Who am I? I am the Iruka, from the Naruto series. Incredibly incompetent, Iruka serves no other value than to provide meager mental support to the character. Though a teacher, he’s a very bad one (like me, when tutoring English), and perhaps the most useful thing he’s ever done in the entire series is buy the main character some ramen. His entire history is explored in the span of a few pages, and when in trouble, he requires the help of his student to save his ass.

Like Iruka, who performed various lame stunts as a child in order to get attention from his peers, so do I litter my posts with slightly eye-catching phrases as a means of drawing the readers in. But face it, that shit’s gonna grow old someday, and I’ll be the uncool outcast, which is like the outcast, but nowhere as cool or suave.

I, like Iruka, will fade into the dust. And when everything’s over and done, history will remember me the same way they remember Iruka – the guy who was there when a national monument got busted up, and the dude who appears in yaoi doujinshi across Kakashi.

Seriously, when the fuck has Iruka EVER done anything useful?

© Maggeh for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Iruka, Life is Like a Locomotive Tractor, Maggeh

Sakura

Character: Maka Alburn
Amy Studt – “Just a little girl”

You’ll have to forgive me if my choices seem a bit strange; I’m still really getting a feeling for Soul Eater. Even though I’m only really just getting to know Maka’s character this song, in my mind, seems to fit her well enough.
She appears to be the more level headed of the duo and so the quieter elements of the song help to reflect that aspect of her character. The tune at times flares into a more rock type sound and that to me is reminiscent of Maka when she decides she’s going to fight.
Thoughtful, but powerful, just like Amy I feel there is a hell of a lot more to Maka than I have yet to see.

Digiboy

Character: Death za Kid
Dream Theater – “Stream of Consciousness”

Death the Kid’s most defining characteristic, as well as one I relate to best, is his raging obsessive compulsive disorder. Everything MUST be orderly and perfect for him. As such, it is easy to imagine him as a fan of progressive rock, a genre that revels in the perfection of playing in adverse time signatures with superb technical ability. Dream Theater are considered the front-runners of prog-metal with the most ridiculous adherence to technicality. In addition, Death the Kid is quite full of himself, which is fitting because Dream Theater consider themselves to be the greatest band in the world. Their addiction to perfection is so strong that when they once wrote a song in regular 4/3 time signature, they claimed it to be in 12/1 and that people were too stupid to realize it. Stream of Consciousness is there most wanking, ridiculous, progressive, maddeningly ‘perfect’ song that would make the band members likely cum in their pants and anyone who isn’t a prog fan fall asleep fast.

Omisyth

Character: Franken Stein
Daniel Licht – “Blood Theme”

Song ends at 2:20.

Perhaps it’s some form of cheating to take the song from an OST from an American show (Showtime’s Dexter, pure awesomesauce btw) but a lot of the aspects of the song, the name and even the show’s morally ambiguous protagonist, reflect Stein’s character. The entire song has an ominous tone that slowly builds up as it continues, while there’s this constant hint of something striving to break free from beneath the surface with that indescribable sound rising and receding throughout the song. Stein’s in a continuous battle with the insanity building from within. Just as when the song hits a measured and structured rhythm halfway through, so it seems like the monster within Stein will eventually take control.

LBrevis
Character: Crona
M83 - “Graveyard Girl”

Song ends at 4:50

Poor Crona is frightened of everything, weak, morose and socially awkward. When she writes poetry it’s so depressing that it instantly saps the energy from our plucky shounen heroes, even Black Star. Which is why a song about a girl who hangs out in a graveyard reading poetry fits Crona to a T. Especially with lyrics like “She collects crowns made of black roses/ But her heart is made of bubble gum” and “She worships Satan like a father/ But dreams of a sister like Molly Ringwald.” Crona actually has a good heart, she just needs someone to love and befriend her so she can come out of her shell. I guess that makes Maka her Molly Ringwald.

Of course this is all assuming that Crona is, in fact, female. I’d say there’s about an 80% chance she(?) is.

coburn

Character: Marie
Envelopes – “It is the Law”

Marie should really be irritating, but somehow I find her adorable. There’s a woozy friendliness all over this silly European indie pop song. A twinkly little guitar whimsically wanders on in before we really get going with a piece of slightly off-kilter pop. When the song hits its stride it’s pretty goofy sounding, but with enough muscle in the guitars to make you pay attention. Marie certainly is a nice lady, but rather too kooky to live with.

