Planetes dvd 1

I just finished watching the first dvd of Planetes, and this might sound strange, but have you ever watched an anime series where you can tell it’s “good” and it should be really interesting but for some reason you just aren’t hooked on it? Maybe it was just too slow-paced for me, I’m kind of a drama-addict, so when there’s lots of subtle la la la watch the characters float around thinking about space I kind of zone out. I think this is the first anime I’ve watched though about space, so I feel bad not liking it more…I do like space and space exploration…

Oh so I forgot to say what the anime is about ! Planetes is set in the slight future where space travel has become commonplace, and as a result all the space debris left by old satellites and launch vehicle boosters etc. is a serious safety hazard. There’s a great intro lead-in showing the history of space travel from it’s humble beginnings of rockets to the great things humans have accomplished (and the future). The anime focuses on the work and lives of the under-appreciated crew of “Toy Box” (their ship) who collect the space debris. They’re astronauts, but at the same time they are looked down upon because their job is basically collecting trash. But that doesn’t stop them from dreaming of owning their own ships, or making the world a better place…

I like the main character Hachimaki (Hachi) the most, he’s the jaded kind of sarcastic guy that has always dreamed of owning his own ship. But he worries that he’s in a dead-end job and tries to come up with other ways to make tons of money so he can afford a ship. He’s pretty much the complete opposite of newcomer Tanabi, an extreme idealist who kind of gets on my nerves because she’s so naive and acts like everyone else should be as goody-goody as she is. Like the episode where they find a coffin of somone who was “buried at space” who loved space and wanted to travel to the edge of the universe- but neglected his family back home. She thinks his coffin was trying to come home, and when the crew tries to send his coffin back out to space like the family wants to honor the guy’s wishes, she doesn’t want to let them because she wants to make the family take him home. I guess it’s ok that the family changes their minds and brings him home, but why does she think she knows better than the family what the guy wanted, when he gave specific instructions for his burial?? geez. Well anyway I’m not crazy about Tanabi but I like the interaction between her and Hachi because they’re different and argue with each other, but also learn from each other and respect their differences.

So, I’m always entering contests to win free stuff, especially when I think not many other people will enter, and I’ve actually won a lot of things from magazines etc. (makeup, nail polish, an ipod…). And usually the prizes show up in a plain padded manilla envelope with no note or anything explaining why someone has sent it to me. Usually I vaguely remember entering a contest for the thing, but a couple of weeks ago this anime dvd Paradise Kiss showed up in my mail and I have no idea where it came from! There was a return address for a mailing company and I sent them an email, but no reply…I don’t remember entering a contest to win a Paradise Kiss dvd (I checked shoujobeat)…my only idea is that Geneon/Funimation sent it because I had emailed them feedback about how much I liked the Kodocha voice actors in the American dub I recently bought. It’s a mysery!


DVD 1

But anyway, I’ve also enjoyed watching Paradise Kiss, so here’s some info about the anime (I hadn’t heard about it before it randomly showed up in my mail). It’s about this girl Yukari whose a serious student and is always studying and going to cram school (her mother puts a lot of pressure on her), and one day she is walking around and some punk looking guy starts talking to her. She thinks he’s weird, and runs away, and then meets an eccentric looking lady with a purple flower painted around her eye, and faints. When she wakes up, she finds herself in the strange but intriguing studio of Paradise Kiss, a fashion school design group. The group consists of the kind lady with the purple flower around her eye, the punk guy from earlier, the sweet loli-looking girl with pink hair that always calls her Caroline, and of course an intensely mysterious leader, and the love interest, George. They convince her she is the striking image of the Paradise Kiss fashion line, and will she please please pretty please model their clothes for them?? And I won’t give away the rest, but there is shaky but potential-filled romance and drama in the fashion world ahead in this anime.

So far (dvd 1) the plot has been okay, mostly predictable but neither terribly innovative nor insulting to the intelligence. The “girl with overbearing mother meets new eccentric friends and finds new passion in a field not approved by her parents” plot is repeated so often, but this anime does a pretty good job given the mostly predictable premise. The animation is interesting and has some moments of collage/montage going on to keep things interesting. Sometimes the characters are shown from far away and they don’t look very detailed, so I kind of wish they would zoom in closer more often. I do like how the backgrounds are usually interesting, like the dressing room has a really cool intricate gold pattern and the paradise kiss design studio has a full drink bar in the background haha.

I haven’t seen the japanese version, so I don’t have voice actors to compare to, but I do like the english dub. The voices are interesting and they sound like pros which makes me happy. I like George’s voice, he kind of talks a little funny, like he should be a goofy character, but he also acts so serious all the time so it helps makes him seem mysterious and likeable even though he is actually kind of jerk to Yukari.

I haven’t seen past the 4th episode yet, so all I know is the romance just getting started. Yukari and George have good chemistry, George is all mysterious and experienced, and Yukari is unique and refreshingly young and naive. Right away their different personalities clash, and they almost break up before they really start dating. But they also recognize that for some reason they are really attracted to something in each other, despite their differences, and the want to give it a try. Good luck to the cute couple and we’ll see what happens…

(note: this post is salvaged from my blog before the lost database….)

I’m a big fan of the mangaka team Peach Pit, and you’ve probably heard of the anime/manga Shugo Chara…and maybe Zombie Loan too. Zombie Loan isn’t as well known but it was a really awesome anime too. So anyway I knew Peach Pit had also created the anime Rozen Maiden and finally got around to checking it out…and it reminds me a lot of zombie loan so if you liked that one, you should check out rozen maiden too! Rozen Maiden reminded me of ZL first, because the sister in RM looks exactly like Meg in ZL, same wimpy grey-haired typical-shy-anime-girl, and second the supernatural, kind of creepy feel to the anime (I’m not a fan of the horror genre but I still liked both these animes because they had interesting characters and creative premises for a show). Hopefully sister who looks like Meg will also stop being such a wimpy anime girl and tell her brother to make his own darn tea. (what middle school boy drinks tea anyway?)

Anyway the plot of the anime is, there’s this kid who’s kind of a recluse (he stopped going to school), and he buys all these (fake) supernatural things on the internet for fun and returns them right before the return policy. But then one day he buys this supernatural doll and it turns out to be for real- it has some kind of spirit and he is soon attacked by some other creepy jester doll that shows up to fight. So he has no choice but to swear loyalty to his doll so she can save him, and so he becomes kind of like her servant (although he doesn’t want to admit it). So it seems that there are multiple dolls owned by some mysterious lady, the Rozen Maiden, and they seem to be more good than evil…although I still think they are kind of creepy. I’ve only seen 2 episodes so far, when the doll arrives and they are attacked by a creepy evil jester doll, and then in the next episode they introduce another sister doll that is kind of obsessive about her owner…

Box set:

Manga Vol. 1:

If you haven’t checked out the anime offerings on Hulu yet, you should take a look- they’ve been adding more and more, and it’s a mix of subs and dubs. For some animes it’s a good chance to see if the dub is any good if you are thinking about buying it but don’t want to buy blindly.

Here’s a list of the anime series you can watch streaming on hulu:

• Aquarion
• Astro Boy
• Big Windup
• Black Blood Brothers
• Bleach
• CosmoWarrior Zone
• Death Note
• Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
• Galaxy Railways
• Ghost Hunt
• Glass Fleet
• Gun Frontier
• Ikki Tousen
• Jyu-Oh-Sei
• Kiddy Grade
• Moon Phase
• Mr. Stain on Junk Alley
• Mushi-shi
• Naruto
• Naruto Shippuden
• Peach Girl
• Rumbling Hearts
• School Rumble
• Shikabane Hime
• Shuffle
• Slayers
• The Slayers NEXT
• Speed Racer
• Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry
• Suzuka

If you’re a drama fan, I suggest checking out Peach Girl, it’s one of my fav soap opera/drama animes! I’m not crazy about the dub though, since I really liked Momo’s seiyuu in the Japanese anime. My main complaint about American dubs (not always the case but often) is when the voice actors sound too normal and not someone who gets paid for speaking. I actually would rather watch a good dub than a sub, but only if the voice actors make you want to keep listening to them. For example I would love to listen to Susan Egan (Megara in disney’s hercules and Lin in Spirited Away) because her voice is clear and expressive and you can tell she’s a singer from the way she talks.

My favorite American dub voice actors are the cast in Fruits Basket, and also Kodocha (and hopefully others as well?).

I also started getting back into Naruto again! That was the first anime that got me addicted to anime- I stopped watching and skipped the fillers at the end of the original “Naruto” but I’ve mostly caught up in “Shippuden” (I think it means hurricane?) and aww it’s so cute seeing everyone growing up so fast :). I like seeing how much everyone has changed, but in a way that’s in character. (Also Hinata looks so much better with long hair…just saying.) Of course I miss datebayo’s subs, but no big complaints with hulu’s week-later sub online. (Although some of the jutsu translations sound kind of awkward, but it seems like they’re getting better and very responsive to feedback from the mob of fans.)

I’ve been watching the English dub Kodocha recently, and since I’m a big fan of Fruits Basket the first thing I noticed was the English voice actors sounded very familiar…I knew Kodocha was by the directors of Fruit Basket, but I didn’t know and was pleasantly surprised that 3 of the main voice actors from Fruits Basket (Tohru, Kyo, and Shigure <3) are also 3 main characters in Kodocha! I really love their voices. It makes such a big difference when you love listening to how the characters talk :).

Anyway Kodocha is a pretty similar anime to Fruits Basket…it’s about this schoolgirl Sana (VA Laura Bailey same as Tohru) who is a child actor on a show called Kodomo no omocha (?) which means child’s time, and she has a strange writer mother who wears crazy hats all the time. At the beginning her school class is being tormented by this troublemaker Akito (VA Jerry Jewell same as Kyo) who is blackmailing the teacher with photos of her and her boyfriend…so Sana tries to put down the bullies with mixed results but eventually she gets her own blackmail photos of Akito but then starts feeling guilty when he acts all depressed. She finds out he has a rough family situation and wants to help him out…Meanwhile Sana has a kid’s crush on her career manager Rei (VA John Burgmeier aka Shigure) and seems to think he’s her boyfriend…but then it seems like something is developing with Akito…and that’s as far as I’ve gotten in the series so far :).

The animation is kind of old school, which usually isn’t my fave, but it’s also really cute and I like the voice actors. I guess it’s also pretty similar to Ask Dr. Rin (80’s ? schoolgirl with a career rom-com). I got 4 or 5 anime dvd volumes from rightstuf, they were super on sale (~$5)!

Kodocha DVD 1

Devil May Cry has some good things going for it- a cool, dramatic opening sequence, and a main character that hunts down demons…when he’s not eating pizza and strawberry sundaes (?!). It’s based on the PS2 game…also called Devil May Cry , but (surprise surprise) they decided that Dante wasn’t “cute” enough or something and added in the part about strawberry sundaes. Aww he kills demons and seems like a tough guy but really he just wants to relax and eat his strawberry sundae in peace… I don’t know though, my first though was that it could be good, I usually like the conflicted hero type who makes up some outer personality to deal with things, and hides his real self inside. (Could go either way, making a tough outer personality or a ditzy one- like Abel Nightroad in Trinity Blood pretends to be a goofball but really he’s not.)

Devil May Cry is a pretty kick-butt action anime, if you’re looking for gunfights or non-gun fights, but the mostly standalone episodes didn’t stand out in terms of episodic plots. Dante’s food is the most interesting character quirk in the series, otherwise there are some typical characters like the little girl companion who annoys the hero but can’t be gotten rid of, and the tough rival bounty hunter who’s a woman and competes/flirts (kind of?) with Dante…meh they mostly do exactly what you KNOW they will. There are some good ideas, and moments of very nice film noire-ish cinematics that I appreciated, but for the most part it was regular old fighting demons. The fighting was cool though, almost as much gunfire as in Gungrave…and probably more blood…

Good deals at :

Devil May Cry DVD 1

Manga vol. 1- $7.49

Novel 1- $5.99

Well I hadn’t heard of this show…but it sounded kinda interesting…I love the internet and being able to find anything here ^_^ ! “Ask Dr. Rin” is a really cute, kinda old-school anime (toootally looks like Sailor Moon!!! I used to love that show when I was in middle school!!!) about a magical girl named Meirin who can read feng-shui and tell people how to have their best luck for the day (”you should wear a pink ribbon today” or “yellow watering cans are bad luck”). She does kind of a magic-transformation sequence (Sailor Moon style) when she consults the feng-shui goddess, and keeps her super-powers a secret from her family and friends, except for her brother who helps run her Dr. Rin website where people email her with questions and problems and she gives them advice and feng-shui forecasts to help them. Meirin says it’s fate that she will end up with her crush, the soccer-playing Asuka, but a mystery stalker who also has some feng-shui powers and a strange interest in Meirin has some other ideas…dun dun dun…

It’s a really cute anime! It’s also a short series to watch, there are only 11 episodes, and the main plotline is resolved in episode 9 (which is kind of weird, leaving the last 2 episodes for kind of side stories…or maybe they were special episodes…).I liked Meirin’s voice actor, she has a sweet voice but not high-pitched or squeaky like so many other anime girls that try to be cute (and end up just being annoying). And it’s kind of nostalgic with the 80’s feel and Sailor Moon similarities, but not in a bad way- usually I don’t like older-looking anime animation but this series wasn’t bad, it was actually still cute. Meirin also has an adorable pet monkey named Tenshin that, you know, does the usual anime pet things like wake Meirin up when she’s late, scold her, get kidnapped by villains, etc

The drama in the show is pretty good for such a short series. Asuka acts like he’s kind of embarrassed to show that he cares about Meirin, and Meirin acts kind of obsessed with him…no wonder he’s scared off, I’d run away too if someone kept telling me not to get on buses cause it’ll crash or don’t go south today because it’s unlucky…(see picture below). I wasn’t expecting the shojo drama, but the villain kid that keeps stalking and harassing Meirin and trying to kill Asuka blackmails Meirin into dating him to keep Asuka safe, causing lots of satisfying drama and confusion until the disappointing denouement (SPOILER…sort of) that the villain kid is just possessed by evil spirits- he’s not really evil, he’s a nice klutzy kid that becomes everyone’s BFF after he stops being possessed. Booo lame villain.

So Kdramas (Korean dramas) are pretty addictive and I’ve almost finished watched The First Shop of Coffee Prince and it is so good!! So even though it’s not anime, I thought I’d write up a quick review cause if you like romance dramas (SOAP OPERAS) you’d probably like Coffee Prince. Coffee Prince is about this girl Go Eun that’s a tomboy, and people mistake her for a boy a lot- in the first episode she’s delivering food to a women’s bath-house and when they see her they yell and throw stuff at her cause they think she’s a guy! In the picture above she’s the third from the left…I think she could pass as a girl or guy, although it’s totally all the bad haircut- when she pulls her hair back you can tell she’s a girl. Anyway she somehow runs into the guy on the right, Choi Han, whose mother keeps bothering him about getting married so eventually he works out a deal where Go Eun (he thinks she’s a guy) pretends to be his boyfriend and scare off all the arranged dates his mom sets up. Then, Choi Han takes over the family’s coffee shop and Go Eun gets a job there- still as a guy- since she desparately needs the job cause she is the head of her family. Her younger sister is still in school and her mom is kind of irresponsible and an impulsive shopper.

The Drama! Go Eun and Choi Han fight a lot but also grow to be very close…and Choi Han is freaking out cause he finds himself attracted to Go Eun but doesn’t know she is a girl!! And meanwhile Go Eun meets Choi Han’s cousin Choi Han Seong, the guy on the left, who I thought was much cuter- especially with the glasses- I love guys that wear glasses! But of course in Kdramas the girl always like the first guy she meets, who is a jerk to her and not as cute, while the cuter NICER guy falls for her but somehow can’t compete with the annoying not-as-nice cousin/friend/other guy…! The same things happened in the Kdrama Full House…I thought guy #2 in that show was nicer and cuter to the main girl but she just wasn’t having it. Anyway and then there’s the other girl there to make things more complicated and drama-y, since she is the girlfriend of the cuter glasses guy and both guys used to like her before Go Eun showed up.

The exciting part was, the cousin guy (guy #2) knows Go Eun is a girl since she delivers his milk and talks to his dog (in Korean when you say sister or brother it’s different words coming from a boy or girl). When he invites her to an art opening, I knew it was a date!!!! And you know what that means, MAKEOVER episode! It’s crazy though how different the actress (Yoon Eun Hye) looks with the hair and makeover. Then she looked kind of familiar and I realized I’d seen her in Princess Hours…I’ve only seen 2 episodes of that but I’ll probably get that next. Kdramas are kind of expensive, I found Coffee Prince for $63 used-new on amazon, but new they are like $80-90 for the season. Well I guess a season of most animes are expensive too… And while most of the subtitles were fine, one of the discs had really awful translations- I mean hard to understand what it was supposed to mean, like it was translated word for word or something, it was weird. Actually now that I think about it I’m wondering if I got a bootlegged copy cause the picture on righstuf looks more official than the one I got (mine is in a plastic case not a box) : / although the dvds look official..they’re in those connected plastic sleeves with stamped “stars” logo on them but I don’t see any company name, could be sketchy? hmmm

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Natsume Yuujinchou is about a boy (Natsume!) who sees supernatural spirits that others can’t see (he’s “special”). He talks to a cute fat cat and learns that his grandmother had the same ability, and used it to defeat the yuujinchou and make them give her their names for a book that let her call on them to help her. But it’s dangerous- the creatures are unhappy about it and chasing Natsume- although later we end up feeling sorry for the poor misunderstood ghosties because Natsume’s grandmother made “friends” with the poor thing and then never called on them to help even though it waited for her and grew lonely. So Natsume decides the book is a liability (gee thanks grandma) and decides to, with the help of that cat, dissolve the contracts in the Book of Friends page by page by setting the mythological creatures free.

Natsume Yuujinchou reminds me of Mushishi. And about Mushishi- I’ve had it on my to-watch list for a really long time but after being bored through the first 2 episodes I keep watching whatever else comes up instead of watching Mushishi. I like the idea of Mushishi, it sounds interesting, and the animation is good and very pretty, but it’s just a little too slow-paced for me. So anyway back to Natsume- it is about a boy who sees spirit creatures, kind of like the guy in Mushishi, except it is framed more as an action show with a linear plot than a “roam around and see what’s going on in this forest” kind of show. Maybe it’s not as artsy and abstract, but as far as first impressions it holds my interest more to see a progression and continuity in plot from episode to episode in Natsume. Plus the fat cat is cute and fun to watch because it is actually some kind of dragon spirit that is actually powerful, when he feels like turning into a dragon, but otherwise he just seems to do what he feels like, including helping Natsume for the meantime.