DubSub - Anime Reviews

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 22:16:00 +0000

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet
Suisei no Garugantia
Viz Media
Complete Collection - 2 discs
330 minutes - 13 episodes + 2 OVA episodes
$69.98 (2014) DVD/Blu-Ray 4 discs
$44.98 (2014) DVD only
ISBN 782009243571
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Kazuya Murata
Studio - Production I.G

Synopsis: Humanity has left Earth behind and traveled to the stars, but conflict has followed them. The human race is in dire battle with a formidable alien species called the Hideauze (called the whale-squids). The Galactic Alliance is sworn to eradicate the aliens to keep humanity safe, but the aliens have shown no quarter. Ensign Ledo is a Machine Caliber pilot during a massive assault on a Hideauze space stronghold. The human forces fall into disarray as the Hideauze unleash a powerful weapon. During the retreat Ledo and his battle suit "Chamber" are pulled into a wormhole.

The Galactic Alliance suffers a difficult defeat attacking the Hideauze home planet

Separated from the fleet and awakening on a strange planet covered in a seemingly endless ocean, Ledo discovers he has been in stasis for six months. A group of native scavengers have found him and taken him back to their floating city called the Gargantia. He considers them primitives, but realizes he's been stranded light years from the fleet with no way to rejoin them. He joins the ranks of the Gargantia in order to survive and mostly due to the brave, beautiful girl Amy who befriends him.

Chamber, controlled by Ledo, appears to the citizens of the Gargantia

Ledo's status on the Gargantia is elevated due to controlling Chamber who possesses tech light years beyond that of the natives' crude mech suits. They scavenge the underwater depths to find tech left behind by a lost civilization. A great mystery begins when Chamber alerts Ledo to the fact the ocean planet is actually humanity's birthplace - Earth! What caused humanity to leave this planet behind for the stars? The stakes become high when Ledo discovers a whale-squid lurking among the waters. What is their terrible secret and how did they find Earth? Ledo and Chamber are not alone on the planet and are headed for a desperate showdown for survival! Can even their formidable might save the Gargantia and the remnants of humanity?

Amy becomes Ledo's guide and first friend on the Gargantia

Pros: Really nice animation and character designs, some interesting science fiction plot concepts - especially the twist near the end of the series, very likable characters, the OVA episodes are included, Ledo's character development was well done, Chamber (the mecha Ledo pilots) is another good character, some very mild fan-service (particularly the pirate captain Lukkage)

Ledo struggles to find his place on the Gargantia and away from his mission

Cons: Characters are all fairly one-dimensional and simple, situations and plot devices are fairly simple, ending could have been more severe with heavier casualties - it tied up a little to neatly, fan-service seems out of place in this series which develops into a post-apocalyptic mystery, no second season = no more answers to dangling plot points at the end of the series

A diving suit is destroyed when a nest of whalesquids are disturbed

Mike Tells It Straight: Gargantia is an original release from Production I.G and directed by Kazuya Murata, best known for his work on Code Geass and Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos movie. Story concept is done by Gen Orobuchi who is a well-known series creator and writer (nicknamed the Orobutcher for some of his darker series). He's best known for being the creator of Psycho-Pass and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. He also scripts the first and last episodes here.

Ledo and Chamber go wild when they discover whalesquids exist on Earth

I enjoyed watching Gargantia for the slick visuals and casual science fiction. The plot is a fairly straightforward riff on the 'stranger in a strange land' storyline crossed with the 'hero's journey'. The characters are definitely the strong point for the series. Ledo is a great main character who grew up in a sterile outer space society too busy churning out soldiers to fight a desperate battle with the Hideauze. His immersion in Gargantia's emotional human society begins a journey of soul-searching and eventual transformation into a hero.

The pirate captain Lukkage and Pinion are captured by a mysterious cult fleet

The other Gargantia crewmembers were fun to watch and Amy was a plucky supporting character slash love interest for Ledo. You can tell the chemistry between the two early on and especially when Amy's friends try to cozy up to the new alien boy. Chamber is awesome as a mecha and as a character. More than just a robot suit, it ('he') is a genuine character.

The cult fleet rules with a Machine Caliber Striker which is very familiar to Ledo

The series does a great job balancing serious themes with lighthearted moments. Overall it stays on the light side and I think that serves it better than going too dark. Fans of Orobuchi may be disappointed with the ending if they're expecting a major bloodbath. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of heavy moments as the mysteries get revealed, but it's not overwhelming.

Striker is controlled by Ledo's superior Kugel who also was stranded on Earth

The plot twists and characters keep you engaged throughout and it's a decent series. I didn't think much of the series when I first watched it, but somehow it ended up in my collection. I think the science fiction elements reminded me of why I got into anime in the first place and that's what I really liked.

Ledo finds a second home with Amy and the crew of the Gargantia

Dragon Half Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 06:55:00 +0000

Dragon Half
Doragon Hafu
ADV Films
Complete Collection - 1 disc
50 minutes - 2 episodes
$19.95 (2014)
$19.98 (2007) w/Puni Puni Poemy
$19.98 (2004) Essential Anime
$24.98 (2002)
ISBN 702727008825
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Shinya Sadamitsu
Studio - Victor Entertainment

Synopsis: Mink is a restless teenager who has a major crush on the singing dragonslayer, Dick Saucer (yes, that's his name). Her father is a swordsman and her mother is a red dragon who can take human form. When her father was sent to slay the red dragon he fell in love with her instead and Mink was the result. That makes Mink half dragon and very powerful.

Mink is pretty tough and she sprouts wings and a tail
when she powers up

Mink's problem lies in the fact that her love interest, Dick Saucer, slays dragons and he'll reject her because she is part dragon. She learns of a special potion that can rid her of her dragon half and turn her into a regular human so she can score with Dick. Simple right? Nope, she has to defeat Azetodeth, the Demon Lord, to get the potion. Azetodeth is a short little runt, but commands all the creatures on Demon King's Island.

From left to right: Mappy (top), Pia, Lufa, and Mink!

Not only must Mink defeat Azetodeth's minions just to face him, but she also has to deal with Princess Vina who wants Dick all to herself! Then there's the wizard Rosario who keeps trying to get her and the dunce swordsman Damaramu. What's an incredibly powerful girl to do? Fortunately Mink has some help from her friends Lufa the elf, Pia the dwarf, and Pia's pet fairy mouse, Mappy. Good luck, Mink!

Dick Saucer is ready for the tournament on Demon King's Island!

Pros: Some funny moments (like when Damaramu accidentally impales himself in the head with his own sword), Mink is a kind person and has good friends, the guy is named Dick Saucer, one very brief moment of fan-service/nudity

Doink!

Cons: Oh where to start! The dub voices are really annoying, way too much cutesy super-deformed scenes, the plot is ridiculous, the jokes are totally lame (that Dick Saucer joke gets old fast), the villain is an ineffective loser

Azetodeth turns Dick Saucer against Mink by telling him
she's an evil dragon half!

Mike Tells It Straight: This short two-episode OVA was originally planned for four episodes, but stalled out after a lack of interest. That pretty much sums up the quality of the show. It has very little plot, weak comedy, and a terrible dub. Based on a manga by Ryusuke Mita published in Monthly Dragon Magazine. The show reminded me of Slayers although the quality just doesn't compare.

Rosario the sorcerer has it in for poor Mink

The show pokes fun at anime cliches such as super deformation (where characters turn all little and cute), but they beat the jokes to death with overuse by having the characters turn SD practically every minute. Just totally distracting. Okay, we get that the guy's name is Dick Saucer and that's kinda amusing. Not funny when his name is said twenty times per episode. There's just not enough going on in this anime and it was a mercy killing to cut the episode count at just two. You can probably find this disk for very cheap, but resist the urge. Go pick up Slayers or Fairy Tail instead.

Wardrobe malfunction during the big tournament!

Happy Holidays from DubSub Anime Reviews 2015!

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 20:53:00 +0000

Happy Holidays 2015!

From DubSub Anime Reviews!

We hope everyone has a great holiday season with their families and gets some much-needed time off to watch their favorite anime series.

Attack on Titan Season One Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 05:25:00 +0000

Attack on Titan Season One
Shingeki no Kyojin
Funimation
Complete Collection - 8 discs
625 minutes - 25 episodes +
$49.98 (2014) Parts 1-2/ea. DVD/Blu-Ray
$89.98 (2014) Parts 1-2/ea. DVD Blu-Ray Limited Edition
ISBN 704400072611
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Tetsuro Araki
Studio - Wit Studio/Production I.G

Synopsis: The Titans appeared and humanity was almost wiped out. Giant, human-like creatures with little intelligence they scoured the world and devoured humans wherever they could find them. They were utterly relentless and nearly indestructible, pushing humans to the brink of extinction. Only the construction of a city guarded behind a series of enormous walls could keep the Titans out. The last remnants of humanity reside behind the safety of their walls as the Titans roam freely through the world. It has been 100 years since the last time a Titan has been within the walls.

A massive Titan appears outside of Wall Maria, Shinganshina district

The three walls are called Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina. Those who live in the innermost walls are more wealthy and safer from the Titans. The army trains and defends against the Titans, but those stationed within the walls act more as police. Only the Scout Regiment goes outside of the walls and face the Titans to secure supplies from open land. They typically sustain heavy casualties and can be both revered and hated depending on the success of their missions. Eren Yaeger and Mikasa Ackermann, his adopted sister, are both watching as the Scout Regiment returns from outside of Wall Maria when a massive Titan appears outside of the wall.

From left: Mikasa, Eren, and Armin

The Titan is skinless and even taller than the massive walls (while most Titans are much smaller than the walls). It is a terrifying, abnormal Titan and manages to kick open an outer gate allowing the smaller Titans to get inside Wall Maria. The humans are frozen in fear as they watch the Titans begin devouring people. It is a massacre as the Titans wreak havoc within the wall and people desperately flee to the inner Wall Rose. Eren, Mikasa, and their friend Armin somehow manage to survive, but not without witnessing the true horror of the Titans. Both vow revenge and sign up for the army when they come of age.

The omni-directional gear gives humans the enhanced agility necessary
to battle the Titans

Now the friends are army trainees learning to use special equipment for avoiding the Titans. These include the omni-directional mobility gear which is a special harness utilizing metal cables, grappling hooks, motors, and compressed air. It allows soldiers to swing through cities or dense forests quickly to avoid capture by the slower Titans. The harnesses are difficult to operate and the trainees have their work cut out for them.

Eren joins the army to get revenge on the Titans for eating his mother. His
singular drive makes him an adept soldier

It is revealed that Titans are vulnerable in the napes of their necks. Specially designed blades with increased hardness/sharpness are used which can pierce the Titans' thick skin. The trainees learn to maneuver and operate the harnesses while developing pin-point accuracy with their slashes. It's incredibly grueling training and a few star trainees rise to the top. Eren's fervor and enthusiasm for getting revenge on the Titans drives him harder than most recruits. Mikasa's unnatural skill and calmness make her stand out from the others. Their greatest opponents will be the abnormal Titans who are different from the more predictable and slow regular Titans. The Colossal Titan is an abnormal type, but many others exist with less significant differences. They are the most deadly Titans.

Facing the Titans is truly horrific and many soldiers lose their nerve

The recruits believe themselves to be ready to fight the Titans and are assigned to various groups within the military. Some selfish recruits want to join the military police behind the safety of the innermost walls. Other, braver recruits like Eren choose the Scout Regiment at the front lines of this war for humanity's survival. Will they truly be ready to confront the unbridled horror of the Titans? How can they possibly stand up to these unnatural, unique Titans like the one that breached Wall Maria years ago? They will be eaten alive if they fail.

Eren finally gets to confront the Colossal Titan that breached Wall Maria
five years ago, but can he defeat such an abnormal beast?

Pros: Intense story with a lot of twists and turns, Eren is a great protagonist with an indomitable will (even when he's getting chewed on by a Titan), lots of interesting characters among the army troops, Mikasa is a badass, the Titans are simultaneously ridiculous and horrifying, doesn't pull any punches with graphic and violent deaths, omni-directional gear makes for dynamic action sequences, same director as Death Note, can't wait for Season Two!

Another abnormal Titan appears which seems to be attacking the other Titans

Cons: A lot of questions left unanswered at the end of the series, art style can be a little rough (dark black outlines of shapes and feels really sketchy), the omni-directional gear is total impossible in real life, only two expensive Blu-Ray/DVD combo sets are currently available (Funimation's got to milk it), long multi-episode story arcs without much happening, can't wait for Season Two!

The army manages to capture two small Titans for study. Don't get too close!

Mike Tells It Straight: This series was highly recommended by several friends and it lived up to the hype. I think Attack on Titan (AoT) is the most popular manga and anime series of this decade. The anime is based on the ongoing manga series by Hajime Isayama and this first season of the anime covers almost through the eighth volume. Isayama's art is rough and highly stylized showing his relative inexperience as a professional manga artist (an AoT one-shot was his first official work in 2006). He's been criticized pretty heavily for having poor artwork (although it's gotten better as the series has progressed), but there's something to be said about how creepy he can draw Titans.

Mikasa ends up being one of the most skilled soldiers against the Titans

The animation style is modeled after the manga with heavy line work, especially around the silhouettes of the figures. It looks pretty unique among other series and gives a rougher edge to the show. The creepy Titan faces are replicated splendidly and most of them look ridiculous while perpetrating horrific acts on the hapless humans they catch. Some may not like the animation style due to the 'rough outlines', but it didn't bother me at all. Let's get this straight - the omni-directional gear is pure fiction and could never function in real life. It requires some major suspension of disbelief, but gives us interesting action sequences and some plot elements (like when the group is running low on pressurized air canisters).

The Scout Regiment finds an abnormal female Titan

It's an intense series and the end of the first episode really sets the tone. Eren watching his mother being eaten by a Titan was utterly monstrous. We immediately know the stakes are real and losing to the Titans means getting eaten alive. We're introduced to a cast of characters as Eren, Mikasa, and Armin go through anti-Titan training with the omni-directional gear. When the series hits the first major story arc (The Struggle for Trost) the stakes are high and the death toll is higher. Talk about suspense and plot twists! Probably the best thirteen episodes of an anime series I have seen in a long, long time (coming in second is the first season of Knights of Sidonia).

