Well, it really has been a year since I blogged here. It's been a very interesting year since then, but I am now finding less and less excuses not to write here. The amount of anime I've watched in the past year has left a lot of tittles to be reviewed. While I may refer to the titles I watched over that lost year, I don't think I'll try to review everything I've seen and mostly focus on what I'm finishing right now. However, here are a few titles that I finished fairly recently. Let's start with the most renowned.
Naruto (220 Episodes)
Animation: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Music: 5/5
Overall: 3/5
Reviewing a long running, shonen/action/adventure series is a different challenge than simply covering a standard length series, especially Naruto. Things tend to go all over the place so maintaining consistency for such a long period of time is pretty impossible. Nevertheless, I have finished the series (FINALLY!) so I shall try to review it as a whole.
As for Naruto itself, you'd have to be pretty new to anime to not know anything about it. Even so, it does have all of the anime formulas in line. Naruto Uzumaki is an orphaned boy who seeks attention and approval by committing pranks and practical jokes. He claims that he'll one day be the Hokage (leader of his large ninja village) and everyone will have to look up to him. Of course, like any anime action hero, he has a ridiculous amount of potential, specifically in the form of a massive demon, the nine-tailed fox, sealed inside of him. As he graduates from the Ninja Academy, he begins his ninja career going on missions, fighting villains, and generally being heroic, all the while getting stronger and stronger. Before long, he becomes the inspiration of those who meet him with his die-hard attitude and contagious cheerfulness.
Of course, you can't get into Naruto very far without also explaining the main rival. Sasuke Uchiha is about as dour and condescending as the hero is bright and friendly, and arguably he has every reason to be. His older brother killed everyone in their massive, prestigious clan, and he is compelled to avenge them. In the meantime, he is forced to team up with Naruto and they tackle missions together with Sakura Kinimoto, a shy but intelligent girl, and Kakashi Hatake, their stoic team leader and coach. At first, Sasuke's dark demeanor plays a great foil to Naruto's exuberance, but as the series goes on, he finds himself moving away from the team and the values they hold. Eventually, he betrays them and Naruto feels responsible, going out of his way to find him and stop him.
Based on a manga from Shonen Jump, all of this feels like Dragon Ball Z all over again. Granted, I would say that it's better than DBZ, but it doesn't do anything all that different. It's more like an upgrade, like DBZ version 1.5. Shonen Jump really has been notorius for taking the basic formula that they established with DBZ and reusing it in different contexts (YuYu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, One Piece, Bleach, etc.). Maybe it even goes back further than that because I find similar themes and conventions in older SJ series like Saint Seiya and Fist of the North Star. In any case, Naruto takes an unique ninja spin on it, all taking place in a fantasy land with occasional anachronistic technology as opposed to traditional ninja locales like historical Japan.
Then there's the infamous filler episodes. For 85 episodes, the story leaves the manga and starts running on a loop like a hamster wheel, throwing Naruto and his wide cast of buddies into mission after mission, none of which really advancing any of the established subplots. They're like the Naruto Movies, except not quite as well written and no where near as a well animated. However, as I was grinding my way through them, I actually started to enjoy them. There were some funny segments and decent action, but most of all it took on a very old-school-American-comic-book feeling of sending out the heroes to defeat the quirky villain of the story. It wasn't great but it worked and I admit I was entertained. Sure, the stories aren't that interesting or integral to the story and the animation suffers some, but I would argue that they didn't descend that far because the main story wasn't isn't mind-blowing anyway and the animation was merely adequate from the beginning.
There is one element that I haven't touched on yet and it's the one that got five stars for me. While it eventually got pretty silly towards the end, I could still enjoy the music. As I watched the series, the music seemed to improve for me. Perhaps it simply stood out more as the series got worse but I'm going to insist that's beside the point. Naruto's music takes two music styles that would seem to fit and blend them together in a way that is absolutely incredible. One is tsuguru, which, if I recall correctly, is based on traditional Japanese music and uses traditional Japanese instruments, but the compositions are more contemporary. The other style is 80's rock. By combining heavy metal riffs with traditional flutes and shamisens, the soundtrack is all at once heart-pounding, epic, fun, and headbangable. I personally consider Naruto's soundtrack one of the best in all of anime.
But music is not everything. Naruto is hard to recommend to anyone because most anime fans have either seen it or seen as much of it as they wanted. I would insist that One Piece and Bleach are better, but Naruto certainly isn't bad. Of course, I've started Naruto Shippuden and, given how long it took me to get through the first series, it may take me a while. But I figure that I might as well continue watching the story.
