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Jan 25, 2018
Mary and the Witch's Flower is the inaugural film from Studio Ponoc and the 3rd directorial effort from Hiromasa Yonebayashi, whose previous films include the respectable Ghibli efforts The Secret World of Arrietty and When Marnie Was There.
Being essentially an offshoot of Ghibli, you can immediately see the visual cues Ponoc borrows from its roots. In many ways, it is as if nothing changed. From an animation standpoint, this film may as well have been made by Ghibli staff - but I say this not as a criticism, as not only will it take time for Ponoc to develop its own style, but this anime
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is a fantastic visual feast. Gorgeous backgrounds, excellent attention to every detail and nuance accompanied by fluid and breathtaking animation is what you can expect from Mary and the Witch's Flower (MATWF).
Unfortunately, this is where the comparisons to Ghibli go from being a worthy tribute to a pale imitation.
There are many common themes in Ghibli films that Mary and the Witch's Flower attempts to replicate - the core one being essentially the same journey that Sen takes in Spirited Away. A clumsy, naive little girl bored by her mundane life is unwittingly whisked away to a magical place that will be the setting of her coming-of-age story.
The set-up for this is perfect - in fact, many ideas presented to the audience in MATWF are enticing. The problem is that movie barely does anything with them, and we are left with a very hollow story and anti-climactic third act. The world of the witches and magic that Mary encounters is just barely explored as she faces her trials, and somehow even manages to be boring at times despite its fantastical themes and overdose of whimsy.
As much as I don't want to continue to compare Ponoc to Ghibli, I feel the best example is again the comparison of characters between Mary and Sen. In Spirited Away, Sen spends the majority of the film in Yubaba's bath house, and meets many memorable and interesting characters while living there. Each one helps her a little bit on her journey - she learns something, makes a new friend, takes another step closer to becoming the hero of her own story. You learn a lot about the inner workings of this ethereal yet perilous labyrinth of a bath house that she inhabits. Miyazaki has always been a master of setting and applying it to a character's journey.
In MATWF, it will be no surprise to you that Mary is endowed with the power of a witch. Her magical broom flies her to the "Endor College of Magic" - an absurdly massive school in the clouds full of what seems to be hundreds if not thousands of students learning to become witches. Yet Mary only interacts with no more than 3 people while there, and most of the time it feels empty - aside from some animals and autonomous magical servants that don't utter a word. We get a glimpse of life in the college, but only that and nothing else. Ultimately, everything we see at Endor is nothing but an almost unnecessary loose end.
A great example of this is when Mary visits Endor for the first time. Before entering, she is informed that Endor has very strict rules, written on a giant stone plaque outside its gates. The audience and Mary cannot read it because it's written in some magical language. The first rule is read to Mary, but the others are left unread because they get interrupted. Yet not only do we never learn the other rules to Endor, the first rule ends up being entirely irrelevant to the main plot despite its supposed importance.
I could nitpick the movie and its little faults, but its ultimate failing was the story arc of Mary. Early in the film, Mary meets a boy named Peter. If I must make another Spirited Away comparison here, he is basically the movie's Haku, except that he's basically nothing more than a helpless pawn with no real attachment to Mary.
Peter and Mary don't really get along - in fact, they are not even friends, just acquaintances who tease eachother. After interacting with eachother in real life for all of 5 minutes, eventually Mary accidentally puts Peter in great danger and decides to rescue him - she suddenly cares greatly for him as if they were good friends, and act like totally different people than when we last saw them together.
While there is motivation for Mary to rescue Peter, it lacks conviction from the weak script. There just needed to be more of what mattered and less of the spectacle. The story feels rushed and cobbled together, sometimes even confusing. As far as Yonebayashi goes, it's definitely a step backwards when it comes to characters.
Perhaps it is part of the growing pains of transitioning to a new studio. Perhaps it is difficult to succeed without the constant guidance of masters like Miyazaki and Takehata. Perhaps it's both. Whatever it is, I hope for the best for the future of Studio Ponoc - living under the shadow of Ghibli is not easy. They stumbled a bit out the gate, but there's no mistake that Ponoc employs incredible talent. If they take some time to reflect on what went wrong with MATWF and how to do it right, there's no reason why they cannot build on it.
