tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23655059447262161662024-03-18T23:03:16.605-05:00Anime ImpressionsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-54264129976914217452014-12-24T23:43:00.000-06:002014-12-24T23:43:05.624-06:00We're Moving! (to Mystikk Tales on Wordpress)Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know I'm combining Anime Impressions Blogger and Mystikk Tales Blogger all onto the Mystikk Tales Wordpress blog: <a href="http://romeomoon.wordpress.com/">http://romeomoon.wordpress.com/</a><br />
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This is an effort to streamline traffic and help grow the audiences of Anime Impressions, Mystikk Tales, and other projects like the Lounge L33ts podcast.<br />
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Anime Impressions first got it's start on the old Windows Live Spaces, which were eventually turned over to Wordpress. unfortunately, all content was lost on the original Windows Live version of Anime Impressions. During this time, I also looked to porting the blog over to LiveJournal, the interface of which I came to hate. Thus the LiveJournal version of the blog as well as the Anime Impressions Community on LiveJournal came to an end. Thus I decided to host my writings on Wordpress. I'll see you all over there for now!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-69696595957450306222014-03-11T00:27:00.002-05:002014-03-11T00:27:58.784-05:00Attack on Titan (ep. 1-25, Subbed)<h4 style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><u>WARNING: SPOILERS!</u></b></span></div>
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<b>This article contains spoilers for episodes 1-25 of the subtitled version of the Attack on Titan anime. Read at your own risk!</b></div>
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Here there be giants. The only thing stopping the human race from being crushed under their tyranny is a handful of soldiers and their teammate’s ability to become a Titan himself, fighting hand to hand against the monsters.</div>
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A lot of this series reminded me of The Avengers and The Walking Dead. However, that’s not a bad thing, as it seems to incorporate some of the best qualities of these franchises while building up it’s own mythos. Character growth, fast paced action, intense intrigue, and horrific monsters all make this show a must see. It even manages to work in a murder mystery towards the end!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u> Plot</u></b></span></div>
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Humanity has been herded into one large city, protected by a series of three massive, concentric walls with smaller nodule areas providing a distraction in the case of a breach. After one hundred years of relative peace, such an attack occurs which brings down the smaller, nodule district of Shinganshina.<br />
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Eren Yeager is the Scout Regiment’s biggest fan, but after his mother is killed and eaten during the attack, he becomes obsessed with joining them. His adopted sister, Mikasa Ackerman, an orphan whose parents were killed during a raid on her house by slavers, follows him to the lands behind Wall Rose to train as a soldier.<br />
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Mikasa shows much promise during training while Eren struggles even to stay upright on his Maneuver gear, the device soldiers use to scale the environment up to the Titans’ vulnerable neck area. Their intelligent childhood friend, Armin Arlert also does well, although he seems reluctant to face off against their towering foes.<br />
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Basic training completes, just in time for another attack by the Colossal Titan, compromising Trost District. During the attack, Eren seemingly dies trying to protect Armin. Mikasa fights on, but Armin is perceptive enough to see she is deeply hurt by the news. As she becomes more reckless, Mikasa finds herself in a sticky situation with a Titan. However, she is saved just in time by another Titan who seems familiar and behaves almost as if it recognizes her. Soon it’s revealed that Eren is indeed the strange Titan that saved Mikasa. After retreating, the army surrounds Eren, Mikasa, and Armin with the intent of executing what they see as threat to the city. Armin is temporarily able to talk to Commander Kitz, stalling him long enough for Dot Pixis, the High Commander of the Southern Region Military, to arrive and stay the execution in lieu of asking Eren to use his Titan form to prevent further incursion.<br />
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Armin helps to form a plan to block the hole through which the Titans are coming, but something goes wrong and Eren winds up attacking Mikasa in his Titan form. Fortunately, Armin is able to wake Eren from his fugue state within the Titan form and the plan is successful.<br />
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It’s the first time Humanity has won out against the Titans, but the victory is bittersweet for Eren, who is locked away in a cell until his trial before Commander-in-Chief Darius Zackley is held to decide his fate. Captain Levi of the Recon Corps. (aka the “Scouts”) convinces the court that Eren has more control over himself than they think, and that he can be controlled in turn. With Eren in the hands of the Special Ops Squad, Levi plans to retake the lands of Wall Maria. They have one month to hone Eren’s skills and prove that he can definitely control his powers.<br />
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After settling into their headquarters, Zoe Hange talks to Eren about the living Titans, Sawney and Bean, who have been captured and are now under observation. However, later it is revealed that the Titans have been destroyed under suspicious circumstances and an investigation is held. Meanwhile, the recruits must decide which branch of the military they will join. Mikasa and many of the characters we've come to know join Eren in the Recon Corps.<br />
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An expedition is planned outside the walls of the city, with Levi intent on drawing out the mole who is also likely the same person who destroyed the captured Titans. It works and, after much loss of life, the FemaleTitan form is detained. Before Levi can find out who is inside, the monster lets out a scream drawing other Titans to it, who then begin to devour it. The Captain is convinced the traitor has gotten away, but he has a pretty good idea of who it is.<br />
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Having returned to the city, the squad sets a plan in motion to capture the Female Titan. It turns out to be Annie, a character from earlier in the show, who went through basic training with Eren and Mikasa and also fought alongside them during the Titan attack on Trost. She manages to transform, but is eventually subdued. Annie then encases her body in crystal, preventing any further interrogation. In the end, Eren proves himself reliable and promises to hunt down any subversive Titan elements inside the city.<br />
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">Impressions</span></u></b></div>
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I went into this show with a lot of preconceptions. I've seen my share of anime and Science Fiction/Fantasy where people with conflicting personalities are forced to work together as a team. A few these anime include Sailor Moon, Godmars, Goshogun, Evangelion, and Madoka Magica, which I had just finished the week before. I've also recently gotten caught up on The Walking Dead, which also has a similar theme of Post Apocalyptic Survival Horror, but with more normal sized flesh eating monsters. In that series, the group of survivors gathers supplies by venturing out into the world, protect their homesteads against attack, and try to figure out the monsters weaknesses. Fortunately, the development of the plot and characters over the course of Attack on Titan and the suspenseful action both met and exceeded a lot of my expectations.<br />
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Firstly, the setting of Attack on Titan is more medieval looking, with enormous walls erected in an age that seems almost forgotten by many of the survivors. The Maneuver gear used to scale the walls, buildings, and Titans is simple but effective. Commercial bumpers for the show detail how these machines work as well as other information pertaining to the story such as historical records. Here society has not completely collapsed. At least three classes are referenced: the farmers (the lowest class other than refugees), the merchants, and the nobility (including the military). Trade and agriculture still exist with the lack of food really becoming an issue after the refugees of Wall Maria arrive behind Wall Rose.<br />
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The artwork features beautiful, varied lining, giving it an illustrated look clearly referencing the manga source material. Backgrounds are fairly detailed and add atmosphere to intense action scenes. The animation is a little stilted in the first few episodes. In fact, one of the first action sequences of a soldier swinging through the streets on their OMD features a startling drop in frame rate. Later in the series, the production seems to even out and really comes together for the chase with the Female Titan and the fight behind Wall Sina.<br />
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The music is pretty much standard for what I've listened to in a lot of anime soundtracks. The first opening theme is a pulse pounding anthem with images from the manga flashing across the screen along with scores of soldiers filling the sky. Many anime themes are sprinkled with German and English, and here is no exception. I wasn’t all that into the second opening theme, and can really just barely remember it. The same could be said with the ending themes. Guren no Yumiya (aka Feuerroter Pfeil und Bogen) by Linked Horizon is the song I wound up putting on my old iPod Touch.<br />
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One of the biggest surprises for me, since much of the series actually went unspoiled for me for once, was Eren’s transformation. I had steered clear of much of the promotional material, really only getting a glimpse of cosplayers at Geek.kon 2013 along with some pictures of Armin. I thought this was going to be mostly a team based military show, but it wound up working in a few tropes from Shounen anime. It is common in Shounen series for the protagonist and/or antagonist to fight in the form of a monster. At least in this part of the series, Eren is still a novice fighter in this form in danger of letting his emotions get the better of him. Thus show avoids, for the time being, the constant one-upmanship seen in other series Shounen series like Dragon Ball Z.<br />
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The episodes featuring basic training are pretty much the norm, with some trainees being ostracized for strange or detrimental behavior, or failing to meet expectations; drill sergeants barking orders; and the odd prodigy rising far above the rest of the class. It’s during the attack on Trost that the characters and story really get a chance to shine.<br />
