Kiddy Bleh...

Actually, I had intended to write a summary of some anime I’ve finished recently, as well as ongoing anime that I’m currently watching. Then I decided to split that post into two: one with the anime I’ve finished, and one with the ongoing ones. In the end, this anime got it’s own post, because it’s so special… it makes me want to puke.

I had written two posts about the sequel to my beloved Kiddy Grade, one in which I discussed the awesomeness of the teaser, and one (not so long ago), in which I talked about how bad it turned out to be. I still wanted to review it, so I forced myself to watch it through till the end. It actually took me a while, because the subbing group I was originally following decided to drop it. Since my PC doesn’t run HD, I had a hard time finding a decent SD sub. It seems like no one wanted to sub this. Reminds me of another series, whose sequel was so bad that people avoided touching it with a ten-foot pole. Yes, I’m talking about Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-. The thing is, that was a much better sequel to the original than this anime is. However, deep inside my broken heart, I am very much in denial, and keep believing that this is actually a spin-off, and the true Kiddy Grade 2, Kiddy Generation (or whatever title it was supposed to have) will one day surface to shine.

Ok, let’s jump head first into this juicy pool of crap… Let’s start of by analysing the characters. When I first saw the teaser, I couldn’t tell which character is which. I mean, I expected a hot-headed Éclair-wannabe and a rational Lumière-copy. But the teaser showed two girls whose personalities you couldn’t make out just from their looks. I was expecting magnificent, new characters, with unique personalities. Instead, I got one-dimensional blandness. Let me explain: Éclair was indeed rash and tomboyish, but she changed so much throughout the series, and had a compassionate motherly side to her which made her lovable; while Lumière was not just some stuck up smartass damsel in distress, but was genuinely elegant and would many times take initiative to act.

Q-feuille and Ascoeur are nothing like that… in the bad sense of the word. Asceour is not hot-headed or rash, she is outright stupid and fumbling. Nothing she says can be taken seriously. There are some really strong moments in the series (surprisingly), which are ruined by her bad personality (I’ll get to these later). Q-feuille seems like a character added only to balance out the stupidity of her partner, and she’s not doing a good job at it. They seem more like a Japanese comedy duo, Ascoeur being the boke and Q-feuille providing the tsukkomi. It is pathetic… Also, since Ascoeur is supposed to be the silly one, I guess that’s why they changed the character design, since she originally looked too much like Lumière, and wouldn’t do.

Then, at one point in the story, we are introduced to Di-air. She is the third member of the team, and is pretty much a third wheel, to the entire story no less! I think the whole series would have been better off without her. She seems so useless, providing nothing but comic relief, the introduction of her pet TAMA seriously destroying character interaction and conversations. I want to forget about her as fast as possible.

I’m not going to talk about their ship and robot, because quite frankly, I didn’t think much about them. Unlike La Muse/Wirbelwind and Donnerschlag, which you become really fond of, and feel the characters’ sorrow at their loss, Mistral and Typhon strike no emotional importance and are seen, at least through my eyes, as disposable machinery.

I am going to talk about the villains, however. They seem like the most interesting characters in the story. Sure, Geacht’er has a serious sister complex, making every girl (possibly even Shade) around him his sister princess, but besides that, they seem like really interesting characters. They each have tragic backgrounds and owe Geacht’er their life, which is repaid through their unquestioned loyalty. It is interesting to see, however, how some villains defect from his cause when they find out the true nature of his actions, while some remain loyal.

Now, I’m going to go into the story somewhat, since that’s all that’s left to talk about. The general story is almost ok, but there are some really annoying filler episodes. If you watch Kiddy Grade carefully, you’ll notice that there are virtually no fillers. The sequel has some, and they are all very annoying. In one such episode, the girls travel to a holiday planet, and wear swimsuits throughout the entire episode, as if it were the obligatory seaside episode of a harem anime. Once again, it is pathetic…

Now, if I clench my teeth together really hard, I can bear with the stupid characters, the useless comic relief and everything else, up until episode 12, when something unforgivable happens. They break canon. That’s right, they break canon, something unforgivable for a sequel or spin-off or whatever. They say that Éclair’s ability is that of Space Manipulation and Lumière’s is that of Time Manipulation. Bullshit!!! Not even Lumière’s G-Class ability, Particle, has anything to do with time manipulation, all it does is manipulate matter at particle level, and she can’t use it for a prolonged period of time anyway! So yes, they break canon, and from that point on, the whole series talks about space/time manipulation, as though it were as simple as walking a dog. Also, space/time manipulation becomes the central plot point, and it gets mentioned as much as nuclear weapons in Metal Gear Solid. It is a serious letdown in the story. If they had gone with the original Teleportation for Ascoeur and Precognition for Q-feuille, it would have been interesting, however, when they obtain these awesome Space/Time Manipulation powers, it seems like they move to a wholly different league, yet still get beaten up pretty bad at times. It’s like watching a bad X-Men episode. And another thing about abilities, they emphasise “resonance” a lot, which has to do with partners sharing abilities, or boosting them. Nothing of that sort was discussed in the original series. A-ou and Un-ou could share their abilities, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum could combine their abilities, but that’s it, there was no generalised concept of such a thing.

Another annoying thing was all the kissing. I’m really not against kissing. I’m not a child that goes “gross!” whenever they see someone kiss, but it’s just too much! Di-air regularly kisses both Ascoeur and Q-feuille to boost their powers, Geacht’er kisses Ascoeur to bring back her memories, Ascoeur kisses Q-feuille to join their powers, it’s really disgusting after a while. I actually ended up turning away from the screen during the last episode, when it got too much. Only in the last episode, they kiss four times! Mind you, in Kiddy Grade, they only kissed once, and that was a truly heartfelt moment. Not the case here…

And another thing I can’t forgive them, the way they destroy the coolness of old characters. I’m going to point out three things here: One, during one episode, you find out Hiver and Sommer’s true identities, and it’s really awesome, but the mood is ruined by Ascoeur’s stupid behaviour. It would have been so nice if they worked on it a little more.

