Kore wa Zombie desu ka?: C++
I picked this series up quite a while ago (it was a first-quarter 2011 series), but the sub group that I'd been following for it only got up to about episode 6. I rewatched a bit and decided I really liked the opening theme, and came to want to see the ending, so I did.
KoreZombie (as I often abbreviate it) is certainly not for everyone. It's fan-service heavy, rooted in bizarre mythology jokes and the plot is pretty weak. It's a comedic harem anime, of the sort where the protagonist is a bit of a lech, or at least enjoying the fan service as much as the target audience is, and therefore he (and by extension, we, the viewer) must be punished. KoreZombie takes this idea and runs with it.
The main character is a zombie (though their zombies are different) and, mostly because of the necromancer who resurrected him, he begins acquiring an ever-larger collection of girls who live with or near him, or are accidentally engaged to him, or just like having him around. Hijinks and costume damage ensue: the plot isn't exactly twisted but deals with the fact that our necromancer girl is a genuinely good necromancer, and what that entails, ethically.
Now all that sounds fairly normal with the extra bit of "oh, he's a zombie," but that's really not all the show has going for it. It is out-and-out bizarre and over the top, and it will make you laugh from the sheer absurdity of the situations, and it will embarrass you with what it puts poor Ayumu through to take care of his girls, starting with the end of the very first episode and only going up from there.
It's a good fan servicey comedy series, and if you're the sort of person who enjoys that, check it out. If panty shots or clothing damage sound like they might get on your nerves, stay away.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Haruhi Suzumiya
Haruhi Suzumiya (TV): AA+
If you've stood next to anyone who knows about anime in the past five years, you've heard the name "Haruhi Suzumiya," it's one of the single most popular and hyped series of the last decade and it's treated by older anime fans with the kind of obsessive reverence that Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are given by the younger generation.
I didn't watch it until 2009, partially because I (like most people) hate hype and the pitch of the series ("There's this high school girl and she's god, and her friends need to keep her from finding out") didn't really grab me. But eventually I gave in and sat down to watch it, expecting the worst.
I was shocked to find that it deserves the better part of the hype it gets. Not only is the animation and voice acting absolutely stunning, but it is extremely well-written, the story is detailed, brilliantly designed and highly rewarding of multiple watchings.
I specifically say the story is well written rather than the plot is well written, because as you may have also heard, this series stubbornly refuses to fall into a single genre, and instead of having an overarching plot, it follows the main characters through their adventures. There are plots, the original arc, "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", has one, though the later "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" arc is more like a "the making of" story of the rather painful student movie episode. The effect of this is that the fun of the series is in watching the characters act and interact, which, if you're willing to buy into the series, is a fascinating pastime. It's so fascinating because the narrator, Kyon, is exceptionally unreliable, and we are not privy to any other character's thoughts, so the only personality we can be certain of is what we infer, and there is clearly more going on than both Kyon and the audience are told.
I really wanted to give the series an S ranking, but upon rewatching it, it doesn't quite meet my criteria. It is in almost all ways a supremely stellar example of anime as an art form and a storytelling medium, but it lacks the "extra" something required by the formula. Nevertheless, this series has brilliant art, brilliant music, brilliant voicing and sound direction, brilliant writing and brilliant pacing. That being said, I will give it a recommendation I give most S-rank series.
Watch the first six episodes (of chronological order). If you're still not interested in it, then drop it, but I think most people will find that after the cleverness and brilliance of that two hours of animation that they're curious about exactly what happens to Kyon, Haruhi, Mikuru, Yuki and Koizumi.
As kind of a post-script, I should also mention that the series aired in non-chronological order, and then, when it got a second season, those episodes didn't fit in any one point in the series either, instead being interwoven with the original series episodes. Most DVDs show them in proper chronological order, and the wikipedia episode list will also provide the order the episodes aired in when they aired in 2009, including the second season.
There's also a movie ("The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya") which acts as a capstone arc to the anime series, though it does not come close to finishing the plot laid out in the novels where the series originated. I'll review the movie separately, even though it doesn't make sense without having seen the anime.
If you've stood next to anyone who knows about anime in the past five years, you've heard the name "Haruhi Suzumiya," it's one of the single most popular and hyped series of the last decade and it's treated by older anime fans with the kind of obsessive reverence that Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are given by the younger generation.