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Other than story, the characters are usually what draw me into an anime. Eren, Mikasa, and the rest of the crew start out not quite as flat as the typical tropes you’d expect in a team based, post apocalyptic anime. Making Eren a less than average student does give him some weight as a character, even though counterbalancing that by his ability to become a Titan threatens to send him into the over power cycle I've seen in many Shounen anime and manga. Fortunately, this is where the Incredible Hulk-like elements enter in the form of the suspicion of the townsfolk and the reluctant trust of his teammates. He is also similar to the popular Marvel character in the fact that, at first, his ability is activated through pain and anger. His power comes with a price and the very real possibility that he’ll lose control over himself.<br />
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Mikasa reminds me a lot of Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Rei Ayanami, with a familiar subdued personality to go with adept skill. Her action scenes are enjoyable to watch, and her back story is tragic.<br />
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She also displays a bit more emotion earlier in the first episodes as well as when she finds Eren alive in Trost. She fights to protect those she loves and when she thinks they’re dead, she loses control. Despite this dynamic relationship with Eren, it was still difficult for me to connect with her. I’m hoping to learn more about her in future episodes, as she still came off a little flat for a character in such major role. This could also be because the creators don’t want her to overshadow Eren anymore than she already does.<br />
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Armin Arlert, despite being part of the trio of heroes and making major contributions to the plot, still managed to annoy me a little. I did fear for his safety when he faced off against the Titans in Trost and the Female Titan. His character design with its shoulder length locks of blonde hair made him stand out more in a cast of medium light to dark haired characters. While his cowardice at facing the Titans at the beginning of the Battle of Trost got on my nerves, he does prove to be a loyal friend to Eren and Mikasa. This really redeems his character for me, as he eventually shows bravery in the face of fear.<br />
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Of course, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin can’t fight these creatures alone. They need a team to back them up. My personal favorite character would have to be the potato thieving Sasha “Spuds” Blouse.<br />
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I truly expected Spuds to die early in the series. Her incompetence as a soldier (and thief), and her role as comic relief for the show seemed to doom her to a gruesome fate. I guess I can thank my experience in reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire for that. To my delight, she survived and is still kicking at the end of the season. I found myself trusting in Levi’s competent plan to capture the Female Titan. Krista’s kindheartedness was a nice contrast to the pervasive feeling of dread. Unfortunately, Jean was forgettable as a competitor for Mikasa’s feelings. I knew that he would never be with her, at least not at this point in the series. His pursuit of her also had the effect of making Mikasa, a character I already have a hard time showing interest in, seem more like a trophy rather than a person. Jean’s struggle with this rejection as well as the abandonment of his dream of joining the Military Police for the sake of Eren, allowed him some wiggle room for development. Ymir grew on me a little, but her role in this part of the story, along with Krista’s, is very limited. She has just enough time to move from being a bully, to hinting at an attraction to Krista.<br />
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Some people may not be able to look past the tropes presented in the first few episodes, and some will definitely be turned off by the disturbing imagery. Particularly haunting are the wicked faces of the Titans and the sometimes odd movement of the Aberrants. For the most part, this chilling piece of entertainment will kept me guessing what comes next, who could be trusted, and who is behind the curtain of deception. Hopefully these questions will be answered in upcoming seasons of the show. I know I’ll look forward to the answers.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0Madison, WI, USA43.0730517 -89.40123019999998642.8875022 -89.723953699999981 43.2586012 -89.078506699999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-6437543137161668312009-12-17T09:51:00.001-06:002009-12-17T09:51:58.689-06:00WTF?? Where's the blog?Yeah, I know, we're coming on 2010, and still nothing for 2009. What happened? Well, the gaming world sucked me in again, and the anime world spat me out. I've especially gotten back into <a href="http://www.cityofheroes.com/">City of Heroes</a>. My friend has a Super Group on there called House of the Wayward Soul, so I've been running around getting prestige so he can buy lots of cool stuff for the group. I've also gotten to a higher level (22 at the moment), which is high enough to start really experiencing some of the fun stuff like inventions and more interesting villain groups. There's also the Christmas event and free server transfers for characters right now. I've also discovered the tailor, which you can visit and add a new costume, for a fee, every ten levels, or so. I still mostly solo, but every now and then I'll team. I'm really still a bit anti-social there.<br /><br />As for anime, well...I <span style="font-style: italic;">have</span> been going to various conventions, mostly to see how they run differently to the one I staff called <a href="http://www.geekkon.net/">Geek.Kon</a>.<br />I was added as Staff Artist last year, and I'd like to keep doing it. I've gotten a lot better at handling Photoshop, even though I still only use Elements. I've also thought about going into costuming, but there you have major expense, too. And that's the root of the problem when it comes to anime for me. The expense is just too much. I just can't afford to pay $30 for 3 episodes. The vendor from <a href="http://www.animepalace.com/">Anime Palace</a> told me the whole hobby is going down. People see that they can get DVD's of quality American (or in the cases of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntik">Huntik</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winx_Club">Winx Club</a>, Italian) cartoons like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine_and_the_X-Men">Wolverine and the X-Men</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar:_The_Last_Airbender">Avatar: The Last Airbender</a> for peanuts, and wonder why they have to pay so much for so little when it comes to anime. In their minds, they're getting ripped off. It is a bargain from the viewpoint of the Japanese producers, since anime DVD's can start at $80 and up in Japan. Additionally, a lot of videos from streaming sites are being removed due to copyright infringement, or the sites are being shut down all together. This it the case with the sites I had found. Some, like <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/">Crunchyroll</a>, have gone legit with some pay-to-use features. You can't blame them, anime companies are feeling the crunch, too. It's just that I've gone through my Naruto phase back in 2004-2006, and I have fond memories of it. but I'm ready to move on now. I don't really care if they're offering it for free because I don't watch it anymore.<br /><br />The thing is, even with a subscription fee and buying booster packs for costumes and powers, CoH, as City of Heroes is called, is far more cheaper than all the anime I used to buy. Even upgrading my computer, or buying a new one, is worth the price. I can't really use an anime DVD for much else, other than passively watching the show. I guess I could get back into writing fanfiction [I had written a couple of DBZ yaoi fics featuring Trunks and Android 17 ;) ], or doing fanart. But there just isn't the draw for me anymore. The shorter series and movies seem the best bet for now. I can watch them quickly and then get back to the stuff I really want to do. Kill things on my computer!<br /><br />Anyway, you'll notice I've removed the "Eye Candy" videos and the photo gallery. The videos went, since Youtube seems to like removing creativity from the site every so often. Especially if this creativity involves other peoples' music and video edited together. I've come across a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRkC4vDxR1c">Team Fortress 2 video</a> that was removed, but through diplomacy and climbing the ladder of bureaucracy, the creator has managed to get it back online there. The photo gallery is gone because it simply added too much of clutter, making it hard to notice the table of contents kind of thing I have. I think I called it "Recent Viewings" or some such, but it's supposed to make it easier for people to search postings based on the anime they feature without having to go through the calender. I took all the pictures off of various websites, and most can be still be found in the original reviews. In a fit of trying to organize my Photobucket account, I went and moved a bunch of pictures into folders based on series, even though I was warned that I'd be breaking links by doing so. I've gone through on this version of Anime Impressions and removed the broken links.<br /><br />So the blog still isn't quite dead yet, at least not in <span style="font-style: italic;">my</span> mind. I just haven't seen anything worth posting about except for maybe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni">Higurashi</a>. But then, I like to write reviews as soon as it's fresh in my mind. I've already got another series I seem to only be able to find on Veoh called Kaiba. We watched it in Anime Club last semester, but I stopped going to club on account of differences with the current president. I'm not a student anymore, so I don't really have any say in rather we have a serious viewing or a riff fest (as he seems to think everything that comes out of his mouth is a jewel). Yet something else that has made it more difficult for me to enjoy the hobby.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-17877036015670565462008-11-23T15:50:00.000-06:002008-11-23T15:51:11.569-06:00Hiatus Over!<div id="msgcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!254" class="bvMsg"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);" align="center"><span style="font-size: 16pt;font-size:130%;" ><u><b>Hiatus Over!</b></u></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> I'm back! <a target="_blank" href="http://www.geekkon.net/">Geek.kon 2008</a> was another success with attendance at 1,144. In an unexpected twist we had as many furries attend as Sci-Fi fans! I wonder if this means the furry fandom is making a come back? I've got a new webcomic up called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.comicspace.com/erinburke/comics.php?action=gallery&comic_id=23251">Miss Popular</a>. Well, it's actually something I did back in high school. It started out as a doodle in my psychology class notebook and wound up being 110 pages long. So far I've only got the first eight pages up, and I'm working on digitally lettering the next fifteen pages.