Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu

Wow. Just wow.

I don’t think my opinion of an anime has ever changed so drastically within the space of a few episodes. Wow…

In the beginning I had high hopes for Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu. The concept alone was pretty interesting and with the right development could have been a compelling taken on school streaming and to a certain extent classism. The primary plot concerns the ranking of students by their academic ability into A-F sets, something commonplace in the UK, but apparently rare in Japan. Not that the lower sets receive additional support or supervision mind, just substantially less privileges. In the case of the bottom set, Class F, a run-down classroom, complete with old broken furniture (desks that later get replaced with cardboard boxes) and broken windows. Cos those conditions will really motivate students!  So, the students of Class F (all six of them) decide their going to challenge the system and “declare war” on the other sets. Honestly, I really like this pitch. If it had had an ounce more of thought or if it had followed actually through with this set up, then I would probably be singing a different tune right about now.

So, episode one, Class F declare war on Class E. And its goofy and silly and over the top, and they win. Huzzah! In episode two, a shocking twist of events, Class A declares war on Class F, and Class F lose! Oh well, didn’t expect them to complete their task by the second episode! And that that’s for eight straight episodes… I am dead serious. Apparently there’s a rule that the losing set cannot declare war for three months, so the main plot pretty much stops. Instead fuck all happens for eight episodes. Eight inane, grating episodes. Presumably this is supposed to pass for character development, but it’s so fucking derivative. There’s even a god-damn pool episode! This has fuck all to do with anything.

Onto the characters, they range from tolerable to fucking diabolical. The main character is a perpetual child and screeching moron. The love-interests are so underwhelming, and the fucking ninja-pervert….please die. Most of the jokes fall flat because they are the same one note repeated at nausea. Girl has flat chest, guy looks like girl, everyone has their own stalker, ninja-pervert takes a panty shot, and it’s a non-stop laugh riot! For all of five minutes. The fact remains that we’ve seen this format before and done better. And it wasn’t all that funny then either. The problem is that the characters are not invested. We as the audience are supposed to root for these characters, because they are the underdogs, because the system is unfair, and because they are treated badly. But that’s rarely shown because that is not what interests the writers. The protagonists are not crusading for equality. They just want the entitlements awarded to the higher sets. Without any of the work. They not only support the system, they want to benefit from it. And frankly, that’s not something I can get behind.

So… yeah I didn’t much enjoy this one.

Rating: 4/10

Blood C - Review

Blood C is supposedly the latest spin-off of the prominent Blood franchise – Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+ and Blood: The Last Vampire live action, rather than an actual continuation. Really it’s little more than an alternative rendition of the Blood universe with only the title character in common. Just in name mind you. Based on this premise alone, Blood C is the kind of anime that will be loved or loathed depending on how well acquainted fans are with the Blood franchise. Having watched a good portion of Blood+, I’m not overly impressed with this little stand-alone slasher flick.  

                                                        

Saya Kisaragi (Otonashi in Blood+) is portrayed as the trademark kind-hearted, likable but clumsy schoolgirl who moonlights as a Furukimono (giant, non-descriptive, man-eating monsters) slayer. However not content with the drastic alteration of her personality in order to shoehorn the generic shojo heroine prototype – granted there is at least an explanation given, Blood C radially changes the character’s physical appearance. Whereas Saya Otonashi was simple, sleek and lifelike, Saya Kisaragi is a kawaii overload of implausibility. And with character 180, comes the redesign of the iconic image of the blue sailor uniformed girl wielding a katana. In Blood C, Saya supports a red and black school uniform with a chain (I kid you not) around the collar. This is pretty fucking stupid. Blood is a franchise about vampires, there is absolutely no need to ‘Goth-up’ the heroine in such a blatant manner. With hindsight it starts to become clear that the writer started out with this image of a gothic schoolgirl hunting monsters with a katana and decided to slap the name Blood onto it to attract a wider fan base. In case you’re wondering Blood: The Last Vampire, Blood+ and Blood C were all written by different people. I think this adds weight to my theory.

To the shows credit, Blood C panders to a different kind of horror, specifically the gory violent kind. Which does start off surprisingly well, as one by one her friends, classmates and even general bystanders are all brutality murdered right before a helpless Saya. This ability to create a sense of suspense and peril is perhaps the best aspect of Blood C. Unfortunately the effect is quickly diminished by how routine the attacks become. Monsters show up around Saya, Saya vows to protect her friends, her friends die and only then does Saya go batshit and kill the monster. When we reach the school battle, the charm is somewhat lost since we know Saya is capable of killing the monster but only after she has witnessed her friends die gruesomely. Once we’ve reach this point, the gory factor just seems superficial.

As for the twist ending, it creates more questions than answers. While the initial notion of trying to change Saya’s personality to see what characteristics are innate, is an interesting idea and I imagine could be a good story if handled better, it just raises the question of why? What is the villain’s motivation? What does he actually gain? I mean aside from screwing with Saya and producing a massive body count? The final battle is one of the most gratuitous and pointless sequences I have ever seen. How is slaughtering an entire village not going to attract mass attention? And why do it anyway? Oh yeah right, “evil”. I keep forgetting.

