My Thoughts on Toonami

Toonami's been back for about two months now but at least among the people I come into regular contact with, it seems to have died down considerably. Perhaps it's because we are now the new members of today's working society that we no longer have time to dedicate to TV and rather rely on OnDemand and Streaming to be able to watch whenever we have the time to, but I also get the feeling that looking at how it is now, Cartoon Network (Adult Swim, or whoever is responsible) missed the point.



I don't know the exact specifics about how the programming worked but Adult Swim and Toonami seemed to be two seperate programs. Perhaps toonami was part of adult swim all along and I just didn't pay attention (having seen Yu-Yu Hakusho move from adult swim to toonami and censored and seeing Big O move from toonami to Adult Swim, this would make sense) but when I heard toonami was returning, this wasn't what I was expecting.


The first thing I noticed with the revival of Toonami would be the airing times. Starting at Midnight, it's a clear indication that it's breaking into Adult Swim territory (granted it WAS an adult swim prank) but I think that's where the biggest problem lies for me.
When I was a child, and going to my friend's home was the only way to be exposed to cable, we'd play on the n64 (or gamecube later on), and watch toonami and talk until one of us passed out. It was one of the entry points into anime besides the sporadic saturday morning cartoons that had popped up on UPN, WB and Fox. Toonami aired at a fairly ripe (and expensive now that I look back on it) time of 8:00-10:00 PM where I saw Gundam Wing, Pilot Candidate, Dragonball Z, Cyborg 009, Rave Master and Rurouni Kenshin. I also noticed that all the "good" shows were near the end and eventually pushed onto 11:00 PM to Midnight.

At that point though, I too was growing up and staying later which was fine with me and I didn't mind it starting later than usual. It was still within a time frame that was "comfortable" for a teen like myself. Then right after, there was a smooth transition into Adult Swim with Fullmetal Alchemist, Inuyasha, Big O (which was also on Toonami), and Ghost in the Shell which would then shift over into the classic Adult Swim stuff such as Harvey Birdman, and Space Ghost.



While Toonami a form of nostalgia for others, the revival of Toonami, meant for me that there was hope that there could be another generation like me who was originally exposed to anime through programming blocks like Toonami and spent the effort to expand my views from there. Obviously, it can't be the same now with streaming sites like Cruncyroll actually being official, and other OnDemand channels being available. But even as a teen, I had torrented unlicensed anime about as much as I watched Toonami and Adult Swim. They acted as my major gateway into Japanese animation.

Some of the problems I'm seeing a couple months after Toonami's been back is primarily the viewer base. Everyone's basically over the age of 18 and watching this out of choice and not of chance. I think I can safely say most of the viewers watched it (or are now watching it) out of nostalgia and I don't think that's a safe demographic to bank on. Numbers are probably going to drop faster overtime than they will grow. While there are more people likely to have disposable income to purchase DVDs in the midnight timeslot, there's probably a less likely chance to get more people hooked on.

In today's industry where many TV companies are working on adapting to the "internet culture," a lot of those in power seem to be stuck on television being the only way to be profitable. From how I see it, Toonami could've been a perfect way to show anime companies that it is still possible to license and air anime on American televisions and maintain a solid viewership that could turn profits. Throughout all the panels I've been to and the discussions I've seen, there's always this obsession over an overblown dichotomy between the spoiled, "it's my right to see this" culture and the outdated "we refuse to use any other business model" companies. There are obviously many other groups that are more sensible but the most vocal ones are the two I've stated... well that and the group that then complains about how the state of the industry is where it is because of the spoiled groups. What my stance is and what my practices are now are currently irrelevant to this post. The point is, Toonami could have been used for other purposes.



I can't say why Toonami airs so late (besides it being when Adult Swim would start airing) but I feel as though the effort was wasted. For now, it's probably fine since it's still the summer and everyone who's in school is on break which more or less means their sleeping schedules are absolute wrecks and are more likely to watch Toonami, but I get the feeling that if they were to somehow pull back the time slot about 2 or 3 hours and have it start at around 9:00 to 10:00ish, some interesting data could pop up. Maybe it's the economist in me that's talking, but I feel like the revival of Toonami and all the hype it generated could have been put to use in something a bit more risky instead of something very safe, where it then has a subdued impact.

Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maou - Review

This week's review will be on the anime "Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou" (Or "Daimaoh," for those of you used to the old transliteration). In a nutshell, This anime was a show based on the light novel that simply was produced and aired at the wrong time. What do I mean by that? If there was any show that helped indicate that the year 2010 would be a year that would push along the era of weak stories and gratuitous amounts of fan service, it would be Seikon no Qwaser. Seriously, it was released in early January of that year and simply had breast feeding scenes every other episode, and it's as if they're only following the trend of Queen's Blade that first aired almost a year before. And then once we get into the spring season of 2010, Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou would only disappoint fans as it would further support the argument that anime was headed toward a deep dark, fanservice flooded road. Had it been only released perhaps 2-3 years before, this show could've ranked fairly high and been regarded as a "good" show overall. Maybe it would have also had a 26 episode budget instead of being filler until summer.

But instead it gets one cours instead of the usual 2 because it's only purpose is to stall for time. They're gonna introduce a wide array of characters, introduce the main antagonist by the... 8th or so episode and attempt to wrap it up in the last 2 episodes because episodes 9 and 10 must now about about the lame ass backstory of said recently introduced antagonist who's actually just another useless idiot (like the main characters of visual novels, except he DOESN'T get the girl, so now he's in a state of NTR rage). Christ, it's so formulaic you might as well add onto say that "it's not lupus."


Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou is about a boy named Akuto Sai who is to transfer into Constant Magic Acadamy, a prestigious prepatory school that guarantees that graduates will attain a government position. His dream is to be a Grand Priest (apparently a high government position) to try and better society, but all of that crashes down on him when his aptitude test (a Yatagarasu that predicts the future of students) declares that his future occupation will be Demon King. All hell breaks loose (no pun intended) and the entire school panics as it will be educating a student whose goal in life would be to destroy them. Losing the trust of nearly around him, there are those that still seem to find themselves attached to a now reclusive Akuto. Which leads me to my next point.....


What the hell is up with the english title? "Demon King Daimao"? Really? You're going to repeat the same name except in a different language? How did that get even approved? I understand that saying Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou is a bit hard on the english tongue but what the hell happened? I understand that this title was probably included in one of those batch licenses that companies seem to be forced into doing if they actually want to license highly rated productions but at least translate the title or something.

Titles mean a lot. Whether it's books, movies, TV Shows, or animations. It helps give the audience a first impression of what to expect from the show. As stupid as it sounds, people who watch "Saw" are going to be expecting something sort of key element of the story that will involve a Saw. It sounds stupid because of how obvious it is, but WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPECT WITH AN UNINFORMATIVE SHITTY TITLE?

Regardless, if you want to translate the title literally (like an idiot who's studying Japanese) it comes out to something like "The Demon King of the Most Furthest Back". Sorry, I dont' know why I'm so angry while writing this review...

My personal translation would be "The Grand Overlord in the Far Back". In this way, not much is lost in translation. In the show, Akuto's seating is in the seat at the back of the classroom which explains the title. While all Japanese school anime seem to feature fixed seating arrangements, such is less likely the case in American schools however, the multiple implications of the translated title still work. While sitting in the very back row can denote deliquency, it can also seem to imply those who are shy or anti-social. This double meaning works well for the main character and would have the audience expecting something from the show. Speaking of which, although "demon king" is the literal translation of Maou, I've always thought that Overlord worked quite well. It has a strong enough negative connotation that isn't too harsh (such as tyrant). It also makes fun


Considering the over arching story, shows like these tend to be very wide open and normally result in multiple mini arcs that then make up the series. Because of how short this show is, one would expect better/faster pacing and a need for efficiency to get main plot points out quickly but that doesn't seem to be the case. In fact, it seems hellbent on accomplishing as little as possible while attempting to introduce the large array of secondary characters. There's even a goddamned "school trip to the beach" episode which more or less guarantees a waste of budget and an entire episode for fanservice.

It's a shame too, because the cast is fairly diverse and all fairly strong alone. The main character for once isn't some loser, or a reluctant genius. He's a developed, level-headed and self-motivated character who isn't prone to random counter yelling during perverse situations and works well as a decent tsukkomi for comedic relief. The backstory and setting for the world isn't too half-assed either. The ultra-religious undertone existent within the government has been done before, but there's less emphasis on the strong religious aspect which works well to hide the cult-like society and Akuto's goals as well as his actual beliefs that are explained later.