Overall, the movie is not altogether terrible. It is a bit of a bore to watch at times, the script lacks subtlety and the moral of the story is ambiguous at best, but it has its heart in the right place and should be a joy for small children, especially young girls. The opening flashback sequence is a great hook (and honestly looked like it would have been a more intriguing film), the animation and backgrounds are fantastic and there are moments of genuine laughs and charm, but they are sometimes far apart.
It is, for all intents and purposes, merely decent.
I would say don't go in expecting a Ghibli film, but even if it looked nothing like one, I don't think that would change much.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 8, 2017
If you want to learn how to screw up a hero's journey story, a love story and a "good all along" story - all at the same time - look no further than Virgin Soul.
I don't think i've seen an anime trip over itself more in its 3rd act than this one, and it's a real shame, because for the most part you have a cast of characters that mesh really well together. Even though I found Jean D'Arc and the angels quite boring and they suck up a lot of screen time in the 2nd half, that's really only the beginning of Virgin Soul's
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problems.
Virgin Soul starts off 10 years after the events of the 1st season. I wouldn't recommend watching this without first having seen the prequel.. but I wouldn't recommend this anime at all to begin with. But i'm getting ahead of myself - our main character this time around is Nina, a bubbly and energetic young girl looking for an adventurous new life in the capital. Over time, she eventually gets entangled with familiar cast members, although you'll have to be patient for some to arrive.
The villain - at first - seems to be the stern and unwavering young King Charioce, who has enslaved and killed thousands of demons and angels with a powerful magic bestowed on his personal army, effectively placing humans at the top of the world's food chain. Nina, befriending characters such as Jean, Bacchus and Azazel, is very much aware of this and vows to join their efforts to stop him.
But then.. well, our little starlet Nina unknowingly falls in love with him. And you could forgive some young puppy love - especially if you don't know your crush is a genocidal psychopath hellbent on world domination. But then it keeps going - even after she realizes who he actually is, she insists that he should be spared - because how could her naive feelings possibly be wrong? And thus Nina goes from being the ambitious, likable young sprout to a completely insufferable, selfish brat who consistently screws over her friends.
And all this culminates to what has to be one of the most confused, muddied and bizarre disasters of a 3rd act of a story. There's only so much I can give away without completely spoiling the entire sorry excuse of a story, but I will say this - the plot "twists" are totally insulting to the audience, and everything that made this franchise good gets sidelined in favor of shoving in a totally unappealing romantic sideplot as the crux of the 2nd half.
The final episodes, while exciting and heartwrenching for brief moments, are totally baffling. That the writers thought audiences would buy into everything that was shoehorned into this anime legitimately puzzles me. And how all of Nina's friends weren't absolutely infuriated with her is equally confusing - but also probably just lazy writing.
And that is really the main issue with Virgin Soul. The set-up is fantastic, but it can't deliver on one-upping itself. Maybe the writers got lost in the story and simply ran out of time to come up with a good ending. We'll probably never know. And it doesn't matter. What matters is that in the end, Virgin Soul is a great example of what NOT to do with the story paths the writers chose to follow.
If they had found a way to wrap up the story in a neat bow in 12 episodes, I would have recommended this anime. But it kept going, and it kept getting worse, and they ruined it. I only give it a 4/10 because I did enjoy the first half - a solid 8/10. The 2nd half is more like a 2/10. So yeah - if someone gave you a sandwich with random splotches of mold on it, would you eat it? You can't cut it in half and only eat the good parts. You've got to eat ALL of it. Don't go into this anime without expecting to be let down.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Feb 21, 2016
Chances are if you're reading this review or watching this special episode of Working!, you've already seen the first 3 seasons. If you haven't, I'd recommend you go do that first.
Now that that's out of the way, there's actually not a whole lot to say - it makes me happy to say that this special is everything a Working! fan could have possibly hoped for in the context of an ending. How many SoL shows have broken fans hearts by constantly teasing us with closure but never letting it happen? "Lord of the Takanashi" spoils the loyal viewers by shattering every SoL trope a weary
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fan of the genre has come to expect, and it does it in a uniquely hilarious fashion only Working! can deliver.