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> Since I've been doing more digital artwork, I'm more wary of downloading anime considering how much space it takes up. I've also given up on gaming for now, as it eats up time I'd rather spend doing art and watching anime. I have to say, though, from my brief time as a gamer, I've come to prefer PC gaming over console. I might start up again, especially in light of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gaiaonline.com/">Gaia Online</a> getting it's free MMO up and running, although it runs a bit choppy on my computer. I've restarted my Netflix account and have found a lot anime streaming sites. Netflix is especially great since it offers many titles I can't seem to find anywhere, or have forgotten about. You know, all those late 80's early 90's OVA's that focus on the apocalypse and bloody ninja battles. To wit, I've found an abundant supply of man-ame!</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> Like I posted before, I'm going to try to focus on older stuff, probably from before 2000. However, I may occasionally post about newer series, too, just to keep things from getting boring. And now without further ado:</span> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-52027351359558097752008-11-23T15:34:00.000-06:002008-11-23T15:49:53.570-06:00Robot Carnival<p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">There's a sharp contrast between the anime of today and the anime of yesterday, due mostly to the shift in influence in the industry. Gone are the days where the word “animation” was synonymous with the word “Disney.” With the arrival of the Internet, anime came to dominate the scene. Once relegated to the darkened corners of a few video stores, it's fans considered subversive perverts, anime came into it's own a long time ago.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> One of the movies that helped push anime into the limelight was Robot Carnival (1987).</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> <a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/?action=view&current=RobotCarnival1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/RobotCarnival1.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">For years it sat beside the likes of Akira and Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer on those darkened video store shelves, until, according to the <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_Carnival">Wikipedia</a> article, the Sci-Fi channel picked it up for late night viewings.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> Robot Carnival is an anthology of short films, most of which have a distinct European/American feel to them,and, of course, the main theme of robots. The opening sequence features a young boy trying to warn his desert village of the approach of the massive Robot Carnival machine. Once a center of entertainment, it has become a rusted behemoth meandering its way through the desert, crushing everything in its path.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> “Franken's Gears” is about a scientist who creates a robot ala Frankenstein, only to be killed by it in a freak accident.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/?action=view&current=rc1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/rc1.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> “Deprived” has a male robot seeking out a young girl he has promised to protect, and who has been kidnapped by an evil cyborg. This was my favorite as it inspired memories of Fist of the North Star and a lot of other action oriented anime that has a lone wolf seeking out revenge. It's also the short that feels most like a traditional 80's anime, from the violence and action driven plot to the androgynous villain who looks like he walked out of an 80's Heavy Metal Hair Band.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> “Presence” is one of the longer short films and is very reminiscent of “Ghost in the Shell” and “Magnetic Rose,” with absolutely gorgeous artwork.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/?action=view&current=carn9.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/carn9.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/?action=view&current=robot3.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 233px; height: 131px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/robot3.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/?action=view&current=robot_carnival_1A.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 237px; height: 132px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/robot_carnival_1A.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">It concerns an inventor who creates a “more feminine” companion for himself after his feminist wife upstages him in the career department. Terrified that his new toy has developed a mind of her own, he smashes her and leaves her remains to molder for twenty years before finally facing his fears and returning to her. Another twenty years after that, the mechanical girl appears before the aged inventor and they both walk away into oblivion, leaving the wife baffled as to her husband's whereabouts.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> “Star Light Angel” reveals that not everything is as it appears. A teenage girl enjoys a robot themed amusement park with her friend, only to find out her companion is dating her ex. A performing robot notices the girl's distress and comes to her aid when a virtual reality ride, picking up on the girl's emotional turmoil, turns into a nightmare. However the girl is shocked and dismayed to find, rather than the romantic idea of a lovestruck automaton, a human knight beneath the armor. After he finally manages to rescue her, she comes around, and the two meet outside the park after closing time, presumably to pursue a relationship.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> “Cloud” feels more like a <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Laloux">Rene Laloux</a> art house Sci-Fi cartoon rather than anime. It's about a boy robot wandering the Earth while the clouds behind him take on different shapes. Eventually he becomes a real by via an angel which appears in the cloud behind him.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> Up next is “A Tale of Two Robots: Chapter 3: Foreign Invasion,” about a mad genius, dubbed in English with what sounds like a German accent ala Albert Einstein. The small Japanese village he's invading isn't going to take it sitting down...well some of them are. Sitting in a giant, coal-steam powered robot of their own!</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style=""> </span></span></span>“Nightmare” is probably the short that is the least like anime. It's more “A Night on Bald Mountain” transposed over Tokyo with robots in place of demons. The story begins with a view of everyday life in Tokyo featuring rotoscoped pedestrians. As night falls, we see a massive pendulum swinging back and forth between the towering skyscrapers. We then learn that it is attached to a massive robot looming over the city. It summons to its aid a smaller robot dressed in a red hat and cloak.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"> <a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/?action=view&current=PDVD_071.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Rbot%20Carnival/PDVD_071.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">Known as Red Neck, his job is to race through the city on his hovering platform, bringing various machines to life which then combine to form some truly demonic looking robotic creatures. These minions then dance and gyrate before their master's delight.. In the middle of all this, a drunken salary man, Chicken Man, awakens in an alley only to find the city overrun with nightmarish electronic monsters. After being discovered by Red Neck, Chicken Man desperately trys to escape the machines on his own little Vespa. Eventually the machines are defeated and our cowardly drunkard looks out over a nearly demolished city as the sun rises to shine on the skyscrapers, pierced like pin cushions by fallen debris.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> The animation for Nightmare is nearly as smooth as that of Disney's feature films, and many of the gestures and movements made by the characters are very reminiscent of Western animation. The twirl of Red Neck's cloak is much like Snow White's as she runs through the forest. But then perhaps he's more like the Headless Horseman from Disney's Sleepy Hollow. Chicken Man himself looks a lot like Ichabod Crane, and his actions are cowardly enough to put Ichabod's frightened flight from the Headless Horseman to shame.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: Times New Roman;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">“Robot Carnival” is worth the effort. Your best bet is to look it up online, as it has never been released on Region 1 DVD, which is surprising since it was, and still is, regarded as an important piece in the history of Japanese animation. You may also be able to scavenge it from the piles of VHS tapes found at various video rental places and used bookstores. Once again, it has found itself sitting beside Akira and Beautiful Dreamer on those darkened, dusty shelves.</span> </p> <span style="font-size:100%;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-27788667082583752162008-07-21T11:04:00.000-05:002008-07-21T11:07:28.332-05:00Notice of Hiatus<div align="center"><b><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:6;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Notice of </span><span style="font-size:7;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Haitus!</span><br /></span></span></span></b><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:6;"><span style="font-size:7;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" >So where the hell have I been?<br />Here's an idea: <a href="http://www.geekkon.net/" _fcksavedurl="http://www.geekkon.net">Geek.Kon 2008</a><br />(I'm on staff for PR, Vendors, and Sci-Fi Viewings), creating artwork to sell at my part of the Staff Artist table in Artist Alley for Geek.Kon, I run the Geek.Kon Guild on <a href="http://www.gaiaonline.com/" _fcksavedurl="http://www.gaiaonline.com/">Gaia Online</a>, I've also got a full time job, I'm moving on August 1st from a 2 bedroom to an efficiency and thus have to get rid of a lot of stuff, switch over utilities, etc., I'm playing the MMO City of Heroes (my global chat handle is @Tira Blue if you'd like to friend me, though I'm not much of a talker while I'm playing) I'm also playing Diablo II: Lord of Destruction on Battlenet with a friend from work (we're gearing up for <a href="http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/" _fcksavedurl="http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/">Diablo III</a>)<br />Yeah...I've been kind of busy, and so I'm putting the Anime Impressions blog in all its incarnations on hiatus at least until I've finished moving in August. At the latest, it should be started up again by October (as Geek.Kon 2008 will be held September 27 & 28). When it does start up again, I plan to go through my back log of short series, then move on to discussing older series, mostly from before 2000. I'd really like to sit down and watch some of the classics from the 70's and 80's like the original Cutey Honey, Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock, Goshogun, Godmars, and other giant robot series, Minky Momo, other older magical girl series, and Science Fiction Saiyuki Starzinger. A lot of these older series are fairly long in length, so the blog may still be a bit spotty when it some to being updated. However, it <i>will be updated!</i> Even if it takes weeks to do so.