Two, during the last episode, you get to see Viuola/Cesario and Dextra/Sinistra teams joining the fight. This is awesome in itself; however, you get no explanation where they come from. When I first saw the teaser, I noticed some really awesome things: the logo has changed from GOTT to GTO, the headquarters has changed, the Director has changed, some teams have changed, however, some teams have remained (Tweedledee/Tweedledum and A-ou/Un-ou). I wondered, why did these teams remain? What happened to the others? Apparently, nothing, since they join the final fight; but they didn’t serve under GTO during the series. Why? Explain movie! Explain! (ß paying homage here). My guess is that they were also frozen in time during the accident, and got unfrozen when all hell broke loose, but it’s really not explained.

The third and worse crime is that they bring back Éclair and Lumière during the last episodes, and they each have only 2 lines. One line is them presenting themselves, and the other is each of them saying their catchphrases… … … Seriously? Is that the only thing Éclair and Lumière mean to you? Catchphrases?! You know what? Fuck you! Seriously, I hope there’s a special place in hell for the people who made this awful sequel (I think they can burn in the same pot as the guys who make really bad remakes).

Well yeah, that’s the Kiddy Grade 2 we’ve been so wholeheartedly waiting for. Kiddy Girl-and… just saying it makes my face contort in all sorts of painful expressions. The people responsible for this should pray that they never cross paths with me. I’m now going to purge myself of this vile excrement, by watching the Kiddy Grade movies.

Next time, A Hell Made of Bullets!

Friend Fact:

What anime-related song makes my eyes water whenever I listen to it? That would be Shiroi Kisetsu, the theme from the Kana ~Little Sister~ eroge. Granted, it’s not anime, but it’s anime-ish enough to answer the question. I’ve yet to work up enough courage to play the game through a second time, despite my brother’s encouragement to do so. If you don’t know about it, play the game, it will change your life.

2010 Spring Anime Breakdown

Well, it’s spring, and anime are blooming all around more so than Krosa’s, Llanowar’s and Yavimaya’s vegetation all put together (if you don’t get the joke, don’t worry). Honestly, in all my years watching anime, I haven’t seen such a diverse and full anime season as this one. There’s something for everyone’s taste, however, from all the anime there, more than half of them are to my liking (which is a rare thing). So, I’ll be making a breakdown of these anime, but I’ll only be talking about the ones I’m watching, I won’t make any comments on the ones I don’t know anything about. I’ll tackle them in alphabetical order, I think that’s fair. Here we go:

Angel Beats!

You know all those shounen anime where the characters go to high school during the day and fight supernatural beings by night, being part of a secret organization? Angel Beats! turns this whole thing around and takes it to a new level. From the very first scene we find ourselves confronting the heroine, Yurippe, aiming a big-ass rifle (I’ll leave it to my brother to detail exactly what kind of rifle it is) at a white-haired girl in the distance and telling our main hero that he is dead and that this high school represents the afterlife and that they have to fight the white-haired girl, who is actually an angel, because if they don’t, they’ll be erased. What follows is action, humour, a diverse cast of characters and a strange desire to find out the truth. Yurippe, the heroine, gives off an aura similar to Haruhi Suzumiya, both because of the character design, as well as her bossy attitude, however she shows the compassion the tsundere Haruhi so rarely revealed. At first it seemed like a funny anime which one would take lightly, then, during the second episode, Yurippe reveals the memories of her (past) life and suddenly you freeze. Shock, fear, pity and disgust are the only feelings that linger after her story. Remember So-Ra-No-Wo-To? You know, this winter’s light-hearted comedy anime which half-way turns into a military drama? If you don’t remember it, don’t worry, I’m gonna have a review up soon. Anyway, that was the anime shock of that season, and I think this little gem will be the anime shock of this season. It’s funny, surprising, exciting and heart-warming at the same time. There’s huge potential behind this anime and I’m looking forward to more.

Arakawa Under the Bridge

I believe every season has an anime which relly is out there, and certainly Arakawa Under the Bridge is the candidate for this season. What if you are the successful son of a successful company president? What if your life philosophy was to never ever owe a debt to anyone? What if suddenly a homeless girl saves your life? The obvious answer is that you take her into your home and a slapstick romantic comedy ensues. That’s not really what happens here. The twist is, the girl doesn’t want a home, she is very satisfied living under the bridge, instead her request is “fall in love with me”. And that’s how Ichinomiya Kou ends up being Nino-san’s lover and starts living with her under the bridge. To top it all off, she’s a Venusian (or so she claims). And she’s not alone, the riverbed is full of strange characters: the Village Chied, who’s a kappa; Shiro, who made a rule to marry a chicken if he stepped off the white lines; Sister, the local nun, who carries around an uzi and would resemble a Sister of Battle more than a nun, if he were a woman to begin with; and many many more. The whole story is seen through the skeptic eyes of Kou who is drawn into this weird community against his will, reminiscent of Kyon being dragged by the necktie into the club room by the violent Haruhi, resulting in all sorts of misadventures. If weird is to your liking, you’ll love this.