Pretty much every story arc of Working! comes to an acceptable end here. It is a bit heartbreaking in a sense because this is the last piece of Working! animation we will ever get - but it's also extremely satisfying and fun to watch. You'll laugh, you'll blush, you might even shed a tear. Please don't hesitate to watch this if you are a fan - it's hard to imagine you'd be disappointed in this if you've come this far in the Working! franchise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 3, 2015
The 3rd season of Working!!! offers a lot of what fans of the series have been waiting for - closure. However, one glaring knot is yet left to be tied, and the overall score of this season would have been impacted greatly if not for the one-hour finale that you should watch right after you see this season called "Working!!! Lord of the Takanashi".
STORY - 7
Working!!! takes its time going through all our friends at Wagnaria and resolves a lot of questions fans have been dying to know and pairings they've been dying to see. The pacing is odd at times, and Yamada gets the
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lion's share of screen time in this season. Despite that, it manages to get the job done without being too wasteful or repetitive. And while fans may welcome more animated Working! material, one can't help but wonder if everything could have been squeezed into a season that took its sweet time jumping from arc to arc.
Still, Working! is as funny as ever while still managing to tug at our heartstrings and be sentimental at the right moments. Things are changing at Wagnaria and it's not easy for everyone, and while Working! never takes itself too seriously, it shows us it's not afraid to have serious moments.
CHARACTER - 9
The quirky cast of Wagnaria is probably one of Working!'s stronger suits, and it's always a joy to see these characters interact and see a romance go from awkward and painful tension to real mutual feelings. We've seen characters like Inami grow and change a lot, and relationships like Satou and Yachiyo blossom. And now these things are finally starting to pay off and seeing them unfold on screen is a joy.
There are also a few new characters this season like the masochistic ex-husband of the eldest Takanashi sister and Souta's mysterious mother - all of whom are funny in their own way and add a new dynamic to an already oddball family.
ART & SOUND - 7/8
With A1 at the helm the style remains consistent and the art and animation is relatively solid. There's a few off-model scenes and strange moments, but overall there was nothing glaring.
The seiyu of Working! have done a stellar job this season bringing these characters to life through voice, and the sfx + music is fitting as always.
As a Working! fan, I put enjoyment and overall score at an 8/10. The closure and character development this season was satisfactory, and while there are still some loose ends, you'll be more than satisfied with the final conclusion to the story in the special episode that follows this season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 1, 2015
One positive thing I can say about Shokugeki no Souma is that it's an anime that knows exactly what it is - a ridiculously over-the-top sports/battle shounen with cooking as the centerpiece.
In the beginning, the plot seems familiar, but inviting - our hero Souma is faced with his first opponent - an aggressive businesswoman looking to put his father's humble diner out of commission to make way for her development plans. We all know she's simply a stepping stone into the universe of this anime. Predictably, she agrees to step down if Souma can impress her with his cooking. And, of course, he defeats
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her with relative ease.
It's an amusing start, and you know there's a much larger story and far more formidable opponents on the road ahead. Unfortunately from here on out, Shokugeki no Souma slowly stumbles into mediocrity as it attempts to constantly out-do itself.
The visual gags in SnS are the primary source of its "ecchi" tag, which mostly consist of its infamous food-induced orgasms, complete with clothes being torn asunder and physics-defying breasts superimposed on dreamy foodscapes. Funny the first time, but it gets old fast.
Though these scenes don't exist simply for humor, but also to beat you over the head with expository dialogue as to why the dish they're eating is just that good. Imagine your typical anime action battle scene - a combatant suddenly realizes their opponent's "secret technique", and inexplicably begins to blab out loud what is happening, as if they knew we were watching.
And that is SnS in a nutshell - every shounen trope you can imagine, but with food. This by itself isn't inherently bad, it's simply what it does with them that makes SnS very predictable, tiresome and - despite pulling out all the stops to be as epic as possible - ultimately boring.