There's also the SINGLE moment when Akuto acts sadistic and evil which counters his general personality but considering the length of the series and the actual main focus of the show, this never gets embellished and the deep infusion of technology with magic is also never explained which left me with many questions. However, as the show progresses on, Akuto's acceptance of the situation around him and his more level headed personality countering the hysteria around him is something interesting to watch. It's quick development in a short period of time but it strengthens Akuto as a good main character.


Considering that airing in 720p is almost standard now, not much can be said about the animation quality except that I'm seeing a lot of stills. It's not noticeable because many of us are used to seeing them in animation, but the very first episode is a good judge of how you'd expect the budget to be spread out. The main and secondary characters are very detailed, and their animation is extremely crisp, while most background characters will stay that way and pretend they're stuck in a landscape painting. Effects are done extremely well. While the 3D modeling needs work (as always. There's never been a case where an anime had well implemented 3D modeling except for Panty&Stocking) particle effects, bloom and general compositing is extremely fluid and nicely meshed into the animation. Actual fight scenes and the use of magic are animated quite well although explosions could use a bit more work. If you look closely enough you can see the repeated layers.

Good CG

Bad CG (Seriously, when will animators realize this looks REALLY bad when everythign else doesn't look that spotless?) The track looks great.... but the train.... just... urgh.

The humor is quite well done. Because of the dynamic range of characters, the comedic points of this show have a bit of extra flair, especially with the observational AI Korone. Not only that, the constant stabs at Akuto's actions and assumptions about the uncanny link to evil is amusing to watch. It's a bit of Schadenfreude as you laugh at Akuto's earnest attempts to establish good rapport with his classmates only for it to backfire on him and help him dig his own grave.

I'm not sure what to say about the music. It seems that since Disgaea, any other show involving Maou seem to follow suit in terms of music. Same instruments are used and similar melodies are borrowed. It's not particularly bad but it does mean that the music then becomes easily forgettable. Oh, and the opening theme is misleading. I have yet to see any part of the show get that dramatic or mindblowing....


It's not a heavy recommend from me. If there's a second season released, I would watch it to see if it improved but I simply can't deal with how much lost potential there was in this show. Regardless, this is currently streaming on hulu via Anime Network, and the DVD and Blu-ray are both out. This show IS visually appealing so the blu-ray will make a significant difference in quality over DVD.

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control - Review

First off, let me say "Yes, that is the title of the show." I'm sure you're aware of the tentative grasp of the English language Japanese have, and evidence of such is littered throughout the internet and the country of Japan. So, do I have any idea how to translate that title into something that's understandable? Absolutely not. Nor will I even try. That is simply too much effort and considering I don't have any connections with the industry, I can't even begin to guess at what they were attempting. Funimation's official title is [C] Control - The Money and Soul of Possibility, but even that falls shy of making "perfect" sense. It's just a re-arrangement of where "control" goes and I can see why the title is named as such, but something about it still irks me.

[C] (which is how i'm going to refer to this show assuming wordpress doesn't freak out and assume it's HTML code) is about a college attending economics major named Kimimaro Yoga, who's having financial troubles as he works at a convenience store in attempt to pay the tuition. With a father who disappeared from his life at an early age and a family who can't support his studies, Kimimaro curses the circumstance he's in. It is during one of these days of self-reflection that he meets a man who brings him into the "Financial District," a place where "Entrepreneurs" invest their future (not the financial term, the ambiguous time frame term) and battle with others in an attempt to gain money. However, like in life, even gaining money in the Financial District isn't as easy as it sounds.


If there's anything that should tell you to watch this anime, it's probably that it's one of the few anime in the last couple of years or so that have involved the main character(s) being older than the overused high schoolers. We're finally getting characters that are dealing with their own lives, and trying to find out who they are and what they want in life (high school can get too superficial sometimes).

[C] is an original short 11 episoder meant to be a season filler as well as a testing ground for Tatsunoko Production (I'll explain later on). The budget is fairly solid, story works pretty well and and a as a show overall, it's a good time sink. Nothing award winning but it has a fairly good script, character designs and doesn't get too heavy.



While supposed to look like an average background character, Kimimaro does a pretty good job at looking ordinary yet unique at the same time. The color scheme is probably the saving grace and helps him from blending in too much with the background. His bright sky blue hoodie contrasts pretty well with the lonely, grayed urban backdrop of the normal world and the ultra high-tech appearing, neon flooding Financial District. His primary companion in the Financial District named Mashu is also very distinct, and problematically one of the few humanoid companions of the Entrepreneurs of the Financial District.

I dunno, but for some odd reason, every time I saw Mashu, I was reminded of Nekomusume from Gegege no Kitarou

I say problematically because this creates the "unique identity isolation effect" if that were to ever be an actual term. Because most of the companions are beast-like beings and the limited cast of main characters seem to have humanoid beings (who also have comparable traits) the art itself unintentionally (or purposefully) isolates these characters into being unique and emphasizing the main reason why they're the main characters. It's irritating to watch sometimes I 'm not one for figurative giant scrolling marquees indicating that because this trait is unique, the character is special.

We also need Johnny Depp to reprise his role as Willy Wonka...

The world where this show takes place is developed but not quite complex. There are a lot of aerial shots as well as long pans which seem to indicate that they were trying to show off the "large world" that exists within the show, and there are discussions regarding what's happening in other countries with actual English voice actors speaking proper English in an attempt to emulate foreign companies but it's simply not good enough. Development of characters are still far too shallow with the exception of the leads and a select few secondary/tertiary characters but too many of them are far too easily forgettable, which indicates a large problem especially for a show this short. There's also the discussions of morality, the value of future and ethics which seems to bolster the world a bit, but in actuality, it just creates a small "sphere of influence," if you will, around said section that's drifting along somewhere in the world with no concrete connection, especially since most of the show is spent on Kimimaro being wishy-washy. Hell, even the entity that is Kimimaro's father, who is supposed to have some sort of major influence to how Kimimaro became the way he is along with their connection to the Financial District is blurry. If anything, I'd say that's a big problem.



The production values regarding the animation are pretty well distributed.... I think.... Maybe? As I mentioned earlier, this show seems to have been a testing ground for Tatsunoko Production. What I mean by that is the show elements that take place in the Financial District (Mashu, Masakaki) switch between from being rendered in 3D or 2D. Not only that, it seems that quality assurance is inconsistent. One thing is for certain though, the battles and the rendering of the Financial District is very well done and does show off a high budget, which leads me to believe that the inconsistency with characters moving between 2D and 3D is a result of the production team testing something with the models. What's even more unusual though, is that sometimes it's hard to tell that the character is in 3D because of how well they're rendered along with high quality compositing but other times it's very noticiable as the cel-shaded model sticks out in a 2D environment. Tatsunoko isn't an unknown company (to Japanese at least). They may not be as strong as Kyoto but they have some money making cows that can help them fund production for newer shows. Seeing this kind of work from them only leads me to believe they were rushed and were trying different methods during production. I'm expecting this to be fixed into a more consistent style during DVD/Blu-Ray release, SHAFT style.



For the spring season, [C] wasn't too bad. There were a couple others that I was following simultaneously and despite all its issues [C] held up fairly well. I ended up dropping, or not even watching, a handful of shows during the spring season for different reasons but I decided to stick with this one. The development and relations between the main characters of the show were fairly well developed but there was always a feeling that something was missing, and it's a lack of depth with many other characters that have had repeat appearances. Granted it's 12 episodes and thus it's a given that it's going to be missing some content, and depth but this is too much. It's a matter where they're supposed to "show not tell" but they're keeping it too straightforward and simple at times which is keeping this show from being better. The music is too forgettable, while the OP and ED themes fit and showed off the high quality that Tatsunoko is capable of, the actual soundtrack was lackluster. The pacing I would say was pretty good overall, so if this show had gone to 15 episodes or so, it may have helped fix all the problems I mentioned (excluding the animation issues)



I watched this show through Funimation's simulcast stream. If I recall correctly, Anime News Network seems to be in some sort of partnership with Hulu. You should be able to watch the episodes there until DVD/Blu-ray media is released.

Sekirei & Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~ - Review

Minato Sahashi has failed his college entrance exams twice and is basically branded a loser. He meets a girl named Musubi who's under attack. Giving her shelter and time, she then tells him that she is a being known as a Sekirei and that he is an Ashikabi, one of a arbitary number of masters who have the ability to contract with some of the 108 Sekirei in existence. Forced into a secret "Sekirei Project" that involves him, Musubi and the city, Minato does what he can to get by.

I know..... It's hard to read. There are so many things that flash warning signs: loser protagonist, random girl falling on him, secret projects, 108 people unrelated to the chinese novel.... In fact. It's a spoiler but to be expected, let me add harem in there as well...