<br />You've probably noticed by now that the world, or at least American pop-culture, is steadily becoming indifferent to anime. Companies are cutting back on staff and series (ADV), and others have had their American branches go under completely (Geneon). I, myself, have gotten a bit bored with at least the new stuff, to the point where I didn't even bother to attend the special July meeting for the UW Anime Club featuring old vs new stuff. Thus I intend to return to the good old days that I remember from middle and high school. Once I have the time.</span></span></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-61548768226218777672008-03-20T22:10:00.000-05:002008-11-23T15:54:37.974-06:00Busou Renkin (Episodes 1-26)<h4 style="margin-bottom: 0px;" id="subjcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!210"><a href="http://erin3581.spaces.live.com/blog/cns%2198F1368B06A75FDA%21210.entry">Busou Renkin (Episodes 1-26)</a></h4> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style=""> </span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="">From </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobuhiro_Watsuki">Watsuki Nobuhiro</a>, creator of <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurouni_Kenshin#Anime">Rurouni Kenshin</a>, we have <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busou_Renkin">Busou Renkin</a>. I first noticed this series while browsing through the download website I now use regularly, rather than p2p. The description was intriguing; the plot sounded like a cross between <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Metal_Alchemist">Full Metal Alchemist</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach_%28manga%29">Bleach</a>. The title in fact is translated to be “Arms Alchemy” or “Armored Alchemist.”</span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" align="left"><span style=";font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:180%;" ><u><b>Plot:</b></u></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;">As with Bleach, the protagonist, Kazuki Muto, starts out as a normal high school boy who likes hanging out with his friends and getting into mischief. That is, until he dreams about running into a girl at an old, haunted factory near the school. In the dream he dies, trying to protect her. He meets her later, and learns that she is Tokiko Tsumura, an Alchemic Warrior fighting against homunculi using her Busou Renkin (Arms Alchemy). He also learns that he really <i>did </i><span style="font-style: normal;">die, and was brought back to life after Tokiko replaced his heart with kakugane, a disc that produces Busou Renkin, a weapon that takes on a form in accordance to the user's fighting spirit. </span>After he and his sister are attacked by an animal-type homunculus disguised as a teacher,</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=22m.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/22m.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />Kazuki follows Tokiko fighting various animal- and plant-type homunculi until they discover Koshaku Chouno, a genius student, who has become deathly ill and is now seeking to become a human type homunculus. He eventually gets his wish and becomes Papillon, who's not just a superbeing, but a hentai too!</span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> Kazuki manages to defeat Papillon in battle, forcing the homunculus to return to his laboratory where he meets up with his ancestor, Dr. Butterfly,</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=19m.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/19m.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;">who, along with the League of eXtrordinary Elects, is trying to resurrect the most powerful Alchemic Warrior of all time, a traitorous monster known as Victor. We also learn of the Hayasaka twins, who volunteered to be henchmen for the LXE in order to become homunculi. Kazuki has allies of his own, especially in the form of Captain Bravo,</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=27m.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/27m.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=21m.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/21m.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;">who goes on to train Kazuki in Alchemic Arms combat.</span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> Now the real meat of the series begins as Victor awakens over Kazuki's school, draining the students of their energy and bringing the boy's friends and sister close to death. Forcing himself to ignore the plight of his friends, Kazuki rushes at Victor, who promptly defeats him. Our hero isn't down yet, though. It turns out the kakugane Kazuki uses to form his Busou Renkin is far from ordinary. In the search to create the Philosopher's Stone, the Alchemic Warriors created what's known as Black Kakugane, an unstable form of the kakugane that has transformed Victor into a monster. Kazuki has the third of the three Black Kakugane in his chest, and thus he has the ability to “victorize” himself, <a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=26mA.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/26mA.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;">making him as powerful as Victor, but also just as insane and deadly to his friends.</span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> After Victor flees, and everything seems to return to normal, including Kazuki, a trip to the beach with his friends turns tragic, as he becomes hunted by the Alchemic Warriors he once trusted. Of course they can't let another “Victor” go running around, draining the world of energy. We learn that soon Kazuki will permanently become victorized. However after Bravo fails to complete his mission and then turns on the other Alchemic Warriors, General Shosei Sakaguchi steps in and calls a halt to the execution order. That is, provided Kazuki, Tokiko, and new “love rival” Gouta can find information at the Newton Apple Girls Academy about the Black Kakugane.</span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> Our love triangle then heads to the academy and finds Victor's daughter Victoria, now a homunculus, and wife Alexandria, now a room of cloned brains, have developed a White Kakugane from the second of the three Black Kakugane in order to reverse the victorization process. During the final fight with Victor, the White Kakugane fails to fully restore Victor to human form after he's reached an unprecedented third stage of victorization. Kazuki is forced to blast both himself and Victor to the Moon, where the battle continues. Tokiko and everyone else stews over their loss until our heroine decides to go take out Papillon once and for all, something Kazuki didn't have time to do. After fighting various cloned homunculi, Tokiko reaches Papillon, who is sitting in front of a large bomb-like container. She stabs Papillon and the container smashes open to reveal that he has full filled his own promise to Kazuki and made a White Kakugane. Shosei gets the bright idea to modify his Renkin, a giant robot called Busta Baron, into a rocket ship. Our team blasts off to recover Kazuki, who winds up bringing Victor back to Earth with him. Kazuki returns to normal after placing the white Kakugane in his chest to nullify the Black. Shosei produces another White Kakugane he's made from Papillon's instructions, and with two of these inside him, Victor finally returns to normal. The Alchemic Warriors disable their Renkin and begin to search for a way to turn the homunculi back into humans. Papillon continues his life as neither a homunculus who craves human flesh nor a weakling human, but as a superhero type being. He even gets a fast food toy modeled after him.</span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> As mentioned in the plot synopsis, the first half of the series is quite slow. Filled with small battles that just barely hold the attention of the viewer, annoying minor characters, and comedy that's awkward to say the least, I'd almost recommend skipping over the first six, nine, even twelve episodes. Except for the fact that these episodes are exposition for the rest of the series, so we're pretty much stuck with them. They aren't entirely wasted. We get to see exactly how a homunculus is made, as Tokiko gets infected and nearly becomes one herself.</span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> We also see some character building, although for the most part everyone stays firmly stuck in Shounen cliches for most of the series. Tokiko is the cool headed warrior just like Clare from Claymore, Kazuki is the brash young hero like Ichigo in Bleach. Gouta is more a goofy Naruto type character, eager to please Tokiko and envious of Kazuki's power. And Chouno (Papillon) is the Vegeta/Picollo character, first evil, then aiding his enemy only so he can fight Kazuki later in a duel, and after admitting final defeat, becomes a not-so-reluctant hero figure. Another strange similarity the viewer will notice is that Victor looks eerily like Brolly of DBZ fame.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=13m.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/13m.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=broly_ready.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 123px; height: 164px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/broly_ready.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> Adding a bit more to the characters is the love triangle between Tokiko, Kazuki, and Gouta. There are a few moments when I didn't know <i>who </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Tokiko would end up with, if either of them, which really lent some tension to the story. It also seems in the world of anime that Japan is populated by girls who are overly protective, or even sexually attracted to, their brothers. Kazuki has one such sister, who, along with his school friends,</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=22mA.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/22mA.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">is determined to be annoying as hell.<br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The whole semi-sexual attraction between siblings is also uncomfortably portrayed between the Hayasaka twins, who enjoy playing the “marriage game” while their “mother” looks on.</span></span></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> And speaking of “uncomfortable” and “annoying,” it's time I discussed Papillon (or Chouno, as Kazuki calls him). Papillon is in fact the </span><i>true</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> star of the show. He's a wild card in that you don't really know what he's going to do, or how he will affect the other characters and the plot. His “hentai” qualities are rather embarrassing, as one minute he's prancing around in a leotard:</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=24mA.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/24mA.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=23m.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/23m.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=9mA.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/9mA.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">and the next he's in a thong:</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=papillon-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 528px; height: 382px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/papillon-1.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"> from which he pulls out his famous butterfly mask.<br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/?action=view&current=26m.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Busou%20Renkin/26m.