STORY - 7/10
The story of SnS plays it relatively safe. We are all familiar with the archetype of the unexpected hero and his hometown roots. He's young, highly competitive and determined - albeit a bit naive and a sore loser. Trained under his mysterious and skilled father, he sends him off to a prestigious academy for aspiring chefs. Surrounded by peers of elite and privileged upbringing, he sticks out like a sore thumb - something that sometimes comes to his advantage. It is here Souma will face one greater challenge after another as he fights for the chance to be the very best that no one ever was.
It's a tried and true classic plotline. It can be inspiring, motivational and relatable in all kinds of ways. It's meant to resonate with the average viewer, and that's great! But there's little reason to be invested in - even if the stakes are high - if we don't care about the characters. Unfortunately, SnS fails in many ways to create compelling characters.
CHARACTERS - 2/10
One glaring issue with SnS is that the main character is almost too perfect. Souma is basically a "Marty Stu", or an idealized self-insert that just so happens to excel at everything he does. He seems incapable of doing wrong, making mistakes or showing weakness. Women fawn over him, think about him constantly and even spite eachother in order to win his affection, though he seems blissfully unaware or uninterested in any of it.
While Souma is capable of learning things and growing as a person, we don't ever really see it happen - we only see the results of it. And sometimes it happens literally overnight.
Souma's flaws are merely personality quirks, nothing really stops him from reaching the next plateau. His struggle is almost non-existent because of this, and it rarely adds any tension or excitement to his story.
Secondly, there are far too many supporting characters that overlap eachother. In 2 cours of SnS we are introduced to over two dozen supporting cast with some kind of backstory and motivation - mostly sharing at least two of the following attributes: 1. the desire to be the best in the academy 2. obsessively competitive and self-righteous 3. the desire to best Souma as a chef - and, as an added bonus, may possibly have some kind of unrequited affection towards him. Granted, not all supporting cast follow this example (for example, the far more compelling and likable Miyoko Houjou), but there are few and they get painfully little screen time.
On the whole, a lot of the supporting cast is generally flat and unlikable outside of Souma's dorm mates. True that many are merely rivals, but this doesn't mean that the character can't be complex and interesting. Sometimes the rivals and villains of a story can be even more compelling than the characters we're supposed to be cheering on.
The only character that comes from truly humble beginnings and experiences real growth is the female lead Megumi. Her flaws are human, her character is believable, and her struggle is familiar on many levels. Souma is so sickeningly idealized that it makes Megumi stand out even more, and it's hard not to cheer her on. However, with so many other characters competing for screen-time, she is sometimes absent.
ENJOYMENT - 3/10
SnS is constantly trying to reach new heights of epic showdowns with the same set-up in every arc. It goes something like this - a new character or characters are introduced, Souma encounters them, and they appear in the next "cooking battle". There's monologues, wide-eyed moments of revelation, montages and of course ecchi. They all generally end the same way, though - with Souma edging his way to the next challenge and stunning his seasoned rivals.
The problem lies in that literally every cooking battle ends in the same way - those judging the food are seen as jaded and impossible to impress. Yet that illusion is instantly shattered as Souma and his peers unexpectedly blow them away every time to the shock of onlookers. But when the audience is shown this over and over from the get-go, it's anything but shocking and the tension is artificial.
By the time you get to the 6-episode cooking battle finale, you already know exactly what's going to happen. Watching it unfold is hilariously predictable and the whole arc falls flat. There's not much of a resolution either as the manga is ongoing, so the ending feels more like a lull than anything.
One positive thing to say about the enjoyment factor is that the pacing of SnS is fairly well done. Many anime struggle with pacing, but SnS manages to pack in a lot without seeming rushed or taking too much time here or there. Unfortunately what's happening on screen is not awfully compelling.
ART & SOUND - 7/10
Not much to say here besides "good". This is by no means an animated masterpiece, but the animation is generally solid and consistent. The art style is also aesthetically pleasing. The only complaint regarding the animation are the sometimes poorly animated bouncing breasts - if you're going to do blatant fanservice, at least do it right. At times the breasts bounce as if they were being flopped around in an exaggerated video game physics engine with no rhyme or reason. Also, the art can sometimes go overboard on the blush with soft red gradients topped with white highlights all over the body. They look like awkwardly large pimples when they're not done subtly.