Simply put, if you were to mash Mai-hime and Ikkitousen together, you'd get Sekirei. Without giving too much away, Sekirei are these super human beings who have specific abilities such as controlling fire or being a skilled martial artist. Sekirei also seem to need to be "winged" to fight properly. To "wing" Sekirei, the most general way is to kiss them in which they will then stabilize and follow their Ashikabi, though apparently contact between the mucus membranes also counts.


...


...


YES, the anime is massive fanservice.
By the way. I'd like to mention that it's one of the male sekirei mentions that they could go "further" than just kissing, even if he is a bishounen.

I've been trying to figure out a way to deal with this but I'll break it down in the usual manner.

First off, the art style itself isn't bad. Generally the eyes are very round and it's really to each their own. Character designs for the protagonist and main support characters are fairly solid, they all fall into a generic archetype which is kinda annoying.

Moving onto the characters themselves, the protagonist basically forms a harem of cookie cutter girls who have unique abilities which is basically the only thing that's keeping them from being mistaken with another person, and the creator can't seem to decide on whether he wanted a 108 harem fest or if he wanted to actually create 108 distinct "heroes" as you see a handful of male Sekirei, two of which are significant characters though it's still about a 11:1 female-male ratio.

And as usual, we've got a male protagonist, with a self-esteem issue, is a pushover, next to useless, somehow wins the heart of a handful of Sekirei, and would be a "good" character if he only pushed himself.....right. This is probably the biggest turn off for anything for me. I'm so absolutely sick of useless protagonists who have no strengths except for being some sort of arbitrary moral support when he "decides to do something." Christ, even having him attend college would improve my view, but no. He's gotta fail TWICE and be a loser rounin cause "that's when you pick yourself up!" He's also a terrible reluctant protagonist (Saito from Zero no Tsukaima does a better job) and the voice actor is pretty bad.


Setting up the usual harem scheme, this is also supposed to mean massive fan service, and to be honest, I'm on the fence here about this. Having been released a couple years before the "moeblob" and the Seikon no Qwaser/Queens Blade censor pushing era (July 2008 and July 2010 for the first and second seasons respectively) Sekirei was not subject to the stupid pink, airy background with the character yelling "iiiiyaaaaaa" the annoying time wasting scenes we see today. I think I've only seen maybe one or two of these ridiculous glorified scenes that are purely for fanservice only.

That isn't to say there aren't any breasts. There's lots of breasts, so many of the characters are so endowed you'd think there was some sort of disease going going around, and likewise there are also many bathing scenes and instances where breasts are exposed, and while that may seem to be the focus for some people, it feels like one of those cases where the animation production is simply just going along with following the manga and its respective scenes. There's not much glorification on the fact that there's exposed skin (except in the first few episodes) and it almost becomes like an everyday thing where even major plot points are discussed in the nude. There's no frame cut, dynamic angle changes, or change in music, and for that I'm grateful because in some sense, it's actually tasteful, or used as humor. There's one scene where the main characters are discussing something harem related and all you see filling up the frame from different angles are the breasts of the characters talking.

The other type of fanservice is the ikkitousen style of exploding clothes during fight scenes. I don't think it ever gets as bad as ikkitousen where I recall in of the OVAs one of the characters just straight up yells that there aren't enough exposed breasts in the scene but it's on that kind of level.


Moving on, the production values for Sekirei is fairly solid. You do see the occasional still shot, panning corner cutting but most of the fight scenes are crisp and generally don't repeat clips. But it's obvious that they also have a limited budget and know how to evenly distribute it (unlike SHAFT...) but it does also result in some unintentionally hilarious scenes such as this:

I... um....uh.... I think the answer is C? I mean I think I see something regarding phenotypes but I'm not too sure what a ""oquckdame" is... or the rest of the page for that matter.... You know... maybe Minato really isn't that stupid.

Also with 108 characters, it gives the creator some freedom in the different kinds of battle characters she can create. It's good animation overall and CG rendering was pretty well done. Kyoto animation probably holds the title for best 3D rendering followed by J.C. staff but Seven Arcs is a very capable and competent production team, even if they haven't been the main team for many series.


The story and some of the execution of the plot needs work. Lots of work actually. There are questions that I had about plot points early on that were never addressed, such as "What happens when a Sekirei shuts down?" There are apparently rules that govern fights between Sekirei but it's never explained as of yet about the result. It seems akin to death as that's how the characters in the show are reacting but then there are hints that they can come back or something.... It's sketchy. There's also the issue where in the second season, there's a constant recurrence (almost to where it becomes an inadvertent gag) of the "bad timing" device. The one I'm referring to is where there are two characters who are looking for each other but have bad luck and never do meet resulting said characters being at the same place at the same time but looking in opposite directions or alternating their arrivals at a same place. In general, this isn't a bad device UNLESS THEY NEVER MEET. In that case, it's simply downright irritating and a waste of time. One can only have so much tolerance before it gets annoying, and it occurs throughout an entire season. Overall, however, the main plot is hammered in fairly well (I think...) but it's specifics that get somewhat problematic.

The biggest part about Sekirei that keeps it from being the absolute trash it's over arching plot is supposed to make it out to be are the inter-character relations. In addition to supposedly being all different Sekirei seem to also have been "born" in chronological order starting from number 01 all the way to 108, and within the numbers there are elite groups and members who work under different organizations and are in different political areas of the city the show takes place in. In addition, there's a strong emphasis on "fated" destinies and the belief that Sekirei actually choose their master based upon their reactions to certain people, and of course there are Ashikabi who initiate the "winging" through brute force resulting in a large range and mix of characters that can exist in the world. Putting the main protagonist's harem aside, the show gets fairly deep into tertiary characters, but unfortunately, not deep enough. It falls just short of a complex and well crafted world.


Before I wrap this up, one final thing that amused me (I couldn't really find a place to put this anywhere else) was Kusano's character. She's the 108th Sekirei and the youngest in the entire story I believe. She's supposed to be about 5-8 years old and is one of the few incarnations of the old school "moe" device. For those of you who are unaware. There are actually two uses for "moe." The old school/generation version was used to describe characters (mainly girls) who evoked a platonic love from the viewers for the character. Basically the main difference from the old "moe" and the lolita complex was that moe was non sexual. Nowadays, it's used fairly plainly to mean something that's cute but closer to sexual emotions. Anyway, Kusano is a pretty plain and generic character standalone, but the execution by the creator along with the voice actor made this show a bit more amusing with the occasional jealous fits that Kusano has.



Sekirei is a show that needs work. It's good but not great. It's bad, but not terrible. Depending on your point of view, I would generally say that it ranges at either below average or above average but not the middle itself. It isn't a bad time sink and the physical quality of the show is pretty good. Assuming the manga still runs, Sekirei will probably go for a third season as well.

NIS America licenses anime

If you haven't heard about this yet, here it is.

We announced yesterday that we will release Anime titles in the US in 2010!
We are very excited to announce our first 4 titles!

Here you go!

- Toradora!
- PERSONA - trinity soul-
- PandraHearts
- Our Home's Fox Deity

We will let you know more about the release dates and all other info soon!
Please looking forward to them!

Please see the press release for more details.
Press Release (JPG / PDF)

Toradora!

PERSONA -trinity soul-

PandraHearts

Our Home's Fox Deity

To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this. NIS america's more recent works with Ar Tonelico II and Cross Edge have left me caring less and less about the company. I like Ar Tonelico II as a game and really want to play Ar Tonelico III, but when you have a company that purposefully removes voices because their own voice actors couldn't fill roles, have spelling mistakes, and forget to even convert and translate some of the japanese text, it leaves me wondering.

Having read through some visual novels (not by NIS) I generally ignored spelling errors and the occasional grammatical WTF, but thinking back on it now, I can't do the same with NIS. They should have a large enough staff of beta testers and quality control that major bugs, and aesthetics shouldn't be there. They're making rookie mistakes and it's making me question their other work. Just look at the email they sent. Notice how it says "Pandra Hearts"? I didn't do that, that was a copy and paste. You can look for yourself assuming they didn't change it by the time this is posted.

Stuff like this shouldn't happen, and it worries me when they start licensing anime.
I'm not sure if you've seen the Disgaea 3 opening as subbed by NIS America. It's pretty bad. The translation is....different from what I'm hearing and the subtitles themselves are extremely loud and the type set is a bit large. I'm glad that they're licensing anime and getting more content into our market, but I'm a bit skeptical at the quality it will distributed.

Black Lagoon - English Dub - Mini Review

I've recently watched the entirety of Black Lagoon in English. Although I'll attempt to refrain from any serious spoilers, in general, this review will be mainly for those who have already seen the anime.