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"><span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Everything about him makes you cringe, including his goofy since of humor, and the truly bizarre second ending theme, in which he features.</span></span></span> </p> <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> He grows on you, though, like an ugly ingrown hair you just have to scratch, and the last half of the series picks up enough to keep you interested. The Renkin take on several interesting forms including a submarine and a series of caves. The opening theme is really kick ass, as I would expect from a Shonen Jump series. Even the comedy improves, what with General Shosei running around laughing and beating up insubordinate subordinates. The manga is only ten <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank%C5%8Dbon">tonkoban</a> long, and the anime pretty much concludes at episode 26. This is surprising for a Shonen Jump series, which usually run to at least 100 episodes. All in all, it may not be Rurouni Kenshin, but it's worth a short look.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-54255350158181482942008-02-07T23:06:00.001-06:002009-12-17T09:49:22.201-06:00Darker Than Black (Episodes 1-25)<h4 style="margin-bottom: 0px; font-weight: normal;font-family:arial;" class="TextColor1" id="subjcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!193"><span style="font-size:100%;">I've been wanting to see Darker Than Black since we previewed the first episode in the Spring '06 semester of the UW Anime Club. I was also a bit nervous about it. Other members were fairly unimpressed with the first few episodes of the series, and weren't afraid to voice their opinion on the club forum. Featuring music by Yoko Kanno and a band of misfits fighting for, and then against, an evil syndicate, this series was able to capture the feel of camaraderie found in other series like Cowboy Bebop.</span></h4> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:arial;" align="left"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:arial;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:130%;"> <u><b>PLOT:</b></u></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:arial;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style=""> Li is an awkward Chinese foreign exchange college student who has just moved to Shinjuku, Japan. The world around him is a troubled place. Mysterious Gates have opened, one in South America called Heaven's Gate, and one in Shinjuku called Hell's Gate. These strange areas are physically unstable, filled with<br />the manifestations of the ghosts of the dead, and strange flora.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:arial;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="">They also seem to be connected with beings known as Contractors. These seemingly emotionless humans each have a special ability such as altering gravity, creating massive sound waves, and pyrokenesis. They also go through an obsessive ritual after using their powers, called a “Remuneration.” A Remuneration can be anything from smoking, to drinking, to arranging objects into a pattern, eating hard boiled eggs, or even dog tagging the pages of a book. </span></span>Often, the Contractors are used as tools of assassination and war, as in the case where the Heaven's Gate disappeared, taking with it a large chunk of South America. Before then, various nations had been using Contractors to fight for control over it.<br />Along with the Contractors are beings known as Dolls, who use a specific element like water or electricity to send out “observer apparitions” for reconnaissance. These Dolls usually maintain a blank, frequently bored facial expression.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:arial;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">A third type of super being, known as a Moratorium, is a chaotic figure, unable to control their powers and with little chance of becoming a Contractor. The fourth type is a Regressor, a Contractor who loses their powers.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;font-family:arial;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style=""> Li isn't who he says he is. He is Hei, a Contractor known as BK201, the designation given to his star, which, along with the stars of thousands of other Contractors, lights up the night sky forming faux constellations. The “real” starry night sky has not been seen since the Gates first appeared. Hei is teamed up with <span style="font-weight: bold;">Yin</span> a water oriented Doll,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Mao</span> a Contractor in a cat's body with the ability to possess other animals, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Huang</span> a human working for the world wide Syndicate. Together they work to fish out information on other Contractors, the UN research group PANDORA, and the yakuza for the Syndicate. Hei also has the private mission of finding his lost sister,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Bai</span>.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;font-family:arial;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="">His private interests lead him to become involved with the group, Evening Primrose, lead by Amber, a former operative of both the Syndicate and the British inelegance agency, MI6. Amongst those interested in Hei are the MI6 team headed by <span style="font-weight: bold;">November 11</span> and Foreign Affairs investigator </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Misaki Kirihara</span>. It eventually comes to light that the Syndicate is behind PANDORA, and may have found a way to eliminate Contractors forever. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:arial;" align="left"><span style="font-size:100%;">It isn't easy to duplicate success, as Bebop's director, Shinichiro Watanabe, would find out, when he returned along with most of the Bebop crew to direct the rather disappointing Samurai Champloo. For me, Darker Than Black's success is found in the short, two-parter oriented storytelling, like that found in Black Lagoon, and the story's ability to mimic the main character's own personality. Like Hei, himself, sometimes the story is comical and uplifting, and sometimes it's action oriented and/or depressing.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:arial;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> The main conflict is an internal one centering around Hei's emotional identity, the battle between his Contractor identity and the humanity blossoming inside him. Who is his real self? The cold hearted Contractor, out for his own interests, or the timid human who is only just now learning to rely on his team, and even enemies like Amber, for emotional support.</span> </p><p face="arial" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> In a way, he is much like a popular DC Comics' hero we're all familiar with. Is there even a Bruce Wayne, or does only the Batman exist? This is a question asked by Batman fans and philosophers alike. In fact, most people I've met who've seen Darker Than Black , say it's pretty much a Japanese anime version of Marvel's X-Men, sans the tights. There are a lot of similarities, such as several characters possessing similar powers. We see in the series that there are at least three Contractors with gravity altering abilities, two which can manipulate electricity, and two which have the power of possession. The closest any of the contractors comes to being like Professor X is probably Mao, though he's still a bit amoral in his willingness to betray his partners to save his own skin. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Amber</span> the leader of the Contractor resistance force, aka Evening Primrose, is closest to Magneto, although we find she has a bit more of a conscience than he does. Many powers found in X-Men and other Western comics are also found here, such as the ability to mentally control fire, teleportation, freezing ability, and levitation.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none; font-family: arial;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> One of the few complaints I have is that not enough is explained about the Contractors. We know their Remunerations are involved with their past human lives. For example, one Contractor forces herself to chew cigarettes and spit them out. She says it doesn't have to be cigarettes and that any object will do as long as she places it in her mouth, then spits it back out. However, she goes on to tell a story about how, while she was human, her infant daughter choked to death on a cigarette. She obviously feels guilty about it, and states that ever since she became a Contractor, her Remuneration has reflected the cause of her daughter's death. I'm assuming a Contractor has some form of guilt or fear they wish to rid themselves of, and that once the Contract is made with some unseen force, the Remuneration reflects a punishment. I guess the big question is, who is behind the creation of the Gates and the Contractors? Another question I have is what is creating the strange phenomena inside the Gate? I kind of wish they had explored some of the weirdness of the Gates a little more, but then again, learning too much about the Gates would have ruined the mystery behind them.</span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;font-family:times new roman;" align="left"> <span style="font-size:100%;"> It should be noted that episode 26 is being planned as an OVA to be released in 2008. It should give a tighter conclusion to the series, and hopefully answer some of these questions. Until then, I suggest you check out this very interesting series.</span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-75256046014311746462008-01-31T20:12:00.000-06:002009-12-17T09:50:56.357-06:00Demonbane TV (Episodes 1-12)<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When I first sat down and began watching <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonbane">Demonbane</a>, I was expecting a good ol' giant robot anime. You can imagine my disappointment when what I got was a lame parody of anime genres. It took a lot, I mean A LOT, to get me to keep watching this! I'm glad I did, since I hate to leave things unfinished. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> There's at least a few things to like about Demonbane. The art work is very nice and Gonzo does a good job with the CGI for the giant robots. The opening theme song “Man, God, Machine” by Yuuichi Ikuzawa has the great driving beat and techno vibe of many giant robot anime series. Oh yeah....There's also a lot of references to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulu_mythos">Cthulu Mythos</a>. A lot of references. The names of major and minor characters, places, and attacks are pretty much all derived from various stories by H.P. Lovecraft and other Cthulu writers. If you can, try checking out Shinsen Fansubs digisub which contains approximately five minutes of notes at the end of each episode on lots of stuff like Cthulu, Lovecraft, and odd science facts that fit into the Mythos. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><u><b>Plot:</b></u></span> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Kurou Daijuuji is a lovable screw-up and semi-out-of-work detective, who usually frequents the local orphanage to steal a meal. His life, like that of so many accidental heroes in anime, is changed when a girl falls from the sky (actually a rooftop) and lands in his face, butt first.