Many of the Scout Regiments' missions end up like this due to the sheer
power of the Titans and weakness of the omni-directional gear in open land

There are two opening and ending theme songs in this first season and I found the ending themes to be more enjoyable. The opening themes tried too hard to be 'marching' or 'military' themes, but just weren't very catchy. Knights of Sidonia does the exact same thing with infinitely better results (thanks to a great artist like Angela and a nice bass line). The ending themes were both catchy and appropriate. Hopefully the success of this first series will allow the producers to find better songs for the second season themes!

Eren and Mikasa meet Captain Levi, rumored to be the best anti-Titan soldier

I can't recommend this series enough to friends and anime viewers in general. It's the anime equivalent to a page-turner novel and keeps the viewers attention throughout. The plot twists are really good and the stakes are high - any character can die at any time it seems. The Titans are absurd while completely deadly at the same time. Sure, the second half of the first season is not as good as the first half, but the story still has lots of gas left to run its course. I don't recommend this show to younger viewers due to graphic content (I'd say it's okay for teenage viewers at the earliest). I'm really looking forward to the second season when it comes out. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section and thanks for reading my review!

Two abnormal Titans fight each other!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Freezing Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 02:18:00 +0000

Freezing
Furijingu
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
300 mins. - 12 episodes + 6 OVAs
$39.98 (2014) Blu-Ray/DVD
$64.98 (2013) Blu-Ray/DVD
$69.98 (2012) Blu-Ray/DVD
ISBN 704400095177
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Takashi Watanabe
Studio - ACGT

Synopsis: Humanity is being attacked by powerful alien beings called NOVA and have developed the Pandora program as their best line of defense. The Pandora are young women implanted with special nodes called Stigmata granting them superhuman abilities of strength, speed, durability, healing, and manifesting objects (like clothing and weapons). The NOVA usually attack in the form of giant floating statues with massive whip-like tentacles and the ability to generate Freezing fields to immobilize targets. Despite the Pandoras great powers they are still no match for the NOVA in single combat. Pandoras are paired with male Limiters who can generate their own Freezing fields to counter those of the NOVA. The combination of Pandora and Limiter in sync are able to overcome the NOVA.

Kazuya Aoi (right) is a new first year starting at West Genetics Academy

Kazuya Aoi is a freshman at West Genetics Academy, a special school for Pandoras and Limiters, and training to become a Limiter. His older sister Kazuha was a premier Pandora who gave her life defeating a wave of NOVA and protecting a group of younger Pandoras. She was one of the greatest Pandoras and very close with Kazuya. The current top-ranked second year Pandora at West Genetics is named Satellizer el Bridget, also known as "The Untouchable Queen". She is a ruthless, feared fighter and utterly despises being touched by anyone.

Satellizer el Bridget is the top-ranked second year student at West
Genetics Academy and also known as "The Untouchable Queen"

Much to Satellizer's horror, Kazuya actually gives her a hug on their first meeting. She normally reacts with extreme violence to any physical contact, but for some reason Kazuya's touch feels different. Her emotions become conflicted around Kazuya who treats her respectfully and tries to be her friend. He even defends her when other students (particularly upper-class Pandora) try to violently humiliate her. West Genetics Academy has a ruthless hierarchy with upper-class students frequently abusing underclass students through brutal duels.

Kazuya's first meeting with Satellizer is more than awkward - he
actually hugs and touches her

Will Satellizer thaw to Kazuya's positive influence or is she too traumatized from her tragic upbringing to let anyone close to her. A rival appears in the form of Rana Linchen, second-year transfer student from Tibet. She immediately befriends Kazuya and puts a wedge between he and Satellizer's chances at a partnership. Kazuya exhibits unusually strong Limiter abilities, but who will he choose? The cold yet undeniably powerful Satellizer or the hot-blooded and eager Rana? The NOVA continue their onslaught and time is running out for West Genetics.

The upper-class girls plot to put Satellizer in her place

Pros: Great opening and ending theme songs (OP theme Color by MARiA rocked pretty hard), animation quality is decent with good effects, tons of fan-service for those ecchi perverts, surprisingly violent with actual limbs getting cut off later in the series, heartbreaking origin story for Satellizer validates her character, Rana was a fun character and refreshingly carefree, eyecatches (before/after commercial breaks) were good and focused on different characters each episode, the OVA is totally shameless cheesecake with tons of nudity

Satellizer battles a fellow student who can use Accel Turn for
blindingly fast speed attacks

Cons: Story and plot are pretty bad, NOVA are boring and unexplained foes, most of the girls are really vicious to Satellizer, this series completely objectifies women with repetitive combination of sex and violence, Cathy Lockharte's dream of being a novelist

Satellizer suffers humiliation at the hands of brutally sadistic upper-class
students before Kazuya steps in and helps her turn the tide

Mike Tells It Straight: I didn't know what to expect from Freezing when I first started watching it. All I could tell from the cover was a beautiful girl was battling and her clothes were ripped in a provocative manner. I've seen other battle girl shows like Sekirei, Queen's Blade, and Master of Martial Hearts. I guess my expectations were a little too high and the series kind of let me down. It was more like Master of Martial Hearts which was a bland series.

It's not a fight at West Genetics unless you get your shirt torn

Satellizer was not a compelling heroine (although her character is justified by her tragic upbringing) and her relationship with Kazuya felt contrived. It's anime after all and this show fits in the harem genre so expectations can't be too high. The NOVA were totally unexplained and boring. The series fell into repetitive fight arcs with Satellizer brutalized by ruthless upperclass girls only to pull out a last minute win. It got old and the plot never really delivered anything unique. The OVAs were released with the complete collection (you can find them pretty easily on the internet too) and were unrepentant cheesecake.

New student Rana Linchen immediately becomes Satellizer's
rival for Kazuya's attention

Kazuya was a decent male protagonist and Rana the transfer student injected a much-needed lightheartedness to the series. Overall it was violent and sexist, completely objectifying these girls. The fan-service and nudity were consistent across every episode and definitely caters to juvenile fantasies. This show was kind of a disappointment and not something I would highly recommend. Other series do it much better (i.e. more plot and characterization) although Freezing is high up there when it comes to nudity/violence. There's a second season called Freezing: Vibration and I'll check it out to see if the story actually redeems itself. Look for the upcoming review and let me know your thoughts on this series!

Rana and Satellizer find themselves battling over Kazuya frequently

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Sword Art Online Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sun, 31 May 2015 06:23:00 +0000

Sword Art Online
Sodo Ato Onrain
Aniplex
Complete Collection - 4 discs
625 mins. - 25 episodes
$74.98 (2015) Parts 1-4 Blu-Ray
$112.98 (2013) Parts 1-4 Blu-Ray Limited Edition
$49.98 (2013) Parts 1-4
ISBN 850527003325
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Tomohiko Ito
Studio - A-1 Pictures

Synopsis: In the year 2022 the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) genre has advanced into an amazingly realistic and immersive user experience using cutting edge virtual reality headgear. Users are able to control their avatars with their minds and sensations are relayed directly to their brains. Kazuto Kirigaya is your regular high school student who is an avid fan of MMORPGs and spends a lot of time online in his room alone. His parents died when he was young and he escapes into virtual reality as a way of avoiding the real world. He's pretty good too and was selected as a beta tester for the hottest new game - Sword Art Online! There's a special new VR headset called Nerve Gear which is the only way to access the world of SAO.

Kirito meets Klein and shows him the ropes on the first day of SAO

On the official release day of Sword Art Online (SAO) ten thousand users login using the Nerve Gear headsets including Kazuto. They explore the new world of Aincrad and the beta testers note new additions from the version they played. Kazuto's username is Kirito in SAO and he spends the day helping a newbie named Klein learn the basics of the game. At the end of the day a tragic event happens. The sky goes red and a menacing, robed figure appears above the Town of Beginnings. It announces itself as Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO. Kayaba tells all the players they are trapped in the game and cannot logout unless they defeat all 100 floors. Further, the Nerve Gear headsets are wired so that when a player's health reaches zero in the game they die in real life as well. Any attempts to remove the headsets in the real world will also cause the player to die (which is learned the hard way by a few hundred players). SAO has become the ultimate game of death!

Kirito meets a hooded girl named Asuna before the first boss raid

The death toll begins to mount as weaker and inexperienced players fall prey to monsters or bosses. Many players can't handle being trapped in a virtual reality world and commit suicide. Other players form guilds to support each other as they continue trying to level up and beat the game. Beta testers like Kirito are especially despised as they are considered cheaters with unfair secret knowledge. Kirito decides on a strategy to level up as quickly as he can, but remain a loner without a guild. He makes friends along the way and learns some difficult life lessons.

Kirito befriends a low-level guild called the Moonlit Black Cats

Some of the players Kirito befriends are:

Klein - prefers to work together with people while Kirito remains a solo player. Despite their different personalities the pair are friends
Asuna - meets Kirito before the first floor boss fight and is a powerful warrior. Kirito befriends her and gives her the advice to join a guild (i.e. not become a solo player like him)
Egil - wields a powerful axe in battle, but is a better merchant and shopkeeper. He and Kirito have a friendship based mostly on Kirito bringing rare items for Egil to buy/sell
Lisbeth - Asuna's friend and swordsmith. Kirito asks her to make him the most powerful sword she can from a rare element. She develops a crush on him after their adventure
The Moonlit Black Cats guild - meet Kirito on a mission and befriend him. The group are friends from the real world and Kirito admires their camaraderie. Will the diehard solo player give in and join a guild after all?
Silica - a beast tamer who is getting hassled by her former comrades. She has a pet dragon that helps her on quests. Kirito comes to her aid
Yui - a lost child that Kirito and Asuna find in the woods. She has amnesia and doesn't remember the real world. What is her strange past?
Leafa - of the Sylph race and able to fly with fairy wings. She helps Kirito learn the ropes of flying and politics in Alfheim. She's got a big secret and is closer to Kirito's offline life than either one of them could truly guess

Asuna is a skilled warrior and known as the Lightning Flash for her speed

Kayaba has developed an incredibly lifelike virtual world. Some players are too afraid to fight and are able to take up different trades like fishing, gathering resources, cooking, and trading information. It's even possible to kill another player in the game and an evil murder guild forms to steal the rare items from players. The towns are neutral territories where players are safe from being killed. The front line is where players continuously battle to advance the game forward and open up new levels. Kirito becomes a rare solo player who fights on the front line.

Kirito and Lisbeth go on a quest to find a rare ore to create a powerful sword

His levels are high and he has rare equipment to help him in battle. He'll need it because Kayaba's SAO world is a virtual prison and impossible to escape. The greatest challenge lies beyond the virtual world - what has happened to the bodies of the comatose players? Are virtual relationships as strong as real ones? Who will survive to see the light of day and who will sacrifice themselves so that others might have a chance?

Kirito takes on a monster in a dungeon

Pros: Great animation - character designs/backgrounds/action, some memorable characters and situations, the love story between Kirito and Asuna is touching, nice soundtrack, first half had a serious feel to it as characters died causing their real world bodies to also die, second half was an adventure, some very mild fan-service

Kirito and Asuna start getting closer even though she's the 2nd in command
of the Knights of the Blood Oath guild and he's a solo player

Cons: First story arc is much more powerful and interesting, final story arc was too cliched with the whole damsel-in-distress thing, relationship between Kazuto and his sister Suguha was a bit questionable, ending seemed a bit too easy (although the series gets dark), as of this review there's no affordable complete collection available which makes this a ridiculously expensive series to own

Kirito takes on Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath guild

Mike Tells It Straight: Sword Art Online is based on an ongoing series of light novels by Reki Kawahara. I watched part of an episode of SAO on Cartoon Network's Toonami and it looked interesting. I didn't know the story coming in, but knew it had something to do with MMORPGs and knew a little bit about those (a friend was heavily into EverQuest at one point). I was hooked after watching the first episode! The idea of players trapped in a virtual world where they die for real was awesome. .hack//Sign had a similar story where the protagonist was unable to log out from a virtual world, but I liked the grand scale and adventure of SAO. There was a clear and present danger as players were dying on missions, through treachery, and even committing suicide. The story contains some heavy themes, but is mostly lighthearted in nature.

Kirito asks Asuna to cook a rare meat for him because she has
a high cooking skill level

The first half of the series was entirely dedicated to the 'death game' theme, but the focus slowly shifts to Kirito and Asuna. They become allies and then something more. I really liked how SAO explored the question of 'in-game' relationships. The whole virtual reality thing gets more serious when you can really experience the sensations of your character (there's a pain setting which I have to assume also governs other sensory input like touch).

Asuna and Kirito take on a high level boss raid together

Kirito is a likable protagonist and you can't help rooting for him, but Asuna was pretty darn cool in her own right. I really think Reki Kawahara missed it with how he handled her - she's strong, but then gets too sappy and sentimental with Kirito and later on Yui. Her treatment in the second half of the series is totally weak. Kirito is a lone wolf throughout the series and I liked that about his nature. Sure, he gets a little help from other players, but at the end of the quest it's him vs. the boss!

Leafa is a Sylph who Kirito helps when she's getting hassled

I think the series would have been more powerful if it didn't veer off the 'death game' theme to focus on Kirito and Asuna (plus Leafa) as much. It was still a great story and offered some really interesting views of virtual reality gaming. The battles and action were really awesome in the boss fights and there was a desperate emotional undercurrent throughout. Kazuto's sister Suguha was a surprisingly good character. I read a lot of mixed reviews on this series, but suggest you find out for yourself. It's worth it and there's even a sequel (Sword Art Online II).

Who is this girl being held prisoner?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Wild Arms Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Tue, 19 May 2015 06:18:00 +0000

Wild Arms: Twilight Venom
Wairudo Amuzu
ADV Films
Complete Collection - 5 discs
550 mins. - 22 episodes
$39.98 (2005)
$29.98 (2003) Vol. 1-5/ea.
$39.98 (2003) w/Artbox
ISBN 702727131721
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Itsuro Kawasaki/Koichi Mashimo
Studio - Bee Train

Synopsis: Dr. Kiel Aronnax is being tortured in a maximum security prison, but his prospects take a turn for the better when two bumbling thieves show up. They're Loretta and Mirabelle (along with their pet/partner Jerusha) who are trying to find the treasure rumored to be hidden deep below the prison. The treasure turns out to be Sheyenne Rainstorm who used to be a strapping 25-year-old gunfighter, but is now trapped in the body of a young boy. He's none too happy and the group manage a daring escape.