As I have mentioned before in my earlier review of Black Lagoon as a whole. The entire anime was meant to be spoken in English. The main giveaways being that the characters speak with English figures of speech (particularly American) and that most of the main characters have backgrounds from America. That said the transition from Japanese to English isn't much of a stretch here. I would say that it would actually be quite comfortable.


In general, you have to get used to the characters again. Pretend you haven't seen it before. Otherwise, you'll get an odd feeling when you hear the voices. Rock particularly sounds vastly different (and honestly, he should be. Not that I'm saying that Rock's voice should be different but that the tone used by the voice actors is different). Brad Swaile puts a different spin to Rock and it will take some time to get used to. He's good at his job but there will be some bias if you've heard his voice already.

Maryke Hendrikse as Revy will be a big change for everyone. Her style is vastly different than Megumi Toyoguchi's. She's more raspy and the range of Revy's emotions are somewhat wider. Toyoguchi has a more flat, jaded tone that gives Revy that almost constant feeling of a cold distant character whereas Hendrikse gives us a character that's also cold but has openings that pierce harder than the Japanese counterparts. Regardless, they both show off their skill and both pull through as one of the (if not, THE) strongest actors throughout the entire series.

Get a black guy to voice a black guy. This would be Dean Redman's only anime role so far and he does a pretty good job. Good range of emotions and solid work overall. His inexperience does often show up as he sounds too flat during tense moments. At one point, I remember him "yelling" "Get down!" only to be quite disappointed that the line was delivered with such mediocre emotion. There's a moment in the Second Barrage where Dutch swears profusely and angrily. Redman comes up with a line that sounds fairly tame. He's skilled at witty lines and dry humor and so I'm interested to see what other roles he will cover. He needs to work a bit more, but he's definitely potential and he's got a great starting point.

I've always felt that Benny was the weakest character of the series. He has history and his character shows, but with only about one to two episodes where he's a major role, it's hard to judge the actors. Regardless, Brian Drummond seems to suffer from the same problem that Redman has in that his voice lacks a sense of urgency. When he called over to Dutch to drive because the boat was being targeted by TOWs, it seemed very flat. I really don't know how else to put it. There weren't any accents on any particular word (maybe "TOW?" I mean, it's not something you expect.... right?).


Then we have the supporting cast of characters who all give flavor to Black Lagoon. Patricia Drake gives more life to Balalaika than Mami Koyama. She speaks no Russian (which is a bit that I was particularly fond of in the Japanese dub) bu makes up for it in tone. She has a few roles overall but gave Balalaika exactly what the show needed. Her voice fit the character and emotions worked well together. This is definitely one of the best matches to date. To be honest, I forgot how Balalaika sounded in Japanese. Her greatest moment has got to be when Revy is running chores with Rock and they head over to Balalaika who is filtering and editing porn. Right before the cut, you see Balalaika clearly bored out of her mind and Ms. Drake delivers the memorable line "Someone shoot me."





The first season was a great watch and I loved it, but the second season is really where the test is for both dubs and I focused more on that because it proved to be quite brutal in for me in both languages.

You see, the main problem lies in the last arc of the show where Rock and Revy head over to Japan for business. Rock is to be Balalaika's interpretor in which he has to speak Japanese for the Yakuza and here is probably the big spoiler that everyone in Roanapur was speaking English the entire time. This would also be where Toyoguchi fails and she tries to speak english. The rest of the series is fine in Japanese as one my favorite lines are in there.

For the english cast however, it seems that the entire season was painfully hard. I think I realize why Ms. Drake didn't speak Russian. Perhaps it was because she didn't feel comfortable or the director didn't. Regardless it's painfully obvious that the voice actors for Hansel and Gretel, the romanian twins, couldn't speak.... whatever they were trying to speak. It's odd. Jocelyne Lowen (Gretel) isn't particularly new. She has a major part in Galaxy Angel and while Ashleigh Ball (Hansel) didn't have much experience, he had far fewer lines which wasn't much of a problem. However, voices here didn't match very well and then there was the entire part where the director wanted the actors to give off the hints of where they were from by saying (I think) Fratellimeiu?

The Japanese dub covered this particular problem by having the twins speak normally but then Watsup ( the police officer) give the specific hint of how the twins addressed each other. In the same way they were speaking Japanese but actually English, the twins were addressing each other accordingly. They sounded perfectly normal to the viewers but to the characters around them, they were speaking a different language. Regardless, the English dub sounded very off, and it was really a pain for me to hear through all of that...


Greenback Jane arc was fine, so let's leave it at that.


Now here's the moment of truth. All wits put together to give us....
I'm not really sure what to say here.
The way this chapter was handled in English was so completely different than the Japanese one I'm not really sure what to criticize or where to start. But.... I guess I'll start off with the main sequences involving the interpretor.

One thing's certain. Brad Swaile has next to no grasp of the Japanese language and neither does the person they hired to translate. Not only is it extremely rough in tone and mellifluence but the grammatical structure itself is very primitive. Why is this a problem? Rock is Japanese. It's not going to be weird if he can't speak english properly, but it IS going to be weird if he can't speak his native language properly (Probably one of the advantages of having japanese dub anime set in Japan). You can make fun of the Japanese for not being able to speak English properly, but then you better be able to speak Japanese, cause you sure as hell have no right judge. Was it a mistake for the Japanese director to try and make Toyoguchi try to speak English? Yes... Very yes. Does Brad Swaile speak japanese. No.... Very no. The english director has made the same exact mistake. Don't try to squirm your way outta this. If someone hired a coach for Brad Swaile, that would be a whole different story.


Another thing is certain. More often than not, Japanese who speak English have an accent and people in Japan are usually uncomfortable speaking English (surprise). I'm not making fun of anyone for it, I'm looking at this from an objective stance. Here's the directional/fundamental problem here. There was a major language barrier between Ginji and Revy in the Japanese dub (well.... Revy and everyone....) because:

A. Revy can't speak Japanese.
B. Japanese can't speak Revy (English).

But miraculously in the English dub everyone can seem to communicate perfectly fine with the exception of Balalaika and the Yakuza, because either:

A. Revy IS speaking Japanese in the English dub, or
B. Everyone is speaking English with the exception of the yakuza, who speak exclusively Japanese.

Either way, something is really wrong (and B is just downright stupid).


It's quite hard to miss a plot hole like that, and it's even harder to tolerate Lalainia Lindbjerg's role as Yukio Washimine. Never (strong word here) have I heard a role so off. This isn't even a problem with direction. Lindbjerg's voice acting was something else. Never mind language barriers or plot holes, what about acting in general? Her role throughout sounded awkward, filled with an unusual tone followed by flat lines and almost a pure lack of emotion throughout. Or maybe there was emotion, but that was misplaced. What I mean is that her role as Yukio was completely amateur. Let me get this straight. I don't know who she is. Seriously. I didn't know who she was until I went over to anime news network and looked up the English cast for Black Lagoon. Apparently she was Bulma? I don't really follow DBZ at all so I can't judge her work there but her work here was atrocious. Her voice itself fits the role to some extent. It has the mature character that Yukio needs but that's really it. No one speaks like that. If anything a foreigner speaks like that (which wouldn't make sense story wise since Yukio and Rock would be speaking Japanese).

I gotta say, The Second Barrage was a surprise. Not in a good way. The first season was great, this one needs a revision or something.....



As a final side note, something that confused me was the scene between Takenaka and the Japanese tourist at the airport. It was understandable that the tourist had that weird accent when trying to ask for a light, but Takenaka can speak Japanese. His conversation with Rock proved that, so it's awkward that he'd speak English to the tourist when he's (Takenaka) the one that started the conversation. Something that I've known (almost inherently) is that people are comfortable speaking their own native language with others who can also speak it with equal comfort. It SOUNDS stupid, but apparently that doesn't prove to be true in Black Lagoon-land.



Why do I focus so much on the English dub for Black Lagoon? Because it's one of the prime examples of where English dubs can be of equal grade to those who speak english as many Japanese dubs are to Japanese. In all honesty, it's painful listening to English. English itself is a very ugly language being such a frankenstein. This is why singing in English requires many sacrifices (extend vowel sounds, negate hard K sounds, avoid "errrrrrrrrr"). So when something sounds off in English, it's a piercing tone as opposed to Spanish (or japanese, except when you get emphases wrong) or Italian. This is why English dubs need to be polished. Look at Spongebob or Chowder. They get voice actors who work with the characters and it shouldn't be any different for anime.

Baccano! - Review

To be honest, I didn't really notice Baccano until it came out onto DVD. I had heard the name in passing but that's really about it. I somewhat regret not watching this earlier.