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It just so happens that this girl, Al Azif, is actually the fabled grimoire Necronomicon. Aquiring her just so happens to be the mission he was hired to carry out by the Hadou Fininacial Group. It also just so happens that the comical Doctor West is attacking the city with a giant robot.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Quickly, Al does a henshin sequence with Kurou. It's just like many magical girl change sequences, what with all the pseudo nudity and sparkles. Only it's both the girl and this guy naked together and changing. Kurou grows long white hair and one of his eyes turns red. Al shrinks to a chibi form of herself.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">She then goes on to summon the great Deus Machina (God Machine) Demonbane using an elaborate magical girl like dance, and regaining her original non-chibi form. She is co-pilot while Kurou takes over the main controls. This is all just in the first episode, mind you.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In the second episode, we meet Master Therion, who has his own grimoire known as Lady Etheldreda, a.k.a. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pnakotic_Manuscripts">Pnakotic Manuscripts</a>. Therion has quite a few tricks up his sleeve and a gang of loyal....well, maybe not so loyal followers called the Black Lodge. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In the mean time, Dr. West invents a female robot called Elsa. This, along with Al, Princess Ruri Hadou (Kurou's current employer), and her maids lead to some pretty fun harem hijinks at an onsen in episode five. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The reason why I'm glad I stuck with this, is the pick-up in the momentum of the story beginning with episode five. Master Therion announces he, himself, will try to take over the world by performing a magic spell. It had been thought that Al Azif and Demonbane were needed for this spell, but Therion assures the members of Anticross, the elite sorcerers of the lodge, that his powers are sufficient. They promptly turn on him, then manage to take out Al later. Kurou wonders around fighting Anticross and mourning the loss of Al, until a battle sends him over the edge into another plain of existence where he's reunited with her. The final two episodes include plenty of plot twists to keep you entertained. The ending is a bit confusing, but just think of it as two alternate universes overlapping. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Based on a PS2 game, which in turn was based on a PC eroge (erotic game), Demonbane TV still retains some toned down, yet still risky imagery. I mentioned the henshin scene where both the male and female lead appear in “barbie doll” nudity together. Tiberious,a member of Anitcross, takes Princess Ruri hostage, then, from a distance, appears to molest her with his tentacles. Kurou jumps in, cutting her loose and chiding Tiberious that tentacle play is out of style. There isn't any detail other than Ruri's cries for help and Tiberious's obscene comment about her not breaking on him. However, my experience with the hentai Madam M, where the same “don't break on me” expression is used, leads me to believe the animators tried to sneak something in. Also, in the eleventh episode, a female character is restrained with tentacles, a couple of which seem to be creeping up through her nether regions. All the female characters are large breasted, with the exception of Al and Ennea. Particularly busty is Naia (Nyarlathotep, the evil trickster god of the Cthulu Mythos). Despite the pseudo-hentai feel, I still enjoyed the anime's battle scenes. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I really liked Al Azif. Her character is reminiscent of other spunky, smart ass heroines like Shana of Shakugan no Shana. The point where she died was where I really started to empathize with her and Kurou. I found Ruri to be fairly annoying, as she really was just a princess in distress most of the time.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I would like to check out the OVA, which came bundled with the first PS2 game, and features a journalist investigating the arrival of the mysterious Demonbane mecha. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Demonbane has a lot to offer, and it's not always coherent. There's a bit too much comedy in the first few episodes, which will turn off people looking for an action series. However, if you're a Cthulu fan looking to pick up on the many references, or a mecha fan looking for some decent giant robot warfare, you'll find it here. Just sit tight and you'll eventually find something to make it worth while. If not, then at least it's only twelve episodes of suck.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=607.jpg" target="_blank"><br /></a> </p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-60696782962932719262007-12-27T21:23:00.000-06:002008-01-31T20:37:35.225-06:00Black Blood Brothers (Episodes 1-12)<span id="ctl00_MainContentPlaceholder_ctl01_ctl00_lblEntry"> Korean theme songs, fairly good characters, and an interesting plot; sometimes following cliches can lead to a fairly decent series. Plus it's only twelve episodes long. And it doesn't fritter them away, like Rozen Maiden.<span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br /><br />PLOT:</span></span></span><br />The main character, Jirou, uses a silver sword to hunt down evil vampires, known as Kowloon Children. </span><span>He travels with his younger brother Kotaro, to the Special Zone, an area where humans and vampires live in peaceful co-existance.The humans call themselves Red Bloods and the non-Kowloon vampires are called Black Bloods. When they reach their destination, they are greeted by a human, </span>Mimiko Katsuragi:<br /><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=bbb2a10_16f7cf.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 356px; height: 200px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/bbb2a10_16f7cf.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She is what is known (in a throw-back to the ol' Getbackers days) as a Compromiser, a human who invites vampires to live in the Special Zone and helps the ones without bloodlines find a place to live. Since Jirou is an Old Blood (meaning he's over a hundred years old) and both Kotaro and Jirou are of unknown bloodines, they wind up relying heavily on Mimiko for shelter and connections. These "connections" are the three major vampire sects of the Special Zone: those from the Continent (i.e. mainland Asia), Europe, and the Darkness (a coalition of everyone else). All is not well here, as no one wants to deal with a vampire killer like Jirou. Plus, the Children of Kowloon are after something hidden inside the Special Zone, and their attack is lead by a former friend of Jirou's, Casa:<br /><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=bbb1a8_1748c4.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 359px; height: 202px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/bbb1a8_1748c4.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span>Jirou is like a toned down Alucard and Vash in that he provides both comic relief and some good action sequences.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Vash:</span><br /></span></span><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=imagephp.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 363px; height: 272px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/imagephp.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span><span></span><span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Alucard<br /><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=8alushoot.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 368px; height: 220px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/8alushoot.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Jirou<br /><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=bbb14_13c497.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 372px; height: 209px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/bbb14_13c497.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></span><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=bbb2a12_1750e2.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 373px; height: 210px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/bbb2a12_1750e2.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span><br /><br />I just finished this series, and I'm actually quite impressed with the tight storytelling and fairly dynamic characters.</span><span><br />T</span><span>he main character is powerful, but not as powerful as some of the other characters. He's also got a few inconvenient weaknesses to water and sunlight, unlike some of the other vampire characters. He's also <span>destined to die, eventually. Alice Eve, the woman who originally turned him into a vampire, was turned to dust and reincarnated into a baby, whom Jirou adopted and named Kotaro.</span> Alice's bloodline possesses the special ability to reabsorb those they have turned into vampires. Thus, Jirou is doomed, and he knows it.</span><span><br />There's still a few cliches, such as Jirou kind of being a rip-off of Alucard and Vash, and the bratty younger brother, the vampires that eat other vampires, the problem of co-existing with your enemies, etc.</span><span> Another problem I have is with the bratty little kid character, Kotaro, who is Jirou's brother:<br /><br /><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=bbb1a9_1dff8a.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 365px; height: 205px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/bbb1a9_1dff8a.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There is some relief in that Jirou doesn't really take crap from his little brother, and will usually bash him into walls if he gets too annoying. </span><span>But where else will you see an anime that features annoying little kids getting the snot beat out 'em? Well....Okay, there's probably a few of those anime out there, too.... </span><br /><span> In the end all the questions I had seemed to be answered, but I'm hoping for a second season. There's still a major villain to deal with, a few minor henchmen still lurking around, and a secret that is devulged to Jirou about what is being hidden in the legendary Yard 11 of the Special Zone.<br />Also, the end theme song, "Shingiru" is performed in Korean by the South Korean band, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveholic" target="_blank">Loveholic</a>. It's very catchy!<br />Overall, it really is worth a quick look.<br /><br /><a href="http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/?action=view&current=bbb15_1f616d.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="width: 347px; height: 195px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/bbb15_1f616d.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-74428352738502725192007-12-21T23:03:00.000-06:002008-01-31T20:35:19.730-06:00Tenjho Tenge (Episodes 1-24)<h4 style="margin-bottom: 0px;" class="TextColor1" id="subjcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!138"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In the fan made movie/parody "This Is Otakudom," a redubbed Gendou (from Evangelion) accuses American executives in the anime industry of taking well thought out, plot driven anime and turning it "into Pokemon." Tenjho Tenge suffers the same fate of many anime from as far back as Kimba the White Lion to as recently as Naruto and Bleach. Only it didn't need American CEO's to dumb it down. The Japanese did that themselves.