I didn't watch it until 2009, partially because I (like most people) hate hype and the pitch of the series ("There's this high school girl and she's god, and her friends need to keep her from finding out") didn't really grab me. But eventually I gave in and sat down to watch it, expecting the worst.
I was shocked to find that it deserves the better part of the hype it gets. Not only is the animation and voice acting absolutely stunning, but it is extremely well-written, the story is detailed, brilliantly designed and highly rewarding of multiple watchings.
I specifically say the story is well written rather than the plot is well written, because as you may have also heard, this series stubbornly refuses to fall into a single genre, and instead of having an overarching plot, it follows the main characters through their adventures. There are plots, the original arc, "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", has one, though the later "The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya" arc is more like a "the making of" story of the rather painful student movie episode. The effect of this is that the fun of the series is in watching the characters act and interact, which, if you're willing to buy into the series, is a fascinating pastime. It's so fascinating because the narrator, Kyon, is exceptionally unreliable, and we are not privy to any other character's thoughts, so the only personality we can be certain of is what we infer, and there is clearly more going on than both Kyon and the audience are told.
I really wanted to give the series an S ranking, but upon rewatching it, it doesn't quite meet my criteria. It is in almost all ways a supremely stellar example of anime as an art form and a storytelling medium, but it lacks the "extra" something required by the formula. Nevertheless, this series has brilliant art, brilliant music, brilliant voicing and sound direction, brilliant writing and brilliant pacing. That being said, I will give it a recommendation I give most S-rank series.
Watch the first six episodes (of chronological order). If you're still not interested in it, then drop it, but I think most people will find that after the cleverness and brilliance of that two hours of animation that they're curious about exactly what happens to Kyon, Haruhi, Mikuru, Yuki and Koizumi.
As kind of a post-script, I should also mention that the series aired in non-chronological order, and then, when it got a second season, those episodes didn't fit in any one point in the series either, instead being interwoven with the original series episodes. Most DVDs show them in proper chronological order, and the wikipedia episode list will also provide the order the episodes aired in when they aired in 2009, including the second season.
There's also a movie ("The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya") which acts as a capstone arc to the anime series, though it does not come close to finishing the plot laid out in the novels where the series originated. I'll review the movie separately, even though it doesn't make sense without having seen the anime.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
K-On!
K-On! (Season 1): B+
K-On! (with one exclamation point, if it had two I would be referring to the second season) is a thirteen-episode slice of life series about the Light Music (meaning "pop music" really, and pronounced in Japanese keion) Club at Sakura All Girl's High School.
Being a slice of life series, there's not much in the way of plot, the series, like most slice of life series, is entirely character-driven, following the band throughout their high school life. There's very little way to describe in words what makes it such a solid example of its genre, as it shares most of its strong points with the other well-known and popular examples: Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star and Hidamari Sketch.
The first season (13 episodes) suffers from a relatively poor animation budget, especially visible in the animation of hands, though the second season (26 episodes) is greatly improved in that area.
Aside from the animation problems, the only reason K-On only gets a high B and not an A is that it lacks broad-strokes appeal. While it is something of a comedy, the main joy of the show is simply in enjoying the girls being high school girls, which isn't exactly the sort of thing every viewer is going to be interested in; K-On is very thoroughly Seinen in its demographic appeal, and it shows. That said, K-On will make you wish you were in a band with a bunch of your friends, or had been in high school.
Don't watch K-On if you're looking for action, special effects or plot. Do watch K-On if the idea of just watching a bunch of girls go through high school appeals to you (especially if you can handle that the girls are all that we're here for).
K-On! (with one exclamation point, if it had two I would be referring to the second season) is a thirteen-episode slice of life series about the Light Music (meaning "pop music" really, and pronounced in Japanese keion) Club at Sakura All Girl's High School.
Being a slice of life series, there's not much in the way of plot, the series, like most slice of life series, is entirely character-driven, following the band throughout their high school life. There's very little way to describe in words what makes it such a solid example of its genre, as it shares most of its strong points with the other well-known and popular examples: Azumanga Daioh, Lucky Star and Hidamari Sketch.
The first season (13 episodes) suffers from a relatively poor animation budget, especially visible in the animation of hands, though the second season (26 episodes) is greatly improved in that area.