Black Cat (24 Episodes)
Animation: 5/5
Story: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Overall: 3/5
Another Shonen Jump classic, I really loved the manga for this series. Its atmosphere and character interactions reminded me of Rurouni Kenshin (which is my favorite manga of all time, by the way) so I had been looking forward to the anime adaptation. I had heard that they changed a few things but those changes didn't look like they'd be that much of a hurdle.
And to be honest they weren't. The story only gets 3/5 for a different reason entirely.
Black Cat is the nickname of Train Heartnet, an assassin for Chronos, a secret organization that runs a majority of the world. Known for his deadly accuracy and incredible fighting skills, he became notorious, even becoming one of the Chronos Numbers, their elite group of assassins. Number XIII to be exact, perfect for a black cat.
However, as he is off duty, he is caught off-guard by a female sweeper (read: bounty hunter) in a yukata named Saya. At first he doesn't know what to think of the cheerful girl but before long, she rubs off on him, changing his dour and hateful disposition of one more laid back and joyful. Unfortunately, another Chronos assassin named Creed Diskense happens to be looking on and is horrified by the changes in Train.
In the meantime, Train takes on a job that gets tangled up by another sweeper named Sven because of a little bio-android girl named Eve. Originally designed to be a human weapon, Eve has an unusual run in with Sven where she begins to appreciate the joys of the outer world (she having been sheltered most of her life). After seeing this change, Train decides to leave the girl alone, going against orders and eventually leaving Chronos entirely, a treasonous crime punishable by death. In an effort to bring Train back, Creed kills Saya, but his plan backfires, as the tragedy compels Train to go his own way instead.
From there Train teams up with Sven and Eve (and Rinslet, a professional theif) to take on various jobs and enjoy life. However, Creed bungles up their lives when he declares his own personal war against Chronos by establishing the organization Apostles of the Star. Creed desparately wants Train at his side, but Train is only bent on revenge.
While the changes from the manga are obvious (Train leaves Chronos and partners with Train long before either meet Eve), they aren't what keep this series from reaching greater heights. The problem is actually in the direction.
Let's talk about the animation for a moment. I gave it a 5/5, and it deserves it. Full of style and slick fights, Black Cat is one good-looking anime. But there also lies it's problem. Very little of the animation actually supports the story, making it visually hard to follow. It's all style and no substance. As a result, the story suffers, especially when it decides to have a ending not from the manga only to make a huge mess of things. The new ending (and any of the other changes) were good ideas, they just weren't executed very well.
To go along with the style-over-substance, the music adds all the right touches, being cheerful and nuts when the anime is, but throwing in an iconic choir for the more epic moments. It's well done and memorable.
Still, I can't get over how much it fell flat. It had everything else lined up but in the end the series is just merely adequate. Even at just 24 episodes, it's hard to recommend when there are other series that do the same thing better (Trigun immediately coming to mind). I guess it's for those who like slick animation that doesn't go anywhere.
Requiem From The Darkness (13 Episodes)
Animation: 4/5
Story: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Before I begin, I must admit that I'm not one for horror. I've only seen a handful of horror films, and I don't want to see those ones again. Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I didn't let that hold me back from watching a series that recently showed on the new Syfy Channel (the less said about this name-change-stupidity, the better).
Requiem From The Darkness follows the frightening adventures of a struggling writer named Momosuke who wants to compile a collection of scary stories. In his investigation, he runs into a trio of peculiar characters that have strong ties to the spiritual world and wonder the world of the living looking for beings that have sinned against their particular order. Sometimes the writer tries to help the trio find who they're looking for, other times he's attempting to protect their target. In any case, as the writer travels to find stories, he keeps running into the trio and eventually develops a crush on the voluptuous Ogin.
While the series is very episodic, it does a good job of creating a pretty freaky atmosphere, usually involving people doing horrible things to each other. This series is not very uplifting and each episode usually ends with several people dead. Sometimes the villain is one of them. Sometimes.
While everything else is mostly mediocre, the most memorable part of the series is its unusual animation style. It's filled with characters half in shadow and bizarre backgrounds where straight lines have been slightly warped. Even a simple door frame will be drawn with S-curves instead of a rectangle. Another interesting trick this series uses is some computer animation. Those paying attention will pick out fairly easily, but I still found it fascinating because it coordinated with the overall style, essentially masking the short-cuts they were making in an amusing way. One episode toward the end took place on a small island, so all the ocean water was presented as 3-D graphics, but the water was made to look weird and iconic enough that the cheapness of the computer effects was diminished almost completely.
Perhaps if you're into horror anime, you could kick the overall up a notch and give it shot. There's very little anime like it as far as I've seen. It's not going to change anyone's ideals in anime but it is a peculiar gem that stands on its own.