© Omisyth for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Crona, Death the Kid, Maka, Marie, Music, Soul Eater, Soundtrack, Stein

While the situations in which Kou Shuurei I grew up are dissimilar, we both had to grow up a lot faster than a child should have to. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because I feel it meant that I grew up with many good qualities I share with the strong willed heroine of Saiunkoku Monogatari.

We’re dedicated, hardworking, strong willed and fiercely devoted to those we love. If we believe in something strongly we’ll fight for it with everything we’ve got, but we won’t close ourselves off to listening to others and are always willing to learn something new.

Injustice makes us burn with anger and we’re always quick to help someone who may be in need, even if it will land us in a bad situation, however, we can think quickly on our feet when we need to, which can serve one well in a bind. Although sometimes we do need rescuing due to the situations our kind disposition gets us into. We can be guilty of naivety and so it probably wouldn’t hurt for us to say no occasionally.

Our compassionate heart hides many fears especially when it comes to romance. While in Shuurei’s case her fears are holding her back from love, thankfully, I’ve resolved my issues, well mostly, I think. At least like Shuurei I’m realizing my dreams. And even if my aspiration to be happy isn’t as world changing as her goals, it’s still taken just as long a road to get there, but now that I’m where I want to be it’s time to take that next step.

© Sakura for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

I briefly consulted some of my co-workers on this theme. I was surprised to see that they didn’t necessarily think that mascots had to be cuddly little animals at all.

Baka-Raptor: Metal Buffalo

Not cute and cuddly? I beg to differ!

A great mascot must be lovable yet threatening. If your mascot is too cute, your enemies will walk all over you. If your mascot is too threatening—oh wait, there’s no such thing.

ghostlightning:
While people were jizzing themselves about the latest iPhone, Ranka’s unnamed phone (commentators have called it the iSlug) has stolen scene after scene in Macross Frontier.

The vajra larva Ai-kun may be the intended critter mascot, but the iSlug did more with less.

I guess a mascot is anything dumb and pointless that a group of characters keep hanging around their space-ship/tourbus. But why do so many shows do this?

Perhaps it’s worth thinking of commercial mascots: things which “represent all that is good and attractive about a product”. Anime mascots represent what is straightforwardly appealing about a show, whether it be a good sense of humour or distinctive stylishness.

If they’re there to trick us into fondness for the show, to provide a loveable face, then I guess it’s no surprise that anime mascots tend to be marginal in the actual plot. Often that means that the mascot is all over the screen during early episodes, only to depart the stage when things get serious.

For example, Roppa from Bounen no Xam’d; the show that felt the need to make bunny rabbits a little bit more adorable. He’s basically been phased out, but was once a near ever-present. Frankly, when the mascot leaves the limelight it’s often rather a shame.

Take Soul Eater’s Blair - when she cropped up in the latest episode I realised just how rare her intermittent antics have been of late. Her entertaining interventions have basically been phased out by the less than sultry angstball Chrona. As the show develops we go from wit to misery – from mascots to personalities.

I mean, Blair has a personality of sorts, but she doesn’t have internal struggles. She doesn’t have a psychology. She does like fish. This is the role of the mascot, to satisfy us easily. To be a charismatic object, whether cute or sexy.

Of course that doesn’t have to be the case. Iggy from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure starts off as a furry irritation, and ends up as a heroic battling combat dog (with a surprisingly sophisticated internal monologue).

But then, once the furball is able to consider tactical manoeuvres, it really can’t be called a mascot any more. At that point the mascot becomes a character. True Mascots are more like pets - they have personalities, just less sophisticated ones than the ‘proper’ people. And we like our pets. Sometimes its just easier to like someone simple.

Mascots are thing that don’t need character development to be fun. They don’t require us to pay attention. If the Groundhog woke up one morning and decided to wax lyrical about international politics, we’d probably feel a bit cheated. Somebody has to be simple, cute, and pointless. It is a noble calling. Hail to the hog.

And so I ask you, which anime mascot do you like best? Which hog should we be hailing?

© coburn for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Detroit Metal City, goundhog day, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Macross Frontier, mascots, Soul Eater, Xam'd

Here, let me paraphrase this picture in four words. It’s a fucking dot.