B Gata H Kei

Japanese animation is really pushing their western audience to the limit with shows such as this one. The show follows a young girl, Yamada, who’s just gotten into high school (aged 15), and her goal is to obtain 100 sex friends before graduation. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see anything wrong with this premise. I mean it. Honest. There have been harem anime by the hundreds (if not thousands), it was about time the main character was a girl chasing boys and not the other way around. Now I have to admit that the heroine (if you can call her that) is more direct than your usual slightly perverted male stuck in pleasant yet embarrassing situations (often leading to painful consequences). As such, she has no qualms with stripping out of the blue in the library in front of the guy she wants to have sex with. When asked by a friend if she was worried about having a slutty reputation, she eagerly answers “But I want that kind of reputation.” Of course, she is a virgin and is afraid that she would mess things up, so in order to have a successful first time, she tries to find a guy who’s a virgin and even more inexperienced than her, but still hot. She sets her eyes on Takashi Kosuda, who is a huge loser (and not only that, but he gets a hard on from almost kissing her… get a grip, man!), and their complicated relationship gives rise to comical situations galore. No, you don’t have to be a genius to foresee that she’s going to fall in love with the guy, unless something really unexpected happens by the end of the series. So, all in all, why is this anime worth mentioning? Two such reasons, actually. Again, it may be just me, but I think Yamada is beautiful, by anime standards, of course. Maybe it’s because everyone in the anime says she is, and so you tend to see her like that, however I feel that she gives off an aura much like Allison from Allison & Lillia, or Kurumi from Kimi ni Todoke. That may not be a reason for watcing the anime in itself, however, the second one is: this series is hilarious. Once again, it may be just me (if you don’t like my taste in anime, why are you reading this post?), but this anime made me laughing harder than any other anime this season. The situations are somewhat foreseeable, yet they really surpass all expectations and leave you with tears in your eyes and stomach aches in your… well… stomach.

Heroman

Honestly, what does this title make you think of? If it’s old school mecha shounen, then you’ve hit the spot! The hero, Joey (yes, he is American, the whole series is set in the States, isn’t that awesome, for starters?!), is very kind-hearted, but poor and is being bullied at school by the rich kids. He’s friends with a nutty professor (doesn’t this sound like Back to the Future?) who manages to make contact with an alien race who decides to invade the Earth. A broken robot toy that one of the rich kids throws away finds shelter and love in the arms of Joey, and when it is zapped by some kind of dimensional-whatever ray, it becomes the only thing that can stop the invading alien race. I can’t believe I wrote that summary. Please go back and read it again, then ask yourselves “why in the world would I want to watch this?” The answer is, because it’s nostalgic. Surely if you haven’t watched anything similar in your childhood, stay far away from this anime. But if you’ve seen any shounen anime or even heroic cartoons back in the 80s and 90s, hell, this is the best thing there is to bring out your inner child! When I read the synopsis and decided to give it a try, I was a bit skeptic myself, but then I was absorbed and found it genuinely entertaining. It has some fantastic animation, but retains all the clichés and good bits of those old anime and cartoons we used to grow up on. If you don’t know what to do, let me give you a hint: if you’ve even remotely liked Power Rangers or Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, give the first episode a go, you will immediately know if you want to continue watching or not.

K-On!!

It is important to note that there are two exclamation marks in the title. Yes, this is the second season (if you look it up, you’ll notice the first one had only one exclamation mark). I’m actually listening to the ending theme while I’m writing this review, it’s simply amazing. If you felt that K-On! ended too soon, if you felt your heart throbbing faster when you were about to watch the later released OAV, then this is the thing for you. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, stop reading and go watch the first season. Ok, I’m still going to explain what this is about, besides it being pretty much useless, since those who know about it don’t need explaining, and those who don’t, won’t care, but here goes. In anime, there is a thing called moe. I’ve come to realize it’s what the overrated “normal” people find discusting in anime: the sweet voices, the big eyes, the tsundere (characters which are violent on the outside, but deep inside feel attached and care about others), the girls with glasses, the cat ears, the clumsy maids, the childhood friends… all of that. Most anime have at least one element of moe, a few lack it entirely, while some thrive on it, with moe oozing out of every possible crevice, making you go “cuuuuuuuuuute!!!” every two seconds. K-On! is one such anime. If I were to compare it to something, I would most likely say it resembles Manabi Straight! The second season continues where the first one left off and it doesn’t disappoint in any way (especially with the awesome new opening and ending).

Kiss x Sis

Another bold one, not for your average westerner. This series has seen some really bad reviews, mostly due to the controversial nature of its content. Ok, completely due to the controversial nature of its content. Simply put, it’s an incest anime. Now, this may not be surprising if it were a hentai, however, it’s not. At least, not entirely. There are certainly no explicit scenes, and the nipples are removed, which allows for it to air during child-friendly hours. However, this does not change the content. A guy and his twin stepsisters, they have a crush on him, he likes it, but considers it wrong, the parents actually encourage it, the girls tease him sexually, what more can I say? I would actually go as far as classifying this as soft hentai. While a few years back, something as innocent as Futari Ecchi was labeled hentai, nowadays we get away with this not being called that. I think it’s somewhere on the same level though. Who would enjoy this series, besides your average otaku? Probably someone who would enjoy B Gata H Kei (though it is nowhere near as good as that series, also I believe that one is suited for a broader audience), or Chu-Bra!! (again, suited for a broader audience), or something along these lines. There’s really not much more to add. Either you like it, or you don’t. Period. Next!

Rainbow

And we’ve finally arrived in the land of serious anime. Right before the anime starts, we get a notice warning us about the explicit content of the anime (explicit being written in red characters), and also the need to use such explicit scenes in order to accurately portray the events of the time. This anime is not about sex or violence. It is about inmates, which may or may not have to do with sex or violence. The anime focuses on seven youngsters in post-WW2 Japan, when the economy is booming, having been blown up (I know, stupid pun). The narrator tells us that the ones to suffer most were the children, and immediately we are shown six of the seven inmates being transported to the correctional facility. The only explicit scene in the first episode is an anal check-up to see if they “have hemorrhoids, parasites or weapons”, as the doctor kindly puts it. The oppressive guard is a cliché, but the atmosphere is indeed gritty and the overall feel of the anime is very realistic. Reminds me of Papillon. It’s actually too early to pass judgment on this one, but it looks really promising. The atmosphere and the characters are a hit. Let’s hope the story doesn’t flop.