Not much else to say, really. However, I'll definitely be able to review more anime in the near future, especially some big name titles like Mobile Suit Gundam, Monster, and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
As for the fall season, I've decided to watch Bakuman, Star Driver, Shinryaku! Ika Musume, and Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector (gotta watch the mecha stuff!). I'm also following Digimon Xros Wars, Dragon Ball Kai, and I'm catching up to Fairy Tail. However, it looks like none of these series will finish by the beginning of January, so I don't know if I'll follow any of the Winter season series. Fractale does look interesting, though.
In any case, expect another post sometime soon. Hopefully, next week. At least I'm gonna try.
Showing posts with label Shonen Jump. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shonen Jump. Show all posts
7.04.2009
Happy 4th of July! DBZ, Sky Crawlers, Dragon Drive, Clover
Hey, I'm actually getting in an update on time!! Another reason to celebrate! In any case, I hope you all have a fun and safe Independence Day. It'll be a good break from all that anime, right? So let's get started with one of the most loved anime epics in the world.
Dragon Ball Z (291 Episodes)
Animation: ***
Story: ***
Music: ***
Overall: ***
It's taken me two summers to pull it off, but I finally watched all 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z. I remembered watching it on Toonami and being bitter at how long it was taking, even at five episodes a week (freaking Cell), but the thought occurred to be that I hadn't really watched it from beginning to end. It's been considered an anime classic, something that I'll get to a little bit later.
Dragon Ball Z (for those of you who have been living under a rock on Mars) is about Goku, a martial artist with incredible powers and potential, suddenly realizing that after all this time (roughly 150+ episodes that constitute Dragon Ball) he's actually a space alien sent to Earth to destroy it. However, he konked his head shortly after arriving, turning into the pure-hearted hero everyone knows and loves. This information spirals the story into an epic that results in saving the universe as a whole.
Trying to summarize the plot of Dragon Ball Z in a short paragraph is hard to do, considering all that happens. Not to say that the story's great, though, it just takes a long time to tell, which is why the new Dragon Ball Kai version is going to be so interesting.
For the music, I decided to listen to the Japanese Soundtrack, which, while orchestral, is simple and doesn't distract from the action. I wonder if the American Soundtrack wouldn't have been better, but I don't want to watch the whole series again just for that! The animation slowly improves over time, natural for a long-running show like this, but never really reaches jaw-dropping levels compared to television today. It may have been great back then, but now it seems standard, perhaps because it set the standard for all shows to follow.
Actually, that's the major reason I watched this series in the first place. Dragon Ball Z's legacy is huge, and now that I've seen the whole series again from this retrospective viewpoint, I'm cemented my opinion that Dragon Ball Z pioneered the modern Shonen/Action/Adventure style of story telling that we now see in the likes of Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece. To be fair, they're all from Shonen Jump, but even so, I think DBZ laid the groundwork for most of everything to follow, including it immediate successor YuYu Hakusho and even series like Rurouni Kenshin, Rave Master, Negima, Zatch Bell, and the three I mentioned before. They generally all do the same thing: set up a massive premise to be lead by appealing characters that will take a ridiculously long time to tell so that, when they reach the climax, the viewers will have put in so much emotional investment on what's going on they will have everyone on the edge of the their seats whether they like it not. All the tropes we know and love started with Dragon Ball Z.
Again, to be fair, there probably were other titles that did similar things before Dragon Ball Z began in 1984. I have already admitted how much I'm loving Fist of the North Star, but it's not be rehashed like DBZ is with the newer titles I previously mentioned.
Dragon Ball Z's impact is huge, and that's what makes it a classic. It may not be very watchable now (though I had to check out it from my library with only a week for each season box set which at such a rapid pace made things a little better; I didn't much else those weeks though), but it does deserve respect for trail-blazing that it has done for later series.
I'll probably watch Dragon Ball GT, despite how little it is generally liked, next summer. I have a tendency to want to like things people normally don't like, perhaps as a way to be more open-minded about my expectations. For example, I don't think St. Anger is Metallica's worst album. They've certainly done better, but it isn't horrible.
Why am I talking about music, let's get back to anime.
Sky Crawlers (Movie)
Animation: ****
Story: ****
Music: ***
Overall: ***
Sky Crawlers is a movie directed by Mamoru Oshii based on a book series about a fictional world war that never seems to end. The plot revolves around a small crew of fighter pilots for one particular side of the war and their philosophical dilemmas about dealing with the endless fighting. Some clearly take it better than others. Add in the concept that the soldiers seem to be clones of some sort, being replaced with frightening similar replicas whenever they die in battle. Of course, the movie doesn't tell you that out right.
The story is good, relying on a sense of philosophical science-fiction that, in the end, poses some pretty interesting questions. However, that sense if very subtle, giving the movie a very slow pace. The trailers give you a sense of action with all the dog fights in the sky, but don't be fooled. They're sporadic throughout the movie, though, to their credit, they don't take away from pacing that the show establishes right from the get go. Don't expect an action flick; it's far too introspective for that. You've been warned.