Aside from the animation problems, the only reason K-On only gets a high B and not an A is that it lacks broad-strokes appeal. While it is something of a comedy, the main joy of the show is simply in enjoying the girls being high school girls, which isn't exactly the sort of thing every viewer is going to be interested in; K-On is very thoroughly Seinen in its demographic appeal, and it shows. That said, K-On will make you wish you were in a band with a bunch of your friends, or had been in high school.
Don't watch K-On if you're looking for action, special effects or plot. Do watch K-On if the idea of just watching a bunch of girls go through high school appeals to you (especially if you can handle that the girls are all that we're here for).
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: A
I don't remember when I first heard about this movie, but I resolved to see it a while back.
It's good enough that I don't really feel any need to explain it too much. There's a girl, right? And she learns that she can jump through time, right? There, you know most of what's going on in the movie.
What, you want more?
It's a story about growing up and making decisions and taking responsibility and coming to terms with yourself. It's got some romance in it. It's also short, about 100 minutes.
I wouldn't recommend it to people who aren't interested in interesting characters interacting, or who have trouble following mildly convoluted plots, or if you're looking for explosive action, ninja, fan service or gore. If you're basically anyone else, I very much recommend it.
I don't remember when I first heard about this movie, but I resolved to see it a while back.
It's good enough that I don't really feel any need to explain it too much. There's a girl, right? And she learns that she can jump through time, right? There, you know most of what's going on in the movie.
What, you want more?
It's a story about growing up and making decisions and taking responsibility and coming to terms with yourself. It's got some romance in it. It's also short, about 100 minutes.
I wouldn't recommend it to people who aren't interested in interesting characters interacting, or who have trouble following mildly convoluted plots, or if you're looking for explosive action, ninja, fan service or gore. If you're basically anyone else, I very much recommend it.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Shuffle!
Shuffle!: B
I first heard of Shuffle! (yes the exclamation point is part of the title) when I was looking at the tropes page for "star making role", and checking out some of my favorite voice actors, in this case Ms. Yuko Goto. Seeing as it was considered more important for her career than the later and much better-known Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I determined it was probably worth watching.
Initial impressions were pretty meh. Our main character, Rin, lives with his childhood friend Kaede (voiced by Goto), the same age as he is, who is also exceptionally devoted to taking care of him and plainly attracted to him. It's revealed with little fanfare that in this world, demons and gods live side-by-side with humanity, after the opening of the gateway between the three planes ten years ago. The first episode kicks the series off by revealing that, some eight years previous, a young Rin won the hearts of the daughters of the lord of the Gods and the lord of the Demons, and now they'll be transferring to his school, moving in next door to him and won't he please pick one and marry her?
It sounds contrived and frankly weak, and I was extremely skeptical of the series' overall quality, but I kept watching, and the characters developed. The cast remains fairly stable in size, time is taken to increase depth rather than breadth, and as the series begins delving into histories which, while often fantastic, are not without merit as the series becomes an evolving discussion of how a group of girls who were all friends and all liked the same boy would behave. The series also strictly avoids having a single obvious "main girl" who's destined to win Rin's heart, which, combined with the series' willingness to have the girls in question gain and lose ground in the "race," actually makes for a compelling story of love, rejection and friendship in adversity.
It's not a supremely realistic treatment of the subject matter, but it's definitely much more interesting than most other harem series I've seen, which retain a strict status quo and a protagonist who is, for whatever reason, uninterested in actually advancing his relationships with the female cast.
And, as promised, Yuko Goto's character Kaede ultimately delivers an amazing performance in the later episodes, as her inner demons are finally faced.
If you're not interested in fan servicey harem anime, go ahead and skip it and you won't miss out, but if you're interested in a relatively intelligent and well-crafted look at the genre, you could do a lot worse than Shuffle!.
Final Note: There's a compilation OVA series, called "Shuffle! Memories" which I didn't watch, except for the last episode (which is an omake Fan Service episode), but as I understand is primarily a much shorter, re-cut version of the original series, and can probably safely be skipped.
I first heard of Shuffle! (yes the exclamation point is part of the title) when I was looking at the tropes page for "star making role", and checking out some of my favorite voice actors, in this case Ms. Yuko Goto. Seeing as it was considered more important for her career than the later and much better-known Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I determined it was probably worth watching.