To start us off, Baccano takes place in the 1930s when there's a rumor around about a group of people known as the "Immortals." It seems that it's impossible to kill them and no one knows who they are. All people really know is that they exist. In the meantime, a information gathering shop posing as a newspaper company is trying to piece together the truth about a major event that occurred onboard the transcontinental train "The Flying Pussyfoot." Coincidentally, it seems that the Immortal, many mafia families, hired hitmen, and thieves were all involved in this fiasco, and the first episode starts us off with two omniscient characters discussing who the main character is...




It's actually a great starting point and I tip my hat off to the director and author of the base material. Just from the opening alone, the introduction of the characters is almost overwhelming. What's even more unfathomable is the development of these characters and more throughout a 16 episode series. The first episode brings a brief introduction to the cast as well as the setting. It's a bit disorienting at first since it starts somewhere near the middle of the timeline but I'll get to that later.


To be honest, I haven't heard of the animation team known as Brains Base before but their style is really catchy. There's a bit of the original art they have to consider but overall, it's a relatively high budget anime with nice eye candy. It's a bit more gritty than clean but style seems to suit the anime very well.

The music is fantastic. The jazzy themes incorporated really give the anime its 30s feel. It's really too bad that Makoto Yoshimori didn't do much else. I really wanted to more of the music he could think up.


And here we come to the meat of the review: The direction and voice acting.

It seems that every episode had an individual episode director headed by one main director. The way this anime is directed is quite interesting. One could say that it's of epic fashion with pockets of flashbacks, but I'd say that it's more focused towards the characters and time simply flows around them. In that way, it seems to also emphasize the lack of focus on time itself which is a pointless concept for the "Immortals" themselves as they live forever without aging.

In general, it actually takes time for the show to pick up. To be honest, I was a bit.... (fine, I'll admit it) bored with the first couple of episodes. The pacing was dreadfully slow and having to bring in all the characters together to a seemingly pointless point in time seemed bland but I regret putting off watching this for so long because once it picks up, it doesn't stop. Just like a runaway train, scenes change to different times, stories are intertwined, and suddenly characters are brought together before your eyes in the most outrageous situations all the while the Flying Pussyfoot continues to chug along with no one noticing what's going on around them.

The biggest point of interest is how disconnected scenes and episodes are. Rather than following standard convention of following a timeline and going in chronological order (which is something we're more comfortable with, rather than believing it's "better") it forces the viewer to see the show in a different way. "Throw away all conventions of that thought process you know and follow us, just this one" the anime seems to say. It doesn't disappoint. Episodes feel right and seem to follow the pace of the company piecing together information. "Ok, so there was this guy on the train. How far back can we trace his history? What is he doing now? What did he do aboard the Flying Pussyfoot?" It's also a bit disorienting (but in a good way) that the show jumps around in time but it didn't bother me too much. It allowed me (the viewer) to associate relationships and assess character groupings better since these jumps focused more on the characters themselves than trying to impose a sense of linearity.


Voice acting was beautiful by everyone, Japanese and English. Voice acting these characters are particularly hard and I applaud the voice directors who found the matches. Each character brings to the show a different tone and color, and once all mixed together, they create a painting. But the colors themselves need to be rich and filled with an eye (or in this case "ear") catching richness that complements the others. I'm pretty sure every character had at least one monologue that rivaled that of the multi-personality disorder messes that are Shakespearean plays. Every character had a range of emotions to cover and I'm sure it really gave voice actors something interesting to work with.


There are problems of course. Certain characters seemed to have minor cameos despite being a crucial part of the story. It brings the question of "just exactly where the hell were you during all this?" There were a handful of characters I wanted to see more of but oh well. Certain names also didn't ring well with me. Certain first names didn't match last names (conflict of origin of nationality. Mind you this is still the late 20s-early 30s). Something that also happened was that I ended up forgetting parts of the beginning simply because in my mind I considered it to be pointless exposition although I'm pretty sure there were parts that hinted at relationships along with some foreshadowing. Regardless because of how droll the start was, it caused a problem for me to continue. I'm not saying that all shows should start with a bang, but there was a lack of a certain "hook" that made it worth it. When I have to say "You have to watch the first few episodes before it gets good" it leaves a bad taste in my mouth because the rest of the show doesn't really justify a bad start. First impressions are very important and what kept me watching was the opening theme as well as small quips of slapstick comedy from Isaac and Miria...



Must watch. That's all I gotta say. I'm angry that I missed this show.

Update!

I've got one more final to complete before I'm officially free. I've quit DFO for K Dnf. DnF has recently had a new update which allows players to get one free level 40 character (what to choose). I've finished watching Baccano! (and have an urge to review it), and any other free time is spent either studying or staring in awe at just how much more awesome the korean version is compared to the american version....

Lucky☆Star

Lucky Star is an anime by Kyoto Animation with their shining star Aya Hirano as one of the protagonists.

It's about an otaku gamer by the name of Konata Izumi who goes on with her daily life along with her close friends Tsukasa and Kagami Hiiragi, and Miyuki Takara. The entire series is very slice of life-ish with the highschoolers going on with their daily lives.

That's it. There isn't anything else besides the Lucky Channel segment at the end of the episode. The entire show itself is about highschool girls going on with their lives with various references to other anime and culture. It often also makes use of the voice actors and their previous roles (the most notable one being Konata/Haruhi).

The animation is sorta clean? Backgrounds are low budget but characters themselves are noticeably clean and often detailed better. There are also segments that show an outstanding budget (it's kyoto after all).


To be honest, the entire show is sub par in terms of "story" or "plot." I haven't read the Lucky Star manga but considering how scenes are constructed with a structured build up and gag line, it's very reminiscent of a 4 panel style manga (kinda like Azumanga Daioh!).

Voice acting for the main characters is very well done and there were some surprising performances from not-so-well known voice actors. My main gripe about it is that all background characters that have 1-3 lines are all done by the same person. I get the joke, it's clever, but it's also very annoying. It's clearly obvious is one person but it makes me cringe everytime cause it's purposely poorly done. It's even worse when there are multiple people cause then it's just one guy talking to himself.....


The gem of the show in my opinion has to be the Lucky Channel. The Lucky Channel is a small segment that has direct correlation to the show (except in terms of 4th wall breakage) about an idol that goes by the name of Akira Kogami. She hosts the Lucky Channel segment with a co-host, Minoru Shiraishi. who occasionally appears in the actual show.
The genius of the segment is that Akira is clearly tired of the "idol" life and goes on to show her true colors frequently complaining about the idol life and the expectations. There are also occasional moments when the co-host is talking to the producer.

To be honest, a good portion of me liking this show is the lucky channel because it seems at this point is when the director and script writer shine. The ending themes are also quite amusing to listen to. About halfway through the series, I heard the director was switched and it's very noticeable as the entire episodes "seem" different. I'm not sure if it's because of the source material either, but I was laughing much more often in the latter half of the series.

The music is nothing to astound yourself with. It works fairly well with no real outstanding tracks.


As a final note. Lucky Star is one of the few anime where I'm not really content with some of the voice actors. Particularly those who voiced Kagami's classmates and.... Patricia Martin. They fit, but I still don't like them.

Kekkaishi - Review

I consider Kekkaishi to be one of the best shounen anime out there, trumping One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto (including Shippuden) hands down. I can't be sure about how close it sticks to the manga, but the way it's been structured definitely leaves room for more.


Kekkaishi is about Yoshimori Sumiumura, an 8th grader, and Tokine Yukimura, a sophomore, who work as Kekkaishi, a job as protector of Karasumori (a specific area) that's been passed down from generation to generation. Kekkaishi (loosely translated as "barrier specialists/masters") have the ability to control a specific area of space in which they trap ayakashi (a specific word for ghosts from shipwrecks.... but it's been loosely used as something like spiritual parasites) and exorcise them, because they're attracted to Karasumori, an area that has the ability to grant ayakashi power.


Kekkaishi, from front to back (wherever the back may be...) is purely shounen. Even throughout the anime, when characters mention a specific term that may be too hard for children to understand, there's a small box that appears that explains terms. That isn't to say it's bad.


It's well paced, fairly long, and beaming with high quality production. It's one of the few anime where nearly no one looks the same. What I mean by that is, a lot of medium to low budget anime use the same face archetype for an entire genre, forcing you, the viewer, to identify each character by their hair, hair color, and eye color. This is a simple shortcut that cuts a lot of money from expenses. However, tertiary characters and many background characters all have different faces. It's a small detail but an important detail nonetheless. It's rare to see differing eyes, noses and overall facial structures in anime, but it's even rarer to see that applied to nearly everyone. There are some corners that are cut such as panning still shots but I can overlook that for the amount of work placed elsewhere.