The paintings and animation of food are nothing short of stellar. You won't see food this detailed in many other anime. But at the end of the day it is just food and doesn't do much for what's happening in the story.
The music is well done and the sound effects will make you hungry (if the food on screen isn't already).
OVERALL - 5/10
At the end of the day, despite its many flaws, there are much worse anime than SnS. In this case, it's the cast of SnS that drag down a story and premise that had potential, and the result is something decidedly mediocre. While SnS never loses its focus, it shows all the cards in its hand too quickly, leaving the audience with no surprises left to look forward to.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 7, 2013
There's no escaping the fact that the Madoka Magica franchise is explosive. And with it comes the pressure on the creators to push out more content for the fans. After two films that covered the original series with many improvements and new footage, the first truly new piece of Madoka Magica canon has arrived in the 3rd film, titled "Rebellion".
Before I review the film, I will mention that Rebellion is not intended to be viewed without prior knowledge of the original series - it is required viewing to understand the plot, as nearly the entire story and its characters are reflections and references to the
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original story.
With that out of the way, I'm sure most people reading this are quite familiar with Madoka Magica, a magical girl anime that turned the genre on its head with a macabre and unexpected dark side. It won a lot of fans over, and it's understandable why. It also wrapped itself up rather nicely, which compiles onto the caution that must be taken when attempting to continue a story that set high expectations and standards.
And that leads me to the story of Rebellion (5/10). At the ending of Rebellion, I had this deep feeling in my gut that the creators of this film were pressured to make sure that post-Rebellion there would be potential to add even more to the Madoka Magica timeline in order to milk more out of the franchise - because the premise of this film started out rather promising, and ended somewhat weak and half-baked, drawing reference from the original series ending, but coming off as an uninspired far cry from its predecessor. And indeed, Urobuchi's original ending for this film was scrapped for something less neatly wrapped. For the sake of not revealing major spoilers, I will say only these few things: that the story focuses mainly on Homura, and the setting deliberately fools the audience for a good portion of the film in order to tell this story.
To compound on this, the pacing of the plot is very stunted, and there is a tiring amount of exposition as the story goes on in order to explain the layers of events that are occurring. It is easy to get lost somewhere along the way, so it is important to pay careful attention to all of it. It doesn't help that a lot of this dialogue is going on during extremely visually focused segments of the film - which, while beautiful, are excessive, drawn-out, and can be distracting from the story.
At the end, I feel that the character of Homura has been cheapened. It is a bitter pill to swallow for one of Madoka's most beloved characters, and her actions at the end become almost meaningless that one has to wonder if the sacrifice that was made to her integrity in order to allow room for more sequels was worth it when you have to betray, and in some cases deeply upset your fans in order to achieve this.
I will acknowledge that many feel this way because they are deeply connected to her character and her story. However, while I did enjoy Madoka Magica and consider myself a fan, I approached this film with no expectations, and I judge the story solely from its merits as a sequel. And, at the end, I found the story to be overly convoluted, poorly paced and thrown together with more importance given to hitting a 'reset' button for more franchise profit potential, rather than telling a new and complete story to compliment the original. It's not so much that it was a bad story, but rather one that had a lot of potential and fell on its face at the end - which is almost more disappointing than a bad one.
Though the story was lacking, there is one thing Shaft nailed and that is the art and animation (9/10). Much like in the original series, the world of Madoka Magica is quite surreal - the characters live in an almost dream-like utopia, sprinkled with glass-laden spires and towers, beautiful gardens and pristine city blocks. Then there is the creepy, nightmarish worlds of the witches, with cut-out art nouveau parades, beautifully textured dreamscapes and stop-motion animation combined with the unique 2D style of the show - there really isn't anything quite like it in the world of anime. And while it is not always perfect, it stands out as an example of successful mixed format animation.
Because of the setting of Rebellion, the animators go wild for a large portion of the film. So much so that I would say that it is sometimes too much of a good thing, but still always a treat to watch more of it. My only real complaint is that at times the 2D animation of the characters felt phoned in or boiled a bit, but I will chalk that up to the fact that many anime films operate on a very tight budget with very strict deadlines. Though during the action and important moments of the film, the animation team put in the effort where it counted.