However the underlying problem with Blood C is that there is very little backstory and the audience is never privy to the true Saya since her entire performance was a farce. Even to the extent that the audience never learns what Saya is – a vampire hybrid. This is problematic since the anime attempts to stand on its own and that would probably have been for the best. Nevertheless it can’t even manage that since Blood C requires at least some background knowledge for the audience to have a clue what is going on half the time. In particular there are references made to Saya’s monstrous true nature, something that is never explicitly shown and so there is never a chance to be invested. If we never see the monster Saya, how do we know Saya Kisaragi isn’t the real Saya?

In short Blood C would have flare much better if it had dropped the pretence of being a Blood spin-off and just accept being a Blood knock-off.

Rating: 5/10  

For fans of: Highschool of the dead

Justice League Unlimited - Review

Justice League Unlimited was a clear continuum of the original series. It was also a highly ambitious project, one that didn’t always pay off. While its predecessor indicated that change was on the horizon after the destruction of the Watchtower and the departure of Hawkgirl, DC really has to learn that rebooting a franchise is not necessarily change for the better. Justice League Unlimited seemed to get lost in the idea of quantity over quality. It featured a much more diverse team at the expense of character development, aside from a select few, the majority of the new cast felt one dimensional and boring, lacking a lot of the charm and whimsy of Justice League.

The series ran for two seasons one comprising of 26 episodes and one shorter 13 episode season tagged on at the end. While the first season adopted an episodic format there was an underlying story arc which came full circle, the second season felt rushed and lacklustre, almost as if they were running out of ideas, not to mention Superman villains’. The show took a darker direction than its predecessor through paying homage to an interesting idea tossed around in the original series. Ultimately this ended up convoluted and unnecessary since it didn’t go anywhere new. The heroes turn up, save the day and suddenly everyone remembers why they like the Justice League! Well duh!

What was memorable about the Justice League for me, were the seven founding members, as I briefly mentioned in the previous review. This is where the series came into its own. The cast were incredibly well developed and complex throughout Justice League and played off each other wonderfully. Whereas Justice League Unlimited (as the name implies) wanted to expand the league and rapidly increase the number of characters by creating a secondary cast, an extra cast and a background cast, to varying degrees of success.

The secondary cast consisted of Green Arrow, Supergirl, Black Canary, The Question, Huntress to name a few. As reoccurring characters with relative contributions to the major plot line, these characters were fleshed out enough not to feel contrived. They were even capable of holding down episodes largely absent of the founding cast members, in particular the Birds of Prey saga. The writer Gail Simone might have had something to do with that. The extra cast were little more than the guest cast of a filler episode – Captain Marvel, Zatanna, Hawkman, Hawk and Dove, Booster Gold, and these were among the worse episodes of the series. It shouldn’t be enough to just have these characters present. The writers have to do something with them other than an extended cameo appearance. And here we reach the crux of the show; it could be downright sloppy at times. The background cast were the background, superheroes that never spoke and were never named. They were simple padding. They were a waste of animation.

The overall problem with Justice League Unlimited is that it never when far enough. It relied far too heavily on the original series to the point that very little progression was made on the already set up cast members. Opting instead to introduce as many new and unfamiliar faces as possible but rather than establishing who they were and most importantly why we should care about them, Justice League Unlimited would immediately return to its comfort zone – the DC trinity. Perhaps if the series had gone the whole route and turned each episode into a one-shot dedicated to an entirely new character, the series would have actually felt unlimited.

In short Justice League ended on a high. Justice League Unlimited began on a low and only got a little better with time. Unfortunately DC seems to be repeating their mistakes with Young Justice.

Rating: 6/10

For fans of: Justice League, Young Justice, The Avengers; Earths Mightiest Heroes 

Justice League - Review

After the success of Batman: TAS (the animated series) and Superman: TAS, DC wanted to expand its newly created “DC animated universe”. So of course the next logical step was to complete the holy DC trinity and produce Wonder Woman: TAS. Nope. Naturally Wonder Woman has yet to receive her own animated series, I imagine it will manifest sometime after her film debut (so never). Interestingly in both instances Wonder Woman has been passed over for the Green Lantern, Hal Jordon, Green Lantern. I’m sure it will surprise no one that the five DC heroes to feature in their own full length animated series were all male. Batman and Superman, unsurprisingly dominate the board. I can understand Green Lantern, but Aquaman and Static Shock? I mean why are these characters deemed a priority over Wonder Woman? Then again, considering that one of the worse episodes (in my humble opinion) centred on Wonder Woman, this was probably a wise decision.

Justice League aired in 2001 and ran for two seasons, 26 episodes a piece. Aside from a stand-alone Christmas special and three extended episodes, each story was presented in a two-part episode arc. The primary cast remained the same throughout the two seasons, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl, seven recognizable, reasonably well-known superheroes combined into one DC powerhouse. Few secondary characters were introduced but the most significant would have been Aquaman and Dr.Fate. Personally this is how a successful superhero outlet should be with a fixed main cast and a reoccurring guest cast. Considering how vast the DC universe is, focusing on only seven was no small feat.

