March: In Retrospective

Kore wa Zombie Desu ka (Ep 7-11)

As part of a last ditch attempt to get into KoreZom, I held a mini-marathon. To no prevail. This show is too sloppily put together, the comedy is off (by a long-shot), the characters are genuinely unlikeable, and the story seems to have just given up on itself.

Dragon Crisis (Ep 9-12) [Complete] Rated 5/10

Forgettable. In a nutshell. The series set to achieve no more then it physically does, oping for moe over creativity, depth, concrete storytelling every time. Disappointing to say the least.

Gosick (Ep 9&10)

Through only two episodes of Gosick aired, they were perhaps the worse story arc in the series so far. Victorique is not a super genius, every other character is just below normal human intelligence.

5. (7) Kimi ni Todoke (Ep 8-10)

Finally Kimi ni Todoke is starting to demonstrate its worth. The relationship between the main couple is no longer will they/won't they, its a simple case of when and where. I'm banking on it being episode 12.

4. (6) Yumekui Merry (Ep 9-11)

Lately I've been noticing a reoccurring problem with this one, whenever the bad guy(s) have the heroes cornered, they inexplicably let them go. Why? Why wait until "next time"? Crush em now and be done with it! Just a minor detail :)

3. (2) Level E (Ep 9-12)

With one episode to go, I have a theory as to how Level E will end. Since this show has done its best to dispense with cliches, often deviously spinning them round on their heads. So, what ever I'm thinking, I know I'm probably wrong...

2. (3) Hourou Musuko (Ep 7-10)

Hourou Musuko refuses to be an ordinary young teenage/slice of life/school days program. It's breathtakingly refined and mature, just superb all the way.

1. (1) Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Ep 9&10)

In light of the recent tragic events in Japan, only two episodes of Madoka Magica have aired, I'm not sure when the final two episodes will come to light but I eagerly await their broadcast. My favourite show this season.

Dragon Crisis! Review

As far as light-hearted, romantic-harems go, Dragon Crisis doesn’t set out to achieve more then it physically does. What do I mean by that? Simply put, priority has been placed on producing as much pre-teen sickly sweetness as possible, rather than attempting expand the already overpopulate genre in terms of depth and innovation. Dragon Crisis doesn’t pretend to be anything more than a sit-back-and-switch-off show. At least it’s honest.

Dragon Crisis opens with a classic, the magical-girl-in-a-suitcase scenario, a red dragon named Rose. Rose appears to know Ryuji and is fanatical about him, shifting the plot focus onto the antics of living with a girl-dragon with the mind of a two year old. Sure it’s funny but it completely bypasses giving a credible explanation for why Rose was in the suitcase to begin with. From start to finish Dragon Crisis prefers to distract the audience with the big picture, the Ryuji and Rose affair, rather then taking the time to fill in the small but gapping plot holes. This half-arsed approach prevents it from excelling.

There is one main arc to open and close the show, featuring the one and only major villain, whose actual motive seems particularly disincentive, not to mention a tad clichéd. Other then being required to as the primary antagonist and for the sake of the plot, there is no real reason for him to be interested in Rose. If Onyx knows something about red dragons we don’t, isn’t the finale the place to say it? Unfortunately most characters also suffer from acting out of convenience rather then of their own accord. Unsurprisingly this is a commonplace problem when you try to shoehorn a formula.

The middle consists of several sub-stories, primarily to connect another magical girl into Ryuji’s life. This introduction process starts to become tiresome pretty quickly, considering most characters tend to resort to the same tactic of attacking Ryuji first, asking questions second. The show is almost incapable of progressing without (literally) dropping a magical girl into our laps. In a sense there is no real commitment, just a series of half-hearted attempts to expand the cast and ultimately Ryuji’s harem. This is just sloppy storytelling, pure and simple.

In addition, the fact that Ryuji even has a harem gets increasingly difficult to swallow. As the leading male, in theory there should be plenty of room for him to grow as a person. Initially Ryuji is blander then a beige dishtowel and somehow manages to maintain the same level of dullness throughout the show. The only female fancy that feels halfway believable is that of equally drippy classmate, Misaki, but even this crush feels staged when Misaki recalls her first encounter with Ryuji and most treasured memory. While an explanation is later given for Ryuji ‘magnetic’ personality, it seems to cover dragons but not humans nor the wolf girl, so it’s hardly concrete. Interestingly this concept is actually quite appealing, but frustratingly before it’s even given a chance to develop, it’s immediately rejected in the next episode. The writing on this show is such a big flop.