The sound (9/10) adds a lot more to the atmosphere of Rebellion. The music treads familiar and welcome territory and compliments every moment of animation. The sound effects and voice work was also very well done, with special attention being taken to their surroundings.
As far as characters (4/10) go, I had three major issues with this that go in tandem with Rebellion's story. Before I go into those though, I will say that Kyoko and Sayaka fans will appreciate their larger role in this story, and their friendship is a positive and fun element to this otherwise grim movie. But we don't get to see how they became so close, it is more or less implied.
The first major character issue is the addition of Nagisa Momoe/Bebe. I consider this a minor spoiler, so if you do not want to read any more about this then please skip this paragraph. Moving on, Bebe was teased to audiences for months as being in this film, and indeed, she does appear in her pre-witch form for brief moments in the movie. Consider it an alternate universe where, instead of Bebe biting Mami's head off, Mami befriends her and becomes part of her team of taking down Nightmares. And I will admit, she is adorable, albeit annoying at times. The problem? There is almost no point to her being in the film. She serves absolutely no purpose beyond attracting curious fans to wonder why she is there, and when she is, she has nothing significant to add to the plot. The one time she could add anything significant to the plot, it is mentioned that she can explain something, and then is never mentioned again. She felt like a shoe-in and I honestly do not think the film would have suffered at all without her.
The second is Homura. Homura's character is completely altered by the end of this film. I understand her torment and the negative effects that seeing the same events occur over and over may have had on her, but I found her actions at the end of the story to be foolish and confusing. And when all is said and done, her decisions are trivial at best and amount to almost nothing. I feel like I do not know who she is anymore, and, more importantly, that perhaps the writers don't, either. And I find this rather troubling for a once strong character who has been diminished to something more of a reckless psychopath. Perhaps she will be "redeemed" when the time comes, but for a self-contained story, the path that they have decided to take with Homura is nothing short of disappointing.
The last is, well, the entire cast. I already went over this briefly but I'll mention it one more time. The universe in which the story of Rebellion takes place is, for lack of a better word, fake. The events take place entirely in a bubble, almost quite literally, and feel inconsequential. It's almost one of those "everything was a dream" endings, and it compounds on the slight sense of unfamiliarity that you get from how the cast behaves in Rebellion - and then it all gets tossed out in the end. It's misleading, and leaves a hollow feeling that the original series didn't. I don't mean to say that all stories should have happy endings, but Rebellion's tragic ending feels cheap, forced and uninspired - and at the deep cost of a loss of characterization.
In the end, the movie still comes out being slightly better than average (6/10 enjoyment, 6/10 overall). Rebellion has a lot of powerful material to work with, and its premise starts out strong. But it tries so hard to be even darker and more macabre than its predecessor, while still attempting to make way for even more sequels, and because of this it falls desperately short of its potential.
Though I still hope for the best for the future of the Madoka Magica franchise. This film, for better or worse, is sort of a "reset button" for the series, and for all I know the next season or movie could be multitudes better than Rebellion could have been. But, for now, Rebellion leaves Madoka Magica on a confusing and sour note, one that would be a real shame to leave on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 23, 2013
Most of you may know that Space Battleship Yamato 2199 is a remake of the 1970's space opera by the same name (bar the 2199). If one were to make a comparison of its significance to its importance of the genre, it is basically the Star Wars of Japan - the series that one would point to as a culturally significant moment in entertainment and the rise of the genre itself.
In recent times, one becomes wary when they hear the word 'remake' or 'reboot'. Audiences have reluctantly witnessed so many beloved series, stories and characters get butchered in misguided and unnecessary attempts to be recreated.
Thankfully,
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I am happy to say that Yamato's 21st century rebirth is done faithfully, respectfully, and masterfully.
First, there is the story (9/10). Yamato's story is timeless - the people of Earth are fighting back against an alien threat to bring their planet to slavery or extinction. Humanity's last hope lies in the battleship Yamato, its crew, and a mysterious technology brought to mankind from a distant alien race of people called Iscandarians. Their destination - lightyears away, on the planet of Iscandar. In their path lie many obstacles, and every one a piece of the story and the puzzle. In this respect, Yamato's story is not difficult to understand, and is something you can appreciate at any age in any time. There are many developments and nuances that shape the story beyond its simple premise as the show develops, however. For the most part, it faithfully follows the original plot, and while I can't comment on specifics, I know enough to say that with confidence. It is not overly complex - there are also many things that are left to the imagination for the sake of not boring the audience. If you accept them for what they are and don't convolute them, it is, for the most part, flawless. This is, after all, a fictional universe.