I can't say the overall plot is amazing. To be honest, it first sounded pretty generic with the exception of the kekkaishi but it was the small arcs, and mini-stories that had such great writing that it kept me pretty hooked. The story even delved a bit into how the Kekkaishi do what they do, but not in a lecture style. Through recurring bits, the mechanics are fed to you at an even pace. Eventually, there were certain twists to the background story that intrigued me and definitely put this on a different level.


My biggest problem with the anime would be the lack of an extensive soundtrack. Kekkaishi is a 52 episode anime and yet all of its music spans one disc. I understand that I'm not asking for like.... Yuki Kajiura's work (About 4 disks just for Tsubasa Chronicles) but I expected a bit more from Taku Iwasaki and his work on Persona -Trinity Soul-. Though, in hindsight, Kekkaishi was released earlier....



Kekkaishi hasn't been licensed in the US yet, though it seems to have been licensed in the Phillipines. Considering the immense work that went into it, only big companies such as Funimation may be able to acquire the rights for it. Another issue would be the sheer Japanese culture that's immersed into Kekkaishi. Getting script writers for the English dub would be a hassle. Another problem that emerges would be the scatterbrained job that is the ending theme. Although the opening theme is the same throughout, the ending theme changes completely arbitrarily and cycles from 4 total themes resulting in a "What the hell?"


It's a definite, must-see from me, though I believe the best way for non-japanese speakers would be to resort to fansubs....

Anime & Games update

June isn't such a great month for either. April is usually when you have a bunch of anime that come out and E3 in June is there to keep fans hyped for things to come.

Prototype is out so I better check it out.
S4 League US's release date still hasn't been confirmed.
Dungeon and Fighter from Nexon USA (ugh) still has no signs of a release date.
Left 4 Dead 2 is in november I believe.
Street Fighter 4 for the PC is coming soon.
I'm saving up for a PS3. I'm thinking of buying a used one.


In terms of anime:
Summer Wars looks like it's gonna be good (from the director of The girl who leapt through time).
To be honest, I actually missed out on a bunch of anime that premiered this april (Phantom, Shangri-La, 07 Ghost, Higashi no Eden) They're all actually about to end around this time (because they're all 12 episoders.....)


I still haven't heard much about the third season of Black Lagoon.
No idea when The Sacred Blacksmith airs.
Higashi no Eden is supposed to continue on in two full length movies.
Spice of Wolf is going to air July 8th.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni airs July 1st.
Canaan airs July 4th.

Higurashi no naku koro ni Rei's 4th OVA comes out around the 22nd.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni - release date confirmed?

Trailer

Yui Horie (my favorite voice actress) and Daisuke Ono (Yukito from Air, Itsuki from Haruhi) are to be cast in this.

From what I see, it's gonna air July 1st on Chiba and Aichi. the 2nd on KBS (Kyoto) and Kanagawa. I'm not too sure on what the other stations are. I need to check which service I have.....

Inukami! - review

Inukami! (lit. dog god) is about a guy named Keita Kawahira who's part of a long line of "inukami tsukai" (inukami "users" or "tamers"). The purpose of contracting with such an inukami is to follow the clan's tradition of banishing evil....except Keita is more interested in girls. His Inukami, Youko, isn't too happy about this. As a very jealous, controlling type she tries to make Keita do her bidding instead of the other way around.


Before I begin the review, I'd like to note that it is PURPOSEFULLY spelled InuKAMI instead of InuGAMI which refers to the dog deities in japanese folklore. Inukami are similar to inugami in many ways but there are many characteristics that completely change it around.



Inukami! feels like what Zero no Tsukaima was trying to do from the second season on. It's chock full of perverted jokes and really course humor. Not to mention there are a lot of indirect references to other anime which make you cringe, but in a good way. You know it's a parody and yet there's something wrong about it.

A lot of the inukami who are shown in their human forms are female which brings up the traditional harem style that we're all aware of. It can be potentially said that they're ALL tsundere for their disgust for the main character but it's more obvious that they fill a different cookie cutter role (with two of them being devious twins)


In terms of its humor, what I've got to say is its biggest strong point and downfall is the lack of restraint on perverted, crude humor. By no means is the viewer confused as to whether or not that was a reference to a sexual trope. The show itself leads you on until the last minute when you finally see the full picture. This style of humor is quite common in Japanese humor along with temporarily using two characters as a manzai team.


One problem with this series would be the enormous cast of characters. Keita only has one inukami but his cousin, the other major inukami tsukai in the show, has ten. Then there's the head of the family with her inukami. Finally, there's the representative from the "Spritual division" of the government giving the Inukami Tsukai leads on jobs. In total, that means the show has 13 major inukami and 4 major and secondary characters. The result is that twenty six episodes are too short. The manga and anime director could've approached this harem anime style and made an episode revolve around the development of each character but that would leave too few episodes for a good indepth story. It seems that the director agrees with this and only places development when it seems that there's some room left.

What you get instead of individual focus is how the group does as a whole. The viewer constantly needs to be reminded that the 10 major inukami that haven't contracted with Keita aren't sisters. They just have this undying infatuation with one particular guy, which is weird....and something that the show has no problem mentioning (that it's weird). In addition, while Youko works alone the other ten work together breaking off into different groups when necessary.


What's most memorable is probably the soundtrack. There are some nice battle themes along with some wacky synth that fit well with the blunt humor. Then there's the slow paced relaxed songs that help emphasize perverted humor.


The presentation of the "main" story was fairly weak. You were aware that there was some underlying purpose to the jobs but it doesn't really show up until the end. In addition, the resolution wasn't so great. They ended it with a fairly big plot hole that isn't covered in the OVA. It kinda makes me want to read Inukami.


To be honest, I wouldn't recommend this to a lot of people. It's very clean with the occasional still shot and presentation is actually solid, but with an average story and each episode almost filled to the brim with perverted jokes, it would probably turn some people off. It's not bad, but it's not phenomenal.

Read or Die OVA - Review

Based on a manga based series of light novels, Read or Die is probably one of my favorite anime of all time. To be honest, I need to go over what I consider to be the best in my opinion, but this 3 part OVA definitely is high on the list.


Read Or Die is about a bibliomaniac and agent of the British Library named Yomiko Readman. Her codename is "The Paper" as she has the ability to manipulate paper in any way as she pleases. She and two other agents, Drake Anderson (no codename oddly enough) and Nancy Makuhari, codenamed Miss Deep for being able to pass through solid objects, are given the assignment to find information about a set of stolen DNA of historical figures and to retrieve if possible.


What the OVA has done is condense what could have been a 12 episode story into an hour and a half. You get the crucial of crucial information presented as well as unique characterization in subtle hints. Since there can't be a lot of time devoted to pure character development, it overlaps with the progress of the story.

I feel that, in a sense, restricting directors to OVAs bring out the best work on the market. There can't be any time to flesh out characters too much nor can there be any space to simply stall for time. The audience gets what's only necessary and probably has most of the loose ends tied.

In terms of the story itself, there's so much to enjoy. First, there's this underlying tone that Britain looks down upon the US for lacking any tact. Then there's a set of characters who all work well with each other (in terms of character development and interaction), there's are very diverse settings which make moments of the story quite memorable and finally there's the original concept of a Paper Master.


The Paper Master is probably one of the biggest selling points of Read Or Die. Though it's never really explained how Yomiko acquired those powers, what pops in my mind concerning that is "Do I really care?" It seems quite fitting that an avid lover of books becomes a manipulator of paper and often provides comic relief as there are moments when Yomiko pauses to honestly consider whether it's worth using the pages of a rare book to save her life or her complete lack of concern for the value of money (bills to be exact). Still, I have to say that the "Paper Master" is definitely a concept which is quite hard to top. The animation that JC Staff provides to put this concept in motion is a thrill watching. Because of how original it is, you're only left wondering in what ways Yomiko could manipulate paper to her advantage.


The music is great. It's quite memorable and there's a great range from the grand orchestral pieces that glorify the British Library to the hard riff of the electric guitar that opens this animation.

Voice acting in both Japanese and English is great. Kimberly Yates does a great job in portray the seemingly ditzy Yomiko as well as Reiko Miura (who does quite well despite it being her first anime role).



Yes, it does have a major plot hole in that you never find out who started this mess, but it didn't seem like Read Or Die had any intentions of covering that anytime soon. Considering how focused it seemed on stopping the problems at hand, it does seem odd that there isn't any further analysis, at the same time, in the way the adaptation is directed, it seems fine that you don't know and that all that matters is that the issue is resolved.

I honestly believe this is a work that deserves to be studied. Yes, it doesn't carry a very atmospheric tone as "other great anime works," and it does use stock characters. At the same time, the quality of direction and the flow of scenes and transitions is something quite noteworthy. The use of CG is subtle and enhances the OVA quite a bit. Finally, because of Yomiko's use of paper as a primary weapon, it seems quite easy to clutter the frame, however the use of space was well done.