Now that the baseless theory has been disproved, let us proceed. For the most part, a manga will have a introductory first chapter of considerable length and then shorter following chapters. For instance, One Piece, Naruto and Bleach have around 20 pages per chapter per week. Fullmetal Alchemist gets around 40 to 50 pages, though that’s once a month.

The question, then is just how efficiently the mangaka uses these limited pages. A good manga chapter should be able to make the reader feel like something has actually happened during its course. It should not, and I repeat, NOT make you feel like you’ve been cheated out of your money by a fast-talking Korean swindler.

Let us take the example of Bleach the worst offender. Virtually every chapter of Bleach these days seem to advance the plot at a painstakingly slow pace. There’s no meaning in the battles; a character is introduced, shows off his special power, then dies. You don’t believe me? Try the recent chapters.

From chapter 318 to 339, we’ve had four new arrancars, each of whom died in a few chapters. All we get is a few words, a release and inevitable death. Or, take the three already-existing arrancars, Mila Rose, Sun Sun and Apache, who apparently can summon something by ripping off their arms. No explanation is given - apparently, Kubo doesn’t think it’s worth the time to explain something that doesn’t really make sense. Furthermore, these three arrancar were given no distinct personality, though that can be said about all characters in Bleach, main or minor. Oh, and they died, too.

The flaw lies in the fact that Bleach spams its pages with gigantic panels. Each page has only around 3 panels, or even 2. And that’s not counting those two-page spreads. When a character talks, it’s rarely anything of importance. Bleach manages to bring about a spectacular paradox - on one hand, it says and does little. On another hand, the story progresses with frightening speed without actually furthering the plot. Where there should be plot holes, there are just… holes. The plot was probably bleached.

Of course, just cause Bleach is a pile of crap doesn’t mean the opposite works just by itself. Having TOO much shit in one chapter makes reading a pain, unless it’s exciting / enlightening enough to hold your attention. You try to make something TOO detailed, and it gets ignored. For instance, take Black Lagoon. It’s an awesome manga with great characters, but I gave up on trying to make sense of why things happen because I couldn’t make sense of the conspiracies in the current arc. All I know is that Roberta wants the Americans dead, and really, what reason do you need to want Americans dead?

But I’ve said enough about stuff that you don’t care about. Let’s now return to the problem at hand. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then how much is a panel worth? Well, then let us resort to this beautiful formula to figure it out.

And that, my dear readers, is why a panel is worth a hundred and sixty-seven words.

© Maggeh for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bleach, Jesus is a Mexican, Maggeh, Your Father Hates You, Your Mother Hates You Too

Guest co-host: IcyStorm

© Baka-Raptor for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: akikan, clannad, ef, Haruhi the Suzumiya, IcyStorm, Kannagi, maria holic, maria-sama ga miteru, Minami-ke, Toradora

I foresaw a bright future ahead where the Asian drama’s were concerned, especially once I heard the news that one of my favorite shoujo mangas of all time, “Hana Kimi” (also known as Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) was being made into a live action show. However, I was bitterly disappointed and couldn’t even make it through the first episode, due largely in part to the actress playing the role of Mizuki.

It wasn’t that I found “Ella Chen” ugly, although you can see from the above image that she doesn’t come close to being as cute as manga Mizuki. It was the damn “gurning” that turned me off, Mizuki is supposed to be cute, not look like she sucked a lemon up through her nostril. I understand the character is supposed to be excitable but she got a bit too exaggerated with her expressions at times. In addition, I do think they went overboard and made her too boyish for the role. I was so traumatized by the whole thing that I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to watch the rest of the Japanese version, even though the first episode wasn’t all that bad. The Japanese actress“Horikita Maki” was a huge improvement over the Taiwanese’s Ella Chen.

Its perhaps fitting that“Yoon Eun Hye” once again stirred my interest in dramas. As stated earlier my initial foray into them was a good one and she was the lead actress in that show. So when I heard the premise of “The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince”. (or Coffee Prince) and found out she would be starring in it, I was particularly intrigued.

Both Hana Kimi and Coffee Prince deal with a girl pretending to be a boy. Mizuki in Hana Kimi does this to get close to a boy she likes. Hye’s character does so because she is the breadwinner in her family and it’s easier for her to get jobs if she’s a boy.

Unfortunately, she ends up falling for her boss of sorts and faces a unique dilemma when he falls for her too. How does she tell him she’s been deceiving him the whole time about her gender, particularly when he decides he likes her, not knowing she’s female.