Initial impressions were pretty meh. Our main character, Rin, lives with his childhood friend Kaede (voiced by Goto), the same age as he is, who is also exceptionally devoted to taking care of him and plainly attracted to him. It's revealed with little fanfare that in this world, demons and gods live side-by-side with humanity, after the opening of the gateway between the three planes ten years ago. The first episode kicks the series off by revealing that, some eight years previous, a young Rin won the hearts of the daughters of the lord of the Gods and the lord of the Demons, and now they'll be transferring to his school, moving in next door to him and won't he please pick one and marry her?
It sounds contrived and frankly weak, and I was extremely skeptical of the series' overall quality, but I kept watching, and the characters developed. The cast remains fairly stable in size, time is taken to increase depth rather than breadth, and as the series begins delving into histories which, while often fantastic, are not without merit as the series becomes an evolving discussion of how a group of girls who were all friends and all liked the same boy would behave. The series also strictly avoids having a single obvious "main girl" who's destined to win Rin's heart, which, combined with the series' willingness to have the girls in question gain and lose ground in the "race," actually makes for a compelling story of love, rejection and friendship in adversity.
It's not a supremely realistic treatment of the subject matter, but it's definitely much more interesting than most other harem series I've seen, which retain a strict status quo and a protagonist who is, for whatever reason, uninterested in actually advancing his relationships with the female cast.
And, as promised, Yuko Goto's character Kaede ultimately delivers an amazing performance in the later episodes, as her inner demons are finally faced.
If you're not interested in fan servicey harem anime, go ahead and skip it and you won't miss out, but if you're interested in a relatively intelligent and well-crafted look at the genre, you could do a lot worse than Shuffle!.
Final Note: There's a compilation OVA series, called "Shuffle! Memories" which I didn't watch, except for the last episode (which is an omake Fan Service episode), but as I understand is primarily a much shorter, re-cut version of the original series, and can probably safely be skipped.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Lovely Complex
Lovely Complex: C
So I don't watch a lot of shojo anime (if you don't know the terminology for Japanese demographics, that's the for "little girls"), but due to the constraints of the aforementioned deal to watch everything my friend watches, I wound up watching this series.
It's about a very tall girl and a very short boy and the relationship that eventually blossoms between them. And really, given that it's shojo, the rest follows type: there are hurdles to them getting together, difficulties admitting they even like each other and the sort of issues I left behind in high school, all spelled out pretty plainly in a group of people who I all recognized (some of whom I remembered being, in all their high school idiocy). And, while I will acknowledge that I enjoyed high school more than a lot of people claim to have done so, I enjoyed being taken back there.
My criticisms of it revolve around its formulaic nature. Girl. Boy. Friends. Romance. Manzai comedy. There's not a lot more too it than that, but it does manage to stay amusing. For me, as a student of Japanese as a language, I found the series occurring primarily in the Kansai regional accent to be interesting to listen to, though less dedicated students of the language probably won't even notice.
It's worth watching if you're interested in light-hearted (if frustratingly drawn-out) high school romance with a bent toward honest humor and the awkwardness of high school (especially with a protagonist couple who don't fit the traditional gender ideals), but I can't recommend it on much beyond that.
So I don't watch a lot of shojo anime (if you don't know the terminology for Japanese demographics, that's the for "little girls"), but due to the constraints of the aforementioned deal to watch everything my friend watches, I wound up watching this series.
It's about a very tall girl and a very short boy and the relationship that eventually blossoms between them. And really, given that it's shojo, the rest follows type: there are hurdles to them getting together, difficulties admitting they even like each other and the sort of issues I left behind in high school, all spelled out pretty plainly in a group of people who I all recognized (some of whom I remembered being, in all their high school idiocy). And, while I will acknowledge that I enjoyed high school more than a lot of people claim to have done so, I enjoyed being taken back there.
My criticisms of it revolve around its formulaic nature. Girl. Boy. Friends. Romance. Manzai comedy. There's not a lot more too it than that, but it does manage to stay amusing. For me, as a student of Japanese as a language, I found the series occurring primarily in the Kansai regional accent to be interesting to listen to, though less dedicated students of the language probably won't even notice.