Obviously the main romantic couple are Ryuji and Rose, despite having zero chemistry. For a large portion of the show, their relationship appears entirely one sided, while Ryuji appears to humour Rose and her constant declarations of love, yet regarding them with some embarrassment. Although a male teenager, Ryuji is unduly chaste, never showing romantic interest in any of the growing number of girls flocking towards him. Until the finale that is, when the plot needs him to man up and kiss Rose. Honestly the entire show has been so formatted that even the inevitable couple feels clinical and contrived.

Dragon Crisis is enjoyable, especially if you like light-hearted, fluffy anime that ultimately doesn’t go anywhere. Its fun, it’s bright and it’s cheerful, so there is potential to be easily drawn in. However the overall premise suffers from lack of sufficient thought, planning and of course, creativity. This is entirely a surface anime, what you see is entirely what you get – one long cliché. As long as you go in knowing this, you won’t be too disappointed.

Rating: 5/10

Spring Anime, around the corner

As the Spring schedule is right around the corner, I've decided to take up reviewing individual episodes as well as the overall series. This will hopefully include:

X-MEN

Genre: Action

Episodes: 12

Madhouse’s third collaboration project with Marvel centers on the most powerful telepath in the world, Professor Xavier (Hori Katunosuke), and his X-Men organization that strives for a peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. They’ve gone inactive for the past year after the loss of Jean Grey (Hino Yurika), but upon learning that a mutant middle school girl named Ichika Hisako, a.k.a. Armor (Tamura Yukari), has gone missing in northern Japan, Xavier reassembles the team of Cyclops (Morikawa Toshiyuki), Wolverine (Koyama Rikiya), Beast (Tanaka Hideyuki), and Storm (Hisakawa Aya) from across the globe to deal with a new threat — a supremacist cult of humans called the U-Men.

Gintama

Genre: Action, History, Sci-Fi

The popular sci-fi/history shounen series featuring aliens and samurais was poised to make a return after its fourth season ended, and now that the manga has made some headway in the past year, Gintama graces television screens once again. For those interested in getting caught up, the story takes place in a fictional alternate reality, where aliens known as Amanto had conquered Earth during the Edo period and Japan has remained in a feudal state. Sakata Gintoki (Sugita Tomokazu) is a samurai who makes his living doing odd jobs, and is joined by teenager named Shimura Shinpachi (Sakaguchi Daisuke) and a powerful alien girl named Kagura (Kugimiya Rie). They get pretty desperate at times and take on whatever crappy jobs they can to pay the rent, yet also wind up with ones that task them to save the world.

STEINS: GATES

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller

Episodes: 24

From the creators of CHAOS;HEAD comes another cyber mystery visual novel turned anime. In 5pb. and Nitroplus’ STEINS;GATE, the setting shifts to Akihabara and the story to self-proclaimed mad scientist, Okabe Rintarou (Miyano Mamoru), who unknowingly creates a microwave with his hacker friend Itaru Hashida (Seki Tomokazu) that can send text messages into the past. He first experiences the phenomenon when he discovers the body of neuroscience prodigy, Makise Kurisu (Imai Asami), sends a text to Hashida about it, and observes a shift in the timeline where Kurisu is still alive. She and his other friends get involved, and after a lot of experimentation, Rintarou learns he’s the only one that can observe these shifts, as explained to him by the supposed time traveler John Titor. Before long, they learn that nuclear research organization SERN (based onCERN) is after them and their microwave.
Ao No Exorist

Genre: Action, Fantasy

It’s been promoted during STAR DRIVER’s broadcast for months now, so it’s no surprise that Ao no Exorcist will be taking over the highly sought after Sunday 5pm time slot this spring. The series seems deserving of the honors with its blend of demonic action and multifaceted storytelling in a setting with human and demon worlds that are reflections of one another. 15-year-old Okumura Rin (Okamoto Nobuhiko) is oblivious to this, until his guardian — a powerful exorcist named Father Fujimoto Shirou (Fujiwara Keiji) — is forced to reveal that Rin is the son of Satan born from a human woman and a vessel for the lord of hell to invade the human world. After the sudden death of Fujimoto, other exorcists come to kill Rin and remove the threat, but he decides to become an exorcist himself and begins training at a secret academy to become one.

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

Genre: Thriller, Drama

The first of two new original noitaminA shows is Tatsunoko’s third production of the season and simply titled “C”, short for Control. In this sci-fi business anime, Japan’s economy has been bailed out from the brink of collapse by the government’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, but financial reforms haven’t shown any signs of improvement. Due to unemployment among youths and corporate downsizing, marriage and birth rates are down, while suicides and indiscriminate murders are commonplace. Surrounded by despair, Yogi Kimimaro (Uchiyama Kouki) lived with his aunt after father disappeared and his mother passed away, and now studies economics at university using his scholarship and part-time job money. One day, he encounters a mysterious man named Masakaki (Sakurai Takahiro), who invites him to the Financial District and gives him limitless amounts of money. In exchange, he asks for Kimimaro’s future as collater.