Senkou no Night Raid

This is probably the best anime in the season. It has everything: fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles… well, it doesn’t really have all that, if that’s what you’re looking for, check out the Princess Bride. But what this anime has is action, drama, spies, superpowers and more. Set in Shanghai between the two world wars, the story follows the actions of an elite Japanese spyforce (I just invented that word, cool, isn’t it?) armed with paranormal powers. Now, leaving aside the fact that the four squad members pretty much exhaust the uses of “tele-“ as a prefix (having telekinesis, telescopic vision, telepathy and teleportation), the intrigues and stories are really good. They remind me of old spy TV series, such as The Saint or The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but with superpowers… like The Avengers. That’s right; this anime feels very much like The Avengers. It is very well paced, the story is serious, the action isn’t over the top, the superpowers are intelligently used, and overall, it’s a very good anime. I really can’t tell you anything more, just go ahead and have a look, I’m sure most of my readers will enjoy it.

Working!!

Finally, reached the last anime on my list. The family restaurant Wagnaria. The hard-working high-school student who looks like a 12-year old, the self-proclaimed minicon (lover of things small and cute, such as children, puppies, water fleas) who adores her and decides to work there to help her out, the 28-year-old manager who seems to be doing no work at all and apparently has relations with the local yakuza, the quiet serious chef and his partner the talkative smiling chef, the shift chief who always carries a katana at her waist, the androphobic waitress who reflexively punches the protagonist because “men are violent”, bring them all together and… do you need anything else? Working!! was a four-panel manga before it was adapted into an anime, and it shows. The show is full of funny (sometimes idiotically so) moments, characteristic of that carefree style we’ve come to love in Azumanga Daioh! and Yotsuba& (though those weren’t four-panel manga). I gave those examples because, if you’ve paid attention to the list of characters, those are the closest you’re going to get to this series. It is funny. Period. If you don’t like that kind of humour, I pity the empty life you’re living and your attempts at filling it with meaningless promises of life after death or who knows what. I’m joking (somewhat), but really, if you can’t simply disconnect and enjoy these kinds of anime, then you must be leading a sad life. Oops, I did it again! Anyway, you get the picture. Working!! is that kind of anime.

Finally… That was tiring, but fun. I’d love to hear your comments and, by all means, if you think there’s an anime out there this season that I’d like, but missed, I would be graciously kind to you if you’d point me towards it.

Next time, who knows what I’ll be writing about. Until then, pleasant viewing!

Textbook Example of Gang-Rape and Mutilation

Hello everyone. It's (p)review time again. This post was actually intended to be about something else, however that was more than a year ago. Recently, I've come across something that fits the title just as well.

You may remember my post from some time ago, about two girls offering a stunning show and the soon-to-be sequel of just that stunning show, featuring two different girls that I was dying to meet. Yes, we're talking about my sneak peek at Kiddy Grade 2 and here we are, 2010 and with the sequel entitled Kiddy Girl-and is among the delicacies of the Fall 2009 anime list.

Usually, I don't compare anime series outright, except when we're talking about a sequel or a similar work from the same director/studio or an adaptation after a book. Since Kiddy Girl-and falls into the first category, I will definitely be comparing it to Kiddy Grade. Before I do that though, isn't it strange that they changed the title? Why isn't it Kiddy Grade 2, like they said in the teaser? Simple: because it's not a sequel. I's more of a spin-off. I've heard that they changed the production halfway through the series, and that's why it ended up being a spin-off, rather than a sequel.

Now, equipped with that thought, before I go on, I'm going to invite you all to watch the opening of the two (Kiddy Grade and Kiddy Girl-and), as a starting point for the comparison (as a note, I've chosen the first opening for Kiddy Grade).

So, here's Kiddy Grade:

 

And here's Kiddy Girl-and:

 

Awful, isn't it?!?! I mean, what is this?! Where should I start?! I'm surprised I managed to keep my composure this long. Kiddy Girl-and is crap. What even happened to the original character design? Ascoeur was supposed to have white hair and be this really cool girl, reminiscent of Lumière. Instead, we have a pink haired klutz doing all sorts of stupid things. The series has absolutely no action to it. Everything revolves around petty disputes and unimportant events. Everything is taken lightly with so much comic relief it's oozing everywhere. Of course, the series starts with the battle that ends Éclair's life (they probably spent a lot of money on that scene back when the series was supposed to be cool, and didn't want to scratch it).

I'm hugely disappointed in it. I have only watched a few episodes (due to the subbing group slacking off), that's why it's only a (p)review, so please, if there's a true Kiddy Grade fan out there that considers the spin-off to be worthy of the original, urge me to keep watching it, cause I have serious doubts. At the time being, my only hope is that a true sequel, the lost Kiddy Grade 2, will still be made at one point, and it will feature a serious story line and characters, as it should.

Phew... Now that that's off my chest, see me for my next review, Seagulls Also Cry.

Girls, Guns, Tequila...

It's been a really long time since I made a preview. Mostly because I don't like to speculate on little evidence, such as trailers or posters. Now, there are significantly more facts to uphold my statements, since I saw the first episode of the anime that I'm going to preview. How is it a preview if I saw the first episode? Well, that's all there is to the anime so far, since it's just started airing 15 October (I thus take the liberty to call this a preview).

The anime I'm talking about is called Michiko to Hatchin (English title: Michiko and Hatchin). This is a really strange anime. It's produced by Manglobe, responsible for Samurai Champloo and Ergo Proxy, and directed by Sayo Yamamoto, this being her début work. In the role of music producer we have our beloved Shinichiro Watanabe, the man behind the great scores of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. But all of this you could have found out just by checking Wikipedia.