Now for the art (10/10). There has been some fuss over the stylistic changes from the original Leiji style of Yamato to the remake. However, I find them to be a perfect blend of the retro style and modern style - which still brings an incredibly refreshing artistic flair to Yamato that isn't seen anywhere today. Even if one were to miss the original style, I think it would be impossible to truly recreate it exactly unless you had all the original animation staff, and that is too much to ask for a 40-year old series. Nobuteru did an excellent job of revisiting the style of Leiji and bringing it to a modern audience.
The animation is absolutely stunning. It's quite obvious there was a high budget for the series, and they use it in all the right places. Let's be honest - in the 70's, many of the technical challenges that came with animating epic, large-scale space battles were difficult to tackle with the technology of the time. While many are impressive, it's easy to see where they struggled to achieve their true vision. In 2199, the ships are 3D models, and CGI comes heavily into play during battle scenes. There was a time that this spelled bad news for mixing with 2D animation, when CGI suffered from a "video game cutscene" syndrome. But with today's technology, 2199's CGI is absolutely stunning, and blends beautifully with the show and the backgrounds. Every ship is masterfully crafted and detailed, and every nuance of the ships and the weaponry is nothing short of perfection. The excitement of every battle scene leaves you speechless. Fans of spaceships, fighter jets and miscellaneous mechanical things will be filled with nothing but glee.
The character and 2D animation is equally as important, and is treated that way. There's a lot of expressiveness in every character, and it shows. There's a bit of fanservice and moe here and there, but nothing overdone. Yamato takes itself seriously when it has to, but it also has a bit of fun when it's appropriate.
The music and sfx (10/10) adds another layer of immersion to the world of Yamato. The soundtrack is a lot of re-recordings of original Yamato tracks, with that 1970's sci-fi trumpets and backing vocals that many may remember fondly. If not, it's something that you hear very rarely these days, and is absolutely perfect for this series. It's enough that the opening is one of those songs you just can't skip - the rest of the soundtrack is equally inspiring.
The sound effects, voices and ambiance is also well done. My favorite bits are definitely the sounds of the ships and the weapons during battle. There's nothing quite like hearing a flurry of lasers, rockets and explosions - and of course, the awe-inspiring Wave Motion Gun.
The characters (9/10) of Yamato are stunning examples of common archetypes. There are brave heroes, loyal comrades, tragic villains, and everything in between. There is a very large cast of Yamato, so I won't dive into every character, but while many characters may seem stereotypical at first glance, Yamato never attempts to clearly define the difference between good and evil - at times, you will sympathize with the enemy, and you will question the motives of the heroes. It's one of those important aspects that helps separate the wheat from the chaff in this aspect. Still, there is a very classical story at hand, and with it come classic characters. But they are not as hollow and predictable as one more cynical may come to believe.
Overall, there is not much more to say. I gave enjoyment a 10/10 because I always found myself looking forward to the next episode of Yamato - and when they came (the waits were quite long for those following the series release), they were over so soon because I enjoyed every moment.
It is quite clear that the creators of Yamato 2199 had great respect for the source material and made every effort to craft a remake worthy of the name Uchuu Senkan Yamato. And in every aspect I would say they succeeded, and brought a story that deserves to be retold to a new era, taking advantage of the tools they have today that its original creators did not to remake Yamato in its full glory. And although the eye-candy visuals of space warfare are a spectacle in their own right, Yamato 2199 never loses sight of the story it is trying to tell and the cast that we want to root for, which is where many remakes of this era falter.
This is a very rare and important piece of animation history - one that I believe deserves to be viewed and appreciated by everyone. I would recommend this series to absolutely anyone, even if they are not fans of sci-fi. If you want an example of a remake done right - this is it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 17, 2013
Gargantia was a hit or miss series judging from the reactions I have seen. Personally I enjoyed it - despite its predictability, it was a beautiful and charming story that everyone should give a chance.