To be honest, I can't remember the music, and if that's the case, then it probably wasn't much. If it was bad, I would've remembered.
No, my biggest problem was actually with the character design. Don't get me wrong, the animation was slick, but everybody looked like they belonged in the Naruto universe, and that was distracting. I noticed that both anime titles have the same character designer, Tetsuya Nishio, but in reading a lot of the recent Naruto graphic novels, it seems like this guy and Masashi Kishimoto have been swapping sketchbooks. As I watched Sky Crawlers, I kept subconsciously expecting a bunch of ninjas to crash through, not that there was any logical reason for it, but because the character designs reminded me so much of Naruto that I wouldn't have been surprised if it did happen. Hopefully, it's just me.
In the end, it wasn't a bad movie, just a really slow one. It offers some sci-fi pontification and slick visuals, but I don't see myself watching it again.
Dragon Drive (14 Volumes)
Rating: ***
And we move back into dragons. Dragon Drive is the story about a video game that actually isn't a video game, but actually a portal into another world. Villains are trying to use the powers of this other world for their own benefits and it's up to the overly energetic heroes to stop them.
It's pretty standard, as far as story goes. The heroes struggle, find friends, and rely on their virtues to resolve the crisis. Setting that aside, I can't deny that Kenichi Sakura did a really good job getting an incredible amount energy across. It's expected that the hero will be spunky, but I've never seen heroes whose energy is so contagious. You get two of them, one for each major story arc, though the first one steps back in halfway through the second arc. They have various reasons for getting in the game, which is very Pokemon/Digimon; The player gets a monster and orders it to do battle with the other players' monsters. Naturally, the heroes get some weak monster that turns into something incredible later on, due to their bravery and perseverance. And yet, with all of these clichés, you get a story that relies heavily on its own logic and world setting, making it a very believable experience. I was surprised that it wasn't a game first (though I'm sure games came later; I know an anime series did).
Recommendable for being an easy-to-read yet enjoyable adventure, Dragon Drive moves quickly and has few flaws, if any.
Clover (4 Volumes, recollected in one Onmibus)
Rating: ****
A handful of years ago, I was getting into manga just before it boomed big and began controlling massive sections of bookstores and libraries. A friend of mine let me borrow the first box set of Magic Knight Rayearth (my first foray into unflipped manga) and instantly became a fan of CLAMP. I hunted down every series my library had at the time, first finishing off MKR, then finding and loving Cardcaptor Sakura, Wish, and Angelic Layer (I hadn't discovered Chobits yet). X/1999 was rather weird and hard to follow, but enjoyable. Then I happened up Clover. Sitting on the same shelves as their other titles, these volumes definitely stood out with their special dust covers. I grabbed them, read them, and was entirely blown away at what CLAMP could do. Unfortunately, those library copies ended up going missing and I hadn't read the series for a while. Thankfually, Dark Horse picked up the rights and published it as one big brick, with extra promotional artwork in the back. While I haven't had the money to buy one yet, I happened to find a copy at my library this past week and couldn't not pick it up.
Clover is the story that results from a study that the government did to find people with psychic or supernatural powers and ranked them from one to four, four being the most powerful. The problem was that anyone labeled with a four was equal in power to the five wizards that ran the government. They found one of these fours, named Sue, and she volunteered to be locked away for everyone's sake. However, the story begins several years after that, with Kazuhiko, a mercenary for hire that used to be part of the military, is given the job of discreetly taking Sue to a location that only Sue knows. Kazuhiko quickly learns just how far over his head he is, but is intent on taking Sue anyway.
This series is clearly CLAMP's most ambitious (Tsubasa is, too, but no where near as much as Clover). The art style and panel layout offers all sorts of cinematic scenes and story-telling, bearing a resemblance to more independent comics, like Hellboy. The characters and their relationships may seem shojo enough but are presented in such an usual way that they become instantly unforgettable.
As much as I love this series, I can't give it a full five star rating. My main problem is that the story concerning Sue takes place in the first two novels. The third and the fourth go further and further back in time, explaining the circumstances of some of the other characters leading up to Kazuhiko and Sue's story. They're still in there, but I've always felt those two were the central figures. Three and four aren't bad; they carry the same intense art style and help to really establish the world setting, but I've always felt they were rather extra and somewhat unnecessary. Maybe if they re-wrote it in chronological order, I would feel quite so put off.
In any case, Clover is incredible material and highly recommendable to any who reads and enjoys comics. It's CLAMP at their best once again. I still wish someone would do a full length movie of volumes one and two; a nine minute music video just doesn't cut it for me. I wouldn't mind if bits of three and four were slid in along the way, as opposed to tacked on at the end like they are in the collection.