Let me tell you about the anime, something that Wiki doesn't. It is very important to note who we have in charge of the music, since the tone is very much like that of cowboy bebop. We have slow scenes, with meaningful dialogue, and fast chases and gunfire shoot-outs, a bit outrages, but entertaining. We follow the events of Michiko, who just broke out of prison, and gives the term "Babe Gunner" a new meaning, and Hana, a girl "adopted" by a priest and lives a miserable life, abused by her adoptive father, adoptive mother, adoptive older sister and adoptive younger brother (basically everyone in her "family"). As soon as Michiko gets her hands on some cash (blatantly robbing a bank), her first thing is to make sure she gets her hands on Hana. Indeed she does and frees her from the evil clutches of her oppressive foster family. The episode ends there, so we don't really know what the relationship between the two is (though at one time Michiko says she's Hana's mother, though her foster parents say she died).

It may not sound much, but it has a very real feel to it. It doesn't hide the ugliness of real life, but it's not gratuitous either. Every scene is meaningful and the characters appear very alive. It has an atmosphere to it which rings of Desperado, and if there will be some dark humour in later episodes, I dare to say it feels like Quentin Tarantino. I hope they keep it up. This first episode is well worth watching. From there on, it's your choice.

The Night Before The Voyage

I'm on a highway to hel(sinki that is). I'll be leaving in just over an hour from now, and I probably won't be able to access the Internet this weekend and neither Monday or Tuesday, probably. I spent this night watching some anime, and in between, the Nostalgia Critic (I did this while I was waiting for the anime episodes to stream). I'll talk about these two things in my post.

First off, I really like the Nostalgia Critic. He's funny and he really makes a point with his videos, even though I sometimes disagree with him. I was watching his review of The Wizard, and it really got me thinking. How could they get away with such a thing back then? Like he said, it's much more fun to play video games than to watch a movie about people playing video games. Indeed, such a movie would be stupid, they wouldn't make things like this nowada-... hmm... I just remembered Duel Masters and Yu-Gi-Oh! (*shiver shiver*) Talk about pathetic... Also, that movie had commercial written all over it. I'm thinking, the nowadays equivalent of the sequence when they presented Super Mario Bros. 3 would be having someone play Duke Nukem Forever (actually... that would be pretty mind-blowing). But nowadays we have E3 for that. Anyway... I don't remember seeing this movie when I was little (of course not, we didn't even have Nintendo here, we all had those Chinese-made rip-off consoles), but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have found it interesting, not even back then... which is something I cannot say about Mortal Kombat, which I just loved (I was always more of a Mortal Kombat fan than a Street Fighter fan, since I had a PC), and still think is a cool movie (disagreeing with the Nostalgia Critic yet again).

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's get onto the more important thing I want to talk about. The anime I watched, which happenes to be ef - a tale of memories. This is a romantic anime, and it is by far one of the most beautiful anime I've ever seen. I have nothing but praise for this one. Seriously, I find no words to express how great it is. I honestly regret having the need to stream it and not watching it some time before in higher quality. Before I go on, for all of you romantics, artists and dreamers out there, this is a must see.

Now that I've finished with the introduction, let's talk about the anime a little. Like all great romantic anime, this one is also the adaptation of an adult visual novel (which is a euphemism for eroge, short for "erotic game") entitled ef - a fairy tale of the two. The list could go on forever, starting with Air and ending with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni... ok, maybe that's not really a romantic story, but you get the idea. It is no surprise that I mentioned Air, since it's the first thing that came into my mind while I was watching ef - a tale of memories. Actually, it was the second, the very first thing that came into my mind was INSERT FAVOURITE MAKOTO SHINKAI ANIME TITLE HERE. And no wonder, since it was none other than Makoto Shinkai who made the opening of the game. And his influence is felt throughout the anime. I'm going to talk about the visuals later on. Now, let's just get back to the story... ... ... Ok, that's it! I'm not telling you anything about the story. Why? Because it's just too damn good to spoil any of it. Suffice to say, it involves boys and girls (yes, more of them, but not at the same time, not really, only in parallel stories) and their relationships. Like someone says (right here in this anime I'm reviewing): "There is no such thing as friendship between a boy and a girl", and thus you understand where I'm getting. Of course you do, I said it off the bat that this was a romance anime, didn't I? But that's not enough to express what I'm talking about. This anime is about LOVE!!! I mean it! The strong feelings it conveys are overwhelming, but I'll get back to that (as well as the visuals, later). Let me finish with the story... ... ... besides the fact that it is hypnotizing, every moment fills you more and more, and just when you've thought you're about to overflow (remember Mamimi ;) ) they give you more and more. Top that with a breath-taking ending, and there you have it. Now as far as the stories go, they don't entwine as much as I would have liked them too (like the magnificent work in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), but that doesn't make them stand out individually. Also, I believe they wouldn't have had the same effect, had they been separated (unlike in Diamond Dust Drops, for example). So much for the story... I'm not telling any more, honest... go watch it!

Now, onto the other parts, after all, a story alone doesn't make a good anime. And there is more to this anime than the story, I assure you. I stood up talking about the visuals, so I'll get to it now. Like I said before, they have the mark of Makoto Shinkai on them. Though they lack the play of lights and shadows, the thing which I adore most in the works of Makoto Shinkai, they do compensate with those other trademark shots (empty scenes, even though the characters are talking; landscapes in which the tiny characters seem to disappear; scenes in which only parts of the characters are shown with their faces awkwardly being off screen). Coupled with these visuals are powerful artistic images: crayon drawings of the characters, monocoloured frames (for example, the screen going red for a moment when someone skips a heartbeat), the scenes gradually losing colour and a lot more that I simply can't describe. On top of the stunning visuals and the powerful images comes the spine-chilling music. It is more than appropriate, it is fantastic. The tune isn't exactly catchy, but it gets carved into your heart. It gave me goosebumps when I heard it, and whenever I recall it, it still makes me shiver (pretty much like the opening of Kana ~Little Sister~). Now, all these create a heart-stopping atmosphere that is indescribable. I really don't know what to compare it with. It is tragic and beautiful, painful and lovely, burning and soothing...