Deadman Wonderland

Genre: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thiller

Episodes: 12

Sci-Fi action thriller. Deadman Wonderland delivers that genre mash-up by depicting a dark and twisted story that takes place at an amusement park prison. It starts off with the life of middle school boy Igarashi Ganta (Paku Romi) turning completely upside-down when his class is suddenly massacred by a mysterious “Red Man”. He survives after getting a crimson shard shot into him, but is sentenced to death row. Upon admittance to Deadman Wonderland, he’s fitted with an irremovable collar that slowly seeps poison into this body and will kill him in three days unless he continually takes antidotal candy. His only glimmer of hope is a mysterious and cheerful albino girl named Shiro (Hanazawa Kana); however, he soon finds out that the assistant warden framed him for the crime and that the Red Man is in the prison. What’s more, he’s forced to take part in a sick game where prisoners who can manipulate their blood are pitted against one another.

Blubs by RandomCuriosity

Hana Yori Dango

Boys over Flowers probably doesn’t need an introduction, it’s a pretty popular live action with Jun Heartthrob Matsumoto, with a sequel and a movie to boot. Not to mention an equally as good Korean remake. The less said about the Taiwanese attempt the better.

Unfortunately the anime falls into the latter category. Granted it was made in 1996, the production is terrible, the characters look tragically dated and the only available version I could find was the God awful English dub. If the plot wasn’t so naff, it would be easy to forgive these faults as simple victims of circumstances, but wowzier it’s bad! I mean Rui is an attempted rapist and Shizuka is flattered? I am so relieved that the live action took liberty with the script and Korean simply copied and pasted. Because I doubt I’d own a copy of DVD if it had stuck to the original plot.

Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge - Review

The Wallflower is a little less of a mouthful. It’s also a more appropriate title then the literal translation – the Seven Metamorphoses of Yamoto Nadeshiko. For one, there are no metamorphoses. Don’t be fooled, the ugly duckling isn’t about to get transformed into a beautiful swan. Instead the show is primarily concerned with promoting the acceptation of its lead heroine for the twisted, horror-crazed loner that she is, rather than successfully changing her.

The initial premise might sound a tad dopey, four bishishounen boys, Takano Kyohei, Morii Ranmaru, Oda Takenaga and Toyama Yukinojo (Yuki), are set a challenge by their eccentric landlady, to transform her unpolished niece into a prim and proper lady and in return their rent will be free. Obviously they leap at the chance but let’s not forget that failure will result in triple rent. Under those terms it’s neither fair nor an ideal situation for either party. Of course the setup is complete silliness but still I have to question what kind of an aunt would leave her underage niece in the company of four underage boys and zero adult supervision? The fact that these kids never throw a raging party and trash the place is nothing short of a miracle! I also have to question the notion that young boys can teach a girl how to be a lady?

The four boys themselves are your standard archetypal characters. Headstrong Kyohei fits the main protagonist/potential love interest role well. Ranmaru is your typical womanizing playboy. Takenaga is the rational, smart one. And Yuki is so cute he can pass for a girl and often does. While seemingly passé, the characters are able to come into their own with little force. It’s nice to see stereotypes that actively contribute more to the plot rather then weighting it down.

Enter Sunako Nakahara, the reclusive, scruffy Goth with an unparallel thirst for all things dark and gory. Her back-story is pretty simple, after being called ugly by her first crush during middle school, Sunako locked herself away, shunning all things beautiful, including herself. It’s an excessive reaction but one that is relatable. However it is quickly established that Sunako’s lack of interest in her appearance is not the boy’s biggest obstacle. Sunako doesn’t want to change, she is genuinely happy with the life she leads, absolute solitude with anatomy dolls as her only friends. So as you’d expect she isn’t too thrilled about sharing a house with four beautiful boys or creatures of the light as she refers to them, thus frequently resorting to nosebleeds and fainting fits whilst in their unbearable shinning presence.

Of course, Sunako is neither “ugly” nor incapable of ladylike behaviour when the occasion calls for it, this is established fairly early on, specifically when Kyohei is in need of rescuing from a host bar. Just supporting the notion that Sunako’s lifestyle really is her choice and I kinda like this message. It’s a great reassurance that Sunako doesn’t change in the end. Perhaps interestingly as well, a romance never fully blossoms between Sunako and Kyohei despite sharing all the hallmarks of a true shojo couple including the notorious accidental first kiss. Cinderella doesn’t get her prince, and it doesn’t bother her one bit!