I don't know what I'll review next week; I know I'm close to the end of The Tower of Druaga and I've been loving it. Other than that, I don't know if I'm close to finishing anything else, so I may have to dive deep into my memory and talk about older titles that I've completed, such as all of the Astro Boy manga. We'll just have to see. I'm sure I'll find something to talk about.
Dragon Ball Z (291 Episodes)
Animation: ***
Story: ***
Music: ***
Overall: ***
It's taken me two summers to pull it off, but I finally watched all 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z. I remembered watching it on Toonami and being bitter at how long it was taking, even at five episodes a week (freaking Cell), but the thought occurred to be that I hadn't really watched it from beginning to end. It's been considered an anime classic, something that I'll get to a little bit later.
Dragon Ball Z (for those of you who have been living under a rock on Mars) is about Goku, a martial artist with incredible powers and potential, suddenly realizing that after all this time (roughly 150+ episodes that constitute Dragon Ball) he's actually a space alien sent to Earth to destroy it. However, he konked his head shortly after arriving, turning into the pure-hearted hero everyone knows and loves. This information spirals the story into an epic that results in saving the universe as a whole.
Trying to summarize the plot of Dragon Ball Z in a short paragraph is hard to do, considering all that happens. Not to say that the story's great, though, it just takes a long time to tell, which is why the new Dragon Ball Kai version is going to be so interesting.
For the music, I decided to listen to the Japanese Soundtrack, which, while orchestral, is simple and doesn't distract from the action. I wonder if the American Soundtrack wouldn't have been better, but I don't want to watch the whole series again just for that! The animation slowly improves over time, natural for a long-running show like this, but never really reaches jaw-dropping levels compared to television today. It may have been great back then, but now it seems standard, perhaps because it set the standard for all shows to follow.
Actually, that's the major reason I watched this series in the first place. Dragon Ball Z's legacy is huge, and now that I've seen the whole series again from this retrospective viewpoint, I'm cemented my opinion that Dragon Ball Z pioneered the modern Shonen/Action/Adventure style of story telling that we now see in the likes of Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece. To be fair, they're all from Shonen Jump, but even so, I think DBZ laid the groundwork for most of everything to follow, including it immediate successor YuYu Hakusho and even series like Rurouni Kenshin, Rave Master, Negima, Zatch Bell, and the three I mentioned before. They generally all do the same thing: set up a massive premise to be lead by appealing characters that will take a ridiculously long time to tell so that, when they reach the climax, the viewers will have put in so much emotional investment on what's going on they will have everyone on the edge of the their seats whether they like it not. All the tropes we know and love started with Dragon Ball Z.
Again, to be fair, there probably were other titles that did similar things before Dragon Ball Z began in 1984. I have already admitted how much I'm loving Fist of the North Star, but it's not be rehashed like DBZ is with the newer titles I previously mentioned.
Dragon Ball Z's impact is huge, and that's what makes it a classic. It may not be very watchable now (though I had to check out it from my library with only a week for each season box set which at such a rapid pace made things a little better; I didn't much else those weeks though), but it does deserve respect for trail-blazing that it has done for later series.
I'll probably watch Dragon Ball GT, despite how little it is generally liked, next summer. I have a tendency to want to like things people normally don't like, perhaps as a way to be more open-minded about my expectations. For example, I don't think St. Anger is Metallica's worst album. They've certainly done better, but it isn't horrible.
Why am I talking about music, let's get back to anime.
Sky Crawlers (Movie)
Animation: ****
Story: ****
Music: ***
Overall: ***
Sky Crawlers is a movie directed by Mamoru Oshii based on a book series about a fictional world war that never seems to end. The plot revolves around a small crew of fighter pilots for one particular side of the war and their philosophical dilemmas about dealing with the endless fighting. Some clearly take it better than others. Add in the concept that the soldiers seem to be clones of some sort, being replaced with frightening similar replicas whenever they die in battle. Of course, the movie doesn't tell you that out right.
The story is good, relying on a sense of philosophical science-fiction that, in the end, poses some pretty interesting questions. However, that sense if very subtle, giving the movie a very slow pace. The trailers give you a sense of action with all the dog fights in the sky, but don't be fooled. They're sporadic throughout the movie, though, to their credit, they don't take away from pacing that the show establishes right from the get go. Don't expect an action flick; it's far too introspective for that. You've been warned.
To be honest, I can't remember the music, and if that's the case, then it probably wasn't much. If it was bad, I would've remembered.