There are several reasons why I enjoy this type of format. The most important is that it allows for stronger character development. A limited cast means that there is much more room to create characters with distinctive personalities, unique powers and identifiable appearances. It also means that once the foundation is set, the characters can be expanded upon. Ultimately they can change and grow, the most prolific of which was Hawkgirl. As with any superhero team genre, the real dynamic is in how the members interact with one another and this was where Justice League came into its own. It effectively captured seven exceptional individuals who contrasted and complimented one another without having to resolve to archetypes such as (though it pains me to admit) Teen Titans.

And now time for the feminist rant. Since the team consisted of two female cast members (one of them being Wonder Woman), a girl power / straw feminist plot was pretty much inevitable. However the ‘sisters are doing it for themselves’ gimmick is not in itself a bad idea – take the episode ‘Grudge Match’ in Justice League Unlimited. It’s all in the execution, namely the straw feminist approach. For those that are not aware, a straw feminist is an exaggerated caricature of feminism (Sarkeesian, 2011) most notably represented in the media promoting radical ideas – like all men are evil. In the episode Fury, the adopted Amazon Aresia develops a plague that will wipe out the male population, leaving Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl alone to stop her. Wonder Woman immediately rejects that this is the Amazon way however Hawkgirl asserts that Aresia is just taking the Amazon dogma to its next conceivable level. At the end of the story Aresia learns that she in fact owes her life to a man but that the Amazon Queen Hippolyta never told her because she did not think he was important. Rather than just portray Aresia as a rogue Amazon with radial ideas, the show deliberately suggested that there was innately something wrong with the Amazonian society and how it devalues men.

This is a classic example of how not to write Wonder Woman because it just undermines the character and her culture. It oversimplifies the Amazons and discredits the all-female society notion as a whole. Writers are often preoccupied with turning the Amazons into a race of man-haters who existed in a world of gender equality. In the beginning of the episode Wonder Woman does help a woman from a rude male driver, but that of course does not constitute an act of sexism. As with many animated universes institutionalised sexism, racism or homophobia is non-existence. The problem of course is that Justice League is aimed at a young audience which would make it difficult to accurately depict any form of prejudice in a manner that is both effective and sensitive. It’s far easier to create a gender balanced world with crazed man-hating Amazons.

Aside from this minor lapse in judgement, the remaining episodes were consistently enjoyable even by today’s standards. Amazingly Justice League hasn’t aged at all. The animation is still wonderfully sleek and even a little reminiscent. The stories are intriguing, imaginative and well-paced, if a little goofy and corny along the way. Not to mention that it served as a platform to introduce new DC characters that might not have generated enough interest by themselves to support an entire series. The only possible downside is that they did tend to rely on Superman/Batman villain’s the majority of the time, which was a bit of shame but not to a large extent. Overall it leaves me with a positive reaction. I recall watching Justice League when it originally aired and not being overly fond of it. Ten years on and I’ve officially changed my mind.

Rating: 7/10

For Fans of: Young Justice, Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes, League of Superheroes. 

Dantalian no Shoka - Review

I have to admit, this one was a bit of a doozie.

Dantalian no Shoka or alternatively Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian (The Mystic Archives of Dantalian) is certainly a peculiar one. At a mere twelve episodes the series is pretty easy-going and fits nice and tidily into the Victorian/Edwardian mystery niche that the Japanese are so fond of. On the other hand, it’s lazy and unsubstantial. It seems to almost pander to said niche rather than seeking expansion or development. And there are plenty of animes that handle this cliché better and manage to have a resolution.

Set in England after the First World War, Hugh “Huey” Antony Disward (voiced by none other than the black butler himself, Daisuke One) inherits his grandfather’s massive estate and underage demon/doll/library-girl, Dalian as well. The plot focuses on the duo as they recover phantom books, objects which offer the reader non-specific magic powers. As an episodic series, Dantalian no Shoka is entertaining enough, through the initial premise – Dalian is a library – is never actually explored or explained. It’s just accepted. Much like Huey and his new role through he really has no obligation to. And yet at no point does Huey display any resistance nor does he ever question Dalian regarding her origins or how her powers work. He just accepts it, which is not how a normal human being would behaviour but there you go. This is a prime example of poor character construction. Sure Huey can get shot in the stomach, bleed out, get up and carry Dalian as he jumps out of window then run away from a pack of hungry zombies but ultimately does that give him a personality? Nope. It just makes him a bland, one dimensional hero archetype. Needless to say Dalian’s character or lack thereof isn’t any better.

Admittedly Dantalian no Shoka reminds me a lot of Gosick – same time period, same moe-girl and older guy couple, same preliminary mystery premise, same sleek animation. It actually surprised me that the two were not made by the same company. Ironically what wore thin with Gosick is what gives Dantalian no Shoka its strength and vice versa. For example whereas Gosick didn’t work as an episodic series and the bigger picture was much more interesting, it’s quite the reverse for Dantalian no Shoka, which seemed content to shoehorn something resembling a main storyline very last minute and I do mean last episode last minute. The effect was pretty disastrous. It felt rushed, half-hearted and completely unintended, like the producers had planned for a longer run but ended up stopping mid-point just as something new and exciting was occurring. Ultimately this pulled the series down.