Considering he’s heterosexual, that was a huge obstacle to overcome, and Gong Yoo plays the conflicted, ex-happy-go-lucky playboy well. He and Hye compliment each other nicely and she’s perfect for pulling off that ambiguous gender look without appearing either too male or feminine.

Throw in a cousin who may also be falling for Hye’s character and his estranged girlfriend, with whom Yoo’s character used to be in love with and you have the makings of one fantastic drama.

It was so enjoyable in fact that I’m actually considering watching another one. I’ve heard great things about Hana Yori Dango, I really loved the manga so hopefully the live action won’t disappoint me. Given how insanely popular it seems to be in Japan I’m optimistic that won’t happen.

© Sakura for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Asian Drama, Chae Jung Ahn, Ella Chen, Gong Yoo, Goong, Hana Kimi, Hana Yori Dango, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Horikita Maki, Lee Sun gyun, The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince, Yoon Eun Hye

Mecha has always been a huge element of anime since the good old days of Tetsujin 28. There was the super robot era in the 70s, the real robot era in the 80s, the 90s when genres began colliding and Evangelion made mecha psychological, and today when shows like Gurren Lagann make a point to reference and pay homage to all eras of mecha anime. But why do anime fans like mecha so much? What is it that makes a mech great? I decided to analyze different qualities of a that make them stand out, as well as share which mecha I think best represent these qualities. If you think there are other qualities or more deserving nominations, be sure to let your voice be heard in the comments!

Once again, just let me stress that this list is purely my opinion based on what I’ve seen, and you can add your thoughts in the comments!

What makes a great mech?

Size

“Mech” is a term synonymous with “giant robot.” The first thing that someone will notice about a mech is that, well, it’s fucking huge! Now, we all know size isn’t everything, but when your stature is directly proportional to the amount of destruction you are able to cause, it starts to be a big deal. Some would say “the bigger the better,” but mechs do come in all sizes.

Biggest Mech - Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Hopefully without spoiling anything, the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is literally the size of a galaxy. GAINAX definitely made this beast with the intent of dwarfing every mech known to man, and they did succeed.

Runner Up: Zearth from Bokurano (500 meters tall)

Appearance

Mechs exist almost for the sole purpose of being something completely badass that even a teenager can pilot. It has to wreak destruction, but also has to look like a bad mothafucka while doing it. You don’t want to be flying around destroying cities in a mecha pony (well, unless you’re him). Everyone has their own opinion of how they want a mech to look - my brother likes the ones with as much armor and weapons stacked on as possible. Some people like the bulky GONZO mechs - no, actually that was a lie.

Best Looking Mech - Gundam RX-78

Simple, but elegant and beautiful. Modern mech designs owe almost everything to the mech that looks like a samurai. It’s cool and can wield a sword, and if you need to add on extra shit like armor and jetpacks, he looks like he has room for it all. I wanted to give this spot to the sexy Evangelion, but really, the original Gundam is the king of style.

Runner Up: Evangelion Unit 01

Attacks/Weapons

Okay, we’ve gotten over the superficiality of appearance, so now we have the superficiality of action! I don’t just want to destroy them while looking like a badass, I want to do it in an epic way. Would you rather your RX-78 carry his sweet beam rifle, or the Evangelion’s tiny segmented knife thing? I know the answer.

Most Awesome Mech Attack - Shining Gundam’s SHININGU FINGA SUWOODO! from G Gundam

The sheer scope of the attack may be important, but equally so is what you scream before using it. Nothing beats the complete satisfaction of shouting Shining Finger’s incantation before unleashing it’s immense fury.

Runner Up: Gurren Lagann’s Giga Drill Breaker

Personality

We’ve finally gotten through all of our shallow thoughts and are interested in the mech’s real personality. No, I don’t mean a sentient mech per se, but some mecha really get to shine outside the battlefield and seem to be as much a character as anyone in the show. When the big hunk of metal begins to take on your sentiment, you know it’s a real charmer.

Most Charming Mech - Turn A Gundam

Turn A Gundam is a funny, homely looking mech with a mustache and a silly walk. See it transporting livestock! See it washing laundry! Turn A is also picky about who can pilot it and in what mindset. When Loran saves a pretty girl in his mech, you really feel like the metal mustached man was as caring as he was.

