation of the vehicles, there's some really detailed shots and you can definitely feel the Megazone in alot of the scenes. It definitely feels like alot more effort was made where they could have cheaped out.
The music is a little poor, there's alot of recycled tracks and the main theme nearly outright copies the Indiana Jones theme, with a little restraint. Voice actors are all pretty standard for the time period, nothing too memorable though.
The biggest downside though, is that there was only a LaserDisc release and the transfer really isn't that great even for the time, so the visual quality is quite poor in alot of places. It's a real shame because alot of work clearly went into the action cuts like the train scene in the beginning, but that's just how it is with old OVAs alot of the time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 25, 2023
Geba Geba is basically just a Yonkoma if it had animation between the panels, and for that it's quite good and still surprisingly funny. Each 'skit' only lasts for about 60 seconds and there's some gags in the transitions too. The animation is pretty decent, it's all simple but they didn't cheap out like they could have done with some things. There's no dialogue so you can watch this as is and get the point, but there are a few repeated music tracks that get a little repetitive after a bit. One thing I like is that there's alot of 'meta' humour, particular with the
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individual lines and shapes, it definitely feels a little ahead of its time and pretty outside the box for what could otherwise be a pretty boring OVA.
The only reason I saw this is because it got a very brief mention on a volume of the AnimeVision Video magazine, but unfortunately the only known sources have the last 5 or so minutes missing due to a damaged LaserDisc. I really did quite enjoy it compared to alot of the other generic OVAs from that period, very refreshing. I think that even though it's possibly the most obscure anime I've seen, most people would enjoy it.
One word of caution though, there is some nudity that's pretty random and weirdly placed in what is otherwise a kid's show, I suppose that's just the 80s for you though.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 27, 2023
Unlike the far more popular (and now infamous) 'Ghost Stories', Gakkou no Kaidan SP is a collection of very short Japanese spooky stories - a bit like Goosebumps or Tales from the Crypt. There are usually 2 stories per episode, with cut-outs to the 'Ghosts' who host the show and serve as the main cast - they don't normally appear in the actual stories though. These cut-aways usually are comic relief or riffs on the ending of the story, but they do some running themes which are nice. From what I can tell, most of the stories are taken verbatim from the Gakkou no
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Kaidan manga, though they do tread some similar ground from the TV Series.
I think the animation is on the whole quite good. It's unfortunately hard to do any detailed comments since the only versions that exist have quite low image quality. But the character designs are all really well-done, and I really like the face-styles and less detailed eyes that they went with. It definitely hides things that might have been more obvious if they tried to go more traditional. The only issue really is that the OP has very, very noticeable dips in quality, though it's not too bad. The character design of the various ghosts is really good, I especially like how they restyled Kinjiro in particular and comparing to the Manga / DS games that came out it's very stylistically faithful.
The audio is pretty standard, there's not alot of background noise but it is fairly by the books for childrens horror. The VAs are all pretty good but one or two like Rabbi are super grating when they get longer parts. The ED is very very generic and barely feels like it was written for anything horror related, however as best I can tell it was only used in the last 2 episodes (which are only around 5 minutes long) However the OP is seriously punching above its weight, the song is 'すぐそばに～another world～' by Lisa Takahashi and it absolutely rocks, and feels way more suited to the tone of the show. I'm really surprised it ended up in what was a fairly standard anime.
The stories themselves are all pretty good, though alot of them are hyper-japanese to the point that they can be a bit hard to follow if you're not familiar with them - then again this never made it outside of Japan to begin with. Some are easier than others, but on the whole they're all fairly entertaining and short. (I did have to look up what alot of stuff was however, your mileage may vary.
This is definitely a strange one and very obscure compared to the TV series, but if you like short spooky stories and can understand it without subs I think you'll probably enjoy it.
And as a tangent, there is a Promo OP for a planned sequel series included in the final episode, 「ふしぎ通信 トイレの花子さん」(Mysterious Communications, Hanako-san in the Toiler), that unfortunately never got a full release. It's a shame because it looks like a very interesting take, with some really good looking character designs and a catchy OP song - it's worth a look if you haven't seen it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 20, 2023
This is quite a bizarre OVA and I'm surprised that it isn't more well-known, I'd definitely say that it is thoroughly underrated. Alot of people might be thrown off by the start which makes it feel like a generic slice-of-life VN adaptation but it really (really) picks up quickly and by the second episode things are tending more toward a Makoto Shinkai-esque story with a really nice, satisfying ending.