</span><br /></h4><div id="msgcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!138" class="bvMsg">Tenjho Tenge is based on a "seinen" manga, meant to be enjoyed by men in their late twenties to forties. It features quite a few bondage/rape (or near rape) scenes and plenty of violent, bloody fights. The manga is still going, and the anime is faithful up until the eighth volume.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;font-size:180%;" ><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">PLOT:</span></span><br />It takes place in a high school devoted to keeping the martial arts in the classroom....literally. This school is controlled by a violent student council known as the Enforcers, who themselves are opposed by the Juuken Club, lead by Maya Natsume. When Nagi Souichiro and Bob Makihara show up and start causing trouble, Maya allows them to join her club. Maya's younger sister, Aya, immediately falls for Nagi and announces her intentions to be his wife. This is a problem because another member of the club, Masataka Takayanagi, has fallen for Aya. Things get complicated when Nagi falls for Maya during his training lessons. Then Masataka's older brother Mitsoumi, the leader of the deadly Enforcers, shows up and asks Maya to return to his side. A large chunk of the plot surrounds the back story of Maya and Aya's older brother, Shin Natsume, a strong warrior who is ultimately consumed by his own uncontrollable power and murdered by the woman who loved him. Aya begins to show signs of this power known as the Dragon Eye, which allows her to see into the past and future. Will she succumb to it as well?<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 362px; height: 271px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/062.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />Impression:</span><br />This could have been a really great show, or at least more entertaining, if only they had edited it a little better. I don't mind the rape being edited out, but for a fighting anime, it could have been much more violent. The fanservice, which is present in both the manga and anime, is distracting, even if it <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">is</span></span> toned down compared to other 2000 anime series like <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikkitousen">Ikki Tousen</a>.<br /><br />Tenjho Tenge and other anime filled with female warriors and fan service are "Man-ame" taken to it's logical extreme. Since the mid-90's, anime geared towards men, had evolved (or perhaps devolved) into anime based off of fighting games. <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Fury:_The_Motion_Picture">Fatal Fury</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tekken:_The_Motion_Picture">Tekken</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Arena_Toshinden_%28anime%29">Battle Arena Toshinden</a> all featured masterful fighters with rippling muscles and busty femme fatals, and practically no plot at all. Anime made after 2000, attempted to reintroduce plot lines while retaining the violence and boobs. The problem with the Tenge anime is that the back gorund story isn't concise enough. We're left wondering for several episodes when the plot will return to the present, dire, situation. Why are our heroes sitting around listening to stories instead of going out and fighting Mitsoumi?<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 384px; height: 288px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/011.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 383px; height: 286px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/008.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Although the back story does provide a lot of needed info about Shin and the formation of the Juuken club, the five or six episodes it takes to tell it, could have been edited down to two or, at most, three. We learn a lot of useless crap like relationships that don't go anywhere and characters that don't really do anything. What we don't learn until the final episode, is the extent of the Takayanagi family's power. We know that a couple of lesser families do their dirty work, including whoring out one of their women to be Mitsoumi's girlfriend. However it is later revealed that twelve families support the Takayanagi family. Half of these fight using traditional weapons and half fight using energy (ki). Any other information about the significance of these familial relations is relegated to the manga, and perhaps the two episode OVA, which I have yet to see. At least some of that time spent on the sub plot could have been used to further the actual story about defeating Mitsoumi. What we got was a lot of chitter chatter, a bunch of distracting fan service, and a few fights.<br /><br />One of the few things that kept me watching this was Maya. I like her character a lot, as she is able to control her energy and change into a chibi form of herself.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Maya (chibi-form):<br /></span></span><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 351px; height: 263px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/022.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;font-size:130%;" >Maya (Full-Form):</span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 358px; height: 268px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/096.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />She's also the strongest fighter, next to Mitsoumi. Plus she refuses his charms:<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 359px; height: 269px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/036.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Well....kind of.....But then it's not like we actually see them hook up. This is about as edgy as the anime gets. It's one of those shows that, unlike the manga, doesn't deliver on what it promises. Where the original source material gives us sex scenes bordering on hentai and violence to churn the stomach, the anime throws jiggling juggernauts at us and unrealistic blood that would make ketchup seem like a better idea, if this were live action. Ladies and gentlemen this is how you turn a tiger into a pussycat.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-8089456029018578392007-12-21T23:00:00.000-06:002008-02-07T23:14:53.742-06:00Berserk (Episodes 1-25)<div id="msgcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!128" class="bvMsg"> Ahhhhh......The anime of the late 80's and mid-90's.....Before the entry of the waif-like form, when male anime characters went shirtless, sporting basketball size deltoids and six-pack abs. When Cthulhu roamed free through the darkness, and women knew when to shout the hell up and kill something. It wasn't just anime....it was "Man-ame!" You couldn't watch stuff like this without growing an extra testicle!<br /><br />There's no better Man-ame than "Berserk." I'd heard about it for years, and the people in the <a target="_blank" href="http://anime.rso.wisc.edu/">UW Anime Club</a> have always described the bizarre, hallucination inducing ending to me. And so, when I first started watching it, I was looking for some weirdness. The first episode full filled what I was looking for, but pretty much everything up until the 24th episode is your standard Life As War story.<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br />Plot:</span></span></span><br />Like many Fantasy stories, it seems to take place in a version of Medieval Europe. The main character is Guts (Gatsu?), a swordsman for hire. He catches the eye of Griffith, perhaps the creepiest bishi ("bishonen" = "pretty boy"), you'll ever see in an anime:<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/image034.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/image046.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />A mercenary, as well, Griffith has big plans for himself, and he's willing to sacrifice anyone, even his loyal followers, the Band of the Hawk. The others don't realize this, of course. With the exception of Casca, the female commander, they think he walks on water. She is the only one who sees Griffith as a human being, and a generally good-natured one at that. Howoever, even she can't see the darkness that resides within him.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/image012.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Yep, there's another one of my favorite anime character types. The heroic warrior female. Casca is strong physically, except for during her menstruation cycle, and doesn't take crap from her male subordinates. I actually didn't like her at first. In fact....I still kind of don't like her character. Although she doesn't actually hang off the arm of Griffith, as Princess Charlotte does:<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/image044.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Casca is still fixed on fulfilling only Griffith's dream, rather than working for her own. Griffith himself makes it clear that those who work to help him achieve his goal are merely his underlings, his servants. He does not see them as friends, or equals.<br /><br />Compared to the astonishing Griffith, Guts just seems to be an "Average Joe" type character.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://anime.rso.wisc.edu/"><br /></a><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/image049.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Although he is incredibly strong and muscle bound by Average Joe standards, he has a hell of a time trying to fight off demons. In an anime like DBZ, all he'd have to do is power up after getting his butt kicked and blast the thing into oblivion. However, when up against an inhuman foe like the Behelit, Guts usually winds up winning through a combination of luck and cunning. He's an easy character to identify with. He's strong enough to survive in battle against normal, human foes, but not powerful enough to take out a demon in one fell swoop. While we rarely see Grifftith injured, Guts bares the brunt of many attacks and keeps coming back for more. Plus, he's hot! He's got beef-cake written all over him. And yes, he does eventually hook up with Casca, after a history of animosity:<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/image044A.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />It should also be mentioned that, as with <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claymore_%28manga%29">Claymore</a>, the anime for Berserk only covers the first thirteen volumes of the thirty-something volume manga currently being published. There is also no end in sight for the manga, which some think will run to about <a target="_blank" href="http://skullknight.net/encyclopedia/information/index.html">one hundred plus volumes</a> (Berserk Encyclopedia, FAQ: "When will BERSERK end?"). The anime concludes around "episode" 70 of the manga, although there was supposed to be a 26th episode that was cut due to budget constraints.<br /><br />A word of warning to those who are a bit squeamish. If you catch the "Eye Candy (Berserk)" section on the main page of this site, the AMV I found on Youtube will give you a discomforting look at the final two episodes of the anime. It ends on a rape scene (which does happen in the manga, only more graphic). The anime pretty much keeps a majority of the plot in tact from the manga, although certain characters and plot elements are missing and the violence is toned down. We are not treated to seeing Guts sold into sexual slavery and anally raped as a child (as also happens in the manga). But still, be prepared for some shocking stuff that borderlines on hentai.<br /><br />Despite the anime's abrupt and horrifying ending, I plan on reading the manga. Many new characters are introduced, the plot is expanded upon three fold, and Casca is catatonic. There's more female warriors to be had. I'm looking forward to them finding their own dreams. And to seeing Guts again.