Now, about the themes. It does have some fantastic elements, but it's far from being Air. It's more down to earth, and I guess I can relate to it more. It talks about love (naturally), dreams, choice, memory, silence, colours and everything in between. On top of that, it has a guy looking like a young Kaji (from Neon Genesis Evangelion), giving one of the kids advice, although not in a melon patch.

Once again, for all of you romantics, artists and dreamers out there, this is a must see. That's all I have to say about that.

Love Conquers All (And So Does Determination)

I've just finished watching a recently released anime yesterday. I say "recently released", since it started airing this spring. At first it didn't impress me, and I just kept watching only to finish it, but later it got to me. It is quite a surprising anime. I'm talking about Itazura na Kiss (english title: Mischievous Kiss).

I'll give you a plot summery, and then go on to discussing the anime. Aihara Kotoko is a typical high school girl, with less than typical intellect and dexterity. In short, she is kinda dumb and clumsy, like most of the students in class F, as a matter of fact. However, this doesn't stop her from writing a love letter to Irie Naoki, top student of class A, and one of the smartest high schoolers in Japan. Naoki outright rejects her letter, without even reading it, and Kotoko is heartbroken. At the drinking party held at her house later that night, during which she was supposed to forget all about Naoki's rejection, there is an earthquake, which completely destroys her house (and, amazingly, only hers, since it turns out to have been extremely poorly built). As a consequence, Kotoko and her father are forced to live at a friend's house until their own is rebuilt. Predictably, her father's childhood friend turns out to be non other than Naoki's father, and thus they end up living under the same roof. The premises are set, and leave enough room for craziness in this 25-episode TV series.

At first, I thought that this is going to be a typical high school romance anime. I thought the intrigue was interesting, so I decided to watch, till I would get bored. However, there are a lot of surprises on the way. I have to tell you (and I'm sure I'm not spoiling anything with this), that the most interesting thing is, that the show spreads over a period of around 14-15 years. No, it's not a high school romance. It's a full-fledged romantic novel. I really loved this part. I remember Ioana telling me that she didn't like those love stories which end with the main couple getting together, since her philosophy is "that's only the beginning". Indeed, this happens in Itazura na Kiss. It's not a spoiler to say that they end up together, but let me tell you that it happens around the middle of the series, and that the second part of the series handles their struggle as a couple. This seemed very interesting to me.

The characters aren't very complex, but they really do change throughout the series. True, the anime is focused on the two, and side characters are mainly only there to help further evolve the relationship between the two, however, some side characters make second appearances long after you've considered them discarded. Also, each episode ends with a cliffhanger, so much that at the end of some episodes, the story fast forwards a few years only to allow the development of a new crisis. This way, you really feel attached to the characters and their story.

The main selling point of the series, if I may call it that, is the length of the story following their relationship. It surely lacks that "something special", which appeared in Boys Be..., or the manganess (and Gainax ending) of His and Her Circumstances, so it may not appeal to people like my brother, Tibi. However, it follows the joys and struggles of a long relationship, starting from the very beginning up until, what I would call, total fulfilment, so I believe it would appeal to people like my deskmate, Adela.

It really depends on you. I thought it would be interesting up to a point, but didn't expect much, however it proved to be something engaging in a completely different way. If you don't like things romantic, stay away. If you like the flair of Eminescian romance, you might not like it. If you like the monotonous ups and downs of ordinary love, then I most certainly recommend it.

Nothing Beats Fifth Graders

Though the title might imply a small dose of lolicon, it actually has to do with the topic of a certain anime. I'm talking about Kyou no Go no Ni (english title: Today in Class 5-2), a manga (which I haven't read) which was developed into an OAV in 2006 (which I simply loved) and remade into a full 13-episode TV series in 2008 (which I'm going to talk about now).

The OAV, was full of Azumanga Daioh-style humour, and I enjoyed it a lot. it had fifth grader sexual references, abstract child thinking and a ton of laughs from the mismatched and colourful personalities of the characters. I'm not going to say any more, if you haven't seen it yet, but liked anime such as Azumanga Daioh, Manabi Straight!, and Minami-ke, be sure to check it out. It's only four episodes, so even if you don't like it, I haven't wasted much of your time.

Yesterday, I saw the first episode of the new TV series. I was very thrilled when I found out that it was being aired, but after the first few scenes, I got really disappointed. The first episodes is comprised of 4 shorts, two of which we are familiar with from the OAV and two which are completely new. I unwillingly compared the two and immediately concluded that the OAV is light-years ahead of it's new progeny.

First of all, the artwork is a lot crappier. It is more childish, and while one might think that it fits the theme of the show better, it actually makes it more shallow, creating characters which lack those fine details and complex facial expressions. A second thing which I immediately noticed during the first short (which happens to coincide with the first short of the OAV), that the sexual content is toned down. This is a huge loss. Part of the satisfaction of the series were the embarrassing situations these kids would get involved in. While in the OAV you had plenty of sensual lip shots, panty shots galore, and even a reference to oral sex, in the TV series, lips and tongues are made less (to the point of not) sensual, and panty shots are missing. I find this a serious step backwards. The third thing I should be ranting about is the voice acting. Some of the voices are so crappy compared to the OAV, that it makes it hard to think with the previously earned amount of love about the same character.

I am going to watch the TV series till the end, probably, just because I'm curious about the new content. About this, I have to say that one of the two shorts was not impressive at all, while the other one was ok. They are nowhere near the success of the OAV shorts, but then again, the same shorts remade seemed awfully low quality as well.

I don't know whom I should recommend this to. I would recommend it to fans of the OAV, since they too might be interested in the new shorts, but for them it's going to be a huge disappointment. I would recommend it to those who haven't watched the OAV, since then they have no prejudice towards it, but then again I would rather have the watch the higher quality OAV episodes. I can't really say anything more. It's up to you guys...