No, my biggest problem was actually with the character design. Don't get me wrong, the animation was slick, but everybody looked like they belonged in the Naruto universe, and that was distracting. I noticed that both anime titles have the same character designer, Tetsuya Nishio, but in reading a lot of the recent Naruto graphic novels, it seems like this guy and Masashi Kishimoto have been swapping sketchbooks. As I watched Sky Crawlers, I kept subconsciously expecting a bunch of ninjas to crash through, not that there was any logical reason for it, but because the character designs reminded me so much of Naruto that I wouldn't have been surprised if it did happen. Hopefully, it's just me.
In the end, it wasn't a bad movie, just a really slow one. It offers some sci-fi pontification and slick visuals, but I don't see myself watching it again.
Dragon Drive (14 Volumes)
Rating: ***
And we move back into dragons. Dragon Drive is the story about a video game that actually isn't a video game, but actually a portal into another world. Villains are trying to use the powers of this other world for their own benefits and it's up to the overly energetic heroes to stop them.
It's pretty standard, as far as story goes. The heroes struggle, find friends, and rely on their virtues to resolve the crisis. Setting that aside, I can't deny that Kenichi Sakura did a really good job getting an incredible amount energy across. It's expected that the hero will be spunky, but I've never seen heroes whose energy is so contagious. You get two of them, one for each major story arc, though the first one steps back in halfway through the second arc. They have various reasons for getting in the game, which is very Pokemon/Digimon; The player gets a monster and orders it to do battle with the other players' monsters. Naturally, the heroes get some weak monster that turns into something incredible later on, due to their bravery and perseverance. And yet, with all of these clichés, you get a story that relies heavily on its own logic and world setting, making it a very believable experience. I was surprised that it wasn't a game first (though I'm sure games came later; I know an anime series did).
Recommendable for being an easy-to-read yet enjoyable adventure, Dragon Drive moves quickly and has few flaws, if any.
Clover (4 Volumes, recollected in one Onmibus)
Rating: ****
A handful of years ago, I was getting into manga just before it boomed big and began controlling massive sections of bookstores and libraries. A friend of mine let me borrow the first box set of Magic Knight Rayearth (my first foray into unflipped manga) and instantly became a fan of CLAMP. I hunted down every series my library had at the time, first finishing off MKR, then finding and loving Cardcaptor Sakura, Wish, and Angelic Layer (I hadn't discovered Chobits yet). X/1999 was rather weird and hard to follow, but enjoyable. Then I happened up Clover. Sitting on the same shelves as their other titles, these volumes definitely stood out with their special dust covers. I grabbed them, read them, and was entirely blown away at what CLAMP could do. Unfortunately, those library copies ended up going missing and I hadn't read the series for a while. Thankfually, Dark Horse picked up the rights and published it as one big brick, with extra promotional artwork in the back. While I haven't had the money to buy one yet, I happened to find a copy at my library this past week and couldn't not pick it up.
Clover is the story that results from a study that the government did to find people with psychic or supernatural powers and ranked them from one to four, four being the most powerful. The problem was that anyone labeled with a four was equal in power to the five wizards that ran the government. They found one of these fours, named Sue, and she volunteered to be locked away for everyone's sake. However, the story begins several years after that, with Kazuhiko, a mercenary for hire that used to be part of the military, is given the job of discreetly taking Sue to a location that only Sue knows. Kazuhiko quickly learns just how far over his head he is, but is intent on taking Sue anyway.
This series is clearly CLAMP's most ambitious (Tsubasa is, too, but no where near as much as Clover). The art style and panel layout offers all sorts of cinematic scenes and story-telling, bearing a resemblance to more independent comics, like Hellboy. The characters and their relationships may seem shojo enough but are presented in such an usual way that they become instantly unforgettable.
As much as I love this series, I can't give it a full five star rating. My main problem is that the story concerning Sue takes place in the first two novels. The third and the fourth go further and further back in time, explaining the circumstances of some of the other characters leading up to Kazuhiko and Sue's story. They're still in there, but I've always felt those two were the central figures. Three and four aren't bad; they carry the same intense art style and help to really establish the world setting, but I've always felt they were rather extra and somewhat unnecessary. Maybe if they re-wrote it in chronological order, I would feel quite so put off.
In any case, Clover is incredible material and highly recommendable to any who reads and enjoys comics. It's CLAMP at their best once again. I still wish someone would do a full length movie of volumes one and two; a nine minute music video just doesn't cut it for me. I wouldn't mind if bits of three and four were slid in along the way, as opposed to tacked on at the end like they are in the collection.
I don't know what I'll review next week; I know I'm close to the end of The Tower of Druaga and I've been loving it. Other than that, I don't know if I'm close to finishing anything else, so I may have to dive deep into my memory and talk about older titles that I've completed, such as all of the Astro Boy manga. We'll just have to see. I'm sure I'll find something to talk about.