It's worth watching if you're interested in light-hearted (if frustratingly drawn-out) high school romance with a bent toward honest humor and the awkwardness of high school (especially with a protagonist couple who don't fit the traditional gender ideals), but I can't recommend it on much beyond that.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Katanagatari
Katanagatari: A
Katanagatari (a Japanese portmanteau, combining the word "sword" with the latter character of the word for "story") is the second anime series I've seen based off the writing of of Nisio Isin. The other is Bakemonogatari (Ghostory, another portmanteau, though it has nothing to do with Katanagatari), and both I have found to be absolutely exemplary stories in terms of characterization, pacing, crafting, and combining humor and drama.
The first thing a viewer of Katanagatari will notice is the uniquely simple and extraordinarily stylized animation style. The animation and backgrounds are exceptionally flat and cell-shaded in appearance, which gives a mythic tone appropriate to a story set in Shogunate Japan. The second interesting factor about the series is slightly more subtle: the series is provided in 12 1-hour (with commercials, realistically 50 minutes of animation) episodes, making its format extremely unusual. Originally the series was 12 chapters, one released each month, and corresponding to Togame and Shichika's travels in that month, the animated version aired three years later but used the same format: one episode per month, covering the main character's activities for that month.
The plot is easily summarized: "A strategist in the service of the Shogun named Togame convinces the swordless swordsman Yasuri Shichika to fall in love with her so that she can collect twelve legendary swords, the Perfected Deviant Blades of Shikizaki Kiki." If you noticed that there are twelve Deviant Blades and twelve episodes, give yourself a cookie: the couple obtain one sword in each episode, and indeed, each episode is named for the sword that they will deal with in that episode, usually via Shichika fighting the sword's current owner.
It sounds like a forgettable and formulaic shonen action series. It isn't. It is an emotional tale of conflict, manipulation, lies, deceit, betrayal, loyalty and fate. It is also incredibly bloody, with merely a handful of named characters surviving to the end of the story, and many of them not surviving the episode they are introduced. Despite this, their deaths are rarely brushed over or ignored, the characters discuss the fact that they are killing people and react reasonably and accordingly (or the lack of reaction is treated as a sign of insanity, in one case). It is an extremely grown-up story with an extremely juvenile premise, and so it appeals to a lot of nerds like myself.
Beautifully animated, creatively written, lovingly portrayed and heartbreakingly brutal, Katanagatari is a tale of swords: what it means to possess them, use them, and, ultimately, be them.
Katanagatari (a Japanese portmanteau, combining the word "sword" with the latter character of the word for "story") is the second anime series I've seen based off the writing of of Nisio Isin. The other is Bakemonogatari (Ghostory, another portmanteau, though it has nothing to do with Katanagatari), and both I have found to be absolutely exemplary stories in terms of characterization, pacing, crafting, and combining humor and drama.
The first thing a viewer of Katanagatari will notice is the uniquely simple and extraordinarily stylized animation style. The animation and backgrounds are exceptionally flat and cell-shaded in appearance, which gives a mythic tone appropriate to a story set in Shogunate Japan. The second interesting factor about the series is slightly more subtle: the series is provided in 12 1-hour (with commercials, realistically 50 minutes of animation) episodes, making its format extremely unusual. Originally the series was 12 chapters, one released each month, and corresponding to Togame and Shichika's travels in that month, the animated version aired three years later but used the same format: one episode per month, covering the main character's activities for that month.
The plot is easily summarized: "A strategist in the service of the Shogun named Togame convinces the swordless swordsman Yasuri Shichika to fall in love with her so that she can collect twelve legendary swords, the Perfected Deviant Blades of Shikizaki Kiki." If you noticed that there are twelve Deviant Blades and twelve episodes, give yourself a cookie: the couple obtain one sword in each episode, and indeed, each episode is named for the sword that they will deal with in that episode, usually via Shichika fighting the sword's current owner.
It sounds like a forgettable and formulaic shonen action series. It isn't. It is an emotional tale of conflict, manipulation, lies, deceit, betrayal, loyalty and fate. It is also incredibly bloody, with merely a handful of named characters surviving to the end of the story, and many of them not surviving the episode they are introduced. Despite this, their deaths are rarely brushed over or ignored, the characters discuss the fact that they are killing people and react reasonably and accordingly (or the lack of reaction is treated as a sign of insanity, in one case). It is an extremely grown-up story with an extremely juvenile premise, and so it appeals to a lot of nerds like myself.
Beautifully animated, creatively written, lovingly portrayed and heartbreakingly brutal, Katanagatari is a tale of swords: what it means to possess them, use them, and, ultimately, be them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)