DMC - Play It Fucking Loud!

About a year ago I wrote a post entitled D.M.C. - Dumb Mindless Crud, in which I reviewed the Devil May Cry anime series, based on the overly popular video game. Whenever someone would say "DMC", I'd think of that bullshit and would want to punch the guy in the face. This has all changed three days ago.

Another anime series (accompanied by a manga and a live-action movie) is coming out, entitled Detroit Metal City. It is the story of Negishi Souichi, a young countryside lad who goes to Tokyo to become a professional musician. He plays the guitar, writes songs about love and world peace, likes Swedish pop and his favourite singer is Kahimi Karie. After graduating university, he becomes Johannes Krauser II, lead guitar and vocalist of the death metal band Detroit Metal City.

It is an overly amuzing anime, and I believe not just for metal fans. he whole fun comes from the contrast between Krauser, who supposedly is a drug addict, raped and killed his parents and escaped from prison to form the band, and Negishi, who sends carnations to his mom on Mother's Day, has never smoked and is a virgin.

I've seen the first two episodes of the anime and it is extremely promising. I won't say anything more, since I don't want to spoil the fun. I recommend it to anyone who is in the mood for some good laughs.

Ban(ne)ds with Other Red Creatures

I've overshot the deadline with a couple of days, but I couldn't write, since I was too busy (that's a lie, I was actually too lazy), however I'll make it up to you all and I promise to write another post by the end of this week.

No, this post is not referring to Magic: the Gathering, but if you made that association, you're on the safe side of this article. If you didn't, then before you go on, I advise you to take an ordinary IQ test and come back only if you scored above average.

(In case you did go and perform the IQ test, you might actually turn up on the wrong side of this article, though that's not necessarily true. It only proves that you're extremely gullible and you should be careful when talking with door-to-door salesmen.)

But why have I asked you to do this? Well, let's start at the very beginning. About a week ago (when I first had the intention of writing this post), Pali and I ended up in a state of nostalgia and wanted to watch old cartoons (or at least their openings), so we ended up browsing YouTube until about four o'clock in the morning. We found two nice series of videos.

The first one, entitled Top 100 Cartoons Series, has 10 parts, and shows 100 cartoon openings. If you look at it as a hierarchical list, it's pathetic, but it sure brings back memories.

The second one, entitled 100 Greatest Cartoons, has 21 parts, and is a 3-hour show made by UK's Channel 4 based on the viewer's votes. Though I haven't finished watching it yet, it is quite interesting.

There were a lot of comments on both series of videos, in which people demanded (and harshly offended the uploaders of the videos) that Dragon Ball Z be declared as the No. 1 Cartoon of all time (I didn't watch it all through, but from what I understand, it didn't even make it on the list). Now, I never was a fan of Tom & Jerry, and I'm bringing this into discussion because it placed 2nd on the second series of videos I've mentioned, but I've always recognised its value and cultural impact. Of course, not every one of us is objective in his criticism. In fact, none of us are. Also, some of us don't even try to be objective in their criticism. And more so, some don't just give a fuck about reality. What to do about these people?

Instead of all those annoying captcha (if you don't know what these are, click here, and remember, Wikipedia is your friend), they should put IQ tests whenever the danger of a fuck-minded person commenting or posting may arise. And if they fail the test, they should be band... from the whole Internet... for life...

Anyway, now that I've dealt with the turd-brained people, I'll return to the videos a bit. Though the first one can't even be considered a top something list, the second one is pretty good, however, something doesn't seem right to me. Though I suppose Dragon Ball Z didn't make the list, a very La Blue Girl-ish anime, called Legend of the Overfiend (know of it, Szilard?) did make it onto the list. Though I have no problem with the idea of arranging cartoons and ordering them by which is the 'best' (e.g. the best, less best, worse than best), I somehow can't come to compare Legend of the Overfiend with Tom & Jerry, or Akira with The Simpsons. It's just not right. On this account, check out my brother's top 6 anime by genre and my own Anime-Planet profile, where I've rated the anime I've watched so far.

Well, there's not much more to say. I can't think of a way of finishing this post with a bang. Wait a minute... It just hit me! How about 10 points going to the person who can guess why I used this post title (or 100 points the the one who can give the weirdest explanation). That's all folks! Bye-bii!

From the Forest Where Cicadas Cry, There Is No Return

The title, of course, is a line from the opening of, you've guessed it, When Cicadas Cry (japanese title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). I've just finished watching this anime, and couldn't go without telling you all about it.

I came to find out about this anime from Szilard. He isked me if I had seen Elfen Lied and whether I had liked it. Since the answer for both questions was affirmative, he kindly recommended that I watch this particular anime. Thank you, Szilard.

The story takes place in June, 1983, in the little village of Hinamigawa, where Maebara Keiichi-kun just moved a month ago. He soon makes friends at school with Rena, Mion, Rika and Satoko. Life seems happy and carefree until the coming of the annual Watanagashi Festival, on the night of which, four years in a row, one person died and another went missing. The same is true for this year, and Keiichi gets involved in solving the mistery.

It doesn't seem like anything special, at first, but I have to say this, it's one freaky anime. This one is certainly not for the light-hearted. If Hello Kitty was your favourite anime, skip this one. This one should only be watched at night, in complete darkness and, hopefully, alone! Those who played Clive Barker's Undying under these conditions understand the feeling.

Simply put, it is shocking! Scenes of intense trepidation sometimes spring up unexpectedly, while at other times are forewarned and last an extended amount of time. I won't hide it, blood isn't spared at all during such scenes. The opening itself chills you to the bone. (For those interested, I've added the first scene of the first episode, followed by the opening, at the end of my post. No spoilers there.)