1.30.2008
Hi, I suck! Anime times 7
WOW! I haven't updated in forever!! Time to start over. I'm just going to start blitzing through a ton of stuff and try to not have massive reviews but rather focus on shorter and more to the point blurbs. Hopefully, this will make up for not being consistent. I'll try to do better.
If you want to know my opinion of Anime Banzai 2007, I was disappointed. It was small and none of the major liscencing companies had booths or anything. It kinda sucked. And don't even get me started on the cosplay battle thingy. That was bad. Then again, I was only there for about 4 hours. I need to get my own car.
For those who wish to know, I'm currently in the middle of Magic Knight Rayearth, Azumanga Daioh, School Rumble, and Escaflowne. Expect reviews for them shortly. Now, onto the mayhem!
Origin ~Spirits of the Past~
Animation: *****
Story: **
Music: ***
Overall: ***
When I saw trailers for this, I have to admit I was impressed. The animation looked good. And so I thought I'd check it out.
And let me tell you, the Animation really was sweet. Seeing Agito tearing through everything was pretty darn cool. Everything else in the show is straight eye candy, proof that Gonzo really is one of the best studios out there.
As for everything else, however, things become lackluster. While it was a very interesting world, I couldn't help but think that I'd seen this before. And then I realized that I had. The plot is very similar to that of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and that kind of disappointed me. When the ending came, I thought that Shunack's death was a little dumb. The whole thing seemed barely held together and had an envirormentalist shtick thrown on top of it all, making it feel like a bit of a waste of time. IU also had a hard time with the characters and I didn't really care what happened to them in the end. It's a shame to see such great animation on such a let-down of a story.
The music seemed alright: the theme song was kind of catchy and helped set the tone of this green apocalyptic world. And Funimation's dub is spot on as usual.
I think it's worth seeing once, just to watch the animation, but there really isn't much else here that holds water.
Shaman King (64 Episodes)
Animation: ***
Story: ****
Music: ****
Overall: ****
As I had said last August, I was in the middle of this series and since then I had finished it. While there were some differences in story from the manga, it was still a lot of fun to watch. The animation was pretty standard for a Shonen Jump title, but it was story and the characters that had me hooked. I also liked a lot of the music. While it has the happy, Pop-style hits for the themes, the soundtrack also has some gems.
If there is one thing that I didn't like about the series, it would have to be the ending that isn't an ending. While I do understand that they needed make a new ending because they had caught up with the manga (which is also unfinished), it was a huge let down to see that everything was simply put on hold for a while instead of having anything of a decent ending.
In any case, I think the whole series is worth checking out. If you like straight forward action with goofy characters and situations, you can't go wrong with this. I think it faithfully brings out all of the elements from the original comic. I just wish Funimation would finish releasing the uncut english version.
If you want to know my opinion of Anime Banzai 2007, I was disappointed. It was small and none of the major liscencing companies had booths or anything. It kinda sucked. And don't even get me started on the cosplay battle thingy. That was bad. Then again, I was only there for about 4 hours. I need to get my own car.
For those who wish to know, I'm currently in the middle of Magic Knight Rayearth, Azumanga Daioh, School Rumble, and Escaflowne. Expect reviews for them shortly. Now, onto the mayhem!
Origin ~Spirits of the Past~
Animation: *****
Story: **
Music: ***
Overall: ***
When I saw trailers for this, I have to admit I was impressed. The animation looked good. And so I thought I'd check it out.
And let me tell you, the Animation really was sweet. Seeing Agito tearing through everything was pretty darn cool. Everything else in the show is straight eye candy, proof that Gonzo really is one of the best studios out there.
As for everything else, however, things become lackluster. While it was a very interesting world, I couldn't help but think that I'd seen this before. And then I realized that I had. The plot is very similar to that of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and that kind of disappointed me. When the ending came, I thought that Shunack's death was a little dumb. The whole thing seemed barely held together and had an envirormentalist shtick thrown on top of it all, making it feel like a bit of a waste of time. IU also had a hard time with the characters and I didn't really care what happened to them in the end. It's a shame to see such great animation on such a let-down of a story.
The music seemed alright: the theme song was kind of catchy and helped set the tone of this green apocalyptic world. And Funimation's dub is spot on as usual.
I think it's worth seeing once, just to watch the animation, but there really isn't much else here that holds water.
Shaman King (64 Episodes)
Animation: ***
Story: ****
Music: ****
Overall: ****
As I had said last August, I was in the middle of this series and since then I had finished it. While there were some differences in story from the manga, it was still a lot of fun to watch. The animation was pretty standard for a Shonen Jump title, but it was story and the characters that had me hooked. I also liked a lot of the music. While it has the happy, Pop-style hits for the themes, the soundtrack also has some gems.