Sheyenne is revived and tries to put the moves on Loretta, but he's just a kid

Sheyenne is able to use special weapons called ARMS which are left over from an ancient 'evil race'. The weapons possess incredibly destructive power, but use the life force of the wielder and can only be used by very special people. Sheyenne's original body is missing and he's trapped in a kid's body. He and Kiel end up becoming partners and try to find Sheyenne's body. The pair also happen upon a small creature similar to Jerusha, but named Issac who joins their party. The creatures are called Popepi Pipepo, are incredibly long-lived (thousands of years), and highly intelligent. You wouldn't know that by being around them.

Sheyenne can use the powerful ARMS weapon technology

Loretta is a thief and treasure hunter using her stunning good looks to distract potential rubes. Her partner Mirabelle is a Crimson Noble or vampire. She drinks blood and can turn into a cute little bat, but is not destroyed by sunlight (or Christianity). She ran away from her family and is hiding out with Loretta. The pair are mildly successful and manage to cross paths with the two boys quite often.

Mirabelle tags along on Loretta's greedy schemes

The ARMS are legendary and highly sought after by power-hungry men. The 'evil race' caused a catastrophe many years ago which earned them their name. Sheyenne's original body may hold the key to unlocking the forbidden power of the 'evil race' and dooming the world again. Will Kiel and Sheyenne ever find his original body? What is Kiel's secret past and how does it threaten the future? Will Issac ever get Jerusha to give him the time of day?

Kiel and Sheyenne go on a quest to find his original body

Pros: Interesting premise and some fun episodes, the characters were amusing with Kiel's mysterious past, Sheyenne's outrage at his predicament, Loretta's vain beauty, and Mirabelle's innocent bloodsucking, lots of twists and turns to the plot, decent opening theme, good mix of fantasy/sci-fi/western genres, decent ending

Mirabelle is a vampire from the Crimson Nobles race

Cons: Animation is fairly simple, the vampire clan turn into cute little bats and are really weak, the furry little creatures have annoying voices and aren't very funny, ending theme song was loud and obnoxious, what the heck is that magical wolf-creature?

Is Issac comedy relief or a form of sadistic torture for the viewers?

Mike Tells it Straight: Wild Arms: Twilight Venom spun out of the semi-popular video game series Wild Arms released for the Sony Playstation (a total of five full games released on the Playstation and Playstation 2, plus a PSP title). It's interesting to note the franchise was never a blockbuster (like Final Fantasy), but was consistently good and garnered a decent following. I found the anime to be decent, but much like the video games not a blockbuster by any means. The character designs and animation are pretty mediocre while the stories are fairly straightforward. Most of them are 1-2 episodes with the search for Sheyenne's original body and the secret of the 'evil race' as recurring themes.

Loretta uses magic cards which explode or create a shield

Wild Arms had some funny comedic moments and the characters worked well together. Sheyenne constantly complains about being in a kid's body and Kiel is a good straight man. Loretta's greedy scheming always gets her and Mirabelle into trouble. The two little creatures are mostly annoying. There are just enough hints about the 'evil race' and ARMS to keep it interesting. I liked how the ending revealed all the secrets in a fun science fiction way. I would recommend this show to beginning anime watchers. There's nothing explicit and the humor is pretty tame. The furthest it goes is gun violence and a few people die.

From left: Loretta, Jerusha, Issac, Sheyenne, Mirabelle, and Kiel

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Psycho-Pass Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Tue, 28 Apr 2015 06:31:00 +0000

Psycho-Pass Season One
Saiko Pasu
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
550 mins - 22 episodes
$159.98 (2014) Blu-Ray
$64.98 (2014) Parts 1-2/ea.
ISBN 704400094309
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Katsuyuki Motohiro/Naoyoshi Shiotani
Studio - Production I.G

Synopsis: The year is 2113 and Japan has achieved a peaceful society through the use of an advanced technological system which predicts the probability of a person committing a crime through neural scanning. The Sibyl System is unique and uses a crime coefficient to determine whether at any time a person will be likely to commit a serious crime. Cymatic scanners are honeycombed throughout each city to read the 'Psycho-Pass' of citizens and detect latent criminals. The Public Safety Bureau's Criminal Investigation Division is in charge of hunting down these latent criminals to remove them from active society. A non-cloudy Psycho-Pass is a badge of honor in this society and proves an individual is highly stable.

Akane (driving) is a rookie Inspector with Public Safety
and her partner is Ginoza

The Sibyl system also performs aptitude tests and determines the vocational ability of citizens. Some are graded to menial labor while others with exceedingly clear Psycho-Pass scores are given prestigious jobs. In this way a new class system governed by a computer system has emerged. When the Criminal Investigation Division hunts latent criminals they are armed with a special handgun called a Dominator. These weapons are linked directly to the Sibyl System and are able to read the crime coefficients of anyone they are pointed at. When they are pointed at someone with an unacceptably high coefficient score then the system arms them with an appropriate sanction response. These range from stun to complete annihilation for those given an extreme sanction order. This is a society where you are punished for crimes you may someday commit and lawfully killed if the your crime coefficient is high enough.

Akane is paired with the Enforcer Masaoka who was an experienced
detective before being labelled a latent criminal by the Sibyl System

Latent criminals are typically apprehended and sent to rehabilitation facilities where they are treated to reduce their crime coefficients and eventually rejoin society. The success rate is not very high and many find their Psyco-Pass scores going even higher. Some latent criminals are drafted by the Criminal Investigation Division to become Enforcers who assist Inspectors in apprehending more latent criminals. The Enforcers are still incarcerated at PSB headquarters and only allowed to move in public under the supervision of an Inspector. Both Inspectors and Enforcers can carry Dominators.

The Dominator is a variable handgun settings ranging from
incapacitation to complete cellular annihilation

Akane Tsunemori is a rookie Inspector with an incredibly low and stable Psycho-Pass. She scored so high on the aptitude placements that she could choose any profession and chose the Criminal Investigation Division. Her naivete as a rookie is highly apparent, but she is determined to do a good job. Working with Enforcers for the first time is a shock. She's never been around latent criminals and society assigns a massive stigma to them. She's surprised to find they are just like regular people yet have high crime coefficients. She works with Unit One and struggles with the moral questions posed by trusting in the Sibyl System. What if it's not perfect? Can it be fooled? These questions haunt Akane as she gains more experience investigating crimes and dealing with latent criminals.

From left - Shion, Kagari, Yayoi, Kogami, Akane, Ginoza, and Masaoka

Unit One is made up of:

Akane Tsunemori - bright and shining new Inspector with an incredibly clear Psycho-Pass. What will happen to her perfect mental state when exposed to latent criminals and those who have passed wholeheartedly to the dark side of human nature?
Nobuchika Ginoza - senior Inspector to Akane and tasked with training her in dealing with the Enforcers and hunting latent criminals. He treats the Enforcers as second class citizens and warns Akane to limit her association with them or risk clouding her Psycho-Pass.
Shinya Kogami - intense, passionately driven and an adept detective. He's obsessed with solving a particularly gruesome case from the past which caused his Psycho-Pass to become permanently clouded.
Tomomi Masaoka - an old school detective with skills to rival Kogami's and a prosthetic cyber-arm. He's honest and becomes a mentor to Akane which makes her begin questioning the accuracy of the Sibyl System. He describes the Enforcers as hunting dogs for the Inspectors.
Shusei Kagari - a spirited young man who was determined to be a latent criminal at the age of 5. He is good-natured and enjoys teasing Akane.
Yayoi Kunizuka - she is the calmest member of Unit One despite being a latent criminal.
Shion Karanomori - analyst and support for Unit One, she is also a latent criminal

Unit One is sent to investigate a series of murders at a drone factory
which is completely cut off from the outside world

Several new and disturbing crime trends have recently started and Unit One is very busy investigating them. They include popular online avatars being taken over by a mysterious killer, a copycat serial killer with links to the case Kogami is still trying to solve, and the appearance of a technology which may be able to fool even the Sibyl System. Who is Makishima and what are his links to these seemingly unrelated crimes? Akane, Kogami, and the entire Unit One will be put to the ultimate test to determine whether the Sibyl System is truly foolproof.

Kogami fires his Dominator

Pros: Interesting premise based on psychological profiling to regulate society, great characters and their interactions, opening/ending theme songs are really good, animation quality is top notch, some major plot twists which build up to the first season ending, Makishima is a worthy opponent (loved all the literature quotes and references), the relationship between Tsunemori and Kogami is powerful, Tsunemori's trials and character development are strong by the end of the series, there's a second season

Akane talks with virtual celebrity Spooky Boogie

Cons: Only 22 episodes (typical TV series is 24 to 26), currently only an over-priced complete collection ('limited edition') available (this should change as an economical box set is released in the near future), ending was a bit too philosophical

Akane, Shion, and Yayoi discuss a case

Mike Tells It Straight: I'd heard good things online about Psycho-Pass and decided to check it out (definitely not buying the over-priced, limited edition complete collection that's out right now). It was a great mix of sci-fi and crime detective stories. The animation was good, soundtrack was excellent (opening/ending themes plus background music during episodes), mix of characters was interesting, and storyline progressed to a decent conclusion. There were quite a few plot twists thrown in there which kept me guessing and I dug the philosophical topics the series presented.

Who is the enigmatic Makishima?

The premise of having a society run by a supercomputer that judges people on potential outcomes was novel. Akane seemed like a weak character when she started out as a rookie, but really picked it up by the end of the series. She gets put through the wringer big time. The antagonist, Makishima, is a worthy foe and he was a great character (loved the literature quotes and references he mentioned). The varying crimes Unit One investigated were curious and used a two-episode style (introduce the crime in the first episode and then resolve it in the second). The second half of the series focuses on the Sibyl System and apprehending Makishima.

The sudden appearance of this group of helmeted thugs spells disaster

It's a dark show at times with serial killers and gory deaths (the Dominators can literally blow people apart). I thought the guns were a bit gimmicky, but they served a distinct purpose to the plot. The characters were good although practically no development happened outside of Akane. The pacing is great and I liked the moral questions posed (judging criminals before they have even committed a crime). Some good suspense and drama with a distinct conclusion. I heartily recommend this show and it's well done. Sure, there's plenty to nit-pick with the plot and the ending could have been handled better, but I found the series engaging. Looking forward to checking out the second season when it's released.

Is Akane truly cut out to be an Inspector?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Space Pirate Captain Harlock Anime Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 06:35:00 +0000

Harlock: Space Pirate
Uchu Kaizoku Kyaputen Harokku
Ketchup
Movie - 115 minutes
$20.99 (2015)
ISBN 037117040391
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Shinji Aramaki
Studio - Toei Animation

Synopsis: In the far future humankind has spread throughout the galaxy and number 500 billion souls. None of the worlds colonized by humans ever lived up to the standard of Earth and a mass migration back to the home planet sparked a devastating conflict called the "Homecoming War". The Gaia Coalition, the human universal government, now holds the planet as sacred and forbidden for anyone to set foot on. A group of space pirates headed by Captain Harlock refuse to leave the Earth alone and fight to regain it for access by the greater humanity.

Logan is the latest recruit to join the Arcadia

Harlock captains the elusive vessel the Arcadia, known as a Deathshadow-Class ship, with his crew of space pirates. They fight the Gaia Coalition at every chance and have garnered a mythical reputation after a full 100 years as rogues. How is it possible that Harlock has captained the Arcadia for 100 years without aging? Is the pirate ship a supernatural force in space?

The Arcadia is a seemingly unbeatable ship powered by dark matter engines

The main crew of the Arcadia are:

Kei Yuuki - beautiful and fierce female space pirate
Yullian ("Yattaran") - tough-talking first mate who wields a powerful hammer during melee combat
Mimay - member of the mysterious Nibelung alien race and expert at controlling the dark matter engines of the Arcadia
Logan ("Yama") - the Arcadia's newest recruit, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Harlock (merely coincidental?), and understands the Captain's pursuit of interstellar freedom

The main crew of the Arcadia (from left) - Yullian, Mimay, Harlock,
Logan, and Kei

The Gaia Coalition have unleashed a task force to take down the Arcadia once and for all. It's led by a man named Ezra who is wheelchair-bound. What is Ezra's shocking link to Logan and who is Nami? Harlock's plans are to retake the Earth, but why is he collecting massive detonators and placing them at key points in the galaxy? The famed space pirate is much more than he seems and his mission far more sinister. Will Logan fall under Harlock's spell and embrace the pirate's lifestyle? Can the Earth survive another conflict? Get ready for epic space battle as you've never seen it!

The Gaia Coalition's forces led by Isola hunt Harlock and his pirates

Pros: Beautiful full CG rendering with incredible detail, killer character designs which look retro-futuristic, exciting space battles with guns blazing, some really cool scenes and interactions, a lot of the mystery behind Harlock is presented (his link to the Arcadia), Harlock actually gets into the action and shows his stuff (instead of just sitting around), Japanese voice acting is top notch

Harlock captains from the bridge with Mimay by his side

Cons: CG character animation is incredibly stiff and unrealistic, plot is all over the place and kinda bad, character allegiances seem to switch back and forth pretty quickly, space pirates in their shiny battle suits are invincible one minute and then cannon fodder the next, Harlock never really has a personality and overall character development of the cast is weak, major wrench thrown into Harlock's motivations and backstory, they kept the cartoon-looking 'Mister Bird' (Tori-San), English dub is not great, subtitles take some liberties with names and meanings

Yullian offers some comedy relief to balance the stoic Harlock

Mike Tells It Straight: This film is based on the manga Space Pirate Captain Harlock by famed creator Leiji Matsumoto (Space Battleship Yamato aka Starblazers, Galaxy Express 999, many more). There was a 1970s anime television series (42 episodes) based on the manga and currently available with English subtitles. This film originally shared the same title and I think it was changed for the domestic release to avoid copyright issues (a different company owns the licensing rights to the television series) or to at least differentiate it for the Western audience. It's a visually stunning CG film with amazing textures and an exciting story. Obviously a labor of love for the creators and contains serious artistic effort.

Kei is as tough as she is beautiful

Beautiful visuals aside I found the story to be rather haphazard. The crew of the Arcadia don armored suits and are seemingly invincible when they board another vessel for hand-to-hand combat. Then later in the series they get their asses handed to them in a similar situation. It's inconsistent and there were several other instances which had me scratching my head (like the Gaia Coalition's 'grand cannon'). There's a major plot twist involving Harlock which really throws a wrench into his established character. Either genius by the writers/director (for making this an original work) or abject suicide by alienating the established fan-base. The body movements for the character animation weren't fluid (wrists are horribly awkward) which is a common problem with CG works (reminded me of the Final Fantasy CG movies).

