Super Dimension Fortress Macross: C
It always feels so mean to give truly classic and formative anime poor ratings, because usually it's not that they're bad, just that they haven't aged particularly well.
Super Dimension Fortress Macross is an early 80's mecha anime about a war with aliens. It was intended (according to some reasearch I did) as a modest parody of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, but it quickly became its own serious series. For me personally, the oddest thing was seeing that the series was responsible for a number of mecha designs which were used in BattleTech, a game I thought was totally awesome when I was 12. This is because the rights for Macross' use and distribution in the United States caused it to be combined with two other series to make Robotech.
The series itself breaks a number of traditional conventions over its knee, and I do appreciate that. The main character, Ichijo Hikaru, is not a super-ace unstoppable superman, and feels very real and believable (at least until late in the series, but I'll get to that in a bit). Lynn Minmay also feels like a relatively normal girl thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and shows believable confusion at her sudden popularity and such things.
The alien invaders (The Zentradi) are an interesting take on a supremely militaristic society, having an... unusual reaction to human culture, which creates a much different dynamic surrounding the conflict than most series present.
Now I'm praising it an awful lot, so why did I give it only a C? Well, the animation has aged very poorly and the romance plot, which is very important to the development of the series as a whole, drags on, with the main characters becoming incredibly self-absorbed and thoughtless by the end to justify failing to resolve it. Sound familiar? It should, because it's a very modern harem series conceit, appearing about 20 years early.
Finally, episode 27 wraps the series up nicely and provides a superb finishing point for the series... which is why it's a shame that the series is 36 episodes long. The final 9 episodes kind of jog around, feeling epoxyed on at the last minute to keep cashing in on a popular series. That's not the sort of thing that happens in modern anime, and it's something I personally really like about it as an art form, and Macross' actual ending episode feels kind of out of nowhere, failing to wrap up a lot of supporting characters' stories and generally leaving us hanging with regards to conclusion.
It IS a classic, don't get me wrong, and not unreasonably so, it has some genuinely moving sections and a very thoughtful interpretation of culture and culture shock, but considered as a whole the experience falls short of a lot of more complex modern stories.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Gundam SEED Destiny
Gundam SEED Destiny: C
So it took me a while to finish this series, as I started it a while ago and split the watching between the first 35 episodes and the last 15, but here it is, better late than never.
There's a lot of debate (or so I hear) between the original SEED and SEED Destiny as to which is the superior series. I've wound up giving SEED Destiny a lower grade than I gave SEED for weird reasons, especially in that, for the most part, I found Destiny to be more engaging a story than SEED, so perhaps it's because I split my viewing in half.
To provide a little background, the series begins a year and a half after SEED lets off, and introduces us to a new protagonist, Shinn Asuka who immediately sets himself apart from his predecessor Kira Yamato by being gung-ho and unhesitating at jumping into combat to fight for his ideals and his people. And I really liked Shinn, he was a refreshing alternate outlook on 'The Hero,' he's got a temper, falls in love easily and is generally a bit prickly but a good guy and someone I could relate to without Kira's constant hesitation and insistence that he doesn't want to fight.
SEED Destiny's plot is also more complicated, the characters do an intricate dance of friendship, love, duty and loss that remains interesting and quite fresh...
Up until, just like SEED, the last seven or eight episodes, when it seems as though the series goes "okay, that's enough of that, now one side has to win, so the other side goes ahead and does something heinously evil and then loses." Just like SEED. And that's ultimately why I had to grade it lower, because it was both a bigger disappointment than SEED was and because I would have thought they'd have known better than to do the exact same thing a second time.
I also need to bitch about Kira Yamato a little bit more. I didn't mind him so much in SEED, he was a little self-righteous, but he made mistakes, suffered, got angry and emotional, lost occasionally, learned and grew as a person and I could appreciate all that. In SEED Destiny, he is never wrong, learns nothing, the only evidence we have that he ever doubts anything is when he tells us after the fact that he wasn't sure what he was doing was the right thing, (it was) and is only so much as frightened once in the entire series, which he promptly recovers from.