P.S. Ugh... i accidentally set the post time to 12:30 AM instead of PM. Well, no use in fixing it now....

Ookami to Koushinryou - Spice and Wolf - Review

Yes, I know this actually says Wolf and Spice II. That's coming later in July. It doesn't change the fact that they're using the same main characters.
I use both names because they're both introduced in the anime as such. Technically it's Wolf and Spice and in following the naming scheme the episode titles are also "Wolf and....."


Whatever.


The anime is about a traveling merchant by the name of Kraft (Craft) Lawrence who happens to find Holo, the human incarnation of a 250 year old wolf deity, sleeping in his wagon as he stays in the farming village of Pasroe. The deity has been blessing the wheat crop for years since she made a deal with a villager long ago. However, believing that the villagers have forsaken her, she makes a deal with Lawrence to escort her back to her home in the north.


Spice and Wolf is a "smart" anime. I don't mean smart as in it's autonomous and makes good, responsible decisions but that it requires a bit of active thinking to fully enjoy it.

This anime took me by surprise by the second episode. The first episode introduces everyone and sets the premise of the world which is very much like medieval Europe. From the second episode on, you'd be immersed right into the story.

Kraft Lawrence is a merchant, a good one in fact. He's been in the trading business for a while and knows a good deal about economics and and business.

Holo, with her archaic mannerisms, displays her sage-like knowledge acquired over the years. In exchange, due to not keeping up with history, she lacks the knowledge about current governments and money in circulation.

The anime focuses a lot of the relationship between these two as two quick-witted, intelligent people who work together for (technically) a common goal. In exchange for escorting her to her homeland in the north, Holo must find a way to earn a living to support herself. She does so by being Lawrence's partner in trade. What happens then on is a complex story involving governments, guilds, the church, and the entire economy including black markets.


Without knowing a thing about it and simply going off screenshots or a cover, it's easy to believe that this is some one-sided story with a wolf-girl simply acting as an attraction. Since that isn't the case, this anime automatically gets favorable points from me. There's an immense amount of dialogue in each episode and a really big focus on the world around the main characters. With strong protagonists, there needs to be strong antagonists and a world that can support them. The anime very much delivers with great art and direction.

There are "learning sessions" interlaced throughout the anime where Lawrence explains to Holo about the current world and while that does occasionally feel as if it's the creator's way of inserting information and expanding the world for the viewers it also does indicate how much thought has been put in.


The art is great. In addition to really clean characters and animation, the environment looks very detailed. There's an occasional moment when you're wondering where they are because certain sections of towns look similar. While that is true of medieval Europe and using similar architecture, there was a lack of characteristics that stand out for each village.

The music could be better but it's quite well done in certain parts.


There's the occasional dab of fantasy that gets infused into the story to make the anime probably one of the best I've seen in a while. The time it takes place in seems to be an era that's a bit ahead of all those other medieval settings (in general) and actually involves the influence of power in terms of money and religion. Lawrence is old. He's not grandfather old but he's showing signs that he's a bit past marriageable age (in respect to that time period). His wisdom and wit is justified which makes him a more realistic, better character. Holo also has very clear weaknesses which improve the story overall as prodigies, omnipotent gods, and simply over powered characters actually detract from the story telling and complexity.


This is definitely a must see from me.

Funimation recently announced that they've acquired the rights for the US distribution so be sure to buy it.

New Haruhi episodes coming out

Jump for joy and shoot something. I just heard from someone that episode eight is to be "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody," a new title for an episode from the Haruhi light novels.


I heard that there were reports that Haruhi was to be going for 24 episodes but with the reference to the Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi, I wasn't particularly sure how they were going to do this. I also heard that two different stations started with different first episodes (one being the Asahina movie that Haruhi did referred to as episode 00 - broadcast version, and the other being The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi 1 - chronological version). I've been generally waiting for how this was going to continue and I'm sure a good portion of the anime fan community has been waiting 6 weeks for the first chronological arc to end.

Kadokawa will be simul-casting via Youtube, but without subs so those who can't speak Japanese sorry. I'll be sure not to spoil anything.

Toshokan Sensou (Library War) - Review

Just reading it off as "Library War" seems a bit weird to me. I feel like it's either Library Wars or The Library War. It's probably my love for articles however.

Toshokan Sensou is about the "Media Cleansing Act" that was passed at the dawn of the Seika era (completely fake era) in 1988 (christian calendar). It was a government act in which censors were given full jurisdiction to dictate what had bad messages and harmful to society and had any means to do so. 11 years later, an event known as the Hino Nightmare which involved a massive book burning and massacre of the staff at the Hino Branch Library resulted in another government act pushed by Libraries to protect themselves with their justification being that the Cleansing Committee is too powerful.

It is now 2019, the 31st year of Seika era and a highschool graduate by the name if Iku Kasahara has been recruited as the very first female member of the the elite Library Task Force.


This show aired right as the spring season (in Japan) started last year (4-10) and somehow it flew under my radar.

The animation is done by I.G. so you be assured that it's quality work.




This is a purely fantastical premise and to be honest, not too realistic. So you have to enter this anime with an open mindset. Once you get past that, it's a really interesting premise considering the censorship Japan does. "What happens when you bring censorship too far?" I know what you literary buffs are thinking. It's a concept that's like Fahrenheit 451. I could honestly care less though. Besides, it doesn't revolve around a guy who was originally part of the Cleansing Committee.

ANYWAYS.


This is a pretty short anime, which I'm going to address immediately, because I feel that it could have lasted a bit longer. Rather, the pacing could have slowed down a bit showing a bit more of the "normal life."


In all honesty though, this show is actually a "romantic comedy" under all of the gunfire and training. I use romantic comedy loosely because:
A. I hate the concept of what's considered a "Romantic Comedy" and
B. It doesn't really fall under that category but it's also about a girl who's looking for her "prince" in the Library Defense Force who saved her and her book from being "cleansed."


The characters are pretty straight forward. Iku is your typical hotheaded girl who has an equally fiery passion. Her "prince" is quite blatant to the point where even the hints are almost too obvious (At one point he even holds "princely" items). Then there's the super strict, top of his class rookie that has horrendous social skills. Then there are the commanding officers. First of which is an equally hot-headed counterpart to Iku and his closest friend being the nearly omniscient, level headed type that finds humor in many situations.


I'm going to say this outright. Classic, cliched characters are overdone. Everyone knows that, but they're also quite effective. As long as it's not in a "harem" or "reverse harem" setting, they can work quite well. What you look for is not
"how does this character act as a whole" but, "how does this character's interactions differ from others and what are the character's unique qualities?" If there's little variation and the character is too obvious and too predictable, then you can consider it bad writing and move on. BUT, if you have strong supporting characters that twist and change the cookie cutter character, then you have content.

It's the same with comedy. It requires well placed timing, good material, and a personal variation. What makes your joke unique?


Toshokan Sensou is an example of one way you can add a twist to an old idea. It's short, pretty fast paced, and adds a bit of development to characters. It may need a bit more development to be outstanding, but by all means, it's a well done show. The music is also a great plus. It's not particularly memorable (then again the only tune I can sing off the top of my head is the Demon Lord from Mononoke Hime) but it helped the set the atmosphere very well and I remember taking particular note and enjoying it.


There's a DVD exclusive episode that doesn't fit in any where in particular but it's a nice side episode used for character development. I would have appreciated more of those episodes in the series.

Bamboo Blade - Review

Due to my own involvement in Kendo, I decided to be as fair as possible and not review this until I've seen this anime at least a couple times to get the "excitement" out of my system and notice all the shortcomings.

Bamboo Blade is about a Kendo (Japanese swordfighting/fencing) instructor, Toraji Ishida, at Muroe Highschool. He's made a bet with his highschool kendo captain that he can assemble a better kendo team. So Toraji Ishida (nicknamed Kojirou)along with Muroe Highschool team captain, Kirino Chiba, search the school for kendo practitioners. Their first member is Tamaki Kawazoe, a short freshman whose extremely skilled and would become a pillar in supporting the Kendo team.


Bamboo Blade is a very simple series and is presented as such. Besides having a focus on Kendo, there aren't any complicated, convoluted story elements that would alienate the viewer. It's better to think of it as "an exaggerated high school drama with a theme of kendo." The focus on having female kendo players isn't really that big of a deal nor does it set up some awkward harem type love drama. It's really more of a slice of life anime with exaggerations for comedic purposes.