Harlock unleashes his true power against the Gaia Coalition

One thing I liked in this film is the connection between Harlock and the Arcadia. Both seem downright supernatural at times and each had some great action sequences to reinforce their otherworldly might. Harlock is rarely seen in actual combat and it was refreshing (usually he's a chair jockey on the Arcadia's bridge). The film is faithful to Matsumoto's work with classic scenes (Logan and Harlock with guns locked on each other). The space battles were great and I really liked the plasma cannon fire lancing through the black void. The Arcadia's dark matter effect (black smoke emanating from the ship) was pretty spooky and looked neat.

Mimay offers her advice to Harlock as he questions his motives

I'm not usually a fan of CG films (much prefer hand-drawn animation mixed with CG backgrounds/effects), but Harlock showcases the latest Japan has to offer. It wasn't a critical success and garnered a lot of negative reviews from critics. It cost $30 million and didn't make it back at the box office - that's a critical failure. I'm kind of surprised it didn't do as well in Japan considering the fan-base, but there's hope the film will make it's budget with the DVD release. Still a big disappointment after all the hype surrounding its release.

Kei talks to Harlock

Love it or hate it, this film is a big budget version of Harlock. It's visually stunning and has some great action sequences. For these alone it's probably worth a watch. The plot is filled with holes like swiss cheese, but what did you expect? I could definitely see hardcore Harlock fans getting offended by some of the plot twists in the film. Overall it's a passable sci-fi movie and has some cool space battles.

Logan and Harlock have a familiar standoff

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Deadman Wonderland Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 06:50:00 +0000

Deadman Wonderland
Deddoman Wandarando
Funimation
Complete Collection - 2 discs
325 mins - 12 episodes + OVA
$34.98 (2014) Blu-Ray/DVD
$64.98 (2012)
ISBN 704400075803
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Koichiro Hatsumi
Studio - Manglobe

Synopsis: Ganta Igarashi is a normal high school student. Or so he thinks. Ten years earlier there was a mysterious and devastating event centered in Tokyo which destroyed the city and most of the surrounding areas. Ganta was one of the survivors and he has regained a seemingly normal life among his friends. This all changes when a frightening figure attacks Ganta's classroom and massacres all of the students. Only Ganta is spared, but he doesn't escape unharmed. The floating and deranged man embeds a red crystal shard into Ganta's chest.

The 'Red Man' embeds a glowing red crystal in Ganta's chest

Awakening in the hospital and clearly traumatized, Ganta discovers his wounds have miraculously disappeared. The authorities question him and to his vast dismay they suspect him as being the perpetrator of the slaughter. Ganta pleads innocence and is subjected to a rigged court trial where falsified evidence damns him to death row. He's living a nightmare and gets sentenced to 'Deadman Wonderland', a privately owned prison modeled after and functioning as an amusement park.

Ganta is handed a death sentence for killing his entire classroom - say what!?

The inmates all work in the theme park and are fitted with tracking/suppression collars. Condemned prisoners are administered slow poison doses through the collars as well. If they don't earn 'candy' every three days then the poison overwhelms them and they die (fulfilling their death sentence). Inmates can earn candy by participating in dangerous (often deadly) games for the guests amusement. The prison is run by a sadistic and well-endowed warden, Makina, who brutally punishes any misbehaving inmates. She especially likes to cut them with a sword she wears.

Deadman Wonderland - first amusement park prison

Ganta obsesses over finding the cause for his torment - the Red Man. Surrounded by killers and criminals he's gotta watch his back! A strange girl appears who says she knows Ganta and acts very familiar. Her name is Shiro and she dresses differently than any of the other inmates. The two become friends and she has an uncanny ability to get out of trouble. What is the top secret G Block and the tournament called Carnival Corpse? The red crystal in Ganta's chest has changed him and he's about to discover a horrific, hidden world behind the colorful facade of Deadman Wonderland.

Shiro finds Ganta, who she swears is her childhood friend

Pros: Great visuals, interesting character designs, great opening/ending theme songs, strong profanity, some epic battles, underdog story as Ganta must overcome incredible odds to stay alive, Shiro is a cool character

The head of the prison is a total slimeball nutjob

Cons: Major suspension of disbelief in the world set up by this series (seriously, who is going to take their kid to a theme park staffed by criminals), Ganta cries like every episode, this show is clearly a first season for a longer story yet there is no second season (it didn't do well in Japan although success overseas may garner its continuation, US release was censored (no nudity and some of the gore was blocked)

Ganta runs afoul of one of the G Block cellmates - The Crow

Mike Tells It Straight: Deadman Wonderland aired on Cartoon Network in the States and is based on a manga by Jinsei Kataoka/Kazuma Kondou. It's a slick looking anime series with cool character designs, an awesome theme song/opening, and ultra-violent action. The plot is outlandish and hard to believe, but enough hints are dropped (if you pay attention) to give you a little backstory of why things are happening. I liked the animation and the characters looked cool doing a bunch of violent things. Ganta is a sympathetic protagonist and the mysterious Shiro was an intriguing character. A lot of battles and neat tricks happen with the powers of the Deadmen. That's the good stuff.

Ganta's power surfaces from the red crystal

One major issue with this series is it doesn't have a definitive ending and begs for a second season (to finish out the manga). Apparently it wasn't a success in Japan and no second season is planned at this time. It saw domestic success in the States and might possibly get that second season, but I wouldn't bet on it. Big disappointment. Anyone who wants to finish out the story can turn to the manga.

Ganta befriends another Deadman called Hummingbird

Ganta was a serious crybaby throughout the series and cries at least once per episode. It gets pretty sad although I'd probably do much worse in his shoes (plus I don't have freaky telekinetic blood powers or a hot girl like Shiro to watch out for me). His pathetic demeanor is tempered somewhat by the tougher characters he befriends. Some of the plot was confusing and far-fetched. When I saw the Carnival Corpse matchups I thought the series was going to be a tournament show. The Undertakers were stereotypical bad guys and didn't garner much sympathy despite their tragic backstories.

Seriously, who is taking their kids to a prison amusement park?

I enjoyed watching this series although it was a bit violent and overly cruel at times. Definitely not for younger viewers. Opening theme song and animation sequence was great. It's hard to recommend a show which doesn't have a satisfying ending (the OVA episode is a prequel focusing on one of the Deadmen). I would watch a second season if it comes out and may get around to reading the manga someday.

From left - Koshio (Game Fowl), Nagi (Owl), Ganta (Woodpecker),
Shiro (Wretched Egg?), and Senji (Crow)

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Death Note Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 05:33:00 +0000

Death Note
Desu Noto
Viz Video
Complete Collection - 9 discs
850 mins. - 37 episodes
$44.98 (2014)
$24.98 (2013-14) Parts 1-2/ea.
$69.98 (2008-09) Parts 1-2/ea.
$39.98 (2008-09) Vol. 6-9/ea. Limited
$24.98 (2008-09) Vol. 6-9/ea.
$49.99 (2008) Vol. 5 Limited
$34.99 (2008) Vol. 5
$39.98 (2007-08) Vol. 1-4/ea. Limited
$24.98 (2007-08) Vol. 1-4/ea.
$29.98 (2007) Vol. 1 w/graphic novel
$24.98 (2007) Vol. 1 w/calendar
ISBN 782009243595
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Tetsuro Araki
Studio - Madhouse

Synopsis: There exists a world set apart from ours. It's filled with Shinigami - gods of death or perhaps they should be called demons. They have lived for a very long time and they are very bored. Each Shinigami possesses a notebook called a Death Note which has the power to kill any human whose name is written inside. If a Shinigami accidentally drops their Death Note in the human world then whichever human picks it up will become the owner and have the power to kill humans. The Shinigami named Ryuk manages to get his hands on a second Death Note and decides to drop it in the human world. This is the story of what happens afterwards.

Ryuk in the Shinigami world

Light Yagami is an honor student and star tennis player. He's the son of a high-ranking police officer and has even helped his Dad on a few cases. Incredibly bright and terribly bored, Light is the perfect student, son, and potential boyfriend! One day he finds a notebook on the ground with the words 'Death Note' written on the cover. The notebook includes some additional writing which shocks Light:

Light doesn't know what to make of the notebook and considers the implications of it's 'rules'. What if it's real and how can writing someone's name in a notebook possibly kill them? He decides to test it out after seeing a news broadcast of a man has taken several children hostage and the police are trying to save them. The news broadcast shows the man's name and face so Light has exactly what the Death Note specified.

Light possesses the Death Note and begins using it

He writes the man's name...and the man dies. The Death Note is real and suddenly a monstrous creature appears before his eyes. The creature is a Shinigami (God of Death) named Ryuk who says he has dropped the Death Note in the human world for someone to pick up. He is only visible to the Note's owner and not completely trustworthy. Light takes all of this incredible information in stride and decides to use the Note as a way to cleanse the world of criminals and create a better world. Naturally Light will be the God of this new world.

The mysterious and world-renowned detective L

Scores of criminals begin dying of heart attacks and the authorities take notice. They call in a world-renowned and secretive detective calling himself L. Despite being a genius savant, L has two things going for him - no one knows his real name and Light has never seen his face. It seems Light has met his match and must deal with an intense man-hunt to find the mysterious killer who is breathing fear into the criminal underworld. The public gets wind of the killings and people begin forming opinions. The killer becomes known as "Kira" and crime rates drop. It seems the killings are primarily located in Japan so L begins closing in on Light.

Ryuk is only visible to the Death Note owner and follows Light wherever he goes

Light's father gets drawn into the investigation to find Kira and even meets the mysterious L. It becomes increasingly difficult for Light to hide the fact that he's Kira. Things get sticky when a second Kira appears out of nowhere. Will this second killer align with Light's plans for a new world? The greater question is will L take down this copycat and learn the true secret of the Death Note? With L and the investigative team (including his father) breathing down his neck, how far will Light go and who will he kill in order to achieve his 'greater world'? The answer will surprise you.

A second Death Note and Shinigami (Rem) appears!

Pros: Highly suspenseful and a gripping story, interesting characters (especially L), makes you seriously question your morals, nice animation and backgrounds, intense and slow buildup to final ending was masterful, L is a serious badass who can do almost anything perfectly

The hunt for Kira intensifies, from left: Light, Matsuda (standing), L,
and Light's Father

Cons: Second half of the series gets confusing and definitely not as strong as the first, it gets hard to tell which Death Note and Shinigami Eyes are at play, some very convenient plot twists in Kira or L's favor, creepy foot-rubbing scene between L and Light, L's constant eating of sweets (it gets a little pathological by the end)

Light manipulates Misa Amane who pledges her undying love for Kira

Mike Tells It Straight: Death Note is really a story about power corrupting otherwise good people and it forces the viewer to consider what they would do with the ability to become an anonymous executioner. At first Light appears to be the perfect student and an exemplary son, but then he transforms into the vengeful god Kira who will remake society one criminal death at a time. A fascinating premise which offers a lot of moral allegory to the information age. Highly suspenseful with a ton of twists and turns as Light tries to stay one step ahead of the police and L.

L shows a sadistic side when he begins questioning suspects

The series is fairly long at 37 episodes while most anime series are only 26. This allows the story to progress at its own pace and build up a lot of tension. It follows the original manga series by Takeshi Obata very closely. The characters develop over time and we get to know each one. There are so many plot developments and contingencies to Light's planning that it gets confusing at times, but keeps the viewer guessing (and on their toes). The tone of the series is very serious (people are dying after all), but we still get a few comedy relief moments (Matsuda was my favorite) which serve to lighten an otherwise dark show.

Ryuk loves apples and likens them to cigarettes and alcohol for Shinigami

It's a complex story and sometimes hard to follow. Every eyecatch (an outro/intro scene bookending the commercial break at the middle of every episode) consists of another rule of the Death Note which adds to the complexity of the story. The 'rules' make the story far richer to the viewers and more challenging for the writers. Utterly fascinating was the intricate web of Death Note rules and how Light was able to work within them. The first half of the story was brilliant as Light used his cunning intellect to stymie the police investigation while being so closely involved.

Light and L come to blows with Misa as witness after a particularly difficult day

The character of L was truly memorable and made a lasting impression. He was built up to be uniquely intelligent and a mysterious detective with quirky personal traits. Whatever it was it worked. He's socially awkward, sits weird, holds things weird, is constantly drinking coffee, and eats sweets non-stop (he needs the sugar to fuel his mental capacity). Totally classic and an integral part to why the story worked. The other two detectives we meet who are linked to L were not as impactful (these were Mello and Near).

Near is an unflinching detective with even less social skills than L

The whole Shinigami realm thing and Ryuk (plus the other Shinigami who show up like Rem) were a major stretch to the imagination, but I eventually got used to them. Death Note was pretty darn popular and had two live-action spinoffs (plus a prequel starring L). The portrayal of Ryuk with cheesy CGI doesn't sound very appealing. It worked in the anime at least.

Mello is another detective, but he believes the ends justify the means
and is never without a chocolate bar

I have to say there's nothing out there like Death Note and it's a unique show. Dark, suspenseful, and sprinkled with a few lighthearted moments. I definitely suggest watching this series (not for young viewers or highly impressionable teenagers with access to firearms). One thing to note is the first half of the series is pure gold, but the second half becomes a bit more questionable as the rules and Light's machinations become more cumbersome to the story. It's still a wild ride and highly recommended.

Light will stop at nothing and let no one stand in his way of creating a new world under Kira

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Afro Samurai: Resurrection Anime Movie Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 06:40:00 +0000

Afro Samurai: Resurrection
Afuro Samurai
Funimation
Movie - 90 mins. - 1 disc
$39.98 (2010) Complete Murder Sessions w/First Season Blu-Ray
$34.98 (2009) Complete Murder Sessions w/First Season
$34.98 (2009) Director's Cut
$39.98 (2009) Director's Cut Blu-Ray
$29.98 (2009)
ISBN 704400079924
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Fuminori Kizaki/Jamie Simone
Studio - Gonzo

Synopsis: Afro has found his revenge and claimed the Number 1 headband from the man who killed his father. His fight is over, but he languishes with no purpose and no friends. It seems he is just marking time while his life slowly continues. He has made too many enemies along the way to have any chance at a peaceful life and a new enemy soon appears.