The animation style isn't anything extravagant, but it's perfectly alright. It's very, very '2003' and if you like that sort of visual style then you'll enjoy it, but if you don't then it'll probably just be
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par for the course. While the anime is definitely alot more grounded it might've been nice to see some more interesting movements or exaggeration in some of the comedy relief parts, though obviously that's a matter of directing taste.
The music was also pretty decent, though I think the ED on the second episode was the highlight. The voice actors are all pretty good, though Hiyori was by far the best, though I can't say if that's more her character having a bit more varied direction.
The only real complaint I have is that with such a short runtime, it does have a bit of a tendency to hyperfocus on seemingly random plotlines and ideas - some characters get introduced if only to deliver advice and are never heard from again and the anime 'doubles up' on some of the imagery and themes in a way that just makes them feel a little bit less focused and clear than they could have been. Honestly for what it is, I think it's really underrated and deserves more recognition.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 11, 2023
This is an OVA based on the Deep-Blue series game 'Tristia of the Deep-Blue Sea'. I'm frankly baffled as to how such an obscure series managed to get any animation at all but the mid-2000s were a strange time. I have played some of the games so I can comment that this OVA does a pretty good job at conveying the basic jist and tone of the game, but it's definitely not a stellar anime overall. It really depends on whether your love of mid-2000s anime tropes dialed up to 11 in some bizarre comedy of a mecha anime fights through. Deep-Blue is a bit
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of a weird mix between a visual novel and a city-building sim with mechas bolted on, it's sortof like if an Atelier game was set in a Aria-esque universe which i really dig, it's a shame that style of world fell out of fashion in the 2010s.
The animation is quite good, there is a bit of visual flair going on but this does obviously come off as a budget production. It definitely isn't anywhere near as bad as some other stuff from this generation like the IDEA Factory crap. I trawl through alot of trashy OVAs from this period and I can honestly say that this probably has some of the best animation i've seen in all of them all things considered. One thing that's really standout are the colours, they're alot more saturated than most anime and make it look alot bolder, and the way that they adapted them in various lighting conditions was really well-done. Especially in darker scenes where they still keep most of the colour which I haven't really seen done before and was quite memorable.
The voice acting is pretty decent, though nothing standout. I don't know for sure whether the same VAs reprised their roles for this animation but they do sound pretty alike regardless. But fun fact: there is a Russian dub floating around on the internet and it is actually quite good. If you can track it down it definitely adds a little bit if you're getting bored. The music is also really really good, as alot of the tracks are taken from the game verbatim.
I think the worst part is the story and the pacing, it feels like they tried to balance too many storylines for 2 episodes, as well as have some character development and mecha fights. If this was maybe 4 episodes long and a bit more segmented that wouldn't be so bad but it can't be helped given there's only 60 minutes. I think it definitely makes alot more sense if you have played the game, which most people watching likely haven't since none of them have been released or localised outside of Japan until recently. Kogado as a whole definitely caters to a more dedicated customer base (with alot of fandiscs and merch) so the fact this OVA assumes some knowledge makes a bit more sense.
One of the things I like the most that might be lost on alot of people is that all of the characters are named after aircraft, Nanoka is named after the Sukhoi SU-37 Flanker, and the villainess is named directly after the Panavia Tornado multi-role aircraft. I still haven't really been able to find a solid reason as to why this is but I can only assume it's just mid-2000s quirks showing up again. You really just couldn't have an anime like this again.
If you were interested in following the series a bit further there were the following games:
* Tristia of the Deep-Blue Sea - PS2, PSP, PC
* Neosphere of the Deep-Blue Sky - PS2, PSP, PC
* Amaneka of the Dawn and the Deep-Blue Titan - X360, PSP, PC
* Silver Cal and the Queen of the Deep-Blue Sky - PSP, PC
The series does seem to be on hiatus but Tristia is getting a localisation and remake now for Steam luckily.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2244160/Tristialegacy/
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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