Warning: Some might consider the following paragraph to contain spoilers.
But the emotional roller-coaster is not everything. I was surprised to find the story end after the fourth episode, only to start from the beginning in the fifth. It immediately occurred to me that the anime had been adapted after a visual novel type game. I compared it with in my head to Critical Point, where, according to your actions, the villain turned out to be the captain of the ship, the enemy shapeshifting robot, the lesbian lieutenant and so on. Another way to look at it (though this only occurred to me after seeing the last episode) is in comparison to the PS2 game Grim Grimoire. For those who played it, think about playing throw that game, but from a perspective different than that of Lillet Blan (if you haven't played the game, I recommend it).
Eventual spoilers end here.

For those of you who liked Elfen Lied or enjoyed the first few Nightmare on Elm Street movies, I recommend this with a warm heart. I have to say, it's exactly as heartbreaking as Air... but in a completely different way. Enjoy!

PS: The story doesn't end in the first series. Be prepared for that.

D.M.C. - Dumb Mindless Crud

This morning I finished watching Devil May Cry. An anime based on the video game series with the same name. The story follows Dante, a half-demon half-human sword-wielding gunman who hunts devils for a living (talking about an original plot, ey?).

The video games received generally positive reviews, mostly due to their increased difficulty, which provided gamers with a challenge. Considering other aspects of the game, I think they were pretty shitty (though I played only Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition). I thought I would get something out of the highly praised action of the game, but quite frankly, it doesn't even reach the starting line in a race with God of War. I'd also rather not talk about the plot, I think they would have been better of completely without it, I'm surprised people were paid for that kind of stupid ideas. The only thing that surpasses the dumbness of the story is the voice-acting. Dante's personality, and the perfectly matching self-centred Hollywoodian macho voice, is so bad, that it passes the "humorously bad" barrier (unlike the voice-over in the movie 300), and it simply makes you want to cry.

So... what is the anime like? Exactly like the video game, just take away even that little interactivity which it had. Why would anyone want to watch it? Why did I watch it? Maybe I felt the need to warn people about it, but would have felt guilty to criticize without having seen it. Indeed, why would you want to see a guy fighting devils (and not even in a cool way) as if they were everyday hooligans and not breaking a sweat? And I mean not breaking a single sweat! Not even in the very last fight! Even Superman is vulnerable to kryptonite... What's the deal with this guy?

If you liked the games (other than the gameplay, that is, only the story, the attitude, the dialogues, and only if you really really liked them), you will probably like the anime too, though this might not necessarily be true. Otherwise, I advise you to stay away. If you have that much spare time, watch 300 instead, it will at least make you laugh.

17-09-2007 Post 2: "Forward, GO!"

Today, 17 September 2007, I decided to write 3 posts. The events within these posts are not chronological. But if they're not chronological, what do you call it? Of course, if the events are completely in the opposite order, you call it reversed chronological order. But what if they are simply jiggled around? Do you call it inchronological or unchronological? Or perhaps chronoillogical (that makes sense)? Anyway, they're just random.

Yesterday, after doing some farming, err, I mean adventuring, in FFXII, I wanted to sit down and watch something nice. I wanted a light comedy that doesn't rely on slapstick or overboard weirdness humour. I decided to watch Manabi Straight! I hit the nail on the head.

Manabi Straight! (Japanese title: Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!) takes place in the near future (2035), where due to a severe drop in birth rate, very few people attend school, most of them taking a decision to become part of the basic (and essential) workforce of the nation. In this setting, Seioh (All Girls) High School has a one-member student board which doesn't really do anything, but has survived through time, mostly ignored by the students. Everything changes the day Amamiya Manami transfers to Seioh and decides to become Student Council President with the intentions of doing something "wonderful and exciting".

The anime has a warm atmosphere around it, implemented very well through animation, sound and music. Everything is a bit futuristic, but cosy in the same time. The characters, although in high-school, are drawn middle-school like (you'll see in teh wallpapers at the end of the post). The series is very well paced and makes you want to not let go of it till you finished watching (I realised that at 7 am this morning, when I finished it...).

The whole atmosphere is centered around 5 girls who make up the student council. And just to give you a taste of why it's so cool, I'll say some about each one of them:

Amamiya Manami, aka Manabi-chan (voice: Yui Horie) is the Student Council President. She is hyperactive and weird. "My brain doesn't work, if I sit in one place", she declares herself in the series. As energetic as Tomo-chan (Azumanga Daioh!) with a heart as big as Ai Tanabe (Planetes).

Inamori Mika, aka Mikan (voice: Ai Nonaka) is the original member of the student council and fills in the position of Secretary. When I watched the anime, I tried to think who she reminds me of, and Tokino Akiyama (Kujibiki Unbalance) came to mind. I was later surprised to find out that the seiyuu for the two characters is one and the same. She is timid and naive, also reminding of Akari Mizunashi (Aria the Animation).

Uehara Mutsuki, aka Mu-chi (voice: Marina Inoue) is the athlete of the team. She is very fit and fills in the role of Student Council Assistant. She highly reminds me of Kagura (Azuamga Daioh!), due to her athletic nature, interest in manly stuff, constant appetite, but also a kind and helping heart of gold.

Etoh Mei (voice: Aya Hirano) is an amalgam of characters. A composure like that of Sakaki-san (Azumanga Daioh!), an intellect like that of Chiyo-chan (Azumanga Daioh!) and determination (and "boss around"-iness) like that of Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). She is the Student Council Treasurer and is many times involved in administratively taking lead of the group. I guarantee, she's a character you'll love.

Momoha Odori, aka Momo (voice: Saki Fujita) will probably be my brother's favourite character from the series. She is strange and absent-minded, talks very little, but is highly sarcastic and scheming on the inside. She mostly reminded me of Mamimi Samejima (FLCL).

Imagine what these girls can do together? I recommend this anime to anyone who liked Azumanga Daioh! and the sort. I just can't get enough of it, so here are some wallpapers.