Afro languishes after finally getting revenge for his father's murder

It's his old friend, Jinno, and his sister, Sio, who easily defeat Afro, take the Number 1 headband, and steal the remains of Afro's father, Rokutaro. Sio is working her own revenge angle on Afro because he destroyed her brother's life. She plans to resurrect Rokutaro and torture him.

Sio and her brother Jinno return to seek their revenge on Afro

Once again Afro is set into motion as he must track down the Number 2 headband to challenge Jinno and Sio. She uses an evil scientist to maintain Jinno's upkeep and sets him to resurrecting Rokutaro with the goal of setting him against Afro. He faces his greatest challenge yet as he wades through another eclectic set of warriors on his path to confront Sio, but will he be able to face his resurrected father?

Sio's creepy henchmen (and woman)

Pros: Stunning visuals (on par with the first series), great soundtrack, Samuel L. Jackson is the voice of Afro (and the annoying Ninja Ninja) along with Lucy Liu as Sio, tons of hardcore action, nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program, art director Shigemi Ikeda won an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation

Afro challenges the man who has the Number 2 headband

Cons: Plot is weak and predictable, less character and feeling than the first series, suffers from typical sequel curse of not being as good as the first, Ninja Ninja is still in the story

Not too happy to see this guy again - he's super annoying and apparently
a figment of Afro's mind (maybe his inner monologue or something)

Mike Tells It Straight: I watched the first series of Afro Samurai and reviewed it here. It was a slick Japanese anime blaxploitation film with great visuals and action, but lacking a solid story. The sequel is more of the same and didn't go anywhere new. It still looks cool with neat character designs (a fusion of futuristic technology, modern hip-hop, and feudal Japan) and great animation. The story is still very simple and predictable.

Gonzo gives us some truly stunning visuals

While I was glad to see Jinno return since I thought he was the best supporting character of the first series (it's the giant bear mask). I was disappointed in his role in this sequel. Sio runs the show and she's a truly bland villain. I didn't think the plot could get any weaker, but I was wrong. This movie is all about action and looking cool. It worked for the first series after all.

Afro and Jinno in younger, happier days

This movie was nominated for an Emmy and the art director won one. Not bad for this popular sequel although a surprise to me due to the lack of solid story. I'd say watch this show if you liked the first one and/or want to find out what happens afterwards. It's got all the same action and a little less story to get in the way.

Can Afro confront his resurrected father who is little more than a killing machine?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

ShootFighter Tekken: The Tough Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 06:46:00 +0000

ShootFighter Tekken - The Tough
Koko Tekken-den Tafu
Central Park Media/U.S. Manga Corps
Complete Collection - 3 discs
135 mins. - 3 episodes
$29.95 (2004)
$19.99 (2004) Vol. 1-3/ea.
ISBN 719987244122
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Yukio Nishimoto
Studio - AIC

Synopsis: Kiichi Miyazawa is heir to the Nanshin Shadow Style of martial arts and is put through grueling training by his father. The style is brutal and ruthless, intended for efficient assassination. Despite his incredible skills and training Kiichi is a regular high school student and has an easy-going nature. He keeps his deadly skills in check and uses them to defend others. His father is a stoic man, but appears to have a good heart (which has rubbed off on Kiichi). He's diminutive in stature, but an adept fighter with a fearless attitude. Every night he trains to surpass even his father's prowess at Nanshin Shadow Style!

Kiichi is a goofy high school kid despite being skilled at a deadly martial art

Many years ago the greatest pro wrestler, Iron Kiba, sought to fight the best martial artists and prove pro wrestlers were the toughest in the world. One by one he defeated them all in no-holds-barred underground matches. The only fighter to defeat him was Seiko Miyazawa, Kiichi's father, using the Nanshin Shadow Style. Not only did Kiba suffer defeat, but he also lost his left eye in the match. He forever bears the mark of his defeat and relives the horrific battle before every subsequent wrestling match. Then he destroys his next opponent in the ring!

Iron Kiba is the world's greatest wrestler and a fearsome opponent in the ring

Kiba harbors an intense hatred and desire to destroy Nanshin Shadow Style. When Kiichi and his father inadvertently run afoul of a pro wrestler, Kiba is waiting for his chance to ensnare them. Seiko is careful not to enter fights carelessly because he knows what his own devastating power can do. Kiichi is not so hesitant and his brash youthfulness causes him to rush headlong into any challenge. Kiba wants to goad Seiko into fighting him again to the death and he'll use Kiichi's inexperience to get what he wants.

Years ago Kiba and Seiko had a vicious match which left Kiba scarred

Kiichi must fight grueling battles as Kiba sends wrestlers, brawlers, and martial artists after both he and Seiko. Kiichi's training continues under Seiko and becomes tougher than ever. Will the father and son survive the revenge of Iron Kiba? Can Kiichi's never-say-die and positive attitude win out over impossible odds?

Nanshin Shadow Style targets vital organs to incapacitate enemies

Pros: Some cool fight scenes (especially the grappling moves), menacing villains, wrestling drama, Kiichi has a good attitude and his father seems like a good man (while being the master of an assassination-focused martial art is questionable), some funny moments too

Iron Kiba sets up his revenge match with Seiko

Cons: Kiichi is ridiculously small compared to some of the fighters - no way he could handle them, character designs are pretty bland (so are their personalities), pro wrestling as the ultimate fighting style is highly dubious, Kiichi is a total goof and his plucky attitude can get annoying

Kiichi executes a flying grapple move

Mike Tells It Straight: No, this short anime OVA is not related to Tekken the video game franchise. It's based on a long-running manga series by Tetsuya Saruwatari which has highly detailed art. The anime in comparison is not as detailed (although the DVD covers are by the author). The covers are what attracted me to the series in the first place. I was a little disappointed that the animation and character designs were so simple. The story is really simple too with Kiichi the young heir to a martial arts legacy. He retains his youthful exuberance and is good-hearted. His father remains caring even as he puts his son through brutal training each night.

The original manga for Shootfighter Tekken: The Tough

Kiichi is this tiny kid compared to his opponents and especially Iron Kiba. It's ridiculous that he could take them on with his diminutive stature (seriously, he's like half their size). Seems implausible. The characters and dialogue are bland with no real personalities. The plot was pretty weak, but I did like how Kiba and Kiichi's opponents had decent backstories. I must say Kiichi's positive attitude and consideration towards his enemies were silly, but mildly endearing. There were a few decent fight scenes and some okay comedy (to offset the serious fights). I haven't seen Baki the Grappler and can't say how similar these two series are (been meaning to watch that series for years). Overall this short anime doesn't do justice to the elaborate manga it's based on. It's too simple and the animation is weak. Despite it's many flaws I did find some good moments and okay fight scenes. It's mediocre at best, but you can find a copy for fairly cheap.

Kiichi throws a flying kick - check out how small he is compared to the wrestler!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Heaven's Lost Property Forte Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 06:39:00 +0000

Heaven's Lost Property: Forte
Sora no Otoshimono Forte
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
300 mins. - 12 episodes
$39.98 (2014) Blu-Ray/DVD
$64.98 (2013) Blu-Ray
$59.98 (2013)
ISBN 704400058783
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hisashi Saito
Studio - AIC

Synopsis: Tomoki Sakurai was a regular high school student living in a boring town who just wanted to enjoy a quiet existence. All of that ended when he discovered the Angeloid named Ikaros one evening. She fell from a place called the Synapse and became Tomoki's servant. To make matters worse she was followed by another Angeloid named Nymph. Both Angeloids now live and go to school with Tomoki. There go his chances for any peace and quiet!

Ikaros attempts to get close to Tomoki...with disastrous results

The Angeloids can fly, are extremely durable, and each have special abilities. In her former state Ikaros was a fearsome Angeloid called the Uranus Queen with highly destructive capabilities. It appears her memories were suppressed from this time and her emotions are purposefully stunted. Nymph is a walking supercomputer and has highly technical abilities (although she is much weaker physically than Ikaros).

Nymph laments the loss of her wings in the first season

Tomoki's friends help him deal with the Angeloids and their antics. They include his next door neighbor Sohara (who has a secret crush on him), the eccentric Sugata who is head of the New World Discovery Club (he's pretty much the only member), and the sadistic student body president Mikako (her family are Yakuza). Together they try to learn about the Angeloids and the Synapse while getting into outlandish situations.

Tomoki devises an ingenious system of peep holes - how long until he's caught?

Another Angeloid is sent to Earth to eliminate Tomoki! Her name is Astraea and she is one of the strongest Angeloids, but woefully clumsy and not very bright. She also has enormous boobs. She remains on Earth and plots to somehow destroy Tomoki, but keeps hanging around his house to mooch food. She gets sucked into all the goofiness happening in Tomoki's life including - Mikako's snowball battle girls vs. boys, Tomoki's panty robot pedal bicycle (don't ask), a mock game show to prove Tomoki is despised by all the girls at school, the forbidden eating of Ikaros' watermelons, Mikako's mock fishing contest where the 'fish' are busty girls who have been tied up, Tomoki's peeping network and more.

Astraea comes down from the Synapse to snuff Tomoki!

Another Angeloid is sent from the Synapse and she's a next-generation model called Chaos. She is ultimately powerful, inadvertently evil, and emotionally still a child. Will even the combined might of Ikaros, Nymph, and Astraea be enough to stop her? The evil master of the Synapse will stop at nothing to destroy the rogue Angeloids and their 'master' Tomoki.

The Angeloids face the fearsome Chaos - the next generation of Angeloid!

Pros: Great animation and backgrounds, every episode ends with a different song/closing credits based on what happened in the episode, tons of comedy moments and funny situations, even more fan-service than the first season, some very small character development and plot reveals (particularly Nymph), Chaos is a suitably dark and scary nemesis for the Angeloids in this season

Tomoki pulls his best prank yet

Cons: Female characters are ridiculous and wear collars with chains on them, Ikaros has zero personality and usually just stares blankly at stuff, plot barely moves forward (not much revealed about the Synapse), Chaos is fairly annoying, a lot of really silly episodes

We learn very little about the evil master of the Synapse

Mike Tells It Straight: The first season of Heaven's Lost Property (reviewed here) started out as your typical harem anime and eventually won me over with its outlandish comedy situations. I was impressed with the unique ending credits and songs for each episode. It stood out as a decent show with good animation and the serious parts were mildly compelling. Tomoki is an unrepentant horn-dog and the mystery of the Synapse was mildly compelling.

Sugata meets the mysterious Daedalus who built the Angeloids

This second season continued the tradition of unique ending credits and nice animation. The show is all about the ecchi/fan-service and this theme grows exponentially. Entire episodes seem to be dedicated to Tomoki's lecherous ways, ridiculous contests surrounding boobs, and Tomoki is often sporting a boner or completely naked (with little graphics covering his parts). It's crazy!

Nymph runs a diagnostic on Ikaros after she falls ill

I wish the series spent a little less time on Tomoki's massive porn collection and focused more on the mystery of the Synapse. We get some new information, but nothing on the actual master of the Angeloids. This was a letdown along with the annoying childlike Angeloid, Chaos. She would have been practically unbearable if it weren't for her sheer scary evilness! The battle with her was pretty wicked and overall Heaven's Lost Property Forte was a zany show. It kicks the fan-service (no explicit nudity just lots of groping) and comedy up a notch while sacrificing plot development. Even more of a guilty pleasure than the first season ;)

Ikaros manifests her full powers as the Uranus Queen

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Ghost Hunt Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 05:30:00 +0000

Ghost Hunt
Gosuto Hanto
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
600 mins. - 25 episodes
$29.98 (2010) S.A.V.E.
$59.98 (2009)
$49.98 (2008) Parts 1-2/ea.
ISBN 704400079122
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Rei Mano
Studio - J.C. Staff

Synopsis: Mai Taniyama is an ordinary high school girl who likes to tell ghost stories with her friends. She meets a mysterious young man who turns out to have been hired to investigate a supposed haunting in an abandoned school building. Then Mai accidentally breaks one of his video cameras and even gets his assistant injured. Feeling guilty she ends up taking the assistant's place during the investigation and witnesses some unexplained phenomena. The young man is Kazuya Shibuya who runs Shibuya Paranormal Research (SPR), but Mai decides to call him 'Naru' because of his lofty, narcissistic attitude.

From left: Masako, Ayako, Yasuhara, Naru (Kazuya), Hosho, Mai, and John

The apparent haunting gets more severe and more investigators are called in. They include:

Hosho Takigawa is a former Buddhist monk who is adept at exorcising spirits (using Buddhist mantras) and is very brave. He appears to be very laid back and even wears stylish clothes. Mai is put off by his appearance at first, but soon discovers he is a capable expert and very brave.
Ayako Matsuzaki is a Shinto shrine maiden who is brash and outspoken. She doesn't look or act the part of a holy maiden by any means. She also has the ability to release spirits (using Shinto kuji like the 'nine cuts') although her reputation is not very good. Mai surmises that she talks a good game, but doesn't have the spiritual power to back it up.
John Brown is a Catholic priest hailing from Australia. He is very soft spoken and kind. When performing an exorcism he uses holy water and reads passages from the Holy Bible.
Masako Hara is a famous television star who has the ability to sense and even channel spirits (a medium). She apparently has a crush on Naru, but its unknown whether he returns her feelings. Mai is instantly jealous of her.
Lin Koujo is Naru's assistant and keeps to himself. He is highly capable and even has some spiritual abilities. Mai is convinced he hates her.

I really hope, for Mai's sake, that's just a dream

Naru ends up hiring Mai to work with SPR to pay off the rest of the camera she busted. The group investigates a wide variety of 'hauntings' with varying degrees of authenticity and danger. Each member contributes in some unique and valuable way. Mai feels a bit out of place among these seasoned hunters, especially Naru and Lin who are both very forthright in their dealings with others. Over the course of the investigations Mai becomes a believer and she even begins to show some skill at solving cases. When the group find a real haunting or possession is when the true danger begins.