Rating: 6 /10

For fans of: Black Butler, Gosick, Rozen Maiden 

Ultimate Spider-man: First Impression

In prior reviews I’ve probably made it abundantly clear that I am a marvel girl, one hundred and ten per cent. However there is one superhero I loathe above all others and he happens to be a marvel creation, none other than Spiderman. The core problem of this franchise is that it is a singular protagonist show, unlike say x-men or the avengers. If (like me) you don’t like the primary character, if (like me) you think the explanation for his superpowers is a little far-fetched/completely stupid, then you probably should avoid the entire product.

And then along came Spectacular Spiderman. The success of this rendition was truly in its character department (ironically enough) and keeping the action as low key as possible. The decision to focus almost exclusively on the teenage life of Peter Parker and his relationship with his peers was to the shows credit, compared with other teenage heroes – x-men evolution, Teen Titans and Young Justice, in which the interaction as regular teens can be limited and sometimes entirely absent. Spectacular Spiderman chose the other rout and ultimately this made the character more likeable, it made his school-chums more three dimensional, it made me rethink my position on Spiderman.

Unfortunately Spectacular Spiderman was cancelled after a mere 24 episodes and we were then gifted with this monstrosity, Ultimate Spider-man. It’s like everything that ever was or ever could be bad about Spiderman has been squeezed into 24 minutes. Peter Parker is an annoying, obnoxious douchebag who blunders about the set, spamming the audience with the obvious and the unfunny. I mean how are we supposed to invest in a character that’s its nearly impossible to like? Take the episode Doomed for example. Spiderman = total douchebag.

Whereas the characters in Spectacular Spiderman are what made the show so special, the characters in Ultimate Spider-man are what make it so flat and one-dimensional, regardless of how many marvel cameos we receive. Also neato that we’re back to the one girl per two/three guy’s ratio, talk about progress! Hey maybe we could even have Mary-Jane and White Tiger exchange a single line with each other, wouldn’t try be edgy? And nice job stereotyping Nick Fury as the angry black guy!

As for my understanding of the premise of Spiderman, isn’t he supposed to be a lone hero, a self-taught vigilante shouldering the burden of his uncle’s death? Sure the idea of Shield offering Spidey a job/training is interesting, but so far it only uses this premise to point out what a lame pussy Spiderman is. Fuck it, I’m only watching this for Agent Coulson and the eventual Loki & Quicksilver cameos.

Initial Rating: 5/10 

Tiger and Bunny Review

The core concept behind Tiger and Bunny isn’t exactly new and/or original. The superhero as a celebrity aspect has been paraded around before, most notably in the Iron Man films. Tiger and Bunny simply takes this to the next conceivable consumer level, the superhero as a reality TV star. As a self-confessed marvel geek, this very notion is contradictory to what constitutes as a hero, which is a well-held running theme. What is so controversial about this premise is the notion that the superheroes fight crime in order to win brownie points as oppose to their personal sense of moral justice. In fact the only character that really maintains old skool hero values is our primary protagonist, Tiger which initially results in his low ranking and often become more of a hindrance.

The secondary protagonist, Bunny has a tragic backstory more in keeping with the classic superhero roots, pretty blatantly a Batman rip. Fortunately the writers have the good sense to spin a new angle and make the character mainly concerned with solving his parents’ murder as oppose to becoming a vigilante. However we don’t learn much about the other heroes and when we do it often exposes their all too human motivations, pressure from parents, wanting to stand out or in the case of Blue Rose, wanting to become a teen idol. In the long run it renders the characters human and flawed, which is not what heroes are supposed to represent. Yet by grounding them in a sense of reality, it actually gives them a greater depth rather than having them portrayed as saints taking on societies responsibilities just because they were born with super powers.

Having said that there are a few minor hiccups, the most notable is in regards to Tiger and his conflict as both superhero and single father. While it’s a nice twist to have a single father superhero, in this particular anime which re-writes the superhero genre, it’s never really explained why this division is necessary. Since his identity is kept secret and the rest of his immediate family already know, why hide it from his pre-teen daughter? Doesn’t he want her know? Wouldn’t that make his life easier? Wouldn’t she be more sympathetic with his absentee parenting? Or he could just quit and raise his child full time, which should actually take priority. In all it seems too contrived and too forced, not to mention almost out of context with the show.

What really intrigued me about this show was the collaboration between cultures. The notion of the superhero, the overt commercialization and especially the setting right down to the dollar currency system are grounded in western ideologies. Even the genesis of the superheroes has a lot in common with another popular American franchise, the X-Men. Yet later on when Tiger leaves to visit his daughter we’re transported to a rural Japanese backdrop. This element of harmony is made none the more clearer than between the two protagonists, Tiger is obviously Japanese and Bunny is western, presumably American. Interestingly there is a similar congruence with the futuristic technological advances whilst being set in 1978 (according to the Christmas clock). Overall this blend mingled well with the plot, adding an extra creative boost along the way.

As everyone should know, every good superhero requires a nemesis. While Tiger and Bunny did deliver a big bad towards the end of the series both with an unexpected twist and the potential for a much greater threat, this paled in comparison to the anti-hero, Lunatic. The character was introduced in small intervals allowing the audience to connect the dots while the protagonists remain blissfully unaware. It was almost a shame that Lunatic wasn’t utilized more.  Still, there is plenty of room for a follow up series and even talk of a movie.