<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/image054.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-67193809410080445252007-12-21T22:59:00.001-06:002008-01-31T20:31:48.144-06:00Claymore (Episodes 1-26)<h4 style="margin-bottom: 0px;" class="TextColor1" id="subjcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!125">Claymore (Episodes 1-26)</h4><div id="msgcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!125" class="bvMsg"> Warriors. Female warriors. I've always loved reading/watching their stories, from Black Lagoon's Revy to JLA's Wonder Woman. In fact, the first anime I ever owned was <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gravitoncity.com/">Project A-ko</a> . I then moved on to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikimoon.org/index.php?title=Main_Page">Sailor Moon</a> and other mahou shoujo anime. Now there's nothing wrong with sailor senshi and whatnot, but I hungered for a bit more action, and introduced myself to the world of <a target="_blank" href="http://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page">Dragonball Z</a> . Afterwad followed <a target="_blank" href="http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page">Naruto</a> and other action packed Shounen Jump series.<br /><br />I have to admit, I've been interested in reading the Claymore manga for a while now. The artwork seemed strangely soft compared to other manga, and this unique style is well integrated into the anime. The only problem I <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> have with the art design is the eyes for the men are too round and dark, giving them and odd, doll like appearance:<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 390px; height: 221px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/FatherVincent.png" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 390px; height: 257px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/BanditChiefPic.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Overall, they seem too feminine and stiff. The backgrounds are also painted lightly, making the characters and foreground pop. The "camera" moves with a strange stiffness common in digital animation production. The problem is that it moves too smoothly, and winds up making the animation look a bit rushed and/or cheap.<br /><br />The story itself is full of cliches, but then just try making a fantasy/horror series that isn't. Pretty much everything in fantasy has been done to the point where even satirizing it is pretty "been there done that." Anime itself has become a bit worn out, so that it's little more than a matter of combining different cliched elements until you come up with something that's different.<br /><br />I like the main character, Clare, despite the fact that she isn't a hoodlum or a screw-up like other Shounen Jump protagonists. Her lack of emotion is compensated for by the other, minor Claymore and human characters. Indeed, most of the other Claymores, of which Clare is ranked 47th and last, display a varied amount of emotion.<br /><br />I would have to say Helen is my least favorite. She is one of those smart-asses who bullies the protagonist until he/she is proven wrong about the other's strength. At which point he/she becomes a trusted friend and ally:<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 420px; height: 239px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/HelenEpisode10.png" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />I think I'd trust Helen about as far as I could throw her.<br /><br />I'm really pleased that they could come up with so many different character designs, despite the lack of a color pallet for the Claymores. As you can see from the picture of Helen, the character design consists of almost no color, except for the blond hair. It's easy to design without color in manga, when people can admire the line quality and shading at their own pace, but to do so in anime and still be able to hold the viewer's attention must be very difficult.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Plot Stuff:</span></span></span><br />Pretty much, the story is about Clare, a half-human, half-yoma, who is assigned by a mysterious organization to hunt out yoma. Along the way, she picks up a young boy, who seems to steadily fall for her (and, yes, they <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> eventually kiss). Now since she's part yoma, she has to be careful not to go over her power limit, or else she'll transform into a monster. The yoma form of each Claymore is different, and can be anywhere from a serpentine type creature to a mammalian type, a butterfly type, and beyond. All yoma, whether derived from a Claymore or not, eat human guts. Also, a Claymore that has surpassed her limit must transform into a yoma and can never return to either her Claymore state:<br /><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Priscilla (Claymore, Awakened, & Human States):<br /><br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Priscilla_preview.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Priscilla_awakened_preview.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 93px; height: 52px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/5t.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />We find out Clare is after a former Claymore turned Awakened Being called Priscilla, who had murdered Clare's mentor, Teresa of the Faint Smile. It should be noted that the manga is ongoing with volume 13 being released in Japan now. The series departs from the manga around episode 20, and starting with the 24th episode, becomes completely divergent. I was worried about this becoming too much like DBZ, what with all the talk about surpassing limits. My fears were somewhat justified when the fight between Clare and Priscilla moved to the side of a volcano in episode 25. And even more so when Clare bellows out in a monstrous voice, "PRISCILLA!" Yeah...cue the flashbacks of the battle on Namek. It ended pretty well, though. You can't drag a fight out too long when there's only two episodes left. Plus, they left the ending open with a lot of the main heroes and villains still alive. I don't know how far off from the manga this strayed, but if it's not too far, then they may be able to continue with another season. In the end, Claymore was a fun series when it followed the fantasy and horror cliches. I just wish it didn't have to rip-off a sub-par anime as well. This leads to only an average product on the whole.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2365505944726216166.post-65884545886582338242007-12-21T22:54:00.000-06:002008-01-31T20:28:51.165-06:00Black Lagoon (First & Second Barrages)I downloaded Black Lagoon a while ago, and have just recently finished the series. Now we are watching it in the <a target="_blank" href="http://anime.rso.wisc.edu/previous.html">UW Madison Anime Club</a> (University of Wisconsin-Madison). We'll watch the first season dubbed by Geneon, and the second season as a fansub, since Geneon has now gone under.<br /><div id="msgcns!98F1368B06A75FDA!123" class="bvMsg"><br />I'll admit that despite shooting down a helicopter with torpedo in the second episode, I still had my doubts. It really wasn't what I expected, and I didn't think the art really matched the theme. I was looking for the more serious, squinty eyed look you find in a lot of action anime, and a more realistic character design, like that found Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Instead, Black Lagoon employs a medium-to-big eyed facial design, which matches the personality of Rock, the protagonist. However, it's kind of strange when I saw it used on Revy, a cold, merciless killer. After the first couple of episodes, the character design for Revy becomes more cold looking, but the overall feel of the art is still cartoony. It actually reminded me of <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellsing_%28TV_series%29">Hellsing</a>. Yes, I think I have to despute Wikipedia's reference to this as being a realistically drawn anime. When I think of "realism" in anime, I think of Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Claymore, both of which employ much more detailed art. But then....when is Wikipedia really right about anything? (lol...jk, I actually use it a lot to look up shows)<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Examples of "Realistic" Anime:<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Vampire Hunter D</span></span><br /></span></span><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 379px; height: 209px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/vhd-maybelline.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 380px; height: 208px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/vhd-gorgeous.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Claymore<br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 377px; height: 211px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/Clare-Episode1.png" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 376px; height: 210px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/clare-03-animestockscom.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Examples of <span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></span>"Medium-Big Eyed" Character Designs:<br /></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Black Lagoon</span></span></span><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 387px; height: 217px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/blacklagoon_dvd3_18.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 390px; height: 220px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/bl09-05.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">Hellsing<br /><br /></span><a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img style="width: 389px; height: 291px;" src="http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t312/Romeo_moon/c1.jpg" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Something else I noted, was that the violence seemed to be censored, at least in the first season. There were plenty of gunfights and the bodies did pile up, but a lot of the wounds were inflicted off screen. We then usually see dead bodies lying around in pools of blood. This is a very effective way of portraying violence. Since the earliest horror movies, violence and the fear invoked by it is best experienced through the audience's own imagination. At episode 13, "The Vampire Twins Comen," the on screen killings pick up, however there is still some censorship. This is evident when the twins describe their torture of one of Balalaika's men, rather than actually showing a torture sequence.<br /><br />Finally....I am going to get my hands on the soundtrack for this series, come Hell or high water. The opening and closing sequences are great, especially the ending, which uses an instrumental piece, rather than vocal. This is something that I rarely come upon in anime. However, it is one piece of background music in particular that keeps going through my mind. I don't know the title, but it's the piece that keeps running when the characters are in a dire situation. For example, it played in the background as Revy and Roberta stared each other down before their gun dual. It's base guitar (I think) with and eerie wind instrument blown in behind the guitar. I love it! And eventually, I grew to love the series.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07229426089609714221noreply@blogger.com0