Runner Up: The Nirvash TYPE-ZERO from Eureka Seven

Enemies

Of course, while having a badass and charming mech is great and all, you won’t feel too cool if your enemies are a bunch of pussies. The more awesome your opponent, the more awesome you are for holding out against them!

Most Badass Adversary - The Red Comet, Char Aznable

It’s been said many times before - you aren’t a man if you aren’t gay for Char.

Runner Up: Master Asia of G Gundam

Movement

Now we’re getting a little more technical and personal. Lets break out the stat sheets - do you want a mech that sacrifices speed for strength or a nimble little bastard who can outrun the competition? Movement is very important to a mech, because there is nothing fun about piloting a mech that can’t turn its head.

Most Graceful Mobility - Escaflowne

The Escaflowne has the perfect mix of power and speed. It gracefully sword-fights with a fencing style and carefully uses it’s weight distribution to throw it’s sword at speeds that it wouldn’t be able to if it were a different model. The mix of slowing and speeding during fights always looks cool and truly makes the mechs seem to have the movement capabilities of humans.

Runner Up: Evangelion Unit 02

Transformation

Mechs are great, but they can be hard to get around in. Simply walking around, as seen in Turn A Gundam, makes travel inconvenient, and a jetpack complicates fighting. Wouldn’t it be better if you could turn into a car or a jet to get over those distances quicker? Some people must think so.

Best Transforming Mech - Valkyrie from Macross

Valkyrie are the most convenient weapons of mass destruction around. If you need to fight in space, they can turn into a jet and zip around popping caps in high-speed asses. As for getting around at surface-level, it has a hybrid mech/plane function called Defender mode that hovers around with speed and combat readiness. Oh, and of course it can still turn back into an awesome giant robot.

Runner Up: The Transformers (who stole the idea, lol.)

Accessories

So you aren’t satisfied with your convenient, awesome, badass, charismatic mech. You still feel it’s missing something. The solution is simple - equip it with some nice accessories. Mechs have had just about anything added to their frames, from grappling hooks to giant wings. Everyone loves personalization!

Best Mech Accessory - The Ref Boards from Eureka Seven

Never would I have thought “dude, mechs and surfing would go great together!” if I hadn’t seen it in Eureka Seven. A giant robot gliding gracefully through the air for fun or for blasting bitches is always an amazing thing to behold.

Runner Up: Shenlong Gundam’s Dragon Arm

The Ultimate Mech?

All of these elements are important in deciding what kind of mech you like best, and surely everyone has their own favorites. As for me, my ultimate mech is definitely Evangelion Unit 01.

Sleek, sexy, visceral, and totally fucking insane. Unit 01 is a fully functional gore machine and I can’t imagine many more fun things than crushing adversaries in my mech’s JAWS. So, who is your favorite mech, and how do the qualitiees above effect your choice?

© 21stcenturydigitalboy for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bokurano, char aznable, escaflowne. macross, eureka seven, eva unit 01, eva unit 02, g gundam, giga drill breaker, master asia, Mecha, mobile suit gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, nirvash, rx-78, shenlong gundam, shining finger sword, shining gundam, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, tetsujin 28, transformers, Turn-A Gundam, valyrie, veritech

Penultimate Chapter:

pages1-3: The assembled captains and espada battle on while Aizen, Tousen and Gin stand by.

pg4: Aizen and his lieutenants remain in the midst of the cage of fire. The villain smiles his evil smile, he has a plan.

pg5: But wait! Yamamoto strokes his beard, then says: “BANKAI!”

pg6: “Amnesiate! Ryūjin Jakka Memrilossu!”

pg6-7: Aizen tries to remember exactly what his cunning plan was. The espada look confused.

pg8: Amidst the perplexity Stark and Kyoraku stop fighting.

pg9: Barragan decides to fight anyway, but Urahahra crops up behind him. “BANKAI!”

pg10-12: From out of nowhere, Kenpachi appears. He is Urahara’s Bankai! He removes the bells from his hair, revealing them to be small but enormously heavy weights, which he wears for the lulz. Barragan is already dead.

pg13: Halibel kills Hitsugaya. Nobody cares.

pg14-15: Amnesiac Aizen looks for his mislaid glasses, Gin tries to remember how to open his eyelids (it’s been a while), Tousen is already blind and has forgotten how he’s supposed to be able to perceive the world. They bump into one another clumsily.