Rating: 8.5/10

First Impression DC vs. Marvel

Young Justice Invasion 

It’s no secret that I’m not a DC girl. For me, DC tends to miss the mark more often than it hits it. The same is true for their animation. Aside from Batman the Animated Series which is sheer awesome and the comedic anime-styled Teen Titans, I’ve not given DC a second glance. I do remember watching Justice League, later Justice League Unlimited as a kid and being unimpressed with the level of corniness. Then along came Young Justice and it was finally a show that DC seemed to have the right balance of silliness and maturity. Despite a relatively young cast, the show was surprisingly dark (in comparison to other superhero shows comprising of teenagers – Teen Titans or X-Men Evolution for example). The original season was clever, concise and had plenty of character development. The second series is a different matter.

Season two is set five years after the events of the season one finale (which only aired last week). Not that this is made clear as to why, it’s only briefly referenced by Batman. So in the initial episode we learn that Kid Flash, Artemis, Red Arrow and Aqualad are no longer part of the team. Wow, I mean that could be quite a kick to the teeth to their fans. Zatanna and Rocket have also left but we still do see them briefly as members of the Justice League. Replacing them are Robin (Tim Drake), Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Batgirl, Wonder Girl, Bumblebee and Lagoon Boy. Disappointingly none of these new characters actually makes an impression, their personalities pale in comparison to the original cast. Whereas season one gradually introduced its protagonists and even continued to expand up until the very end, season two completely jumps the shark by creating an entirely new line-up. Of course the biggest frustration is the break-up of Superboy and Miss Martian. During the original series their relationship was crucial to either character in order to gain stability and strength and ultimately to be able to accept themselves. It’s seems almost undignified that they should break-up off screen. Or that Miss Martian should be with Lagoon Boy (already top of the annoying list). I suppose the writers wanted the inevitable Superboy/Wonder Girl hook up to be less complicated.

In all, Young Justice: Invasion sure does have its work cut out. I mean in order to forgive tossing away five freaking years; it has to pull something beyond amazing out of its hat. I feel the need to explain to DC that fans get attached to characters. And fans don’t like change. We like characters with interesting personalities and experiences and we like watching them grow throughout the course of a series. We don’t like them being expendable or interchangeable.

Initial rating: 6/10

 The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Much like Young Justice, The Avengers had a killer first season with subtle hints towards an alien invasion in the next season. Unlike Young Justice, The Avengers is smart enough not to uproot its prior cast for an entire new one. Instead new characters/members are gradually introduced, notably Ms. Marvel, making her the second female to join the team, progress!

The second season spares no time in plunging the team into a new conflict with a new villain, none other than Dr. Doom. As well as introducing a new alliance, the Fantastic Four. The following episodes are primarily filler, exploring possible future story arcs, for example Maria Hill discusses superhero registration which would unavoidably lead into the notorious civil war scenario. The strength of The Avengers is in its awareness for what fans want to see. It doesn’t overload us with too many characters resulting in extended cameos, it takes its time to start on a smaller scale and build around the primary cast. This obviously allows certain characters – Iron Man for example more screen time, but more importantly is that it allows other characters the opportunity to develop within their own stories and solo adventures. For instance, Thor has not yet returned to Midgard, yet we have seen him and are aware a big bad Asgardian villain will pop up some time in the future. This is why I think Marvel has the upper hand as the creative staff seem to know less is sometimes more.

Initial Rating: 8/10 

First Impression: The Legend of Korra

Technically Avatar the Last Airbender and its successor The Legend of Korra are not strictly speaking animes since neither are Japanese, but what is transparently clear is the inspiration behind both is. No surprise Avatar has been dubbed the American Anime.

 Set several unspecified years after the events of the original series with the primary cast presumably dead, so far the only member of the first series we know for sure is alive is Katara, as she quite literally passes the torch to the new avatar, a water tribe girl called Korra. Existing in a time of alleged peace, Korra has a completely different task ahead of her, finding her place in the world as the Avatar. It’s really interesting that whereas Aang had a destiny that he was trying to avoid, Korra is without a destiny despite really wanting one. This leads her character to make impulsive and often ill-thought out plans. Despite Korra’s ever so slight arrogance in her abilities and her title, the writers have done a brilliant job of not making her an annoying teenager trope. It could have so easily gone horribly wrong. However the greatest aspect of this new series is without a doubt the bad guy and his anti-bending movement. In this modern era the warfare of Avatar the Last Airbender is not just seemingly outdated, it is also a hindrance, resulting in the scapegoating of benders as the problems of the society. The Legend of Korra has the potential to be a more in depth, more historical commentary than its predecessor but at the moment I’ve not given into Korra fever. In its defence The Last Airbender had three terrific seasons. It’s too soon to decide whether Korra is on par yet.
 
Initial rating: 8/10

Ao No Exorcist Review

Developed from Dragonball, the shounen formula is a fairly consistent style of anime, considering the most well-known and popular shows tend to adhere to pattern – Naruto and Bleach for example. This is not without its drawback. Shounen animes (fighting ones in particular) are often long and overtly drawn out, having fighting sequences that can span for multi-episodes, which is especially tedious if they are unimportant to the major storyline, for instance a secondary or even a third-rate character fighting an inconsequential side villain. Not to mention the tedious and endless filler arcs.