On the Blu-rays comes not only improvements to the animation and art, but two unaired OVA's. Those hoping for a continuation of events after Gargantia may be disappointed - both episodes take place in the middle or before the events of the series, respectively. These episodes will not mean much to people who haven't already finished Gargantia, so I cannot recommend that you watch these before finishing the series.
The first OVA
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(ep 14) is about Ridget's past.
While Ridget does take on an important role later on in Gargantia, we know little of her background besides what is only told to us. This OVA does a good job of filling in some of those blanks, when investigating an abandoned ship colony she realizes she knew some of the people who used to inhabit it. We then spend a good half of the episode in a flashback about Ridget's past and one of her former friends.
It's a little heartbreaking, but also touching. And while I wish for more Ledo and Amy bonding, we do get enough of it that I am satisfied until the second OVA appears next month (according to what I've been told).
I would give episode 14 an 8/10.
The second OVA (ep 15) fills us in on how Kugel - and his Yunboro, Striker - became the leader of the pirate-turned-cult fleet that Ledo and Pinion encounter near the end of the first season.
The story focuses around the relationship between Linaria, a girl who is visually and behaviorally similar to Amy, and the troubled heir to her late father's fleet, and Kugel, who conveniently appears on earth to save her from certain death from her half-sisters who are chasing and attempting to kill and take the fleet from her.
Linaria prays to the "God of the Sky" in her moment of need to save her, and Kugel unwittingly protects her as the enemy ships fire on Striker. He uses "minimal force" to suppress their attack, and ends up destroying all the ships. Miraculously all the sailors survive, now with a new-found fear of Linaria's supposed ability to summon gods from the sky.
This series of events cements Linaria as the leader of the fleet, with Kugel at her side. Her eldest half-sister, Oceanid, however, is skeptical of the deification of Kugel and Striker, and makes an attempt to have him killed. However, it backfires, and it elevates the situation even further.
During this entire time, Linaria is visibly sick, and it is obvious here that we see how Kugel ended up dying later on, as he contracts her illness. More series of unfortunate events has the situation spiral out of control.
Linaria has a great impact on Kugel with her heartfelt words of gratitude, but Kugel takes them in the wrong way, and starts to embrace his cult-like reign over the fleet in the vein of the Alliance laws. When Kugel inevitably dies, Striker takes the opportunity to continue leading the fleet in the fashion that the Alliance would have.
While this episode can be touching at times, everything felt forced because of pacing issues, and I didn't feel as strong of a connection between Kugel and Linaria as I believe there was meant to be. Perhaps if there was more than a single episode of development for this story it would have had more impact. It's unfortunate that there was some missed potential here. Thankfully, this is not the end for Gargantia, as if it were it would have ended on a somewhat mediocre note.
I give episode 15 a 6/10.
Still, I would recommend this duo of OVA's to fans of Gargantia. Ridget gets some much needed love in her short and sweet OVA, and Kugel's story, while flawed, does add more flavor and emotion to his story, and the fate of his fleet.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 27, 2013
A cute summer episode of standard Minami-ke fare.
Chiaki is working on her summer goal of trying to do a backwards flip on the playground beam, the girls go to the beach, a flying beetle plays with Kana and Touma's hearts, and Haruka's friends go to a restaurant, where Atsuko has trouble deciding on what to order.
Normally i'd give the animation (6/10) a better score in the Minami-ke series, but this cgi beetle that Kana and Touma adopt as a pet at different times during the episode looks really bad and sticks out like a sore thumb. Overall, the episode felt more cheaply produced than normal.
The
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amount of material in the special is decent. The beach segment felt very generic, but Chiaki's cute story made up for it. Touma names a pet beetle Natsuki, which confuses her older brother and makes for a humorous bit.
However, the funniest part of the episode in my opinion is actually after the credits - the restaurant segment with Hitomi and Atsuko, topped off with a very short bit of Hosaka ordering a drink at a fast food place.
So make sure you stick around after the credits. Other than that, there's not much else to say. Here's hoping for another season!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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