Would I recommend SEED Destiny? I... have to say yes, because the early series is really good, and I really do like the perspective that Shinn gives, because I really like watching sympathetic characters, even protagonists, fight each other, but the almost cop-out ending was disappointing and weakened SEED by association.
I begin to see why people say the Universal Century Gundam series are better... I mean, Zeta may have had the most singularly downer ending of any series I've ever seen (including Neon Genesis Evangelion but maybe not Bokurano), but at least the ending was satisfying, and didn't feel like the villains were being uncharacteristically incautious or vile.
So it took me a while to finish this series, as I started it a while ago and split the watching between the first 35 episodes and the last 15, but here it is, better late than never.
There's a lot of debate (or so I hear) between the original SEED and SEED Destiny as to which is the superior series. I've wound up giving SEED Destiny a lower grade than I gave SEED for weird reasons, especially in that, for the most part, I found Destiny to be more engaging a story than SEED, so perhaps it's because I split my viewing in half.
To provide a little background, the series begins a year and a half after SEED lets off, and introduces us to a new protagonist, Shinn Asuka who immediately sets himself apart from his predecessor Kira Yamato by being gung-ho and unhesitating at jumping into combat to fight for his ideals and his people. And I really liked Shinn, he was a refreshing alternate outlook on 'The Hero,' he's got a temper, falls in love easily and is generally a bit prickly but a good guy and someone I could relate to without Kira's constant hesitation and insistence that he doesn't want to fight.
SEED Destiny's plot is also more complicated, the characters do an intricate dance of friendship, love, duty and loss that remains interesting and quite fresh...
Up until, just like SEED, the last seven or eight episodes, when it seems as though the series goes "okay, that's enough of that, now one side has to win, so the other side goes ahead and does something heinously evil and then loses." Just like SEED. And that's ultimately why I had to grade it lower, because it was both a bigger disappointment than SEED was and because I would have thought they'd have known better than to do the exact same thing a second time.
I also need to bitch about Kira Yamato a little bit more. I didn't mind him so much in SEED, he was a little self-righteous, but he made mistakes, suffered, got angry and emotional, lost occasionally, learned and grew as a person and I could appreciate all that. In SEED Destiny, he is never wrong, learns nothing, the only evidence we have that he ever doubts anything is when he tells us after the fact that he wasn't sure what he was doing was the right thing, (it was) and is only so much as frightened once in the entire series, which he promptly recovers from.
Would I recommend SEED Destiny? I... have to say yes, because the early series is really good, and I really do like the perspective that Shinn gives, because I really like watching sympathetic characters, even protagonists, fight each other, but the almost cop-out ending was disappointing and weakened SEED by association.
I begin to see why people say the Universal Century Gundam series are better... I mean, Zeta may have had the most singularly downer ending of any series I've ever seen (including Neon Genesis Evangelion but maybe not Bokurano), but at least the ending was satisfying, and didn't feel like the villains were being uncharacteristically incautious or vile.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
FLCL
Well, due work being horrendous plus a couple new hobbies I've been away from Anime for a while. Due to unfortunate circumstances that this isn't the place for, I find myself with free time again, so tonight I rewatched a series which was, when I first watched it, my favorite series of all time. It was the second series (after Neon Genesis Evangelion) to hold that title, and held it for about 7 years, until I saw Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. So, without further ado:
FLCL: S
FLCL is a series that often stands out to American audiences as being 'one of those weird Japanese things that doesn't make any sense.' The reason for this is that it's a series that does not explain itself. The introduction that I was given for it was a single sentence that adds just enough context to the raw randomness of the series to make it not only enjoyable but also deeply and brilliantly symbolic: "This is a story about growing up."
The thing that strikes me the hardest about the series is its atmosphere, a unique blend of an unusual art style and the soundtrack provided by The Pillows, all guitars, bass and drums, carrying the emotion and nostalgia of adolescence.
The series is short, six episodes in total, and thus with the exception of Naota, our protagonist, development is simple and direct, but as I've mentioned, the series is laden down with symbolism, from the very subtle to the extremely obvious, in a way which greatly rewards repeated viewings, not only do little actions mean more and little details show up, but the very characters themselves are symbols, and their relationships with each other will remind almost anyone of loves and losses they've had, and that is the true brilliance of the series.
Like all series I truly adore, I hesitate to try to explain the plot, mostly because it would involve trying to explain about an alien corporation sending robots to earth through portals created inside people's heads, and how this relates to a normal middle school student and a strange woman on a vespa with an electric bass that she hits people in the head with.
No, really, these are the major plot points. I won't bother trying to explain about the Space Pirate King and how the Space Police are after him and how that figures into the series.
FLCL's only flaw is the dedication it requires to really get the most out of it. More than most series, this is one you'll want to watch twice, maybe five or six times, maybe even more, to really get what it's about. Fortunately, it's shorter than most series, and the music alone makes it worth watching over. Go check it out.
FLCL: S
FLCL is a series that often stands out to American audiences as being 'one of those weird Japanese things that doesn't make any sense.' The reason for this is that it's a series that does not explain itself. The introduction that I was given for it was a single sentence that adds just enough context to the raw randomness of the series to make it not only enjoyable but also deeply and brilliantly symbolic: "This is a story about growing up."
The thing that strikes me the hardest about the series is its atmosphere, a unique blend of an unusual art style and the soundtrack provided by The Pillows, all guitars, bass and drums, carrying the emotion and nostalgia of adolescence.
The series is short, six episodes in total, and thus with the exception of Naota, our protagonist, development is simple and direct, but as I've mentioned, the series is laden down with symbolism, from the very subtle to the extremely obvious, in a way which greatly rewards repeated viewings, not only do little actions mean more and little details show up, but the very characters themselves are symbols, and their relationships with each other will remind almost anyone of loves and losses they've had, and that is the true brilliance of the series.
Like all series I truly adore, I hesitate to try to explain the plot, mostly because it would involve trying to explain about an alien corporation sending robots to earth through portals created inside people's heads, and how this relates to a normal middle school student and a strange woman on a vespa with an electric bass that she hits people in the head with.
No, really, these are the major plot points. I won't bother trying to explain about the Space Pirate King and how the Space Police are after him and how that figures into the series.
FLCL's only flaw is the dedication it requires to really get the most out of it. More than most series, this is one you'll want to watch twice, maybe five or six times, maybe even more, to really get what it's about. Fortunately, it's shorter than most series, and the music alone makes it worth watching over. Go check it out.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Love Hina
Love Hina: B
This is an older series, one I hadn't watched in a decade, and a very contentious one at that. Love Hina is infamous for popularizing two major tropes which would become ubiquitously known in anime in the first decade of the 21st century: the Harem Series and the Tsundere. Both of these tropes are also renowned for being blatant wish fulfillment on the part of the young male audience, which is very much looked down upon by our culture (both the idea that a lot of girls would all fall for the same guy and the entire Tsundere concept, which I could write an essay on alone). Love Hina was by no means the first series to use these elements, but it was one of the most popular examples, popular enough to be the standard from which all later versions of the theme would deviate from.
I first watched it in 2002, during my first flirtation with anime on a substantial level, beyond just watching what I could on KTEH. I remembered, at that time, actually really enjoying it, despite the somewhat unfortunate implications of it all, the absurdity of the girls liking someone like Keitaro (who is, like most Harem protagonists, a classic well-meaning loser), and all that. And since it's been most of a decade since I'd watched it, I figured, why not watch it again. So I did.
I'm pleased, if surprised, to say that it's pretty much exactly like I remember it. Judged on its own merits, it ranks a B, just barely. I almost gave it a C+, but overall, the characters are solid, the humor is reasonable, and a lot of the things which many people rate as "dude not okay" (mostly involving the massive amount of unjust violence perpetrated on Keitaro) just don't register for me.
It's a classic series, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is bothered by anything out of the Harem genre, because like I've mentioned, it very much epitomizes it. But if you want to know what all the fuss is about, and get a sense of the best-known example, here it is.
This is an older series, one I hadn't watched in a decade, and a very contentious one at that. Love Hina is infamous for popularizing two major tropes which would become ubiquitously known in anime in the first decade of the 21st century: the Harem Series and the Tsundere. Both of these tropes are also renowned for being blatant wish fulfillment on the part of the young male audience, which is very much looked down upon by our culture (both the idea that a lot of girls would all fall for the same guy and the entire Tsundere concept, which I could write an essay on alone). Love Hina was by no means the first series to use these elements, but it was one of the most popular examples, popular enough to be the standard from which all later versions of the theme would deviate from.
I first watched it in 2002, during my first flirtation with anime on a substantial level, beyond just watching what I could on KTEH. I remembered, at that time, actually really enjoying it, despite the somewhat unfortunate implications of it all, the absurdity of the girls liking someone like Keitaro (who is, like most Harem protagonists, a classic well-meaning loser), and all that. And since it's been most of a decade since I'd watched it, I figured, why not watch it again. So I did.
I'm pleased, if surprised, to say that it's pretty much exactly like I remember it. Judged on its own merits, it ranks a B, just barely. I almost gave it a C+, but overall, the characters are solid, the humor is reasonable, and a lot of the things which many people rate as "dude not okay" (mostly involving the massive amount of unjust violence perpetrated on Keitaro) just don't register for me.
It's a classic series, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone who is bothered by anything out of the Harem genre, because like I've mentioned, it very much epitomizes it. But if you want to know what all the fuss is about, and get a sense of the best-known example, here it is.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Dog Days
Dog Days: B+
So this is another fresh-off-the-air series from Japan, just over. Shinku, a normal junior high school athlete finds himself transported into a strange world of cat and dog-people, and the dog girl princess explains that he has been summoned to be their hero in their war against the cat people. This sounds awfully serious, until he learns that war in this world is an exceptionally polite affair in which nobody dies, people are rarely injured beyond going into harmless ball-forms of their animal type, and that the entire thing is broadcast to both nations in a manner not unlike a sporting event. Realizing that this is the best world ever, Shinku throws himself into the role of Hero and makes friends with the Princess, her captain of the guard, and even quite a few of the cat-people commanders, as war is for fun in this world, and wins and losses rarely result in hard feelings. The only problem is that the's no way to return a Hero back to his homeworld, and Shinku only has two weeks of spring break...
Dog Days is an incredibly lighthearted series with little in the way of substance. Fan service runs oddly high for how innocent the characters themselves seem to be, overall, and the series is more than a little saccharine. This mostly pales, however, to how thoroughly it manages to be really fun and adorable. Seriously, if I could get a Dog Days version of Dynasty Warriors, I would play it so much more than I play regular Dynasty Warriors. (Especially if they kept the fan service levels and my idea that for KO animations named characters suffer critical clothing damage.)
Due to the relative lightness of its plot and characterization, I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone who doesn't appreciate moe as an art form, as aside from their unique approach to warfare (which is worth checking out just for the idea), the series provides few surprises. If light-hearted cuteness sounds like your thing, check it out. But don't hope for a deep and engaging plot, just relax and enjoy the silliness.
So this is another fresh-off-the-air series from Japan, just over. Shinku, a normal junior high school athlete finds himself transported into a strange world of cat and dog-people, and the dog girl princess explains that he has been summoned to be their hero in their war against the cat people. This sounds awfully serious, until he learns that war in this world is an exceptionally polite affair in which nobody dies, people are rarely injured beyond going into harmless ball-forms of their animal type, and that the entire thing is broadcast to both nations in a manner not unlike a sporting event. Realizing that this is the best world ever, Shinku throws himself into the role of Hero and makes friends with the Princess, her captain of the guard, and even quite a few of the cat-people commanders, as war is for fun in this world, and wins and losses rarely result in hard feelings. The only problem is that the's no way to return a Hero back to his homeworld, and Shinku only has two weeks of spring break...
Dog Days is an incredibly lighthearted series with little in the way of substance. Fan service runs oddly high for how innocent the characters themselves seem to be, overall, and the series is more than a little saccharine. This mostly pales, however, to how thoroughly it manages to be really fun and adorable. Seriously, if I could get a Dog Days version of Dynasty Warriors, I would play it so much more than I play regular Dynasty Warriors. (Especially if they kept the fan service levels and my idea that for KO animations named characters suffer critical clothing damage.)
Due to the relative lightness of its plot and characterization, I wouldn't recommend this series to anyone who doesn't appreciate moe as an art form, as aside from their unique approach to warfare (which is worth checking out just for the idea), the series provides few surprises. If light-hearted cuteness sounds like your thing, check it out. But don't hope for a deep and engaging plot, just relax and enjoy the silliness.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Pani Poni Dash!
Pani Poni Dash!: B+
Another series directed by my favorite director in the Anime business, Akiyuki Shinbo, though one of his earlier works. Like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (which Shinbo also directed), it is a slice of life series taking place at a high school and focusing on a very unusual teacher and their collection of very unusual (and predominantly female) students, and, like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, it makes extensive use of cultural reference, non sequitur humor and absurdity (though for the western viewer, cultural reference and absurdity often seem like the same thing). Pani Poni Dash! (a name which does not make sense after you've seen the series) revolves around the students of Rebecca Miyamoto, a ten-year-old genius who has returned to Japan to teach high school.
As a slice of life series, there isn't enough plot to speak of, which does make room for more humor, misunderstandings and general comedic sociopathy among the cast. It's fun and doesn't take itself seriously, the characters manage to be both caricatures and individuals at the same time and overall the humor holds up very well so long as you don't try to catch every single reference the series throws out.
All that said, it's a difficult series to recommend to people. It's not brilliant, but it's good for a laugh, it's not lavishly animated but it's never painful to watch, and while I have very few criticisms of it I'm not entirely sure what sort of person absolutely must see this series. I suppose if I had to criticize it I'd say that it doesn't really go anywhere: not that it really has anywhere it needs to go, it's a slice of life show.
So I guess in short: if you're into watching truly bizarre high school-ish antics, check it out. If you're looking for something with a bit more story and meaning, skip it.
Another series directed by my favorite director in the Anime business, Akiyuki Shinbo, though one of his earlier works. Like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (which Shinbo also directed), it is a slice of life series taking place at a high school and focusing on a very unusual teacher and their collection of very unusual (and predominantly female) students, and, like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, it makes extensive use of cultural reference, non sequitur humor and absurdity (though for the western viewer, cultural reference and absurdity often seem like the same thing). Pani Poni Dash! (a name which does not make sense after you've seen the series) revolves around the students of Rebecca Miyamoto, a ten-year-old genius who has returned to Japan to teach high school.
As a slice of life series, there isn't enough plot to speak of, which does make room for more humor, misunderstandings and general comedic sociopathy among the cast. It's fun and doesn't take itself seriously, the characters manage to be both caricatures and individuals at the same time and overall the humor holds up very well so long as you don't try to catch every single reference the series throws out.
All that said, it's a difficult series to recommend to people. It's not brilliant, but it's good for a laugh, it's not lavishly animated but it's never painful to watch, and while I have very few criticisms of it I'm not entirely sure what sort of person absolutely must see this series. I suppose if I had to criticize it I'd say that it doesn't really go anywhere: not that it really has anywhere it needs to go, it's a slice of life show.
So I guess in short: if you're into watching truly bizarre high school-ish antics, check it out. If you're looking for something with a bit more story and meaning, skip it.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Maria+Holic
Maria+Holic: B
So, I believe I've mentioned my love of the director Akiyuki Shinbo before (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari). It's to the point where I will watch anything he's directed simply because he's directed it, and so, with some reservation, I finally started watching Maria+Holic.
I was reluctant because the pitch for the series gave me reservations: a lesbian schoolgirl named Kanako attends an all-girl's catholic school (in Japan, this is a bigger, slightly more comedic deal, due to the relative non-presence of Christianity), where she encounters a lovely girl named Mariya who is actually a boy in disguise. Having found out his secret, he promptly browbeats her with the fact that he is the former headmaster's grandchild into keeping his secret and generally tolerating his abuse.
I don't think it's difficult to see why that pitch would raise the heckles of forward-thinking audiences, and indeed, for the first two episodes I was a little on edge around the entire subject. But as the cast is introduced, the series focuses more around Kanako's difficulties keeping her fantasies under control and trying to make friends and be accepted and surviving having her heart broken by her mostly-straight classmates, while doing her best to avoid Mariya's wrath. Kanako is portrayed as so outstandingly weak against pretty girls (and, in fact, Mariya, when he's acting girly and dressing sexy, which he does extensively) that it's very difficult to accept her suffering as, if not quite truly deserved, at least as being partially her own fault.
The series also makes extensive use of Akiyuki Shinbo's traditional style of layered reference, fourth-wall-busting humor, extensive art shifts and downright surgical use of fan service, all of which I, personally, find extremely interesting to experience.
Overall, Maria+Holic is an odd concept written very well and brilliantly executed. The comedy is full of schadenfreude, and anyone who is looking for a genuine and honest look at the difficulties of homosexual teenagers will be disappointed, anyone who can appreciate a little black humor at the expense of a girl who thinks like a 30-year-old man will find something to laugh at.
So, I believe I've mentioned my love of the director Akiyuki Shinbo before (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Bakemonogatari). It's to the point where I will watch anything he's directed simply because he's directed it, and so, with some reservation, I finally started watching Maria+Holic.
I was reluctant because the pitch for the series gave me reservations: a lesbian schoolgirl named Kanako attends an all-girl's catholic school (in Japan, this is a bigger, slightly more comedic deal, due to the relative non-presence of Christianity), where she encounters a lovely girl named Mariya who is actually a boy in disguise. Having found out his secret, he promptly browbeats her with the fact that he is the former headmaster's grandchild into keeping his secret and generally tolerating his abuse.
I don't think it's difficult to see why that pitch would raise the heckles of forward-thinking audiences, and indeed, for the first two episodes I was a little on edge around the entire subject. But as the cast is introduced, the series focuses more around Kanako's difficulties keeping her fantasies under control and trying to make friends and be accepted and surviving having her heart broken by her mostly-straight classmates, while doing her best to avoid Mariya's wrath. Kanako is portrayed as so outstandingly weak against pretty girls (and, in fact, Mariya, when he's acting girly and dressing sexy, which he does extensively) that it's very difficult to accept her suffering as, if not quite truly deserved, at least as being partially her own fault.
The series also makes extensive use of Akiyuki Shinbo's traditional style of layered reference, fourth-wall-busting humor, extensive art shifts and downright surgical use of fan service, all of which I, personally, find extremely interesting to experience.
Overall, Maria+Holic is an odd concept written very well and brilliantly executed. The comedy is full of schadenfreude, and anyone who is looking for a genuine and honest look at the difficulties of homosexual teenagers will be disappointed, anyone who can appreciate a little black humor at the expense of a girl who thinks like a 30-year-old man will find something to laugh at.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Gintama (Episodes 1-81)
Jeez, it's been a while since I've updated.
There are a number of reasons for that, but the main one is that I bought a PS3 and have been playing BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Final Fantasy XIII, Prototype and Arcana Heart 3 rather than watching anime. Then I started watching again, and I decided to watch Gintama of all things, a 201 episode series. Unlike most such long series undertakings, Gintama is episodic and ridiculous enough that I don't actually feel the need to finish it (I've gotten through 81 episodes and enjoyed myself but I don't really need more, I don't think).
So, Gintama.
I haven't watched the entire thing, and it's a very different beast from anything I've reviewed so far, so I'm going to tentatively give it a B. This is actually high praise seeing as I watched a full 80 episodes and one of the things I judge very strictly on is how well a series uses the time it takes up. Gintama is shamelessly episodic and scarcely has a plot to call a plot: filler isn't so much an unfortunate necessity as a way of life for the show, but since it has thoroughly embraced it, it works out quite well.
The primary premise of the series is that, in the middle of Edo-era Japan, a group of anthropomorphic animal aliens invaded earth and subdued the local populace. A large number of samurai resisted the invasion, but the resistance fell apart as the government had already surrendered. Among these samurai was Sakata Gintoki, who now works as a "Yorozuya," a jack-of-all-trades who will do any odd job for enough money to pay the rent. Gintoki is a lazy, slightly perverted, immature, self-centered jerk with a heart of gold who loves his friends and has dedicated himself to what he believes is most important in life. He is accompanied by his "apprentice" Shinpachi and a young alien girl who he took in named Kagura, but the setting and the character's work mostly serve as a framing device for screwball comedy, social commentary and japanese pop cultural in-jokes.
The series has no fourth wall, with the characters being actively aware they're in an anime (despite the fact that they also read manga), and indeed often trying to prevent each other from doing things that would get them cancelled. Gintoki's laziness is occasionally countered by threats of him no longer being the main character of the show, and they are not afraid to poke fun at themselves: during a clip show episode, they comment how Kagura's figure has regressed since her first appearance, then move on to re-dubbing over lines from previous episodes with the commenting character's voice during the clip show.
It noticeably violently averts traditional fan service and the many of the characters are deliberately drawn as being somewhat plain and unattractive, if not downright ugly. The show also deliberately stretches the bounds of what they are allowed to broadcast and the boundaries of taste, having a particular penchant for toilet humor, though generally avoiding sex jokes while remaining exceptionally puerile. The counter to this is that when it (very occasionally) decides to do a serious plot, it does an excellent job of maintaining the series' general humor and treating the serious plot with just enough gravity to allow it to be taken seriously, a combination which deserves sincere commendation.
Gintama is a very unusual series, and very different from what I usually watch, but I highly recommend it to anyone who's had it up to here with cute, fan service, over-the-top violence or oh-so-serious subject matter. If extremely crude, self-referential humor or unattractive characters get on your nerves, go ahead and stay away.
There are a number of reasons for that, but the main one is that I bought a PS3 and have been playing BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Final Fantasy XIII, Prototype and Arcana Heart 3 rather than watching anime. Then I started watching again, and I decided to watch Gintama of all things, a 201 episode series. Unlike most such long series undertakings, Gintama is episodic and ridiculous enough that I don't actually feel the need to finish it (I've gotten through 81 episodes and enjoyed myself but I don't really need more, I don't think).
So, Gintama.
I haven't watched the entire thing, and it's a very different beast from anything I've reviewed so far, so I'm going to tentatively give it a B. This is actually high praise seeing as I watched a full 80 episodes and one of the things I judge very strictly on is how well a series uses the time it takes up. Gintama is shamelessly episodic and scarcely has a plot to call a plot: filler isn't so much an unfortunate necessity as a way of life for the show, but since it has thoroughly embraced it, it works out quite well.
The primary premise of the series is that, in the middle of Edo-era Japan, a group of anthropomorphic animal aliens invaded earth and subdued the local populace. A large number of samurai resisted the invasion, but the resistance fell apart as the government had already surrendered. Among these samurai was Sakata Gintoki, who now works as a "Yorozuya," a jack-of-all-trades who will do any odd job for enough money to pay the rent. Gintoki is a lazy, slightly perverted, immature, self-centered jerk with a heart of gold who loves his friends and has dedicated himself to what he believes is most important in life. He is accompanied by his "apprentice" Shinpachi and a young alien girl who he took in named Kagura, but the setting and the character's work mostly serve as a framing device for screwball comedy, social commentary and japanese pop cultural in-jokes.
The series has no fourth wall, with the characters being actively aware they're in an anime (despite the fact that they also read manga), and indeed often trying to prevent each other from doing things that would get them cancelled. Gintoki's laziness is occasionally countered by threats of him no longer being the main character of the show, and they are not afraid to poke fun at themselves: during a clip show episode, they comment how Kagura's figure has regressed since her first appearance, then move on to re-dubbing over lines from previous episodes with the commenting character's voice during the clip show.
It noticeably violently averts traditional fan service and the many of the characters are deliberately drawn as being somewhat plain and unattractive, if not downright ugly. The show also deliberately stretches the bounds of what they are allowed to broadcast and the boundaries of taste, having a particular penchant for toilet humor, though generally avoiding sex jokes while remaining exceptionally puerile. The counter to this is that when it (very occasionally) decides to do a serious plot, it does an excellent job of maintaining the series' general humor and treating the serious plot with just enough gravity to allow it to be taken seriously, a combination which deserves sincere commendation.
Gintama is a very unusual series, and very different from what I usually watch, but I highly recommend it to anyone who's had it up to here with cute, fan service, over-the-top violence or oh-so-serious subject matter. If extremely crude, self-referential humor or unattractive characters get on your nerves, go ahead and stay away.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Kore wa Zombie desu ka?
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.
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 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.
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