Ao no Exorcist is not a radical leap from the shounen formula, not by any stretch of the imagination, in particular if you address the similarities between it and Bleach (which I will later on). Nevertheless there are several remarkable improvements to the tried and test formula. The most prominent is reduction of long-winded fighting scenes. Aside from the big bad square off during the final three episodes, most action is tamed to one or two episode parters and fights do not exceed themselves needlessly. Ultimately this means the audiences is not overloaded with violence, deterring away from the plot, which results in genuine tension since we are invested in the characters. As much as I like Bleach and Dragonball, Ichigo and Goku are fairly bland archetypal protagonists. Right from the get go we know if beaten both will eventually return stronger, even if killed (in the case of Goku).

A shorter, more concise series is beneficial to the filler episodes as well. Since in Ao no Exorcist these are singular, stand-alone episodes and therefore don’t come across forced. It’s actually pretty favourable to observe characters during their ‘off-days’, despite the limited use of the school backdrop. It really was a shame that the anime didn’t make full use of the school outside of the Exorcist classes. Of course this is comparable to Bleach and Dragonball, where the protagonists often leap from one epic adventure straight into another, living filler episodes (as mentioned prior) empty and forced comic-relief. Take the impending epic battle between Cell and instead of training Goku’s wife decides she wants him and his green alien training buddy Piccolo to learn how to drive. Really? I mean is that even a priority? It just seems so silly and out of place.

Onto the tropes! Unfortunately in the character department Ao no Exorcist does not excel, since it opts out for the safe approach. We have our main character, Rin, the son of Satan and like most protagonists, his birth right feels like the weight of the world on his shoulders. Nicely this is even pointed out plenty of times since Rin is often running head first into danger on his own. This is in part due to his heritage the need for secrecy but is a habit Rin finds hard to break. In comparison Ichigo (Bleach) has actually very little reason to the main protagonist. He only gets involved with the conflict after his two potential love interests are kidnapped, yet that seems enough to declare Aizen his enemy and take on the responsibility of stopping him. Whereas Rin’s reasoning is much more simplistic and holds more realism. Satan killed his father, Rin want’s revenge. It’s no wonder vengeance is such a high motivator; it effectively brings the conflict to a more personal level.

The secondary characters are where things don’t quite gel. We have the rival archetype Ryuji, doubling as potential love interest and healer archetypes Shiemi, the smart but haughty girl archetype Izumo, the shamelessly big chested-little clothing teacher archetype Shura (more common than you think, the good guy on the wrong side archetype Arthur August Angel and the mysterious, has additional motives archetypes Mephisto. While most of them are pretty harmless and even do a good job upholding their stereotype, others are woefully grating and just extend into plot devise territory – take Arthur August Angel as an prime example.

What gives Ao no Exorcist a real boost is the additional of Rin’s twin brother, Yukio. This enables the plot to reduce the pressure placed on Rin as primary protagonist and even at the end have a more balanced resolution. By getting rid of this lone-wolf complex, the anime enables a brotherly bond to be beautifully created and developed over time. There are one or two hiccups along the way, the sudden jerk as Yukio rapidly changes character feels a little stiff but this is quickly turned around.

On the disappointing side, the main villain was a colossal let down. The series spend a good deal of time introducing Satan as a bad arse and portraying him as a major player, then suddenly right at the end we received some crucial information that is supposed to flesh out the character from standard bad guy archetype – he’s got a I’m so lonely, I just want to be loved side. It doesn’t work, primarily because it flat out contradicts not just the original premise of the character but also their immediate actions. Making your character do a complete 180 is not adding depth.

Despite the ups and downs, Ao no Exorcist is a very strong show and has potential to be next big shounen anime. Alas there seems no secondary season in sight, through a movie is in the works. Perhaps this is for the best, let the manga develop first than have a second season. No filler seasons!

Rating: 8/10

Deadman Wonderland - Review

My first anime review of 2012 and it’s something that’s been on the backburner for quite a while. Deadman Wonderland is on the meh side of okay, despite being one of the few anime’s I’ve actually managed to finish since returning to the bustling university lifestyle. I chalk that up to the crisp animation more than the storyline, which I’ve had the most problems with.

Primarily Deadman Wonderland makes no sense. The story is inconsistent, its chief aim is to take the protagonist Ganta, a fourteen year old high school student out of the comfortable life his lead so far and screw around with him as much as possible. For instance, we are initially plummeted into a horrendous mass murder in which Ganta is the number one suspect. How do the authorities reach such a conclusion? He was the only living survivor. Yup, that’s it. I mean they don’t even wait for him to regain consciousness and give his sole survivor eye-witness account before putting him in handcuffs and charging him. Sloppy police work or part of a larger conspiracy? We don’t know because it’s never addressed. Nor is the fact that the warden of the super prison is moonlighting as Ganta’s lawyer; now surely that’s a conflict of interest? Or maybe the warden is in on the conspiracy? Nope, never addressed. Once Ganta is in the prison and this plot point has done its job, off it goes, never to be seen or heard from again.