If there is one thing that I didn't like about the series, it would have to be the ending that isn't an ending. While I do understand that they needed make a new ending because they had caught up with the manga (which is also unfinished), it was a huge let down to see that everything was simply put on hold for a while instead of having anything of a decent ending.
In any case, I think the whole series is worth checking out. If you like straight forward action with goofy characters and situations, you can't go wrong with this. I think it faithfully brings out all of the elements from the original comic. I just wish Funimation would finish releasing the uncut english version.
Kino's Journey (13 Episodes)
Animation: ****
Story: ****
Music: ***
Overall: ***
I had a friend who recommend this to me as something really out there, something that makes you think. When I finally got around to watching it, it definitely left an impact.
To begin, the world really is fascinating and the animation does it justice. While it's not really an action series, they still do some really neat stuff. Every land Kino enters, there's a story involved with the local citizens and they're pretty fascinating.
However, it is those stories that really get under your skin. Many times, Kino runs into one kind of utopia or another that's completely jacked up. In one world, two warring nations decide to stop warring and release their aggressive tendencies upon a third, backward nation that really can't defend itself. And the last episode really drove me crazy. Here, there's a group of people who think it is their heritage to stay in a certain place despite the impending doom. To me, their heritage is being able to move on and survive at all costs. There really is a lot of social commentary in this show and it really forces you to ponder what you've seen.
When I was watching this, I had a hard time with Kino's non-involving personality. She just wanted to observe and then drive away with no attachments, and that kind of irked me, too. I ended up making a comparison to Jing: King of Bandits. You have hero that wanders at random from place to place, but Jing is the complete opposite, getting completely involved with the local circumstances to the point that sometimes he's three times over his head. I guess I prefer heroes and not observers. Then again, Jing is an action series and Kino is not. Kino is contemplative and asks for criticism, in a sense.
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (14 Episodes)
Animation: *****
Story: ****
Music: ***
Overall: ***
The new cult classic. Haruhi was hyped as the new weird thing since FLCL, at least that's how I felt the fandom came across to me. So, in the past months, I checked the whole thing out.
At first, I was hooked. There was a really weird plot that started with this girl and grew to time travellers, espers, and aliens. I figured this was going to be pretty cool and the animation was really good, too. However, as I kept watching, I slowly realized that I was watching a sitcom. I really bizarre and freaked out sitcom, but a sitcom nevertheless. The whole concept of trying to keep things the way they are was the real kicker for me.
The music was alright and while the whole dance sequence is now immensely popular, I couldn't see it as more than nifty.
All in all, it's a comedy with some really awesome animation and twisted premise. I do think it is worth seeing, mostly for Kyon's commentary on everything, because it really is a crack up, but it just doesn't hook with me as awesome.
Negmia! (26 Episodes)
Animation: ***
Story: **
Music: **
Overall: **
Another slightly bizarre comedy from the sick mind of Ken Akamatsu, Negima!, as far as I'm concerned, fails to satisfy in a lot of ways. While Funimation should be credited for trying to do a show with such a massive cast, they really couldn't help the story.
The manga itself is awkward, thanks to Akamatsu prolific use of fan service, but the anime somehow makes it seem even more awkward. To the credit of the comic, it really does pick up on the action and tells some pretty intense tales, the anime fails completely in this category. The whole Kyoto arc was slaughtered and my knowledge of the manga was the only thing that helped me get through it with any sanity. While the final arc to round out the series was a great attempt, it was a stupid idea in the end. But trying to make Negima into anime must have been a challenge in and of itself.
In any case, I would recommend staying away from this one. There are far better romantic comedies or action series that you could watch.
Trigun (26 episodes)
Animation: ****
Story: ****
Music: ****
Overall: ****
Trigun is an anime classic for American fandom. When I watched it through for my first time I actually had a hard time with it because I was familiar with the manga and found all of the differences. However, after a second time through, I was able to better appreciate it as its own story.
What can be said that already hasn't been said already. The story is a lot of fun and then it gets really intense in such a good way. The music is spot on for a sci-fi western and Madhouse really makes a show with the animation. The gun play is great, the characters are instantly memorable (I love Legato's entrance!), and everything is just spot on.
I recommend this to anyone. I know that it is now quite a bit dated, but quality is quality and Trigun really sets quite a standard to follow. Now I just need to watch Trinity Blood.
Well, that should be good for now. I think from now on, I'm going to try and tackle quite a list and do it regularly. I doubt each will be this big, but I'm going to try make it interesting every week. That is, if college will let me breathe. It's been very intense lately. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep charging on, watching more and more anime and letting you people know about it. If you have anything to say, please leave comments. I'd like to know what you think of my reviews.
Also, I anticipate a site re-design soon. I'm tired of this starter template that I have.
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