A lot of bamboo blade is actually just the team going about their lives with humor and the occasional stab at their own characters/story. The focus on Kendo shouldn't distance non-kendo practitioners much. Sure, there's a "learning curve" but it isn't that steep. There's one thing to say however, because it's so Japan school life oriented (even more so than other dramas in my opinion), there will be cultural references that one may miss. They're not necessarily a major part of the story, but the quickfire, simple humor would definitely come with some reference to Japan's culture.

If you take a look at the soundtrack, it consists of two CDs generally filled to the brim with calm relaxing music with a dash or the tense fight music and major secondary character themes. Meaning, the series itself isn't very action based, that isn't to say there isn't any, but I'd just like to tell people three things to clear up any confusion.
1. It's not a campy love triange/square/haremfest type of drama.
2. It's not action packed either.
3. It's not so engrossed into kendo that it would alienate everyone besides kendo players. There'd be no point in that.
Still though, the music is fitting and although repetitive, I like it very much.

Animations are really clean. With the exception of terrible use of CG, many of the characters have trademark expressions or designs that make them easily noticeable. In addition to that, the character personalities are pretty generic, but work well with the story. The interaction that occurs when the Muroe highschool team goes to tournaments or goes against other schools is probably the most interesting as you see personalities clash in odd ways. Fun Fact: Kirino and the team captain for Machido (the first team they face) have the same character design (same hair, same face, only she has dark hair and glasses).


One thing worthy of notice are the voice actors. I feel as if this tends to be one of the bigger differences between the US and Japanese voice acting staff (there are many exceptions of course) and some parts of Bamboo Blade really make it stick out. For one thing, when characters are participating in matches against each other, what really struck me was the ferocity that the voice actors were yelling. I occasionally heard some voices on the edge of cracking but it was times like those where I thought "wow, they really sound serious" and it heightened my enjoyment of the anime. There are live-action actors who need to look ugly (figuratively) when they have to. It's no different with voices. It's very noticeable when you're trying to sound serious or when you're afraid to sound ugly. There are of course, great english speaking voice actors (just realized there were a lot of studios in Canada) but I feel as if some voice directors settle for half-assed acting. That's something that needs to be changed. To be honest, I haven't heard the English dub yet but once funimation releases the DVDs, I intend to at least hear them once.


There are a few things that detract from this anime being really good. Pacing would be an issue. Ishida Toraji is the man of unfortunate events, and despite it being funny, there are times when these scenes that ridicule him take very long. Not only that, the pacing itself is inconsistent sometimes cutting off days, sometimes weeks to months. I guess it's necessary if you look at it as a whole but at the same time some of the major character development happens very late.

Some aspects which are supposed to act as comedic value kinda annoy me. In particular,Reimi (if you decide to see it, you'll know who I'm referring to) and her relation to Miyako. I get the humor in that some badass girl is freaked out by a stalker but at the same time, I find it aggravating that the way she deals with it is by basically running away and focusing on something else. The emphasis could be toned down a bit which I believe would be much funnier.


To be honest, Bamboo Blade took me by surprise. I expected it to be ultra concentrated with a dash of life (look at: Prince of Tennis, Major!, Hikaru no Go, Slam Dunk etc. etc...) For it to be more focused on life and how kendo is involved it rather than what usually seems to be the other way around, was very interesting. It had a casual club feeling to it while it occasionally switched over to the "hardcore" kendo, the way of life, atmosphere. That nice balance is what I find to be well done.

Utawarerumono - Review

Sorry for neglecting you guys. I know I said I'd be more active and yet I was slacking off. As much as I'd like to just relax and do nothing over break, I need to remind myself that there is stuff I have to do (in addition to the blog)

I've started re-watching a lot of anime recently. I'm also trying to find some really nice anime that I may have missed over the years. This is a bit of the former a bit of the latter.

There's no fluid translation for this series (just as there's no fluid translation for Sora o Miageru Shojo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai...that everyone just calls "Munto") with the main issue of translation being that it's very vague. It could be best translated to "That which is sung" (Literally: the thing being sung). I've seen some very liberal translations, some which work (kinda) and some that don't work.

This was based off an adult PC strategy RPG of the same name. It was remade soon after the release of the anime to the PS2 all the adult content was removed and the battle system was remade by Flight Plan (The same team responsible for Summon Night and Eternal Poison).

Unfortunately, this series has bumped up my standards. After finding a copy of it on blu-ray and seeing how crisp and clean the animation is (and seeing the EXACT area that was blurred: superfluous but impressive....) it's hard to go and watch a DVD. It's of really high quality, but to have animation that clean is just unfair...... Anyways, on to the actual review.


Utawarerumono takes place in a land that feels like early feudal Japan and is about a man named Hakuoro who was saved by the village elder and physician after he collapsed near their town. Hakuoro is a very charismatic man with a strategic head. He shows his analytical prowess first by convincing the villagers to kill the forest guardian who have been endangering their lands and later, the tyrant that rules over them. He's backed by many skilled warriors whom he crosses paths with and finds himself needing to command armies. It's hard to say more due to how the story goes (anything else would just be spoiling)

(Ignoring that I watched this on blu-ray) The animation itself is very clean. A lot of shading is well done and lines aren't lazy (for an example, look at bleach. A lot of its shading is just cross hatching or tons of lines....in animation....). Clothes are nicely detailed and fit the body really well. They're simple in design but fit very well. Colors are one thing to pay attention to. One thing to particularly notice (and I did on the first watching) is that masses don't look alike. What I mean by that is that each person in a large mass doesn't look exactly like another. Yes, you have copies but they're spread out. It's an unnecessary detail but also an important one. A lot of this show is about wars and skirmishes, so to see individuality among the masses (even just a little) comforts the eyes of the viewer. Backgrounds are very scenic and look as if they were painted in oil, which is a plus and a minus (it's inconstant with the animated characters themselves).

I love the music in this anime. The composer sets the mood quite well. Timing is also well done and it isn't overdone. What I like particularly is that there isn't music for every second. Sometimes just ambient noise is used as background filler and just enough. Silence can be a very powerful thing.

The pacing is very fast but not rushed. It's sometimes hard to believe how much has happened in a single episode. I guess it's to be expected since the animation team wants to cover as much as possible within half a year. The pacing is really dependent on the viewers but I sometimes found it surprising how much is covered in a single episode (i.e.They already attacked in that episode?). The team knows when to slow down for a short reprieve and if that isn't enough, then there are also the DVD specials (rather blu-ray specials now i guess) that are short segments of comic relief.


For the minuses (I got tired of using "Bad parts).
Despite high quality art, the animation team is very lazy with their CG rendering. It's quite obvious in many battle scenes along with other moments (the water kinda looks like some weird flowing jelly). Honestly, I could've ignored how bad the CG was if they didn't make it so blatant and clunky. One particular detail that's an issue is that once they render in the CG, the movements look embarrassingly slow which only ends up emphasizing it's atrocity. It's about as bad as school rumble a few other anime that seem to like CG rendering regarding many details en masse (in particular... people). I guess the main issue would be that modeling is hastily done and there's next to no texturing. On the plus side, the CG rendered dust looks nice... occasionally.


Despite it's fast pacing, the series still ends up rushing near the end in a desperate attempt to wrap everything together. So the result is a fast paced version of already fast pacing. It's like that weird Gundam Seed OVA that was just an hour and a half compilation of all the major events in the fifty one episode series. It's hasty and it shows.

Speaking of lazy, one particular detail that bothered me was how some battles had their own filler. What I mean by that is in an attempt to fill up time and show action, the main characters only have 3 or 4 different ways that they kill (some even being part of the same scene) and to show a lapse of time in battle these scenes are repeated throughout the anime. It isn't noticeable at first (obviously) since there are still main characters that need to be introduced but you can easily see it mid-way when they're repeating the same scene on a different background. It's lazy. There's no way to argue out of it. Even if someone was trained in a specific style there are an array of attacks from different angles and different feet movements. Never do I see someone getting smacked on the side of the head by Hakuoro. It's always hit, scene cut to fan jabbing someone's throat, dodge, off screen hit, spin, over head strike. As if soldiers would all move the same exact way every time and the entire world was trained the same exact way. Perhaps that's why they're so useless on the battlefield.....Cause they're lemmings.


Despite it's shortcomings, it's worth at least one watch. It's an anime that I believe does full scale wars well. A lot of the characters are nicely developed, and while there are parts (ranging from medium to large) that I wish were fleshed out it's pretty good as is. It does get occasionally graphic in terms of violence, which is something the squeamish should be wary of. Honestly, I kind of wish that this was a 40-50 episoder but oh well.



Not an actual letter
P.S. "Dear Zerreth, are you ever going to go over Persona 4 or Ar Tonelico II? Because I don't want to read the reviews on gamespot."


Meeeeeeeeeeeeeyyybe