Instead we’re introduced to Deadman Wonderland a prison/theme park/battle royale game. Complete with poisoners collars that kill off the prison population unless they eat the antidote (candy) every three days. Admittedly this is an interesting twist, because it gives the prisoners a reason to partake in dangerous sports, it’s quite literally a matter of life or death. But does the prison have a never ending supply of generically ‘bad’ criminals who are expendable? Surely this raises eyebrows? Nope, since the spectators think its fake, no one seems to question the body count. Convenient since it won’t be addressed again.

Half way through, the story takes its final leap into disbelief when Ganta discovers a secret prison underneath his own. One where people (like him) with special blood killing powers are pitted against each other semi-mortal kombat style, all the while shadowy agents watch. This just raises even more questions than it answers. Why do they have these powers? Why were they caught if they could clearly use they own blood as a weapon? Perhaps more importantly, can’t we think of better things to do with them rather than cage fight? Nope, not gonna answer these either.

Undeniably the latter half is the most exciting and feels the most organic, in that this is where the plot wanted Ganta originally. But it could have moved along much better and cleaner, instead of being wishy-washy. Unfortunately the series is only 12 episodes long and I have a feeling that many of the unanswered questions would have been brought up later in the show. Too bad there isn’t a season two in sight.

Rating: 6/10

X-MEN - Review

Here it is, the third Marvel/Madhouse studio instalment and the one crossover in particular I was eager to watch being a self confessed X Geek. I couldn’t begin to express my enthusiasm with this little project and yet here in lies the problem. Given that I’m already familiar with the comics, I can’t say I was entirely satisfied with the anime adaptation. Despite the strongest offering to date, I can’t help but feel nagged by the little inaccuracies that held the anime back from complete brilliance.

To start with, I found the choice of cast or rather lack there of to be a consistent problem. Considering the vastness of the marvel universe, the primary x-men roster was fairly limited which seemed a real shame overall. While the anime made the correct decision of making Cyclops its lead character, something pretty novel in recent media history, the supporting cast received a mixed reception. Wolverine actually restored my faith in the character, Emma Frost gave a good suspicious sexbomb and first time animated Hisako was your standard tween, slightly annoying but unexpectedly proved her worth in the end. However the likes of Beast and Storm were audaciously overlooked, all but whitewashed into the background.

The villains on the other hand were a colossal let down. The U-Men were incredibly tedious and one dimensional. Fortunately a mutant baddie did make an appearance and Mastermind did a reasonable job if somewhat clichéd, still he was just not the one I wanted. The sheer lack of Magneto really undermined the whole piece, especially with several references and artwork in the credits, nothing more then empty promises. Nevertheless I have my fingers crossed after watching the epilogue, same goes for Rogue, Nightcrawler and Archangel cameos, if there is a second season of course.

I was further frustrated by Japanese versions of pre-existing characters in the form of Yui Sasaki and Takeo Sasaki who were blatantly based on Moria MacTaggert and Legion respectively. Their personas and appearances are all but identical, why not just use the names as well and thereby acknowledge the original characters? Then again this is little more then a personal regret since both Moira and Legion are old favourites of mine.

Another more prominent problem concerns the script. Despite an interesting premise and a rather gripping opening couple of episodes featuring a concept that’s familiar to long term x-fans and self explanatory to x-newbies, nevertheless the main plot took a massive detour about half way through the season when the X-Men hot tail it out of Japan in spite of not having solved the overarching mystery. The lapse in the middle serves to make the plot feel clunky and the literally leaping back and forth reduces the tension in general. Yet once the x-team return to Japan the storyline begins to excel again, making the diversion to New York feel out of place. Honestly the show would have benefited more from an episodic approach.

Nonetheless anime X-Men has some strong advantages in its favour. For one thing, it’s visually stunning, the animation remains true to the comic books while having placed a sleek twist on character designs, giving very striking individual appearances. I have to take my hat off to Madhouse studio, particularly when you compare to the last American X-Men cartoon, which frankly had such a worse animation and flat character designs, I’ve ever seen in an x-related cartoon.

In all, the anime had a lot of squandered potential but that doesn’t necessarily make the series bad. Perhaps the main problem was that the series was an adaptation and therefore open to interpretations. Hopefully there will be a second season and hopefully it can improve on some of these flaws.

Rating: 7.5/10

Deadman Wonderland 06 – Hummingbird

We’re now half way through Deadman Wonderland and I have a sneaky suspicion that the series is going to be too short. Perhaps a good thing, perhaps not, only time will tell. In light of reaching the middle, Deadman Wonderland takes a break from physically tormenting its protagonist and opts for psychological abuse in the form of a pretty face, Takumi Minatsuki, the sister of Yoh.

However as events quickly transgress, Minatsuki is a little more then a moe character, she is a stark raving mad psychopath. The whole helpless female, abused by her father was a complete act, one that even fooled her brother for a time being. Nevertheless this particular storyline did have similar issues to that of Ganta own conviction. If Yoh thought he was guilty why didn’t he confess? Surely Minatsuki could have played the self-defence/daddy was abusive card? And again, who is it exactly that is placing children on death row? In short the justice system is pretty much a joke.