The team have fun investigating a possible haunting in the park

Subsequent cases SPR takes on include:

They visit a home where it's believed a poltergeist is at work. The family includes a young girl who has a creepy doll. Can the group uncover the tragic history of the house and the mystery of the doll before another accident happens?
The team is then called in to a school where many strange accidents have been happening to students. It appears a desk is cursed, but also other places in the school. A girl who exhibits psychokinetic abilities (spoon bending) has been blamed, but Mai is convinced she's innocent. Is the girl lashing out at her enemies after they publicly ridiculed her?
Something is purposefully interuppting young lovers at a local park. Whenever someone tries to kiss they get splashed with cold water. Is it the work of a jilted spirit?
John brings the team to the aid of a local parrish where possessions have been happening more frequently. A boy disappeared many years ago and it appears his spirit is becoming agitated. Can the SPR team solve the mystery before another child goes missing?
The team is called to another haunted high school where the principal and headmaster are both gruff unbelievers. They meet a helpful young man named Osamu Yasuhara who explains the curses started happening after a first-year student named Sakauchi took his own life. Add the fact the entire student body has been playing a strange game similar to a Ouija board and the school has become a hotbed of spiritual activity. Mai has a horrible dream which spells disaster for the group. Can Naru solve the case before anyone else gets hurt?
Several groups of paranormal researchers are called in to solve the disappearance of a pair of young men in an old mansion owned by the former prime minister. Not all of the investigators are what they appear to be and not all of them make it out alive. The house has a macabre history and Mai seems particularly sensitive. When a seance is held all hell breaks loose! Can the group escape the horror hidden beneath the house?
A family hires SPR to help them avert a curse which happens any time the head of the family changes. The team faces their toughest challenge yet as they encounter possessions, malevolent spirits, and even Naru is caught unawares. The death toll rises and Mai's dreams become increasingly dire as time runs out. During the last change a team of ghost hunters were lost and SPR could suffer the same fate!

Keep your eyes on this creepy doll...or else!

Pros: Good cast of characters (with actual character development), nice blend of creepy horror sprinkled with a little lighthearted comedy, opening/ending sequences/music were decent and reminded me of those late night psychic/spiritual infomercials, I liked the multiple episode story arc format which allowed suspense to build up until the last episode of each case, a few genuinely scary moments, not many horror anime out there that do a good job

The SPR crew encounter this dangerous hell hound!

Cons: Some of the solutions to the cases can be far-fetched (like the first case, the one with the boy who disappeared, and the last case), the ending of the final case was too convenient for all of the story buildup, some goofy moments, not all questions are answered

What has Mai gotten herself into?

Mike Tells It Straight: I almost quit this series after the first three episodes, but am very glad to have stuck with it to the end. The story was originally a light novel series, then a manga, then adapted into this anime series, and currently an ongoing manga again. There are not many decent horror anime out there and I can say Ghost Hunt is one of them. One of the best aspects of the show are the interactions of the SPR characters. Mai is the main protagonist/narrator and she gives a good perspective on the other characters. The characters grow over the course of the series (especially Mai's latent psychic abilities).

Performing a seance in the bowels of a haunted mansion

The series is split into multi-episode story arcs which I found to be very appropriate. Each case takes a few episodes to solve and it allows a nice buildup of suspense before the finales. I liked the characters which definitely grew on me over the course of the series. There's some nice character development. Some of the later stories were particularly scary (the Bloodstained Labyrinth and the Cursed House) and I enjoyed watching the series alone at night! It's few and far between to find decent horror anime and Ghost Hunt does a good job.

Mai comes face to face with an unspeakable horror - is it just a dream?

Some things which bothered me about the series were the convenient ending to the final story arc. We get a great buildup to the final episode and then it just ended with a convenient reveal of some hidden power. Not how I would have liked it to end. Everything up to that point was pretty good, but the ending was a letdown. A few of the situations in the series were kinda lame and very far-fetched (even for an anime). Okay, so it's way harder and more uncommon to have ghosts/poltergeists show up than what happened in the series (I've watched a few episodes of Ghost Hunters on SyFy network).

Some spirits can actually do harm to the living

Despite its flaws I still enjoyed the series and would recommend it if you are looking for a creepy anime to watch alone at night. It's a good combination of humor (Mai's pining for the stoic Naru and her rivalry with Masako) and suspense while the group is confronted with difficult psychic phenomena. The character interactions make the series along with a few scary moments. It can be a little slow-paced at times, but I was surprised at how much I actually liked the series.

The team visits Naru in the hospital after a particularly nasty case

TO BUY and Recommendations:

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 07:54:00 +0000

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Musekinin Kancho Taira
The Right Stuf International
Complete Collection - 4 discs
650 mins. - 26 episodes
$39.99 (2013)
$49.99 (2009) Remastered
$99.99 (2005)
$34.95 (2001) Vol. 1-4/ea.
$129.95 (2000)
ISBN 742617200526
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Koichi Mashimo
Studio - Tatsunoko Productions

Synopsis: Justy Ueki Tylor is an aimless young man who decides to join the United Planets Space Force (UPSF) because he thinks he can ride out a cushy desk job and then collect a pension for the rest of his life. His timing is terrible as it appears the UPSF is heading for space war with the Raalgon Empire. It appears luck is on his side when he gets assigned to the military pension office until he delivers a pension to a bed-ridden former admiral who is being held hostage by terrorists! Tylor somehow foils the terrorists plot despite or possibly because of his blundering headlong into the situation. He gets promoted to ship's Captain as a reward even though he has absolutely no qualifications or experience. The ship is the decrepit old destroyer the Soyokaze and is filled with a crew of derelict soldiers considered to be at the bottom rung in the UPSF.

Jusy Ueki Tylor is an aimless youth without a purpose in life

Tylor makes a big splash on board with his careless and disorderly command style. He tells the crew they can do what they want and it starts a mutiny! The motley crew is made up of insubordinates, buffoons, and a few diligent officers trying to make a name for themselves.

From left: Emi and Yumi Hanner, Kojiro Sakai, Kyung Kim, Makoto
Yamamoto, Captain Tylor, Yuriko Star, Harold Katori, Sgt. Cryborne,
Lt. Andressen, Nurse Harumi, and Dr. Kitaguchi

The crew includes:

First Officer Lt. Commander Makoto Yamamoto is strait-laced, determined, and completely inept. He's a career military man who dreams of becoming captain one day, but doesn't have the smarts to pull it off. Torn between his duty to follow the military chain of command to the letter by supporting the Captain's wacky decisions and his need to blow the whistle on Tylor's disregard for protocol, Yamamoto is perpetually chasing his own tail.
Lt. Commander Yuriko Star is another upright military officer and she's not afraid to call out her Captain for breaking the rules. He's a constant source of aggravation for her and she's always trying to restore order to the Soyokaze. It doesn't help that Tylor finds her attractive and seems to ignore her reprimands.
First Lt. Kyung Kim is the communications officer of the Soyokaze and preoccupied with her good looks. Regardless she proves to be a versatile crew member able to handle unexpected situations. She doesn't know what to make of the new Captain and usually doesn't take him too seriously.
First Lt. Harold Katori is the ship's navigator and cool under pressure. He's a very centered individual who takes in stride all of the new Captain's quirks.
Emi and Yumi Hanner are the daughters of the admiral Tylor saved and are hopelessly devout to their Captain. They followed him into the UPSF and are endlessly enthusiastic. The pair are very cute, but inexperienced.
Second Lt. Kojiro Sakai loves his space fighter more than anything else in the universe and spends countless hours polishing it. He's a total hot-head and gets into arguments with the marines stationed on board. He's also very awkward around women.
First Lt. Andressen leads the marines on the Soyokaze and he is a rough man of action. He's not afraid to buck command and engineers the first mutiny against Tylor.
Master Sergeant Cryborne is a tough customer and the scars on his face are a testament to his iron will. He's as insubordinate as they come and earned his place on the Soyokaze.
Naval Surgeon Kitaguchi is a complete drunk and only a competent physician when he's inebriated.
Staff Sergeant Harumi is assigned to the Soyokaze and makes an immediate splash due to her fetching good looks. Every man aboard is instantly smitten with the new doctor's assistant and makes up some excuse to see the nurse. What is her daring secret and how does it involve the Captain?

The destroyer Soyokaze (yes, the flag waves in space)

On the opposite side of the galaxy the Raalgon Empire is in transition following the recent assassination of their Emperor (the UPSF is blamed). The Raalgon are a proud race who value strength and conviction above all else. The Emperor's daughter Azalyn ascends to the throne, but she's barely sixteen and unaccustomed to ruling an empire. Furthermore, she's not allowed to openly grieve for her father's death as it's not acceptable for an Empress to show weakness. She's torn between her duty, grief, and wanting to feel normal again. To make matters worse, the Emperor's advisors are back-stabbers (quite possibly in the literal sense) who want to control the inexperienced Azalyn and are rallying for a complete attack on the UPSF. Azalyn has only one confidante in Captain Ru Baraba Dom who truly cares for the Empress.

The Empress Azalyn rules over the war-like Raalgon yet privately
mourns her father's passing and yearns to recapture her lost childhood

The Soyokaze immediately stumbles across a Raalgon advance fleet and Captain Tylor is put to the test. Can the crew put aside their differences and rally behind the Captain to save the day? Captain Tylor barely recognizes the true danger he's in from both within and without. Only a miracle will keep the Soyokaze in one piece, but can Tylor's uncanny luck possibly continue? The UPSF top brass want Tylor to fail miserably and he's not making a good case for himself. How will the Raalgon's Empress react when she meets Tylor? Can the most irresponsible man in space stay in one piece?

The Captain of the Soyokaze is not your typical ship's captain

Pros: Great ensemble cast of characters, some genuinely funny moments (my favorite was Empress Azalyn's sixteenth birthday), fun homages to other sci-fi series (like Macross, Gundam, Space Battleship Yamato), unique showdown between the two space fleets (UPSF and Raalgon), Tylor definitely has his moments of genius, good ending

One of the marines wears a hockey mask and is named Jason...wait a minute!

Cons: Tylor really acts like a fool and it can get a bit tiresome at times, plot and situations are completely ridiculous (on purpose), opening/ending theme songs are bland, older animation, not very exciting, some boring episodes, the whole 'Paco Paco' thing with Empress Azalyn

The ship's doctor is a raging alcoholic (although he does
perform better when drunk)

Mike Tells It Straight: This series originally aired in the early 1990s and I finally got around to watching it after having the collection on my shelf for a few years. It was definitely a mixed bag with some good points, but also a lot of parts which left me scratching my head. First off it's a comedy/space opera. The main character, Captain Tylor, mostly acts like a nonchalant moron with very little regard for structured authority. He's incredibly lucky and seems to blunder his way through difficult situations with ease. It can be slightly amusing or extremely annoying at times. Some of the situations are absolutely hilarious, but many are downright lame.

The crew of the Soyokaze support their Captain in his time of need

The supporting cast was the highlight of the series and each character contributes in some way to the overall story. Their interactions with the Captain make the series much more enjoyable. The series definitely grows on you and the ending was actually pretty good. Some of the episodes were total duds, but a few were great. I really disliked the whole 'Paco Paco' thing with the Captain and Empress Azalyn. It was corny, but the episode with her sixteenth birthday party was absolutely hilarious. I liked the episode with the space confrontation between UPSF and Raalgon fleets. The tension and build up was cool.

Shia Has - because alien space-faring races wear bikinis

It's an older series and the animation shows its age. I liked how the Soyokaze and some of the character designs were homages to other space opera series (like Macross, Gundam, Space Battleship Yamato). The opening and ending animation/music was weak, but the episode soundtrack was good. This series is just okay - it has a few funny moments and is lighthearted, but Tylor's character can get tiresome. I can see why it sat on my shelf for so long, but I'm glad I finally watched it. Somehow it seems to grow on you and the last few episodes are pretty darn good. Now I've got the sequel OVA sitting there and I'll have to check it out to see if the story gets better. Stay tuned!

Let's go!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Happy New Year 2015!

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 18:59:00 +0000

Wishing everyone a happy new year! A lot of cool shows coming out this year and I hope you all get the chance to watch them.

Best,

Mike & DubSub!

Merry Christmas 2014!

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 01:16:00 +0000

Wishing you a great holiday with family and friends! Hope you got lots of anime under the tree this year!

Best,
Mike & DubSub!

Heaven's Lost Property Season One Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 07:54:00 +0000

Heaven's Lost Property Season One
Sora no Otoshimono
Funimation
Complete Collection - 5 discs
350 mins. - 14 episodes
$39.98 (2014) Blu-Ray
$64.98 (2011) Blu-Ray/DVD
ISBN 704400058844
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hisashi Saito
Studio - AIC

Synopsis: One evening Tomoki Sakurai witnesses a strange object fall from the sky. He's a regular high school student who lives in a small town and is perfectly happy with pursuing a quiet existence. His life goes completely upside down when the object that fell from the sky turns out to be a beautiful girl with wings! Her name is Ikaros and she is an Angeloid fallen from the Synapse. Making matters worse she declares herself Tomoki's servant and begins living with him.

Tomoki just wants to have a normal, quiet life

Poor Tomoki is stuck with Ikaros and has no idea what to do with her. He's a typical horny teenager and she's a beautiful creature, but obviously not quite human! He can't bring himself to lust after her. She ends up going to school with him and it's a complete disaster. Her wings stick out of the back of her clothing and people stare. Tomoki just wants to have a normal, quiet existence and Ikaros is ruining his chances.

Tomoki recovers Ikaros after she falls to Earth

Ikaros has no memory or personality calling herself a 'pet-class' Angeloid yet she possesses incredible strength, endurance, and durability. Tomoki confides in a small group of classmates who attempt to help him. They include:

Sohara Mitsuki - Tomoki's next door neighbor, the two were childhood friends, a bit of a tomboy, has a great rack, and is not shy about smacking Tomoki when he acts like a perv
Eishiro Sugata - odd student who is head of the New World Discovery Club which has only one other member (Mikako), he is highly intelligent yet risks life and limb attempting to perfect a form of flight (usually hang-gliding)
Mikako Satsukitane - student council president and childhood friend of Eishiro, she is the daughter of a crime family and actually pretty scary, her intentions are mostly self-serving as she enjoys tormenting people for her own amusement (who doesn't?)

Ikaros totally makes a scene at Tomoki's school and embarasses him

Later another Angeloid joins Ikaros to live with Tomoki and her name is Nymph. She calls Ikaros an alpha-class Angeloid while Nymph herself is beta-class. Through Nymph we learn of the Synapse and its cruel Master. What is Ikaros true purpose and why did Nymph follow her to Earth? Is the Synapse actually Heaven populated by Angels? Tomoki just wants a mundane existence in his quiet town, but thanks to Ikaros his life will never be quiet again!

Sohara walks in on Tomoki...not doing anything perverted to Ikaros...