In all, The Wallflower makes no attempt to play it seriously. Its agenda is purely to poke fun at trademark shojo and bishonen themes, rose petals and all. One non-stop riot from start to finish, lucky for Kyohei, Ranmaru, Takenaga and Yuki, they made it out alive!

Rating: 7.5

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Review

Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls cry) is considered to be the third in the When They Cry series, through notably different from the previous two Higurashi No Naku Koro ni instalments. Whereas Higurashi is a truly marvellous feat of horror/suspense animation, with its genuinely innovative formula and gory atmosphere, Umineko in comparison is a slight let down. It tries to hard to heave the same twists and turns of its predecessor, thus overcomplicating the story unnecessarily. Towards the end it reaches the point where anything could be introduced into plot and the characters would just accept it, hiding behind the excuse “a wizard did it/it was just an illusion”.

The initial concept is perhaps more compelling then Higurashi. The wealthy Ushiromiya family gather on the isolated island of Rokkenjima, where the family head (Kinzo Ushiromiya) has been given three months to live, thus the issues of inheritance and succession are on the cards. However in a desperate bid to revive his long lost love, the Golden Witch, Beatrice, Kinzo prepares a sacrificial ceremony using his children and grandchildren. In itself simple yet interesting, it’s a straightforward murder mystery with a supernatural/black magic backdrop. This is probably what makes the first arc my favourite in that it heavily downplays the fantasy/magic element. Enter the first major plot twist. While every other character acknowledges that the culprit must be the Witch Beatrice, Battler Ushiromiya strenuously denies the existence of witches, thus provoking Beatrice to reveal herself and set Battler a challenge. In order to beat her, he must offer a rational explanation to each murder, one that decisively disproves the involvement of magic.

This adds an extra dimension to the anime, but it also makes Umineko feel cluttered. As the arcs continue, more witches and their familiars are introduced, and the murders become more fantastical. On top of that every character has been dead at least once to disprove that the killer is amongst the Ushiromiya family. It becomes increasingly difficult to accept a rational explanation other then, the characters are on mushrooms or Battler has an overactive imagination. To be honest, Battler as the killer would be a good final twist, but the anime seems to leaning so far into the realms of fantasy that anything other then magic would seem to be a cop out.

The characters act as a lifesaver. Battler works well as the male protagonist, mainly prompted through skepticism rather then a superior intellect, thus allowing his frustration to feel believable. Beatrice swings back and forth from cold, maniacally laughing villain to disinterested and aloof opponent. It seems Battler acknowledging her is more important than winning (killing everyone, which she managed to do in the very first arc). The George/Shannon romance is feels slightly more plausible then the Jessica/Kanon romance, but that might be because it was introduced first and the likelihood of two cousins falling for two servant siblings seems far fetched. The adults are multi layered and complex, the arcs allow for a rich exploration of the Ushiromiya family life and background that enable the aunts and uncles to develop beyond the greedy money grabbing bunch portrayed in the first episode. The only annoying character is Maria, partly because no one seems to take notice of her psycho mood swings.

In all, irredeemably mind bogglingly and thought-provoking, satisfactory execution with a strong direction, but ultimately woefully inconclusive. The show ends on a cliff hanger that almost renders the entire anime pointless if there isn't going to be a somewhat stable wrap up. At the moment Umineko ranks a respectable 7/10, chiefly because there is no sequel, leaving the show feeling uneven. It seems I have another anime to add to my fingers crossed list.

Rating: 7/10

Skip Beat! Review

Skip Beat tells the story of Kyoko Mogami, a cheery 16 year old dropout, who leaves her small town and heads to Tokyo on the arm of the prince of her dreams, Shotaro Fuwa. While Sho focuses on becoming a famous pop idol, Kyoko struggles to hold down three part-time jobs in order to afford their accommodation and living expenses. Not that Kyoko minds of course, she is, after all, a typical shoujo heroine – obedient, self sacrificing and completely besotted with her love interest. Sho, on the other hand, fails to show even the slightest gratitude or even respect Kyoko as a fellow human being. It’s blatantly clear that Sho regards Kyoko as little more than a servant and Kyoko laps it up every second. Initially Kyoko fits into the kind of anime girl I absolutely detest. And then something wonderful happens…

Once Kyoko overhears the truth, or rather it is painstakingly spelt out to her, a rapid transformation takes place. The weak, boring, doormat archetype becomes a hostile, fiery red-head, hell bent on revenge by becoming an idol herself. The premise itself might seem a little far fetched, but it does take into the context the situation and the characters themselves. After all how does a nobody take on an egotistical superstar? By beating them at their own game, of course!

Not that Kyoko has an easy time of breaking into the industry, she has no real talent to speak of, she lacks essential characteristics namely the ability to be loved, her insane rampages do more harm then good and she is pretty much looked down upon by everyone. Nevertheless people are drawn to Kyoko, her straight talking, persistent yet honest nature enables her to stand out, she has something which makes her likeable, and isn’t that how show business ultimately works? In all, personality and being memorable seems to work in Kyoko’s favour and she is given the opportunity to work her way into the agency.

Skip Beat is far more then a mere nobody-to-idol series, it’s a personal journey of self discovery. Kyoko soon realises that she has spent her entire life being groomed by Sho’s parents to become his wife and run their inn. She acknowledges that because of Sho’s interest in her, she never had any real female friends. And even that she would like to be an ordinary high school girl. As the series continues, Kyoko sheds her past, becoming a stronger and more attractive character, her primary motivation for acting is no longer simple vengeance, through Kyoko still dislikes Sho, he is no longer her sole driving force. Kinda relieving actually, it’s good that Kyoko is able to break free from Sho’s total control, even turn the tables a little, rather then remain dependant upon her hatred for Sho. It’s progressive and powerful, yet so very simple.

Despite a relatively good build up, Skip Beat is unable to deliver a satisfactory ending. It just ends, nothing more. It’s highly probable the creators intended to continue the series with a second season, sometimes these things take a while, or sometimes for reasons beyond our control, they simply don’t happen. Too bad. A romantic triangle between Kyoko, Sho and Ren was on the pangs of blossoming but with no real resolution, it makes the entire series feel left wide open. Aside from this, Skip Beat is a truly refreshing show; it takes utterly no time to get into and to fall in love with.

Rating: 8.5/10

January & February: In retrospective

Top Ten Animes:

10. Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka? Ep1-6

I’ve fallen behind and it’s increasingly difficult to be motivated to want to continue. The problem with this show is the unnecessary horde of female characters, the relationship between Ayumu Aikawa and Eucliwood Hellscythe is more than enough to intrigue the viewer. Probably won’t feature next month.

9. Dragon Crisis! Ep1-8

It had me and than it lost me with the beach episode. Aside from being visually pretty, Dragon Crisis seems incapable of delivering anything else worthwhile. The characters are clichéd, the plot is cluttered and the outcome is starting to feel very predictable. In short: my attention is starting to dwindle. Fast.

8. Mitsudomoe 2 Ep1-8 [Complete]

Shorter, more compact and overall much better, Mitsudomoe 2 continues the antics of Mitsuba, Futaba and Hitoha. There is one downside, the series doesn’t really go anywhere we haven’t been before and I mean how many Christmas sketches is this show going to have?

7. Kimi Ni Todoke 2 Ep1-7

Kimi Ni Todoke ranks highly because there has been some romantic development (at last) between the two main characters. It may have brought about a new barrier, but it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out or rather how long the show can drag the misunderstanding along.

6. Yumekui Merry Ep1-8

Pretty cool, pretty funky and still pretty impressive. No complains here.

5. Gosick Ep1-8

If I’m honest Gosick continues to under whelm me. The premise is still pretty interesting; it just has some serious kinks that need to be smooth over. That being said, I like this show.

4. Supernatural Ep1-6

Once the anime stopped reanimating TV episodes and turned to more original routes, the show did a 180 for me. The acting is still a little starchy and the script needs a bit more work, the Winchester brothers in particular are lacking as a pair. Hopefully this will pick up when Jensen Ackles is brought to the table, despite the fact that the actor dubbing Dean is doing a top notch impersonation.

3. Hourou Musuko Ep1-6

Wandering Son was pretty much set up to be an instant classic. The sensitivity and maturity towards this topic has been handled very touchingly. Primarily through the progressive, multilayered characters who easily engage with the audience through their own individual struggles.

2. Level E Ep1-8

The first arc was the best, unfortunately the following episodes haven’t been quite on par, still extremely good nevertheless. Which is surprising considering the original manga was published over ten years ago. True comedy is timeless.

1. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Ep1-8

It was a tough call but Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica narrowly scrapped ahead after dropping one sinister bombshell last week. Each episode continuously goes from strength to strength, all it needs is to deliver a knockout ending and Madoka Magica will be my highlight this season. Delightful twisted would be the icing on the cake.