Verdict: Great

Deadman Wonderland 04 & 05

With every passing episode of Deadman Wonderland, the producers find a new means to torture Ganta. In Crow, Crow, Ganta is introduced to a new, even more sadistic survival game, one that has he screaming for no more and I don’t blame him. It would be very easy to criticize the character for his whiny/annoying/prone to girly screaming qualities, but then you have to remain yourself that the situation he is in would be horrific even for an adult. I think I prefer the angst Ganta to an unrealistic portrayal, and there is still plenty of time for him to man-the-fuck-up.

The pieces are steadily starting to fall into place. We learn that Ganta’s imprisonment was indeed a conspiracy perpetrated by the promoter (duh), and we also have an explanation, through somewhat vague. The red man choose to let Ganta live and this prompted the high-ups to target him.

Carnival of Corpses triumphed. This is probably the best episode of the series so far. It was nice to see that the producers pointed out the flawed logic of fighting with blood and did not give their characters an endless supply. Fantastic job all round.

Potential spoiler: I think Shiro is the Red Man

Verdict: Great

X-MEN 05 - Unity Power

I don’t buy it one bit. Emma Frost is playing the x-team, one hundred percent. Especially considering that Masterminds powers are illusions. Nope, sorry Emma is as guilty as hell! Unfortunately it seems even Cyclops, the only x-man with a functioning brain, has now been duped. Alright he did get what he asked for, evidence seemingly proving Emma’s innocence with regards to Jean Grey’s death. Of course I remain dubious and Cyclops, rightfully so, remains guarded.

The majority of the episode focused on Hisako, the young girl archetype standard to the x-team franchise for generations. However unlike my all time favourite Rogue, the haughty Shadowcat or even the loveable Jubilee, Hisako is starting to get on my nerves. She can’t control her powers (which are being overplayed) so she gets upset and everyone has to take time out comforting her. Yet Xavier still decides to add her to the team and even including her on dangerous missions. Honestly how useful is Hisako going to be?

In all the episode didn’t deliver as well as it could have. From the preview I was expecting an in depth focus on Emma’s back story, thus introducing many beloved x-faces. Unfortunately I received a very brief walk through within the final fleeting moments and only new x-face shown was Mastermind, with a couple of unimportant figures in the shadows. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the x-universe! The anime cast is way too small and here it had the perfect opportunity for some overdue cameos, but nope, nada, zip! I’m going to be hugely disappointed if Magneto doesn’t feature! Another minor dilemma concerned the subbing. David Haller syndrome was referred to as Daemon Hale syndrome. I really hope this was just a typo!

Verdict: Fine

Ao No Exorcist 03 – Brothers

This is the first episode that really did a good job of selling the show. My prior complaints toward the brothers relationship was pretty much dashed as complications began to emerge. Initially Yukio gives Rin the cold shoulder before expressing borderline hatred for his elder sibling, primarily blaming him for the death of their father. While Rin screeches for answers. Needless to say I really did want to see more as the pair seemed to wrap up far too quickly. At this point their relationship should be more turbulent.

Through it was nice to see the physically weaker one not walking in his elders’ shadow, I don’t buy genius/exorcist teacher for one second. It was a nice attempt to make Yukio seem more badass, I suppose that is the purpose of a shounen.

Verdict: Good

Deadman Wonderland 03 – G Sector

So far Deadman Wonderland has demonstrated an uncanny ability to be solid despite blunders and this episode comes as no exception. On the one hand it delivered another concentrated round of kick the Ganta while moving another step closer to the unavoidable conclusion that Ganta is somehow related to the red man. On the other hand, the prisoners can have ice-cream?

Once more we witness attempts to shoehorn Ganta into a serial killer, again despite no evidence and this time plenty of eyewitnesses to confirm the existence of the red man. Surely this must prove Ganta is innocent? Not according to Makino at any rate. She concludes that Ganta is the culprit - presumably because he was there and therefore must have a weapon concealed inside his body. You’ve got to admire wrong reasoning yet correct answer. So she locks down the prison and sends a robot after him. As you do.

Another twist is revealed, Deadman Wonderland is a prison inside of a prison inside of a theme park. In fairness looking for a needle in a bunch of needles is more difficult than a haystack, it’s actually quite clever. Verified by Makino complete unawareness, presumably she has no knowledge of the wretched egg/mother goose system either. Takami is clearly playing games with everyone.

Verdict: Great

Ao No Exorcist 02 – Gehenna Gate

An intriguing if not entirely unpredictable, picking up where the previous episode left off. Reverend Shirou does his best to protect his son from the growing demonic foes only to be cornered in their chapel. At this point Shirou hands Rin a massive plot device in the form of a sword, ordering him to guard it with his life but never use it. One of those ‘do not push the red button’ moments, of course Rin pushed it. It was such an obvious set up. As was the possession and death of Shirou.

Potential baddie Mephisto Pheles (name and appearance alone scream demon) is introduced after the credits, with the intention of killing Rin for the sake of humanity. However inexpiably changes his mind after Rin expresses his goal to become an exorcist and kill Satan, talk about setting his sights high. Seriously Mephisto (through I don’t think those two terms go well together) that would be the dumbest move a person in your position could make, if you didn’t have an ulterior motive.

Nevertheless this is still enjoyable.

Verdict: Good