pg16: Gin uses his sword to opens his own eyes, simultaneously Tousen panics and uses his bankai – enveloping the pair in total darkness.

pg17: Halibel chews on Hitsugayas corpse, Komamura joins in.

pg18-19: A highly confused Ichimaru Gin bumps into Tousen in the dark and they simultaneously stab one another. Aizen reaches into his pocket and says, “Just as planned”…

Chapter The Last:

pg1-2 spread: Aizen laughs madly, “Fools! This notepad in my pocket tells me exactly how my cunning plan should go! And apparently I don’t even need glasses! With my unique genius, I have overcome the most powerful of all bankais! Now, to achieve godhead!”

pg3: Aizen realises that he can’t recall exactly why he wanted to be godlike in the first place. Ukitake suggests he check his other pockets.

pg3-5: Halibel defeats Chad (Where did he even come from? Guess he’s just unlucky). Stark offers Kyoraku a beer.

pg6: Aizen rifles through his pockets some more. There must be another note!

pg7: Whilst Aizen is busy the collected shingami decide to all attack at once.

pg8: Aizen complains that this is not really one on one, and that would make it cheating.

pg9: No-one listens to the smug bastard. Irritated, he prepares his ultimate attack.

pg10-11: Unfortunately, thanks to Yamamoto’s bankai, he has forgotten that in fact he is not standing on the ground, but in mid-air. Thus he fails to notice the attack from below by Kon (for it is he!) until it is too late.

pg12: Aizen is finally defeated, Hinamori cries like a little girl.

pg14-15: Kyouraku and Stark lead the rest of the combatants to this bar they both like. Rukia is already there with her brother, they’ve grabbed a table.

pg15-16 spread: The Vaizards go clothes shopping with Yoruichi and Ichigo’s dad. Nobody cared to ask Ishida, or his old man.

pg17: Tatsuki bumps into the aimless Halibel out on the street, kicks her to shit, then wonders where all of her old classmates got off too.

pg18-19: Somewhere in deepest Mexico Ichigo and Ulquiorra make sweet angsty love. Ichigo leaves his mask on. Orihime cries. Unohana watches.

The End.

© coburn for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bleach, fighting spirit, I wanna be President, I'm a whore for Bleach

Though I’m not against seeing two VFs in a dogfight in the depths of space or the ever-expanding roster of Bleach dealing damage with swords, the amazing action scene in the first episode Kurokamimade me realise just how little there is of its kind. I haven’t seen many hand-to-hand combat shows. Checking through MAL all I see is around 10 shows (not all high quality) and among those I haven’t seen all I can name is Fist of the North Star and Hajime no Ippo (which I’m getting more and more interested in after seeing this.)

I’m more inclined to like shows based on martial arts because of the focus on the characters involved in the fights. I understand that h4x strategies involving Galactic Heroes or the Emperor of Britannia can be engaging to watch, but when you look at things on a large scale like that, a certain aspect of the fight is lost. It’s less about the individuals (by which I mean the grunts and soldiers rather than the leaders) fighting for honour, victory or survival. There’s more of a focus on one side triumphing over the other. Battles between a small group of people or, better yet, one-on-one mean that you’re really watching the more intricate aspects of combat. You’re avidly following each move and each decision, oohing and aahing with each punch, kick and blow. You feel that person’s pain and root for them to win, to triumph and crush their opponent.

There’s a surprising amount of variation you can get with fist fights, in terms of the differing types of fighters and techniques. There’s also the fact a lot of anime just make up their own type of gimmick in addition to these fighting styles. This is probably a sweeping generalisation, but to me most types of weaponry are just the same thing only with some tweaks added in. A differently shaped sword with a more legedary name than its predecessor, a differently designed mech or gun; it’s all just bigger and/or better versions of a previous model. It’s sort of the same thing with the fighters themselves, only you have more of an attachment and respect for them as they’re people rather than objects.

This is by no means a condemnation of other types of action anime. Hell, Soul Eater’s one of the best shounen action animes I’ve ever seen. There are also many problems with this style of fighting, such as incessant repitition of stills and SPEEDLINES. However, Kurokami has shown me just how great this type of action can be and makes me wish shows like it were made more often and had a bigger budget.

© Omisyth for Oi, Hayaku!, 2009. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: FALCON PUNCH, Fighting Anime, Fist-Fights