Pros: Great animation and backgrounds, every episode ends with a different theme song (seriously!) and animation based on what happened in the episode, neat character designs, some funny comedy moments, a ton of ecchi/fan-service (like practically all of it), underlying story of Ikaros being on Earth is eventually brought to the surface at the end, some character development

Ikaros loves watermelons!

Cons: Ridiculous female characters, Tomoki treats Ikaros like crap, plot is slow and slightly convoluted, Ikaros has no personality, ending episodes get pretty dark with Master's treatment of Nymph, too much super-deformed character scenes (like every time Tomoki acts like a pervert), never been a fan of anime where female characters wear collars

Tomoki seeks help from Mikako and Eishiro

Mike Tells It Straight: Yes, I wrote this series off as another cheesy harem anime after watching the first couple episodes. It's very rare that I quit a series outright so I continued watching. I found myself actually starting to enjoy the series due to the comedy (the fan-service wasn't too bad either). Don't get me wrong, this series is all about fan-service and the female harem surrounding Tomoki, but the story becomes more engaging and the characters slightly more endearing by the end.

Nymph followed Ikaros down from the Synapse and enjoys eating junk food

The animation is great quality with nice backgrounds and interesting character designs. There's an overuse of portraying the characters as super-deformed (SD) and cutesy for comedic effect. It happens all the time and is a signature of the series. I was very impressed that the ending theme song and animation changed on every episode! That's a lot of extra cost and it was pretty cool.

The group goes swimming, from left: Ikaros, Nymph, Sohara, and Mikako

The fan-service is pretty obvious and this series reminded me of DearS. That series had female 'slaves' with metal collars around their necks as well. I'd say Heaven's Lost Property is slightly better, but that may only be due to the fact it's newer (using better technology). The male lead in DearS (Takeya) was also a jerk to the female lead (Ren) which was a similar turn off to Tomoki's harsh treatment of Ikaros here.

Some very unfriendly Angeloids come down from the Synapse to retrieve Ikaros

I enjoyed the comedy and outlandish stories in this series. The cast is pretty funny and Tomoki is a complete horn-dog. They get up to some zany antics in every episode, but then things get a little more serious at the end. Nymph's sharp wit is a great contrast to the befuddled Ikaros, but Nymph's origin is pretty sad. The greater mystery of the Synapse was a nice complement to the overall comedy/fan-service (it almost validated the series, but not really).

Ikaros unleashes a hidden power!

If you like fan-service and comedy then this series will be a good watch. I'm not a huge fan of harem anime because they tend to be boring and predictable. Heaven's Lost Property doesn't completely escape this problem, but puts a fresh spin on old tropes and gives a little extra in the story department. Nothing really new or exciting happens in this series to move the genre forward or push me to give it a high recommendation. Just pure guilty pleasure.

Sohara is confronted by Tomoki's morning wood!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

High School of the Dead OVA Drifters of the Dead Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 05:02:00 +0000

Highschool of the Dead: Drifters of the Dead
Gakuen Mokushiroku Haisukuru obu za Deddo
Section 23/Sentai Filmworks
15 mins. - 1 episode - 1 disc
$9.98 (2013) Blu-Ray
$6.98 (2013)
ISBN 9781616153991
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Tetsuro Araki
Studio - Madhouse

Synopsis: One day Takashi and his friends were regular high school students and then the world ended in a zombie apocalypse. A small group managed to stick together and survive the initial outbreak. They include:

The group find themselves on a tiny island just outside of the city.
From left - Rei, Alice, Kohta, Saya, and Zero

Takashi Komuro - childhood friends with Rei and best friend was Hisashi
Rei Miyamoto - swore a pinky promise with Takashi to marry each other when they were kids, but she ended up dating Hisashi until he turned into a zombie
Saeko Busujima - president of the kendo club, she is calm and reserved
Saya Takagi - also a former childhood friend of Takashi's, daughter of wealthy and political parents
Kohta Hirano - nerdy and overweight, he likes guns and has surprisingly good survival instincts
Shizuka Marikawa - school nurse with enormous breasts, despite being the only adult in the group she is mostly helpless
Alice Maresato - young girl whose parents were killed by zombies and was rescued by the group
Zero - Alice's dog

Time to relax and have fun at the beach!

The group is on the run again and stop on a tiny island off the coast of the city. The island appears deserted except for a summer food/clothing stand. Taking the opportunity to relax without a horde of zombies on their heels, Takashi and crew don skimpy swimwear and enjoy a day at the beach. What they don't know is the island may be harboring a dark secret and safety is just an illusion.

The girls convince the guys to go foraging for food - from left:
Rei, Shizuka, Zero (being squished), Alice, Saeko, and Saya

Pros: A lot of funny scenes with slapstick and lewd poses, pushes the boundaries of fan-service (practically all fan-service), bridges the gap between the first and upcoming second season, good dub

Rei lies out to get a tan

Cons: Incredibly short at only 15 minutes, should have been bundled with first season collection (instead of a standalone release), nothing actually happens in the episode, total fluff(er) episode

Saya plays in the ocean water

Mike Tells It Straight: This title has one single, short OVA episode and it's a joke to release a standalone volume for it. It should have been released with the HOTD complete collection set as a bonus feature. I think this OVA was released with a volume of the manga in Japan, but it's not standard for a single episode to be sold in the US market. I dunno, maybe it did really well because it was cheap and rode the popularity of the first season, but I have to think a lot of consumers were pissed to find out it was so short.

Takashi rocks the 'banana hammock'

I watched the first High School of the Dead season and found it to be somewhat interesting, but focused too heavily on fan-service to be taken seriously. While there were exciting moments and some small character development, the show is definitely geared toward adolescent males and its highlight was the jiggling boobies. This episode took out all of the story elements leaving just the comedy and fan-service aspects of the regular series.

Things heat up at the campfire, but what's really going on?

It's not uncommon for an anime series to release OVA episodes which are just hot springs or beach visits. Drifters of the Dead pushes the boundaries of the fan-service, but stops just short of baring full nipples. This episode is pure T&A (even Takashi dons a 'banana hammock') and basically exploits women as helpless, sexual objects. There, I said it. The most recent HOTD collection release includes this OVA, but it's a premium release which costs a ridiculous amount of money. Don't waste your money and it's actually cheaper to buy the regular first season plus OVA disc. Overall, check out this OVA if your favorite part of HOTD was the fan-service.

It gets even hotter away from the campfire, whose hand is that!?

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Nuku Nuku DASH! Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 07:49:00 +0000

All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku DASH!
Bannou Bunka Neko-Musume DASH!
ADV Films
Complete Collection - 3 discs
300 mins. - 12 episodes
$44.98 (2005)
$29.98 (2003-04) Vol. 1-3/ea.
ISBN 702727142727
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Studio - MOVIC/Starchild

Synopsis: Ryunosuke is riding his bike home from school one day when he witnesses a beautiful girl rescue a cat from getting run over. He arrives home to discover this same girl is now going to live with him! His father is a research scientist who works in their basement constantly and his mother works at the Mishima Corporation's headquarters. The girl is Atsuko Higuchi, but please call her Nuku Nuku. She's a lovely 19-year-old who is going to be the Natsumes live-in housekeeper. Nuku Nuku suffers from partial amnesia and Ryunosuke's father, Kyusaku, is helping treat her condition.

Kyusaku, Ryunosuke, and Nuku Nuku

Being a typical 14-year-old, Ryunosuke falls madly in love with Nuku Nuku and obsesses over her constantly. What he doesn't know is she's the mysterious super-girl who appears in town and is seen battling Mishima Corporation weapons (they apparently test weapons within the city quite regularly). This super-powered girl wears a tight spandex outfit, has cool shades, big antenna on the side of her head, is super resilient, and can fire energy blasts. She's a tough customer and the Mishima Corporation is out to get her.

The beautiful mystery girl battles a Mishima mecha

Nuku Nuku is trying to find out her origin and why she is compelled by her creator to "protect all life". She loves cats too. Poor Ryunosuke's mother, Akiko, is a middle manager at Mishima and gets assigned to apprehend the latest runaway Androbot (android-robot) with little clue she's actually living in the same house! What's an office worker to do when she's forced to pilot variable mecha? Mishima has an arsenal of sinister Androbots and mecha to throw at Nuku Nuku, but Ryunosuke is more worried about convincing his friends that she's his girlfriend! A typical horny teenager and an ultra-powerful android-robot against a ruthless corporation.

Ryunosuke's mild-mannered mother, Akiko, gets stuck piloting
the Mishima mecha which attacks Nuku Nuku

Pros: Solid characters with decent personalities, Ryunosuke is perfectly portrayed as a hormone-crazed teenager, many lighthearted moments, mild fan-service

Ryunosuke does the old 'awkwardly trip and fall on the
beautiful girl' move

Cons: Weak character and mecha designs, older animation, surprisingly bad picture quality (probably the transfer to digital), plot is fairly silly throughout, Ryunosuke's hair with the red stripe down the middle is ridiculous, title is too darn long!

Nuku Nuku battles another Androbot

Mike Tells It Straight: This series was adapted from the All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku manga by Yuzo Takada. The manga must have been pretty popular because this series is actually the third adaptation. The first two were a 6-episode OVA and 14-episode television series. This series is completely unrelated to the previous two and has a few differences. The cast is portrayed as a little bit older (i.e. Nuku Nuku is 19 here where she was around 15 in the other two series).

A charming rich guy chats up Nuku Nuku

I haven't seen the previous two series, but I found this one to be just average. The character designs were boring and the plot was stale. The best part of the show was Ryunosuke's crush on Nuku Nuku and his attempts to look cool to his friends. He's a typical horny teenager, but matures a little by the end and becomes a real stand up guy. While the plot was mostly silly and the villains were complete idiots, there were a few serious moments.

Kyusaku takes Akiko on a hot springs vacation, leaving Ryunosuke alone
with Nuku Nuku - to put moves on her. What a cool Dad!

I was mildly amused although the picture quality wasn't very good. The plot twist with the rich guy who meets Nuku Nuku was pretty good. I guess this series would be suitable for beginning or younger anime watchers, but it has very mild fan-service and a little violence (a character dies too). All the questions about Nuku Nuku's past are answered by the close of the series and the final scene was heartwarming. A cute, but ultimately mediocre series and now I know why it was sitting on my shelf for so long!

Nuku Nuku loves cats!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Knights of Sidonia Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 06:55:00 +0000

Knights of Sidonia
Shidonia no Kishi
Netflix Original Series
300 mins. - 12 episodes
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Kobun Shizuno
Studio - Polygon Pictures

Synopsis: In the distant future the Earth has been destroyed by a fearsome alien species called the Gauna. It has been one thousand years since humanity became adrift in space on massive colony ships. They travel the galaxy looking for a new home and trying to stay one step ahead of the Gauna. The ships were spread out in hopes of being harder to track and to improve chances of finding a suitable planet. One such ship is the Sidonia and it could quite possibly be the last human population in the universe.

Tanikaze Nagate trained in the underworld to be an expert Garde pilot

Human culture and science have evolved on the Sidonia. To bolster and safeguard the population cloning has been accepted and even a third, asexual gender was developed which adapts to their partner. All humans now photosynthesize to conserve resources aboard the ship and are only required to eat once a week. Even anthropomorphic animals exist and participate in the workforce. Everyone wears a belt with a clip to attach to safety rails throughout the interior buildings when the ship performs maneuvers.

The Sidonia is a massive ship build around a fragment of the Earth

The Gauna are large alien creatures which can survive in the vacuum of space. They are highly self-sufficient and can self-propel through the airless void. Their bodies consist of an impenetrable core surrounded by a malleable proto-mass called Ena which can be manipulated to different needs of the core. They remain a mystery, but one thing is clear - they are a near-impossible enemy to defeat and have pushed humanity to the brink of extinction.

The Gauna are a terrifying alien race which seem to be pursuing the human race

The Sidonia has not encountered a Gauna for almost a century after a hero from the last generation drove them off piloting a Garde Type 17 called the Tsugumori. A special substance was discovered which could pierce a Gauna's core and destroy it. Now nearly every able-bodied youth is trained to become a Garde pilot and defend the Sidonia. Civil unrest has become more commonplace as protesters claim the Gauna are a hoax of the government.

The Sidonia is guided by the Immortal Council

Tanikaze Nagate was raised in the Underworld (the unpopulated areas of the Sidonia) by his grandfather, but is captured when venturing out to find food. He has trained exhaustively on a simulator to be an expert pilot of the Garde Type 17, but has no social skills. He is enlisted into the Guardian program to be a pilot when the Gauna reappear on his first assignment. Now the Sidonia must send another generation of pilots to battle an impossible enemy for the survival of the human race.

From left - Midorikawa Yuhata, Shinatose Izana, Tanikaze Nagate,
Kunato Norio (background), Hoshijiro Shizuka, and Ren Honoka

Pros: Epic storyline as humanity teeters on the brink of total extinction, some exciting plot twists and reveals, Gauna are a fearsome enemy, character deaths are meaningful and tragic (Yoshiyuki Tomino would approve), killer opening theme and good ending theme, some actual science fiction with cool concepts (cloning, humans photosynthesizing), good series ending, suspenseful and made me want to watch each new episode immediately

Cons: Character animation looks awkward and artificial due to full CG rendering, characters and some mecha have too dark black flecks on them meant to look like weathering (too harsh, where's the color rendering?), looks kind of CG cheesy when a Gauna's body disintegrates after its core is destroyed, plot progresses a bit disjointedly and too many questions raised with few answered

Hiyama Lala is the bear lunch lady who takes Tanikaze under her wing

Mike Tells It Straight: Let's set the record straight - this series originally aired in Japan and was licensed by Netflix for broadcast distribution. Netflix added a dub (for its various international audiences) and premiered it outside of Japan (the same way Funimation licenses anime series). When I first saw the 'Netflix Original Series' label I thought they had produced the series and were moving into original animated content, but it's not true. They're just cutting out the middleman (i.e. Funimation and other anime licensing companies) and doing the dub/sub themselves. Netflix is a billion dollar company and depending on how successful this first series performs then they could become a player in the anime distribution game. Could impact Funimation, the biggest anime licensing company, and possibly Cartoon Network, one of the bigger anime broadcasting channels. Time will tell, but I think KoS was a good gamble.

Tanikaze gets in big trouble early on with the female pilots

While the series may only be available through streaming, rest assured it will eventually hit Blu-Ray/DVD soon (House of Cards did). It was highly suspenseful and kept me enthralled to watch the next episode (binge watching fodder). The series is based on the manga by Tsutomu Nihei (Blame!, NOiSE, Abara) and follows it very faithfully. The manga is still ongoing and ending date is unknown. In Abara, Nihei's protagonist is a Gauna who can form bone armor and weaponry from his body. The Gauna in KoS appear to be a nod to this previous series. Nihei is known for his futuristic storylines and unique art style which were both present.

Human cloning is now commonplace to bolster the population count

I found the series very enjoyable and had to watch the next episode to find out what happened next. It was addictive and fun, but mildly disturbing as well. The show is fairly mature and I don't recommend it for younger viewers. The Gauna are a fearsome opponent and the pilots have a high mortality rate. Yoshiyuki Tomino (creator of Mobile Suit Gundam and well known for killing off the majority of the main cast in his works) would definitely approve. The science fiction concepts were pretty cool - humans photosynthesizing is a first, clones, and a third gender (transgender). The mecha designs were decent and CG rendering was great. Loved the opening theme by Angela and good soundtrack. Characterization was well done and suspense was killer. Reminded me of Attack on Titan which is high praise.

Tanikaze is an expert Garde 17 pilot as seen by this simulation footage
- too bad the current generation of mecha is the
Garde 18 with significant interface changes!

What didn't work for me were the CG character renderings, these were mostly terrible. Movements were unrealistic, jerky, and the only way to tell characters apart were their hairstyles. The characters and mecha had these black marks on them which were meant to be weathering/wear, but were just harsh black lines and too simple. The plot progressed in a non-linear fashion and more questions were posed than answered. I guess it sets groundwork for future reveals which will probably be spectacular. I've read many complaints about Tanikaze's bland personality and I can rationalize his demeanor as being caused by living underground his whole life. I wasn't very happy to see a makeshift harem forming around him which is an anime genre I'm not really into.

Hoshijiro and Tanikaze are shipwrecked in space after a battle
- Hoshijiro photosynthesizes while Tanikaze nervously looks away

Despite its flaws KoS was an epic series and I was hooked from the first episode. It's mature and carries a sense of urgency as humanity fights for survival and characters die. A nice mix of science fiction and storytelling among many familiar anime themes. Tanikaze is the epitome of a last, best hope (at least he trained for it and it's not just inherent to his being). I rank it among the new breed of anime which strives to surprise and engage the viewer instead of carrying down the familiar path. If you have Netflix and enjoy anime then give it a shot. Looking forward to the second season when it gets released.

The Gauna find a way to demoralize the human pilots by
using the fallen Garde pilots against them

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 22:05:00 +0000

Wishing you a great holiday this year to celebrate with family and friends! Take a break from your family and watch some anime!

Best,
Mike & DubSub!

Need a holiday gift idea?
Hello Kitty transforms into a cooked turkey!

Fairy Tail Season Two Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 07:32:00 +0000

Fairy Tail Season Two
Feari Teiru
Funimation
Complete Collection - 8 discs
600 mins. - 24 episodes
$54.98 (2013) Blu-Ray/DVD
$54.98 (2012) Part 3-4 Blu-Ray/DVD
ISBN 704400087684
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Shinji Ishihara
Studio - A-1 Pictures/Satelight

Synopsis: In the Kingdom of Fiore there are many wizard guilds who perform work-for-hire jobs to benefit themselves, their guild, and society as a whole. The guilds are overseen by the Magic Council and the Ten Wizard Saints, who are made up of guild masters from the most powerful guilds. One of the strongest guilds in Fiore is Fairy Tail - a motley group of wizards united under the tutelage of Makarov Dreyar (one of the Ten Wizard Saints) who treats his guild members as family (and many of them are adoptive outcasts raised by the guild from a young age). Makarov preaches peace and acceptance while other guilds aggressively seek fame and fortune.

They're back! Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Erza

Fairy Tail's strongest and most outspoken members are Natsu Dragneel (aka Salamander and a Dragon Slayer wizard), Gray Fullbuster (Ice Make wizard), Erza Scarlet (aka Titania and a Re-Equip wizard), Lucy Heartfilia (recent recruit and Celestial wizard), Elfman and Mirajane Strauss (both use Take Over magic where they assume the abilities of monsters they defeat), Cana Alberona (Card magic wizard), and Makarov Dreyar (guild master and uses Giant/Titan magic). Natsu's best friend is Happy the flying cat, who is also a wizard.

Gajeel and Natsu, two Dragon Slayers, go at it!

We join Fairy Tail in the middle of a particularly nasty fight with the Phantom Lord guild. It seems Phantom Lord has been hired by Lucy's father after she ran away from home to join Fairy Tail. Phantom Lord is vying to be the most powerful guild in Fiore and Fairy Tail is their direct rival. The guild is led by Jose Porla who harbors a deep jealousy of Makarov and wishes to utterly destroy his guild. His most powerful wizards are the Element Four - Aria (Air magic), Sol (Eath magic), Totomaru (Fire magic), and Juvia Lockser (Water magic). They are also joined by Dragon Slayer wizard, Gajeel Redfox, who is an unforgiving opponent. The entire Fairy Tail guild is put to the test to save one of their own - will they come out on top?

What is Loke's deep, dark secret!?

Following the Phantom Lord battle, Lucy returns to her home and is confronted by her father. He is a rich and powerful man, always dismissing Lucy's presence and her dreams throughout her childhood. This difficult journey continues for Lucy as she discovers a secret of her guild-mate, Loke. He constantly avoids her despite being a well-known 'ladies' man'. What is Loke's secret past and why is he hiding from Lucy, the only Celestial wizard in Fairy Tail?

Juvia spies on the Fairy Tail crew while they hang out at the beach

During a relaxing vacation Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy, and Juvia are attacked by a group of rogue wizards with links to Erza's past. We discover her disturbing origin as her past comes back to threaten all of Fiore. The wizard Jellal Fernandez has completed the Tower of Heaven and wants to bring the dark wizard Zeref back to life. Erza is captured, but Natsu and company are in hot pursuit. Jellal releases the Trinity Raven assassins to stop them, but aid is given from the most unlikely source. Meanwhile the Magic Council decides on whether to obliterate the Tower of Heaven by firing the Etherion cannon, a magical spell with supreme destructive force. Can Erza overcome her past with a little help from her friends and in time to avoid being completely obliterated?

We learn Erza's tragic past as a slave laborer before she joined Fairy Tail

The town of Magnolia celebrates an annual harvest festival and the Fairy Tail guild participates in a big way. This year their festivities are rudely interrupted by Laxus, one of the most powerful members of Fairy Tail and Makarov's grandson. He turns the harvest festival into the Battle of Fairy Tail with the help of his Thunder Legion - Freed Justine (aka Dark and using Jutsu-Shiki magic, the writing of runes to create 'rules' for those trapped within their proximity), Evergreen (she uses Eye magic to battle her opponents, primarily turning them to stone), and Bickslow (using Eye magic as well, but can harness souls into inanimate objects to do his bidding).

Gray, Juvia, Lucy, and Natsu (perpetually seasick) travel to
the Tower of Heaven to rescue Erza

Laxus thinks Fairy Tail has become weak under his grandfather's leadership and wants to return the guild to greatness by taking over. He gets Freed to place traps all over town forcing members of Fairy Tail to duel each other in order to escape. The guild is in shambles as friend battles friend. Meanwhile Makarov and Natsu are trapped away from the action. Can they break free in time to lend a hand? The remaining members of Fairy Tail must take on the Thunder Legion for the fate of the guild! Even if they prevail there's still Laxus to deal with and he's the most powerful one of all. Is this the end of Fairy Tail as we know it?

Jellal (center) unleashes the assassin team Trinity Raven

Pros: Good animation and backgrounds, lots of action and progressively spectacular fights, characters are interesting and it's cool seeing their origins, the cliffhanger from the first collection was amply resolved, Juvia and Gajeel ended up being interesting characters (not so much the rest of the Element 4), some mild fan-service, positive message of friendship and camaraderie

A group assails the upper levels of the tower

Cons: Blu-Ray + DVD - 8 discs total - couldn't they just offer one or the other (and for less money)?, Gajeel is a total jerk (especially to Lucy), no way the Fairy Tail members would be so forgiving after their battles with Phantom Lord and the Tower of Heaven wizards, seems like Fairy Tail comes out on top too easily in each story arc (especially Natsu)

Jellal and Natsu battle atop the Tower of Heaven

Mike Tells It Straight: I enjoyed Fairy Tail Season One (although the first few episodes almost made me quit the series) and it ended on a major cliffhanger (it's actually the first half of the first season and this Season Two is the last half). The second season was fairly decent, focused on specific characters while involving some new ones, and shifted to sweeping story arcs with few standalone episodes. I didn't think it was quite as good as the first, but it was still entertaining. It's pure shounen action (like Naruto or Bleach) with battles raging across multiple episodes and culminating in a massive final showdown.

Laxus turns all of the girls in Fairy Tail to stone and takes them as hostages

We get the spectacular finish to the Phantom Lord arc from the first collection. Some recurring characters are introduced there (hint, Juvia and Gajeel). Then we shift gears to learn Lucy's origin along with Loke's (a peripheral character) secret past. From there we get a big arc dealing with the Tower of Heaven crew and Erza's origin. That one was pretty interesting although I didn't like most of the characters introduced. The final sweeping arc is the Battle of Fairy Tail or Laxus' Uprising. He's a tough customer and determined to take over the guild. I thought the ending was weak considering all the buildup.

The Thunder Legion - Evergreen, Freed, and Bicklow

The main problem with shounen series is the sheer number of episodes and tendency to drag out the plot. Definitely one of my guilty pleasures and not for everyone. It's aimed at younger audiences and very simple, but I liked the message of friendship and sticking together. This series is mostly lighthearted with a few serious moments (a character actually dies!). If you liked the first season then you're stuck watching this one just to find out how the cliffhanger ends. Not too bad and a lot more episodes have been released with Collection Three out in January 2015.

Gajeel and Natsu face Laxus in a final showdown!

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Noir Anime Review

noreply@blogger.com (michaelszele) — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 07:22:00 +0000

Noir
Nowaru
ADV Films
Complete Collection - 7 discs
650 mins. - 26 episodes
$49.98 (2011) 4-disc
$89.98 (2008) Thinpak
$89.98 (2005)
$29.98 (2003) Vol. 1-7/ea.
$44.98 (2003) Vol. 1 w/t-shirt
ISBN 702727195525
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Koichi Mashimo
Studio - Bee Train

Synopsis: Mireille Bouquet is a skilled assassin living in Paris. She is drawn to a young Japanese girl named Kirika who possesses an item from Mireille's past - a pocket watch. Kirika has amnesia and can't remember her past, but possesses uncanny fighting abilities. The pair are besieged by a group of hitmen and dispatch them with minimal effort. They form a partnership with Kirika returning with Mireille to Paris. Mireille searches for the killers of her parents and Kirika searches for her lost past. The pair begin taking jobs under the codename "Noir".

Mireille and Kirika - the pair who contract assassinations
under the codename "Noir"

They are a formidable team with deadly skills and an impeachable killing record. The secret of both their pasts is well-kept and has cost countless lives over the years. In their travels they encounter another deadly assassin named Chloe who claims to be the true Noir. A secret organization is uncovered which dates back for centuries and are known as Les Soldats, French for 'the soldiers'.

Mireille in a shootout with underworld henchmen

Mireille and Kirika kill their way across Europe uncovering the secret past of the Soldats yet never finding any definitive answers. Sometimes the past is best left forgotten, but is doomed to be repeated. Kirika is a blank canvas and a seemingly natural born killer. Mireille struggles with the demons of her past which come back to haunt her. Chloe appears as an antagonist at first yet has a deep spiritual kinship with Kirika. Will she be swayed to join the Soldats?

The watch Kirika possesses when she meets Mireille. What is its link to Les Soldats

Chloe was raised by a woman named Altena who wants to change the Soldats. Is she manipulating Mireille and Kirika as pawns in her game? Will the two women find the answers they seek even if it destroys them? Mireille has promised to kill Kirika once they uncover the truth. The relationship of two killers can be ephemeral at best. One thing is certain - it's going to take a lot of killing to uncover the secret of Noir.

Mireille ponders the watch which belonged to her dead parents

Pros: Great music - both opening and ending themes plus the background music, interesting story premise - ancient organization operating in the shadows, decent ending, some good episodes with intriguing drama/mystery, high point of the 'girls with guns' anime genre, lots of action (although practically no blood)

Chloe - the deadly assassin who claims to be the true Noir

Cons: Bland characters, exceedingly slow-paced plot (particularly in the middle of the series), animation style is simple, original 7-disc release by ADV was excessive and just milked people for their money (seriously, an entire disc for three episodes!), Mireille wears the same impractical clothes throughout the entire series

Who is the true Noir?

Mike Tells It Straight: I watched Noir and can easily say it's the epitome of the 'girls with guns' anime genre. Koichi Mashimo is a prolific anime director with many series under his belt (Sorcerer Hunters, .hack//Sign, Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE), but may be most well-known for his 'girls with guns' trilogy (Noir, Madlax, El Cazador de la Bruja) and assassin-themed Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom.

Chloe returns home to Altena. What is her secret link to Les Soldats?

The series has plenty of action - gunfights and the girls killing dozens of Les Soldats henchmen (plus some highly skilled female assassins). Oddly it shows very little blood and no gore. Maybe that's a sign of the times when it was produced (2001) where television series were geared for a broader audience (mindful of younger viewers). Series today are much more graphic in their violence which I theorize is due to the increased gore in video games.

Mireille is not afraid to kill people while wearing an impractical micro-mini skirt

Despite the action the series can be excruciatingly slow-paced and the characters are very bland. The animation was decent yet the character designs were overly simple. It's guilty of a lot of 'talking mouth' and gradual camera pans on unmoving faces (both tricks to keep animation budgets down for TV series). The only saving grace to the story was the gradual reveal of the mysteries surrounding Les Soldats and both the girls' pasts. Each episode progressed the story and led to a final confrontation.

Chloe gets the briefest moment of downtime. She harbors an
intense fascination for Kirika

The last few episodes and the ending were pretty decent. I'm a bit ambivalent on recommending this series. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid show and can be engaging. It just felt really long and I got bored at points. It won't stop me from checking out Mashimo's two follow-ups (these are not sequels, but both are standalone series). Stay tuned for upcoming reviews and please leave your comments about the show!

Final showdown between two friends?

TO BUY and Recommendations: